KCWX
Encyclopedia
KCWX is the MyNetworkTV
affiliate for San Antonio, Texas
, broadcasting on PSIP virtual channel
2 over their digital channel 5. The station is licensed to Fredricksburg
, with the transmitter located in Albert
, 50 miles (80.5 km) north of San Antonio. The station is owned by Corridor Television, and the location of the station's studio and master control facilities is at 1402 West Avenue near downtown Austin, though management of the station is based in offices along the Mopac Expressway on Austin
's north side. Although Fredericksburg is within in the Austin
DMA
, the station's signal covers the San Antonio area and Bexar County
.
Since KCWX-TV is broadcasting on digital channel 5, the signal reaches South of San Antonio and Southeast to Nixon, Texas, North to Lampassas and West to Junction, Texas.
The station airs on San Antonio Time Warner Cable
systems on cable channel 4, the area's actual TV station WOAI-TV
is on cable channel 3. An official KCWX-TV website is at kcwx.com, and the URL kcwx.tv is a redirect to kcwx.com.
affiliate for both San Antonio and Austin; in a rarity by modern standards (when most stations ask for a specific set of calls), the callsign was randomly assigned within the May 1998 FCC callsign change report.
, who were unable to watch the series' final season.
This led to many fans downloading illegal copies of the episodes from the Internet
or trading taped copies
with friends in other television markets. Although UPN frowned officially upon this practice, unofficially the network and its parent company, Paramount Pictures
, turned a "blind eye" in this instance due to the circumstances of the situation. In 2001, Time Warner Cable agreed to carry KBEJ and viewers in the market were once again able to view UPN programming.
Soon after The CW launched, Time Warner's Austin-area systems began blacking out CW programming on KCWX, as LIN Television proclaimed SyndEx
exclusivity for KNVA, on October 2, 2006. KCWX's regular schedule outside of CW hours was still available in Austin up until April 3, 2007, when Time Warner officially dropped KCWX from its Austin cable channel lineup.
During its four-year run as a CW affiliate, KCWX aired the Kids' WB
, and later The CW4Kids
, children's programming blocks in pattern. However, when KMYS took over the CW affiliation, the block now called Toonzai also moved to KMYS, who airs the block over two days (early Sunday and Monday mornings).
for Sinclair Broadcasting Group released in March 2010, that company disclosed that it had made an agreement to carry CW programming for the San Antonio area via KMYS beginning on September 1, 2010. The affiliation change was eventually moved up to August 30; at that time, MyNetworkTV
, which had been carried on KMYS, moved to KCWX.
KCWX's run as a CW affiliate ended on August 28, 2010 with the conclusion of the network's Friday primetime programming (which the station had delayed to Saturday night to accommodate a Major League Baseball
game). By that time, The CW had discontinued Sunday programming altogether. As a result, KCWX's last official day of its CW affiliation—August 29, 2010—was spent as an interim independent station carrying mostly time-shifted This TV
programming. With the affiliation switch, WWE SmackDown briefly returned to KCWX for the first time since 2008 when it was aired on The CW; it moved to cable channel Syfy
a month later. As had been the case with its CW affiliation, KCWX does not serve the Austin media market
, as KBVO
is that market's official MyNetworkTV affiliate.
KCWX is one of thirteen MyNetworkTV affiliates not to adopt the network's "blue TV" logo and/or branding style (the others being KAUT, KARZ-TV
, KFVE
, KPDX
, WBFS-TV
, WPME-TV, WSTR-TV
, KSMO-TV
, WPHL-TV
, (all three of which currently use the "blue TV" logo but not the branding style), KZJO, KRBK
, and Madison, Wisconsin
's Digital subchannel of WISC-TV
).
In early 2011, KCWX launched a new Web site, www.kcwx.com
bouts in a two hour format. The TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls is a banked track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas.
Digital channels>
Channel
Name
Programming
2.1
KCWX
Main KCWX programming
2.2
KCWX-DT2
This TV
Central Texas
Because it was granted an original construction permit
after the FCC
finalized the DTV
allotment plan on April 21, 1997 http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html, the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
. Instead, on June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KCWX was required to turn off its analog signal
and turn on its digital signal
(called a "flash-cut
").
KCWX elected to choose channel 5 as its final DTV channel selection http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf; however, it had to wait for KENS to turn off its analog signal before KCWX could turn on its digital signal, using PSIP
to display KCWX's virtual channel
as 2.
In late May 2009, in a filing with the FCC, Belo/Corridor stated that they would not have their digital broadcast signal ready to go on air on June 12, instead expecting it to be ready on July 10 due to weather delays. Cable viewers continued to view the station via Belo's direct fiber connection to the Time Warner Cable headend. Local cable viewers would continue to see KCWX because the cable company receives the KCWX signal via fiber. Corridor/Belo was able to negotiate with the tower installer to finish the tower work earlier than expected, and KCWX's digital signal finally signed on July 1, 2009. Shortly thereafter a digital subchannel
consisting of This TV
programming was launched on 2.2.
