KPYX explained

Callsign:KPYX
City:San Francisco, California
Logo Upright:.9
Logo Alt:Two lines of text in a bolded sans serif. The top line has the letter "K P I X +", with the "K" colored light gray, "P I X" colored black, and the "+" colored light blue. The smaller bottom line of text, colored black, reads "44 CABLE 12" and is aligned with "P I X".
Branding:KPIX+ 44 Cable 12
Digital:28 (UHF)
Virtual:44
Owner:CBS News and Stations
Licensee:San Francisco Television Station KBCW Inc.
Country:United States
Callsign Meaning:Brand extension of KPIX
Sister Stations:KPIX-TV
Erp:1,000 kW
Haat:490.30NaN0
Facility Id:69619
Coordinates:37.7553°N -122.4528°W
Licensing Authority:FCC

KPYX (channel 44), branded KPIX+, is an independent television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside KPIX-TV (channel 5), the market's CBS owned-and-operated station. The two stations share studios at Broadway and Battery Street, just north of San Francisco's Financial District; KPYX's transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower.

As KBHK, channel 44 was one of the UHF stations built by Kaiser Broadcasting and one of just two commercial UHF stations in the Bay Area to survive a boom-and-bust cycle of new stations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was acquired by United Television in 1982 and was one of the launch owned-and-operated stations for the United Paramount Network in 1995. The station has been under its present ownership since 2001 and, as KBCW, was part of The CW from its 2006 launch until 2023, when CBS withdrew its eight affiliates from the network after selling its ownership stake to Nexstar Media Group. Together with a call sign change to KPYX, the station launched prime time and morning local news after leaving The CW.

History

Kaiser, Field, and Chris-Craft ownership

On November 14, 1962, Kaiser Broadcasting, a division of Oakland-based Kaiser Industries and owner of San Francisco radio station KFOG (104.5 FM), obtained a construction permit to build channel 44 in San Francisco. Before the construction permit bore the call letters KBHK, it was originally KFOG-TV and then KHJK-TV, in honor of Kaiser Industries founder Henry J. Kaiser.[1]

KBHK-TV debuted January 2, 1968.[2] It had been intended that Kaiser sign on two stations at once, with WKBF-TV in Cleveland also planned to launch the same day (weather delays in Cleveland pushed back its launch). Channel 44's flagship local program was Tonight in San Francisco.[3] The studios at 420 Taylor Street had a broadcasting heritage that predated channel 44 by decades; the facility was built for NBC and its San Francisco station, KPO/KNBC/KNBR, and was also used for a time by KGO. KGO moved to new radio and television quarters in the 1950s and KNBR to Fox Plaza in 1967, leaving the facility vacant.[4]

With channel 44, Kaiser became the latest broadcaster to enter what was then a crowded, meager existence on the UHF dial in the Bay Area. By 1968, three other UHF stations operated in San Francisco itself alongside one in San Jose (KGSC) and one educational outlet in San Mateo, the underpowered KCSM-TV. In 1966, Concord's KCFT-TV channel 42 had existed for all of seven months. With signals that were often hindered by the region's hilly terrain, ratings were low, and all but children and sports fans were hard gets for the stations. KBHK-TV was no exception; three live entertainment programs had failed by 1969, as had a live 10 p.m. newscast,[5] but ratings were increasing.[6] However, as channels 20, 32 and 38 all sank under the weight of financial losses, it was Kaiser's station that remained afloat and operating.[7] Originally broadcasting from San Bruno Mountain, KBHK-TV moved to Sutro Tower upon its completion, with the San Bruno mast used to broadcast KDTV on channel 60 when it started in 1975.[8]

Kaiser Broadcasting merged with Chicago-based Field Communications in 1973 as part of a joint venture between the companies. In 1977, Kaiser sold its interest in the stations to Field for $42.625 million, making Field the sole owner of KBHK.[9] Field also retained the headquarters of its broadcast division in San Francisco. After Field put its stations up for sale in 1982, KBHK was sold to United Television, a division of Chris-Craft Industries, in 1983.[10] United offered $50 million to KQED to switch channel 9 and 44, moving the commercial station to VHF, in 1984; the offer was rejected as too low.[11]

