KUVE-DT

KUVE-DT (channel 46) is a television station licensed to Green Valley, Arizona, United States, serving as the Tucson market's outlet for the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Douglas-licensed UniMás outlet KFTU-DT (channel 3). Both stations share studios on Forbes Boulevard in Tucson, while KUVE-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Bigelow.

KUVE-DT
Semi-satellite of KTVW-DT,
Phoenix, Arizona
CityGreen Valley, Arizona
Channels
Branding
  • Univision Arizona
  • UniMás Arizona (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KFTU-DT
History
Founded2000
First air date
January 5, 2001 (2001-01-05)
Former call signs
KXGR (2001–2003)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 46 (UHF, 2001–2008)
  • Digital:
  • 47 (UHF, until 2009)
  • 46 (UHF, 2009–2018)
Pax TV (2001–2003)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID63927
ERP185 kW
HAAT1,124 m (3,688 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°24′54″N 110°42′57.9″W
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
WebsiteUnivisionArizona.com

KUVE operates a low-power Class A translator station: KUVE-CD (channel 42), licensed to Tucson. This station's transmitter is located atop the Tucson Mountains, serving the northwest parts of the metropolitan area shielded from the primary station by Mount Lemmon. KUVE-DT is also rebroadcast on the second digital subchannel of KFTU-DT, whose transmitter is located on Juniper Flats Road northwest of Bisbee. Likewise, KFTU is rebroadcast on KUVE's second digital subchannel.

Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KUVE is considered a semi-satellite of KTVW-DT (channel 33) in Phoenix. It airs separate commercials and legal identifications but otherwise simulcasts all of KTVW's Univision programming and statewide newscasts produced in Phoenix. There is also a three-hour overnight segment of locally produced English-language programming on KUVE on Monday mornings, to comply with KUVE-CD's Class A license.[2]

History

KTVW began broadcasting to the Tucson area on November 1, 1980, when it built a translator on channel 40.[3] K40AC was displaced from the channel by the launch of KPOL-TV in 1985, moving to channel 52.[4] The call letters were changed to KUVE-LP in 1998.

Meanwhile, in 1983, four groups applied for Green Valley's channel 46, with their applications being designated for comparative hearing.[5] Sungilt Corporation got the nod and the construction permit on October 31, 1988, and the permit took the call letters KXGR in 1990. After Paxson Communications Corporation announced plans to operate and acquire KXGR alongside stations in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Charleston, West Virginia,[6] it was identified as an intended affiliate of Paxnet, but the station failed to materialize;[7] by the time of the network's August 1998 launch, it was tabbed to start in the second quarter of 1999.[8]

After twelve years, five expired construction permits and two transmitter location changes, KXGR applied for its license to cover on December 21, 2000, and signed on as a Pax affiliate on January 5, 2001, under program test authority. However, at the completion of the first day of program testing, the station's transmitter failed, and it was unable to return to the airwaves until June 1, and then, only at low power for a minimum of two hours a day. After ten days, the station was again forced to go dark, and after being threatened with license cancellation, KXGR advised the FCC on November 28, 2001, that they had resumed program testing.[9] The station was finally licensed on June 2, 2003.

Sungilt made two attempts to sell the station. Donald E. Ledwig agreed to buy KXGR for $15 million in early 2001, with $1 million of that going to Paxson.[10] The deal never received approval and fell apart after one year. In January 2002, shortly after resuming program testing, Sungilt agreed to sell the station to Univision. The sale was approved by the FCC in September 2003 and completed in November. The new owners changed the station's call sign to KUVE-TV, to match the low-power station's call sign.

Former logo, used until December 31, 2012.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KUVE-DT[11]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
46.1 720p16:9KUVE-DTMain KUVE-DT programming / Univision
46.2 KFTU-HDUniMás (KFTU-DT)
46.3 480i4:3getTVGetTV
46.4 16:9MysteryIon Mystery
46.5 Dabl
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

Translator
City of license Callsign Channel ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates
TucsonKUVE-CD 3615 kW577.8 m (1,896 ft)7083632°14′55.8″N 111°6′59.9″W

Analog-to-digital conversion

KUVE discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 46, on September 18, 2008. The station cited a lack of space at its transmitter site to accommodate both the analog and digital transmitters, an issue that could not be rectified as the transmitter building lies on United States Forest Service land; additionally, winter weather conditions rendered it impossible to perform work after October.[12] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 47 to channel 46.

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for KUVE-DT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes - Zap2it.com". Zap2It. September 1, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  3. Stern, Sherry (October 23, 1980). "Tucson to get Spanish TV outlet Nov. 1". The Arizona Daily Star. pp. 1A, 8A.
  4. Cattan, Leyla (September 26, 1984). "Tucson espera dos nuevas estaciones de TV" [Tucson awaits two new TV stations]. The Arizona Daily Star (in Spanish). p. A15.
  5. "4 broadcasting firms compete for Green Valley UHF station". The Arizona Daily Star. July 16, 1983. p. C7.
  6. "Paxson acquiring 3 stations". The Arizona Daily Star. September 17, 1997. p. 1E.
  7. "Family Network to debut in August". Tucson Citizen. November 20, 1997. p. 9B.
  8. Flick, A.J. (August 5, 1998). "Family-oriented network born; toddles here next year". Tucson Citizen. p. 5B.
  9. "KXGR Legal Action Information". FCC CDBS database. January 12, 2001. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
  10. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. January 8, 2001. p. 65.
  11. "RabbitEars query for KUVE-DT". www.rabbitears.info. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  12. "DTV TRANSITION STATUS REPORT". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 21, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
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