KTFK-DT

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KTFK-DT
CityStockton, California
Channels
BrandingUniMás 64
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KUVS-DT, KEZT-CD
History
First air date
November 12, 1987 (36 years ago) (1987-11-12)
Former call signs
  • KFTL (1987–2004)
  • KTFK-TV (2004–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 64 (UHF, 1987–2009)
  • Digital: 62 (UHF, until 2009)
Independent (1987–2004)
Call sign meaning
Telefutura K
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID20871
ERP850 kW
HAAT595 m (1,952 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38°14′24″N 121°30′7″W / 38.24000°N 121.50194°W / 38.24000; -121.50194
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
WebsiteUniMás

KTFK-DT (channel 64) is a television station licensed to Stockton, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language UniMás network to the Sacramento area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Modesto-licensed Univision outlet KUVS-DT, channel 19 (and its Sacramento-based translator KEZT-CD, channel 23). The two stations share studios on Arden Way near Cal Expo in Sacramento; KTFK's transmitter is located near Walnut Grove, California.

History[edit]

The station first signed on the air on November 12, 1987, as KFTL, operating as an independent station; it was founded and owned by Family Radio, a non-profit organization headed by Harold Camping that ran traditional non-commercial Christian radio stations and over the years taught conservative Calvinistic reformed Christian theology.

Because of the lack of available programming from the syndication market that complies with Family Radio's programming philosophy, KFTL instead ran religious programming about six hours a day, with programming from the Home Shopping Network filling the remainder of the schedule.

In the late 1990s, it began running a few hours of public domain movies and sitcoms each day. Family Radio never grew into television as planned; as a result, the organization sold KFTL in 2003 to Univision Communications, which turned it into a Spanish-language station as an owned-and-operated station of Telefutura (which was relaunched as UniMás in January 2013). The station also modified its call letters to KTFK. As a result, KTFK became the fourth station in the Sacramento market overall to be owned and operated by its affiliated network.

Family Radio later bought a San Francisco low-power station, K30BI, which now carries the call letters KCNZ-CD. Initially, KCNZ-CD was reprogrammed and carried similar programming to that which aired on the former KFTL.

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KTFK-DT[2]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
19.2 720p 16:9 KUVS-HD Univision (KUVS-DT)
64.1 KTFK-DT Main KTFK-DT programming / UniMás
64.3 480i 4:3 getTV Get
64.4 16:9 GRIT Grit
64.5 ShopLC Shop LC
58.3 480i 16:9 KQCA-D3 Estrella TV (KQCA-DT3)
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

There is no 64.2 on this multiplex, as it is broadcast from KUVS-DT.

On September 27, 2021, a new digital network called Digi-TV was launched on KFTK's fifth subchannel (64.5).[3] It was short-lived as the network ceased operations on August 1, 2022.

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

KTFK-TV ended transmission of analog television over UHF channel 64 on May 8, 2009, due to equipment failure, and informed the FCC there was insufficient time before the June 12 shutoff to do repairs.[4] Despite losing its analog transmitter, KTFK continued digital broadcasting on its transitional digital channel 62, until the June 12 cutoff. On June 13, 2009, it began broadcasting on its permanent DTV channel, UHF channel 26.[5]

As part of the analog-to-digital transition, KTFK-TV moved its broadcast location from an antenna on Mount Diablo, which it shared with KTNC-TV, to an antenna on the KXTV/KOVR candelabra in Walnut Grove. This move was necessary because transmissions from Mount Diablo can be received in both the San Francisco and Sacramento markets, and there were no channels remaining for KTFK to use that would be free of interference in both markets. Moving broadcasting to Walnut Grove prevented potential interference with San Francisco Bay Area stations.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTFK-DT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for KTFK-DT". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  3. ^ "What is Digi TV? Mysterious new broadcast network tied to foreign company surfaces". The Desk. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sacramento, CA - OTA". June 4, 2023.
  5. ^ http://transition.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/signal-loss-report.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ KTFK Statement in Support of Third Round DTV Channel Election