After nearly 25 years at 420 Taylor Street, KBHK moved to 650 California Street in 1992.[12] The station had been looking to move out for some time; in 1988, it had reached a deal with KQED to purchase its former studios when it relocated,[13] but it changed its mind and opted to default on the purchase.[14] The station's traditional focus on prime time movies waned in the early 1990s as channel 44 acquired more first-run syndication, as a new crop of higher-budget shows appeared on the market.[15]

As a UPN affiliate

In 1993, Chris-Craft/United Television partnered with Paramount Pictures (which would merge with Viacom in 1994) to launch the United Paramount Network (UPN), with the United Television independent stations becoming charter outlets of the network when it launched on January 16, 1995.[16]

In 2000, Viacom bought Chris-Craft's 50% ownership interest in UPN (which Chris-Craft had wholly owned, until Viacom acquired a stake in the network in 1996). On August 12 of that year, Chris-Craft sold its UPN stations to the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of News Corporation for $5.5 billion;[17] the deal was finalized on July 31, 2001. The deal created immediate ownership cap problems for Fox, which sought to have duopolies in markets where it already owned Fox stations; further, Fox could not convert KBHK to the Fox network because KTVU had a long-term affiliation agreement.[18] Similarly, Viacom, which had purchased CBS and KPIX a year earlier, wanted to have duopolies in more markets.[19] As a result, Fox traded KBHK-TV to Viacom in exchange for KTXH in Houston and WDCA in Washington, D.C., which gave Fox duopolies in those markets. The FCC approved the deal in August 2001 on the condition that Viacom sell one of its San Francisco radio stations.[20] After the sale was consummated, KBHK moved from California Street to Grey Rock, the KPIX studios on Battery Street.

As a CW affiliate

On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation (which had been created as a result of the split of Viacom on December 31, 2005) announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW; the day of the announcement, it was revealed that 11 of CBS Corporation's 15 UPN affiliates, including KBHK, would become CW stations.[21] [22] To reflect the new affiliation, the call letters were changed from KBHK to KBCW on July 1, 2006.[23]

On December 4, 2019, CBS Corporation and Viacom remerged into ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global).[24]

Return to independence

Nexstar Media Group acquired majority ownership of The CW on October 3, 2022.[25] Under the agreement, CBS was given the right to pull its affiliations from KBCW and its seven other CW stations. CBS announced it would exercise that right on May 5, 2023, disaffiliating KBCW from the network at the end of August and returning the station to independent status, instigating a series of network affiliation changes nationwide.[26] The CW affiliation was moved to KRON-TV, itself owned by Nexstar.[27]

On July 18, 2023, CBS News and Stations filed a request to change KBCW's call letters to KPYX as of September 1, 2023.[28] The new call sign serves as a brand extension of KPIX-TV, with KPYX concurrently rebranded as "KPIX+".[29]

Local programming

Sports

When channel 44 launched, it was the home of the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Athletics.[30] The A's aired on KBHK from 1968 to 1972[31] and again from 1982 to 1984,[32] [33] while the Warriors broadcast on channel 44 from 1968 to and again from 1981 to 1984.[34] [35] The station also aired three televised games in the last season of the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals in 1976,[36] preseason games from the NFL's San Francisco 49ers in 1973,[37] and the United States Football League's Oakland Invaders.[38] More recently, in 2022, the station aired Bay Area Panthers indoor football home games.[39]

Newscasts

KBHK briefly produced a nightly newscast in the late 1960s, which was canceled due to low ratings.

On March 3, 2008, KPIX began producing a nightly half-hour prime time newscast at 10 p.m. for KBCW; this program competed against KTVU's longer-established, hour-long newscast.[40] In July 2014, the weeknight newscasts were renamed Bay Area Nightbeat. While the newscast came to an end on December 6, 2019, the station provided an hour of CBSN Bay Area weeknights at 10 until cancelling it in June 2020. In January 2012, KPIX-TV started a short-lived hour-long extension of its weekend morning newscast for KBCW airing on Sundays at 8:30 am, which ended in 2015.[41]

A 10 p.m. newscast was reintroduced in July 2022 as part of the launch of the CBS News Now format.[42] Coinciding with the relaunch as an independent station in 2023, this was replaced with prime time news at 8 and 9 pm, and the station launched a morning newscast from 7 to 9 am.[43]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Channel! scope="col"
Res.AspectShort nameProgramming
44.1KPYX-DT Main KPYX programming
44.2Nest The Nest
44.3MeTV MeTV
44.5QVC 2 QVC2
4.3480i 16:9 Rewind Rewind TV (KRON-DT3)
4.4TBD TBD (KRON-DT4)

Analog-to-digital conversion

KBHK-DT began broadcasting on channel 45 on April 15, 1999.[44] KBCW shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 44, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[45]

In 2019, KBCW relocated to digital channel 28 as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation.

