KBCB

KBCB (channel 24) is a religious television station in Bellingham, Washington, United States, owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's transmitter is located near Mount Constitution on Orcas Island.

For the airport using ICAO code KBCB, see Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport.
KBCB
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedAugust 15, 1997 (1997-08-15)
Former call signs
KEGA (February–October 1989)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
24 (UHF, 1997–2009)
ACN (1997–2004)
ImaginAsian (2004–2006)
ShopNBC/ShopHQ (2006–2015)
Sonlife (2015–2021)
Call sign meaning
British Columbia, Bellingham
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID53586
ERP208 kW
HAAT757 m (2,484 ft)
Transmitter coordinates48°40′45″N 122°50′36″W
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.tct.tv

History
Logo used as World Television, used until 2006.

The construction permit was awarded as KEGA on February 10, 1989. It gained its current call sign on October 2, 1989.

From its sign-on on August 15, 1997,[3] until 2006, KBCB aired a mix of independent/ImaginAsian programming targeted towards the Vancouver area and southwestern British Columbia, Canada, in addition to news from European international broadcasters until the early 2000s decade, bearing the name World Television to reflect the international mix of programming carried on the station. In 2006, the station converted to an affiliation with ShopNBC. The network became ShopHQ in 2013.

KBCB added the Estrella TV network as a multicast channel on August 1, 2011. KBCB's affiliation with Estrella ended on April 24, 2014.[4]

Abandoned sale to Fox Television Stations

On September 19, 2014, Venture Technologies Group reached an agreement to sell the station to Fox Television Stations for $10 million;[5] the purchase was submitted for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval on October 3.[6] The purchase came amid speculation that Fox was interested in having an owned-and-operated station in the home market of the Seattle Seahawks football team, whose games primarily air on Fox as members of the National Football Conference. Fox had reportedly threatened to not renew KCPQ's affiliation when its affiliation agreement ended in January 2015,[7] while the broadcaster had made similar transactions in other NFC markets, such as purchasing the network affiliate serving the San Francisco Bay Area, where the 49ers play, as well as a station in Charlotte, North Carolina, home to the Carolina Panthers.[8]

On October 17, 2014, Fox announced that it had reached a deal to maintain its affiliation with KCPQ through July 2018—agreeing to a reverse compensation arrangement.[9] Following this development, Fox's application to acquire KBCB was dismissed by the FCC on November 20, 2014.[10] On March 3, 2020, Fox completed its purchase of KCPQ and sister station KZJO after coming to terms with the stations' new owner, Nexstar Media Group, which had acquired KCPQ via its purchase of Tribune Media.

On January 1, 2015, KBCB replaced its affiliation of ShopHQ with that of the Sonlife Broadcasting Network. In March, the SD simulcast on 24.2 was replaced by Jewelry TV. Home shopping channel QVC was added on subchannel 24.3 in July 2017. February 2018 saw home shopping retailer Evine (the legal successor to ShopNBC/ShopHQ) added to channel 24.2 and Jewelry TV moved to channel 24.4. Evine returned to its previous name, ShopHQ, on August 21, 2019.[11] In September 2020, ShopHQ ceased airing and was replaced with a "This channel is available for lease" notification.[12]

Sale to Tri-State Christian Television

On February 8, 2021, Venture Technologies Group announced that it would sell KBCB to Marion, Illinois–based Tri-State Christian Television for $7.74 million, including a $2 million cash donation.[1] The sale was completed on April 30,[13] and KBCB became the third station in the Seattle market to be owned and operated by a religious organization (alongside KTBW-TV and KWDK). Christian programming from TCT's satellite channel now broadcasts on channel 24.1 and Sonlife airs on subchannel 24.2, as a result.[14] Having gone dark since the sale, channels 24.3 and 24.4 began transmitting again in March 2022, carrying Newsmax TV and Shop LC, respectively. Subchannel 24.5 was added at the same time, displaying a static message that a yet to be named channel is coming soon.[15] Newsmax TV was dropped in December of the same year.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KBCB[16]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
24.1 720p16:9KBCB HDTCT
24.2 480i4:3SBNSonlife
24.3 16:9Newsmax[Blank]
24.4 4:3ShopLCShop LC
24.5 .5 SOON[Blank]

Analog-to-digital conversion

KBCB shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 24, on February 17, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television (which Congress had moved the previous month to June 12).[17][18] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 19, using PSIP to display KBCB's virtual channel as 24 on digital television receivers.

References
  1. "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  2. "Facility Technical Data for KBCB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. "KBCB". Television & Cable Factbook. 2006. p. A-2416.
  4. FCC Form 398 2nd Quarter 2014|url=http://data.fcc.gov/mediabureau/v01/tv/application/KidVid_155607.html
  5. "ASSET PURCHASE AGREEMENT dated as of September 19, 2014 by and among WORLD TELEVISION OF WASHINGTON, LLC, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, INC. and VENTURE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, LLC". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  6. "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE". Federal Communications Commission. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. Malone, Michael (September 23, 2014). "Fox Gives Tribune Termination Notice For Seattle Affiliate". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  8. "Fox targets Tribune's Fox affiliation in Seattle over NFL revenues". New York Post. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  9. "Tribune To Keep KCPQ And Fox Affiliation". TVNewsCheck. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  11. "Evine Shopping Network Becomes ShopHQ: Celebrates with Three-Day On-Air Event & Launch of New Loyalty Program". GlobeNewswire. iMedia Brands, Inc. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  12. "NORTHWEST BROADCASTERS: RECENT NEWS ARCHIVES - 2020". Northwest Broadcasters. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  13. "Notification of Consummation". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  14. "NORTHWEST BROADCASTERS - News". Northwest Broadcasters. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  15. RabbitEars.info. "KBCB BELLINGHAM, WA". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  16. RabbitEars TV Query for KBCB
  17. NBC News
  18. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
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