Since KCWX is operating on a VHF-low channel, KCWX filed with FCC to increase their power
from 23.7 kW to 82.9 kW. It also applied for two 300 watt, channel 8, fill-in digital translators — one in the immediate part of Austin and the other in the immediate part of San Antonio.
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate for San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, broadcasting on PSIP virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
2 over their digital channel 5. The station is licensed to Fredricksburg
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
, with the transmitter located in Albert
Albert, Texas
Albert, originally Martinsburg, is a ghost town southeast of Fredericksburg and west of the Blanco County line in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States...
, 50 miles (80.5 km) north of San Antonio. The station is owned by Corridor Television, and the location of the station's studio and master control facilities is at 1402 West Avenue near downtown Austin, though management of the station is based in offices along the Mopac Expressway on Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
's north side. Although Fredericksburg is within in the Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
DMA
DMA
DMA can refer to:* DMA , a defunct dance music magazine* Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, USA* Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark since 1989...
, the station's signal covers the San Antonio area and Bexar County
Bexar County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...
.
Since KCWX-TV is broadcasting on digital channel 5, the signal reaches South of San Antonio and Southeast to Nixon, Texas, North to Lampassas and West to Junction, Texas.
The station airs on San Antonio Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
systems on cable channel 4, the area's actual TV station WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV, virtual channel 4 , is the NBC affiliate television station serving the San Antonio, Texas metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas, with its studios located in downtown San Antonio....
is on cable channel 3. An official KCWX-TV website is at kcwx.com, and the URL kcwx.tv is a redirect to kcwx.com.
Establishment of channel 2
KCWX went on the air in 2000 as KBEJ, the UPNUPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate for both San Antonio and Austin; in a rarity by modern standards (when most stations ask for a specific set of calls), the callsign was randomly assigned within the May 1998 FCC callsign change report.
Early programming
KBEJ originally had a separate cable feed for Austin viewers. Under Belo, the KBEJ signal always originated from the company's headquarters in Dallas, but some of its programming was provided from KENS and content decisions were controlled from the KENS studios. KVUE provided the microwave link for the transmitter located in Stonewall and to the Austin cable system. Syndicated fare in general was at the time during the dual-market focus usually lower-value and older syndicated programming, in order to avoid Syndex blackouts in either market; since the station began to market exclusively to San Antonio the syndicated schedule has continued somewhat to air lower-profile programming, while the entire overnight schedule has been given over to paid programming. The KENS and KVUE master controls, located in their respective cities, were completely independent from the Dallas campus and KBEJ.Austin viewership and Star Trek: Voyager
When KBEJ initially signed on, Time Warner Cable was not willing to place KBEJ on its Austin cable system, This caused significant protest from fans of Star Trek: VoyagerStar Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
, who were unable to watch the series' final season.
This led to many fans downloading illegal copies of the episodes from the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or trading taped copies
Tape trading
Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of demo tapes encompassing musical genres such as punk, hardcore, and extreme metal. The practice which was most prevalent during the 1980s and 1990s, also saw people distribute recordings of live music shows...
with friends in other television markets. Although UPN frowned officially upon this practice, unofficially the network and its parent company, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, turned a "blind eye" in this instance due to the circumstances of the situation. In 2001, Time Warner Cable agreed to carry KBEJ and viewers in the market were once again able to view UPN programming.
Becoming an affiliate of The CW
On January 24, 2006, the WB and UPN networks announced they would merge to form The CW, starting in September 2006. On March 28, KBEJ was announced as the CW affiliate for San Antonio. While the station was also expected to serve as the new network's Austin affiliate, on April 18, it was announced that KNVA would also be joining The CW. On April 7, 2006, KBEJ's call letters changed to KCWX to reflect its new affiliation.Soon after The CW launched, Time Warner's Austin-area systems began blacking out CW programming on KCWX, as LIN Television proclaimed SyndEx
Syndication exclusivity
Syndication exclusivity is a federal law in the United States designed to protect a local television station's rights to syndicated television programs by granting exclusive rights to the station for that program in the local market, usually defined by a station's Nielsen DMA...
exclusivity for KNVA, on October 2, 2006. KCWX's regular schedule outside of CW hours was still available in Austin up until April 3, 2007, when Time Warner officially dropped KCWX from its Austin cable channel lineup.
During its four-year run as a CW affiliate, KCWX aired the Kids' WB
Kids' WB
Kids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
, and later The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids is a Saturday morning cartoon block on The CW Television Network that premiered on May 24, 2008 in the place of Kids' WB...