Notes and References

  1. News: Newton . Dwight . March 13, 1966 . Kaiser TV On the Way . II:5 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72559354/kaiser-tv-on-the-way/ . live .
  2. News: Newton . Dwight . January 2, 1968 . Channel 44 Opens Today . 55 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85999910/channel-44-opens-today/ . live .
  3. News: Newton . Dwight . October 16, 1967 . New KBHK Warms Up . 19 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72559639/new-kbhk-warms-up/ . live .
  4. News: Newton . Dwight . December 6, 1967 . New Life at 420 Taylor . 75 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203749/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72559751/new-life-at-420-taylor/ . live .
  5. News: Newton . Dwight . April 27, 1969 . Year of failure for high-number television . B5 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86000208/year-of-failure-for-high-number/ . live .
  6. News: Newton . Dwight . May 8, 1969 . The Year of The Brochure . 37 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203808/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86000458/the-year-of-the-brochure/ . live .
  7. News: Newton . Dwight . March 16, 1972 . A Reborning At KEMO-TV . 19 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86000527/a-reborning-at-kemo-tv/ . live .
  8. News: Newton . Dwight . August 10, 1975 . Spanish station: TViva!! . C10 . San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203803/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84875886/spanish-station-tviva/ . live .
  9. News: . January 31, 1977 . Station sales rise with curve of air billings . 23 . Broadcasting . September 26, 2021 . March 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210308042607/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1977/BC-1977-01-31.pdf . live .
  10. News: Mann . Bill . July 26, 1983 . Sales of KDIA and KBHK hold promise for Bay Area . C-6 . Oakland Tribune . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203749/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86001289/sales-of-kdia-and-kbhk-hold-promise-for/ . live .
  11. News: May 24, 1985 . KQED to study UHF signals . B10 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203749/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86001382/kqed-to-study-uhf-signals/ . live .
  12. News: Calandra . Thom . August 16, 1992 . It's an office renter's market . E-1, E-6 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203753/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86016779/its-an-office-renters-market/ . live .
  13. News: Watson . Lloyd . October 28, 1988 . KQED Finds a New Home, Three Times Bigger . C3 . San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. News: Caen . Herb . November 26, 1991 . The Rambling Wreck . D1 . San Francisco Chronicle.
  15. News: Channel 44 rolls out a syndicated lineup. January 13, 1993. C-1. Bill. Mann. Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. Newspapers.com. February 18, 2024.
  16. News: October 27, 1993 . Paramount Plans to Begin Fifth TV Network in 1995 . A1 . San Francisco Chronicle.
  17. News: Hofmeister . Sallie . August 12, 2000 . News Corp. to Buy Chris-Craft Parent for $5.5 Billion, Outbidding Viacom . Los Angeles Times . March 23, 2011 . October 4, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232639/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/12/business/fi-3272 . live .
  18. News: Trigoboff . Dan . August 13, 2001 . Fox swaps for a pair of duops . 9 . Broadcasting & Cable . . September 26, 2021 . March 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210308034433/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-2001/BC-2001-08-13.pdf . live .
  19. News: McConnell . Bill . Ault . Susanne . July 30, 2001 . Fox TV's 'triopoly' strategy . 5, 6 . Broadcasting & Cable . September 26, 2021 . March 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210308023450/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-2001/BC-2001-07-30.pdf . live .
  20. News: McConnell . Bill . October 26, 2001 . FCC clears Fox, Viacom trade . Broadcasting & Cable . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203801/https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-clears-fox-viacom-trade-90127 . live .
  21. Web site: Seid . Jessica . January 24, 2006 . 'Gilmore Girls' meet 'Smackdown'; CW Network to combine WB, UPN in CBS-Warner venture beginning in September . . CNN . August 3, 2020 . March 16, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170316043531/http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/cbs_warner/ . live .
  22. Web site: Carter . Bill . January 24, 2006 . UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network . . February 22, 2017 . October 17, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017035638/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/business/media/24cnd-network.html?bl . live .
  23. News: Mann . Bill . June 25, 2006 . Q Tube . The Press Democrat . . ProQuest.
