KFXK-TV

KFXK-TV (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Longview, Texas, United States, serving East Texas as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by White Knight Broadcasting, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Nexstar Media Group owner of Jacksonville-licensed NBC affiliate KETK-TV (channel 56) and Tyler-licensed low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KTPN-LD (channel 48), for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios on Richmond Road (near Texas Loop 323) in Tyler, while KFXK-TV's transmitter is located near FM 125 in rural northwestern Rusk County (northwest of New London).

"KFXL-LD" redirects here. Not to be confused with KFXL-TV, the Fox-affiliated television station in Lincoln, Nebraska.

KFXK-TV
CityLongview, Texas
Channels
BrandingFox 51
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
OperatorNexstar Media Group
(via SSA)
KTPN-LD, KETK-TV
History
First air date
September 9, 1984 (1984-09-09)
Former call signs
KLMG-TV (1984–1991)
KFXK (1991–2009)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
51 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Digital:
31 (UHF, 2006–2019)
  • Primary:
  • CBS (1984–1991)
  • Secondary:
  • UPN (1995–1997)
Call sign meaning
Fox
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70917
ERP845 kW
HAAT360.2 m (1,182 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°15′36.4″N 94°57′3.2″W
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.ketk.com
KFXL-LD
Translator of KFXK-TV
CityLufkin, Texas
Channels
Brandingsee KFXK-TV infobox
Programming
Subchannelssee KFXK-TV infobox
Ownership
Owner
  • White Knight Broadcasting
  • (Warwick Communications, Inc.)
OperatorNexstar Media Group
(via SSA)
see KFXK-TV infobox
History
First air date
1998 (1998)
Former call signs
K30CS (CP, 1989–1997)
KFXL-LP (1997–2012)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
30 (UHF, 1998–2012)
Call sign meaning
Fox Lufkin
Technical information
Facility ID70918
ERP15 kW
HAAT226 m (741 ft)[2]
Transmitter coordinates31°21′55″N 94°45′59″W

Although KFXK-TV operates a full-power signal, the broadcasting radius does not reach much of the southern part of the market. Therefore, it is relayed on low-power translator station KFXL-LD (UHF channel 29, also mapped to virtual channel 51) in Lufkin. This station's transmitter is located on SH 103 near Loop 287 northwest of Lufkin.

History

The station first signed on the air on September 9, 1984 as KLMG-TV; the station originally operated as a CBS affiliate, making it the first full-time affiliate of the network in the Tyler–Longview market since the short-lived KAEC-TV (channel 19) operated in Nacogdoches in the late 1960s. Until channel 51 signed on, CBS programming was relegated to joint primary status on KLTV (channel 7), which also juggled programming with NBC and ABC (the latter of which is now that station's sole affiliation) for many years.

Site of previous studios/offices for KLMG-TV, and original site of KFXK.

KLMG-TV made national news as its founding owner, Clara McLaughlin, was the first African American woman ever to own a television station in the United States.[3][4] McLaughlin bought a vacant school building located near Interstate 20 in Longview and had it renovated into a studio facility for the station. KLMG was intended to be part of a network of stations serving East Texas that would be known as the "East Texas Television Network." To this end, McLaughlin also held construction permits for KLNL on channel 19 in Nacogdoches, KLPH-TV on channel 42 in Paris, and KLDS on channel 20 in Denison. However, this plan did not come to fruition and none of the other stations ever signed on the air. KLMG wound up filing for bankruptcy just a few years later, and shut down its news department.

Former KFXK logo, used until 2008.

In April 1991, the station changed its call letters to KFXK; it also became the market's Fox affiliate; prior to the switch, viewers in the Tyler–Longview market were only able to receive Fox programming via either the network's then-Dallas owned-and-operated station KDAF (now a CW affiliate) or Shreveport affiliate KMSS-TV; those living in Houston County carried Waco affiliate KWKT-TV instead. Conversely, the switch left the market without a CBS affiliate for the next thirteen years; Max Media would later purchase KLSB (channel 19), a satellite of NBC affiliate KETK-TV (channel 56), and converted it into CBS affiliate KYTX in 2004. In the interim, CBS programming was provided on cable via Shreveport affiliate KSLA-TV, although some cable providers in the western portion of the market carried KDFW (between 1991 and 1995) or network-owned KTVT (between 1995 and 2004); cable systems in Houston County carried KBTX-TV instead. (KETK later signed on a low-power station on UHF channel 53, which assumed the KLSB call letters (which were later changed to KETK-LP) to serve as its repeater until it shut down in 2012.) By 1998, KFXK had signed on KFXL as a translator serving the Lufkin–Nacogdoches area. In January 2013, KFXL-LD migrated its operations to KETK and KFXK's studio facility in Tyler.

