KDTN
Encyclopedia
KDTN is a Daystar
-owned television station
, under the license of Community Television Educators of DFW Inc. Broadcasting its digital signal on channel 43, the station is licensed to Denton, Texas
.
Dallas public television station KERA-TV
first expressed interest in establishing a station on channel 2 in May 1977. Several other groups applied for the frequency and a long fight for a construction permit ensued with the FCC. After several other applicants dropped out, KERA worked out an agreement with the lone remaining applicant in 1984 to gain the right to put the station on the air. As part of the agreement, KERA put a studio on the campus of the University of North Texas in Denton for KDTN and agreed to run some programming produced by the school. KDTN signed on in 1990. KERA used it primarily to run educational and instructional programming that had previously filled much of KERA's daytime schedule. KERA then shifted to offering primarily entertainment programming. KDTN was referred to as "KERA 2" in the early 2000s, although no official change in calls was made.
In 2004, KERA sold KDTN to Daystar
. When the station was put up for sale, this gave Daystar an opportunity to get a better signal in the market, as a result, Daystar sold KMPX
-Channel 29 to purchase KDTN, and became a Daystar-owned station in 2004. However, by special arrangement, KERA announced plans to continue its digital programming on KDTN's digital signal, so that the bandwidth on its main KERA digital signal could be freed up for HDTV broadcasts. As KERA only carries one digital subchannel service, PBS World
over KERA to date and KERA has not subscribed to additional subchannel services from PBS or American Public Television
, KERA has not needed additional subchannel bandwidth from KDTN.
KDTN has been in a carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable
since September 2008. Time Warner has replaced KDTN with a test pattern
on the analog part of the cable system, however Daystar is viewable on QAM digital cable. The station has since been reduced to airing only in the digital tier over Channel 350; however as KDTN does not deviate from Daystar's master schedule, this is likely the network's satellite feed directly rather than KDTN.
is used to display KDTN's virtual channel
as 2 on digital television receivers.
Daystar Television Network
The Daystar Television Network is an American evangelical Christian television religious broadcasting network headquartered near Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Bedford, Texas...
-owned 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...
, under the license of Community Television Educators of DFW Inc. Broadcasting its digital signal on channel 43, the station is licensed to Denton, Texas
Denton, Texas
The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...
.
History
In 1948, the owner of KIXL-AM/FM in Dallas applied for a station on channel 2. It would have shared the KIXL call letters. The station never went on the air. By the time the television license freeze was lifted in 1952, Channel 2 had been reassigned to Denton and as an educational channel. That didn't stop Harwell V. Shepard, the owner of KDNT-AM/FM, from applying for a commercial license for the station. The application was declined.Dallas public television station KERA-TV
KERA-TV
KERA-TV, virtual channel 13 , is the PBS member station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Licensed to Dallas, it broadcasts from a transmitter located in Cedar Hill. However, it also serves as the default PBS station for the Abilene, San Angelo and Tyler/Longview/Lufkin/Nacogdoches markets, as...
first expressed interest in establishing a station on channel 2 in May 1977. Several other groups applied for the frequency and a long fight for a construction permit ensued with the FCC. After several other applicants dropped out, KERA worked out an agreement with the lone remaining applicant in 1984 to gain the right to put the station on the air. As part of the agreement, KERA put a studio on the campus of the University of North Texas in Denton for KDTN and agreed to run some programming produced by the school. KDTN signed on in 1990. KERA used it primarily to run educational and instructional programming that had previously filled much of KERA's daytime schedule. KERA then shifted to offering primarily entertainment programming. KDTN was referred to as "KERA 2" in the early 2000s, although no official change in calls was made.
In 2004, KERA sold KDTN to Daystar
Daystar Television Network
The Daystar Television Network is an American evangelical Christian television religious broadcasting network headquartered near Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Bedford, Texas...
. When the station was put up for sale, this gave Daystar an opportunity to get a better signal in the market, as a result, Daystar sold KMPX
KMPX
KMPX, virtual channel 29, is a television station in Decatur, Texas, serving the Dallas/Fort Worth market as an Estrella TV affiliate broadcasting on UHF digital channel 30. KMPX is owned by José and Lenard Liberman's broadcasting firm, Liberman Broadcasting....
-Channel 29 to purchase KDTN, and became a Daystar-owned station in 2004. However, by special arrangement, KERA announced plans to continue its digital programming on KDTN's digital signal, so that the bandwidth on its main KERA digital signal could be freed up for HDTV broadcasts. As KERA only carries one digital subchannel service, PBS World
PBS World
PBS World is a 24-hour United States over-the-air digital subchannel showing public TV non-fiction, science, nature, news, public affairs and documentaries...
over KERA to date and KERA has not subscribed to additional subchannel services from PBS or American Public Television
American Public Television
American Public Television is the largest syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States.-History:...
, KERA has not needed additional subchannel bandwidth from KDTN.
KDTN has been in a carriage dispute with 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...
since September 2008. Time Warner has replaced KDTN with a test pattern
Test card
A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America and Australia, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast...
on the analog part of the cable system, however Daystar is viewable on QAM digital cable. The station has since been reduced to airing only in the digital tier over Channel 350; however as KDTN does not deviate from Daystar's master schedule, this is likely the network's satellite feed directly rather than KDTN.
Analog-to-digital conversion
KDTN ceased analog broadcasting April 30, 2009. KDTN now transmits only a digital signal on channel 43. PSIPProgram 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...
is used to display KDTN'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 on digital television receivers.