, children's programming blocks in pattern. However, when KMYS took over the CW affiliation, the block now called Toonzai also moved to KMYS, who airs the block over two days (early Sunday and Monday mornings).
Switch to MyNetworkTV
In the 2009 annual reportAnnual report
An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance...
for Sinclair Broadcasting Group released in March 2010, that company disclosed that it had made an agreement to carry CW programming for the San Antonio area via KMYS beginning on September 1, 2010. The affiliation change was eventually moved up to August 30; at that time, MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, which had been carried on KMYS, moved to KCWX.
KCWX's run as a CW affiliate ended on August 28, 2010 with the conclusion of the network's Friday primetime programming (which the station had delayed to Saturday night to accommodate a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
game). By that time, The CW had discontinued Sunday programming altogether. As a result, KCWX's last official day of its CW affiliation—August 29, 2010—was spent as an interim independent station carrying mostly time-shifted This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
programming. With the affiliation switch, WWE SmackDown briefly returned to KCWX for the first time since 2008 when it was aired on The CW; it moved to cable channel Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
a month later. As had been the case with its CW affiliation, KCWX does not serve the Austin media market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
, as KBVO
KBVO
KBVO is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Austin, Texas that is licensed to Llano. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter eight miles southeast of the city near the intersection of TX 71 and Llano County Road 307...
is that market's official MyNetworkTV affiliate.
KCWX is one of thirteen MyNetworkTV affiliates not to adopt the network's "blue TV" logo and/or branding style (the others being KAUT, KARZ-TV
KARZ-TV
KARZ-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central Arkansas. It is licensed to Little Rock. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter on Shinall Mountain near the Chenal Valley section of Little Rock...
, KFVE
KFVE
KFVE is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the state of Hawaii that is licensed to Honolulu. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in Palehua...
, KPDX
KPDX
KPDX is the MyNetworkTV-affiliate serving the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 30. In addition, it is seen on channel 13 on most local cable TV systems....
, WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for South Florida that is licensed to Miami. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Miramar. Owned by the CBS Corporation, the station is sister to CBS affiliate WFOR-TV and the two share...
, WPME-TV, WSTR-TV
WSTR-TV
WSTR-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Ohio, Southeastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. Licensed to Cincinnati, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in the College Hill section of the...
, KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV, virtual channel 62, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Independence, Missouri...
, WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
, (all three of which currently use the "blue TV" logo but not the branding style), KZJO, KRBK
KRBK
KRBK, channel 49, is a primary Fox/secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Osage Beach, Missouri and serving the city of Springfield and Southwest Missouri. The station's owner is Koplar Communications, founding owner of KPLR-TV in St...
, and Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
's Digital subchannel of WISC-TV
WISC-TV
WISC-TV is the CBS affiliate television station for Madison, Wisconsin. The station is the flagship of Madison-based Morgan Murphy Media, and has been affiliated with CBS since its launch on June 24, 1956...
).
In early 2011, KCWX launched a new Web site, www.kcwx.com
TXRD: Lonestar Rollergirls
In January 2011, KCWX began producing and airing the TXRD Lonestar RollergirlsTXRD Lonestar Rollergirls
TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls is an Austin, Texas based all-girl banked-track roller derby league. Founded in 2001, TXRD is one of several leagues considered responsible for the modern roller derby revival. It is skater owned and operated...
bouts in a two hour format. The TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls is a banked track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas.
Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed. KCWX broadcasts on digital channel 5.This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
Central Texas
Because it was granted an original construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
after the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
finalized the DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
allotment plan on April 21, 1997 http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html, the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
. Instead, on June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KCWX was required to turn off its analog signal
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
and turn on its digital signal
Digital signal
A digital signal is a physical signal that is a representation of a sequence of discrete values , for example of an arbitrary bit stream, or of a digitized analog signal...
(called a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
").
KCWX elected to choose channel 5 as its final DTV channel selection http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf; however, it had to wait for KENS to turn off its analog signal before KCWX could turn on its digital signal, using PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
to display KCWX's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 2.
In late May 2009, in a filing with the FCC, Belo/Corridor stated that they would not have their digital broadcast signal ready to go on air on June 12, instead expecting it to be ready on July 10 due to weather delays. Cable viewers continued to view the station via Belo's direct fiber connection to the Time Warner Cable headend. Local cable viewers would continue to see KCWX because the cable company receives the KCWX signal via fiber. Corridor/Belo was able to negotiate with the tower installer to finish the tower work earlier than expected, and KCWX's digital signal finally signed on July 1, 2009. Shortly thereafter a digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
consisting of This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
programming was launched on 2.2.
Since KCWX is operating on a VHF-low channel, KCWX filed with FCC to increase their power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
from 23.7 kW to 82.9 kW. It also applied for two 300 watt, channel 8, fill-in digital translators — one in the immediate part of Austin and the other in the immediate part of San Antonio.