On April 24, 2013, the Communications Corporation of America announced the sale of its television stations, including KETK-TV, to Nexstar Broadcasting Group. KFXK and KTPN were planned be sold to Nexstar partner company Mission Broadcasting; in the case of KFXK, that station was being sold to Mission to comply with FCC duopoly rules. But on August 5, 2014, Mission withdrew its application to acquire KFXK.[5] Nexstar continues to operate KFXK and KLPN under a shared services agreement with sister station KETK.[6] The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.[7]

Nexstar completed a $4 million renovation of studio and office facilities that KFXK shares with KETK in November 2017. A dedication and reception was held on November 16, which included the presence of Nexstar chairman/president/CEO Perry Sook, as well as Leslie Roberts, an anchorwoman who worked for KETK in the late 1980s, among other attendees.[8]

Programming

Syndicated programming

Syndicated programs broadcast by KFXK-TV include The People's Court, Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Divorce Court, among others.

Newscasts
Further information: KETK-TV § News operation

KETK-TV produces 12½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 2½ hours each weekday) for KFXK-TV. As a CBS affiliate, the station made two attempts at producing local newscasts; both were subsequently canceled. In 1998, KETK-TV began producing a weeknight 9:00 p.m. newscast for KFXK under a news share agreement; the program was the first prime time newscast in the Tyler-Longview market. The newscast initially received strong ratings, garnering a 3 share in only a month and a half of its debut, however, ratings fell subsequently after its original anchors left the station. The newscast was plagued with logistical problems, when Fox Sports programming scheduled during prime time hours resulted in the delay of the newscast, causing KFXK to air the program on a tape delay to allow KETK to produce its own 10:00 p.m. newscast on schedule. This occasionally led to the same meteorologist being seen on both stations simultaneously, causing some viewer confusion and giving away the fact that the KFXK newscast was not always live every night. This, coupled with the declining ratings, eventually caused station management to cancel the newscast.

KETK restored a prime time newscast on KFXK on January 28, 2008, with the debut of a half-hour 9:00 p.m. newscast (titled Fox News East Texas), which airs only on Monday through Friday evenings. On April 23, 2010, KETK became the second television station in the Tyler–Longview market (after KYTX) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; the KFXK newscasts were included in the upgrade. KETK reportedly planned on producing a two-hour weekday morning newscast for channel 51 (to be titled Good Day East Texas), which would have debuted at the same time; a morning newscast did not debut on the station until September 2011, when the station launched a two-hour weekday newscast from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. (titled Fox 51 Today).

Technical information

KFXK-TV subchannels

KFXK-TV's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect Short name Programming[9][10]
51.1720p16:9KFXK-DTMain KFXK-TV programming / Fox
51.2KTPNSimulcast of KTPN-LD / MyNetworkTV
51.3480iEscapeIon Mystery
51.4LaffLaff

KFXL-LD subchannel
Channel Video Aspect Short name Programming
51.1720p16:9KFXK-DTMain KFXK-TV programming / Fox

Analog-to-digital conversion

KFXK launched a full-power digital signal on UHF channel 31 on July 30, 2006, the station began testing high definition broadcasts of Fox programming on October 20, 2006, with Fox programs broadcasting in that format full-time five days later on October 25. On February 1, 2008, Longview Cable Television added KFXK's HD feed and KLPN-LP on digital cable channels 250 and 252.

KFXK-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 51, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31,[11] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 51.

See also

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for KFXK-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "Antenna Height Above Average Terrain Calculations -- Results". Federal Communications Commission. n.d. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  3. Zook, Kristal Brent (26 February 2008). I See Black People: The Rise and Fall of African American-Owned Television and Radio. Nation Books. ISBN 9781560259992. LCCN 2007039612. OCLC 1035935506. OL 16905514M. Retrieved 15 February 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  4. Brown, Stacy M. (4 October 2021). "Clara McLaughlin, Florida Star and Georgia Star Publisher, Dies". The Washington Informer. ISSN 0741-9414. OCLC 60630464. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2022. After expressing her disdain for how television depicted women of color, McLaughlin purchased KLMG-TV, becoming the first Black woman to own and be the largest shareholder of a network-affiliated station.
  5. "CDBS Public Access> Application Search". Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Consummation Notice Archived January 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  8. Prichard, Cara (November 16, 2017). "KETK unveils $4 million news station". KETK-TV. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  9. "Digital TV Market Listing for KFXK". www.rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  10. "Digital TV Market Listing for KFXL-LD". www.rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  11. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

Further reading

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