KFTV-DT

KFTV-DT, virtual and UHF digital channel 21, is a Univision owned-and-operated television station serving Fresno, California, United States that is licensed to Hanford. The station is owned by the Univision Local Media subsidiary of Univision Communications, as part of a duopoly with Porterville-licensed UniMás owned-and-operated station KTFF-DT (channel 61). The two stations share studios on Univision Plaza near the corner of North Palm and West Herndon avenues in northwestern Fresno; KFTV's transmitter is located on Blue Ridge in rural northwestern Tulare County.

For other uses, see FTV (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with WFTV.

KFTV-DT
Hanford/Fresno, California
United States
CityHanford, California
ChannelsDigital: 21 (UHF)
Virtual: 21 (PSIP)
BrandingUnivision 21 (general)
Noticias 21 (newscasts)
SloganLa que nos Une
(The one that unites us)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerUnivision Communications
(KFTV License Partnership, G.P.)
KTFF-DT
History
First air date
1972 (1972)[1]
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
21 (UHF, 1972–2009)
Digital:
20 (UHF, until 2020)
SIN (1972–1987)
Call sign meaning
  • Futura de TeleVisión
  • (Future of TeleVision)
  • -or-
  • Fresno TeleVision
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34439
ERP316 kW
HAAT610 m (2,001 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°4′22″N 119°25′53″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websiteunivisionfresno.com

History
Former logo, used until December 31, 2012.

The UHF channel 21 allocation in the Fresno market was originally licensed to KDAS-TV, which signed on in 1962 as an English-language independent station; KDAS was hampered by low viewership as only a small percentage of Fresno area television sets were even capable of receiving UHF stations since set manufacturers were not required to equip televisions with UHF tuners until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1961, with UHF tuners not included on all newer sets until 1964. The station survived for two years before ceasing operations in 1964. The station's license was then sold in 1965; that year, channel 21 briefly returned to the air as independent station KSJV-TV.

In 1971, the Spanish International Network (the forerunner of Univision) acquired a construction permit to build a new television station on UHF channel 21; KFTV first signed on the air in the summer of 1972.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[2]
21.1720p16:9KFTV-DTMain KFTV programming / Univision
21.2480i4:3getTVGetTV
21.316:9ESCAPECourt TV Mystery
21.4GRITGrit
21.5CrimeTrue Crime Network
21.6720pUNM HDSimulcast of KTFF-DT / UniMás

Analog-to-digital conversion

KFTV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12, 2009, the official date in 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 20.[3] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 21.

Spectrum auction repack

KFTV was one of nearly 1,000 television stations in the United States that had to change their digital channel allocation in the spectrum auction repack in 2019–2020. KFTV reallocated to UHF channel 21 in phase ten of the repack.[4]

News operation

KFTV-DT presently broadcasts seven hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour each on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays); in addition, the station produces the public affairs program Arriba Valle Central, which airs weekday mornings from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m.

The station's news department, whose newscasts are currently titled Noticias 21, won two Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio and Television News Directors Association in the "Best Newscast" in 2001 and 2007; the station also won Regional News Emmys for "Best Newscast" in May 2009, for "Best Evening Newscast" in June 2011 and for "Best Sports Weekly Program" for Accion Deportiva Extra.

In late December 2010, KFTV became the first Spanish-language television station in the Fresno market and the third station overall (after Fox affiliate KMPH-TV (channel 26) and ABC owned-and-operated station KFSN-TV (channel 30)) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.

References
  1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says July (no date given), while the Television and Cable Factbook says September 20.
  2. RabbitEars TV Query for KFTV
  3. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  4. "Repack Plan For Univision In Hanford, CA". Ericson, Trip. RabbitEars. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
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