  24. Web site: Weprin . Alex . December 4, 2019 . Bob Bakish's Memo to ViacomCBS Staff: Merger "a Historic Moment" . April 7, 2020 . The Hollywood Reporter . en . April 6, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200406033606/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bob-bakishs-memo-viacomcbs-staff-merger-a-historic-moment-1259584 . live .
  25. Web site: Hayes . Dade . October 3, 2022 . New Day Dawns For Broadcast TV As Nexstar Closes Deal For Control Of The CW . January 17, 2023 . Deadline . en-US . October 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014023432/https://deadline.com/2022/10/nexstar-closes-deal-for-control-of-the-cw-mark-pedowitz-exits-top-job-1235133428/ . live .
  26. News: Eight CBS Stations To Ditch CW And Go Independent This Fall. Deadline. May 5, 2023. May 5, 2023.
  27. News: Vaziri . Aidin . Major change is coming to this beloved Bay Area TV station . June 29, 2023 . . June 15, 2023.
  28. News: Form 380 - Change Request. July 18, 2023. Federal Communications Commission. July 18, 2023.
  29. CBS to transition eight company-owned stations from affiliates of The CW to independents on Friday, Sept. 1 . Mike . Nelson . August 30, 2023 . CBS News and Stations . September 2, 2023.
  30. News: November 17, 1967 . Finley's Radio-Video Pact Worth Million . 53 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203750/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85999815/finleys-radio-video-pact-worth-million/ . live .
  31. News: Gordon . Frank . March 7, 1973 . Frankly Speaking . 9A . The Register . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203751/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86016089/frankly-speaking/ . live .
  32. News: Bergman . Ron . March 26, 1982 . Television war brewing . F-3 . Oakland Tribune . September 26, 2021 . September 27, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203811/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86015570/television-war-brewing/ . live .
  33. News: Bergman . Ron . November 8, 1984 . A's games will switch to Channel 5 . E-4 . Oakland Tribune . September 26, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171419/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86016607/as-games-will-switch-to-channel-5/ . live .
  34. News: September 18, 1981 . Oakland A's switch TV to Channel 44 . F1 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171422/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86015767/oakland-as-switch-tv-to-channel-44/ . live .
  35. News: July 18, 1984 . Hoop happenings . F9 . San Francisco Examiner . September 26, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171436/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86016514/hoop-happenings/ . live .
  36. News: January 14, 1976 . Seals on TV . 27 . Contra Costa Times . September 25, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926065712/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86000910/seals-on-tv/ . live .
  37. News: Foster . Bob . August 10, 1973 . 49ers Put Channel 44 In the TV Big Time . 20 . The Times . September 24, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171431/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86015894/49ers-put-channel-44-in-the-tv-big-time/ . live .
  38. News: Cooney . Frank . March 18, 1983 . Invaders finally make TV debut . F1, F3 . San Francisco Examiner . September 25, 2021 . September 26, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171421/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86016410/invaders-finally-make-tv-debut/ . live .
  39. Web site: Bay Area Panthers announce broadcast partners for 2022 season. March 21, 2022. Michael. Hahn. bayareapanthers.com. July 10, 2022. July 10, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220710082335/https://bayareapanthers.com/news/2022/3/21/broadcastpartners.aspx. live.
  40. Web site: February 23, 2008 . KPIX San Francisco launches news on KBCW . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150403140816/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/20154/kpix-san-francisco-launches-news-on-kbcw . April 3, 2015.
  41. News: KPIX Producing KBCW Sunday Morning News. September 26, 2021. January 4, 2012. TVNewsCheck. September 26, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210926231013/https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/kpix-producing-kbcw-sunday-morning-news/. live.
  42. Web site: CBS-Owned Stations Debut Primetime News in Ten Markets. Malone. Michael. Broadcasting & Cable. July 21, 2022. July 21, 2022.
  43. News: CBS To Transition Eight Stations From CW To Independents. August 30, 2023. TVNewsCheck. August 31, 2023.
  44. News: Bumpy digital ride for KBHK-DT. August 2, 1999. Broadcasting & Cable. 32. Andrew. Bowser. . September 26, 2021. March 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308023656/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1999/BC-1999-08-02.pdf. live.
  45. Web site: May 23, 2006 . DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf . August 29, 2013 . August 29, 2021 . Federal Communications Commission.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "KPYX".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.