KUTH
Encyclopedia
KUTH-DT is a full-service television station
in Provo, Utah
, and serves as the Univision
station for the Salt Lake City, Utah
market. It broadcasts in digital
on UHF
channel 32. The station is network-owned, but was operated by Equity Media Holdings, with all programming and master control originating via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas
. This arrangement ended when the 2009 digital transition was completed on June 12 at which time Univision took over the operations of KUTH outright. It is currently unknown whether KUTH programs its schedule on its own or receives its programming from a Univision-owned station in another market.
. Univision bought the station in October 2004 and entered into an outsourcing
agreement with Equity Broadcasting (which Univision's principals held a stake in at the time) to operate the station. At that time Channel 32 swapped affiliations and call signs with what was then KUTH (Utah's original full-power Univision affiliate on channel 12, licensed to Logan, Utah
, which became KUTF in 2005) and became the new Univision affiliate.
When Univision sold the last of its shares in Equity Broadcasting in 2007, KUTH was supposed to go to Equity outright; however, the transfer of KUTH from Univision to Equity never materialized. Later, Univision planned to purchase KUTF to create a duopoly
with KUTH but cancelled its plans shortly after Newport Television
announced the sale of its Salt Lake City duopoly to High Plains Broadcasting; by that time, private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners
owned sizable stakes in both Univision and Newport Television. This cancellation resulted in Newport Television retaining ownership of KTVX and selling only KUCW
to High Plains Broadcasting (with Newport Television continuing to control both of those stations).
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, KUTH turned off its analog signal
and turned on its digital signal
(called a "flash-cut
").
KUTH officially shut down its analog transmitter on June 12 and turned on its digital signal on channel 32 the next day. On June 23 all Univision-owned full-service stations, including KUTH, added the -DT suffix to their legal call signs.
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...
in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
, and serves as the Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
station for the Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
market. It broadcasts in digital
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
on UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
channel 32. The station is network-owned, but was operated by Equity Media Holdings, with all programming and master control originating via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. This arrangement ended when the 2009 digital transition was completed on June 12 at which time Univision took over the operations of KUTH outright. It is currently unknown whether KUTH programs its schedule on its own or receives its programming from a Univision-owned station in another market.
History
The station originally signed on April 17, 2003 as KCBU, an independent station owned by Cocola BroadcastingCocola Broadcasting
Cocola Broadcasting is a broadcasting company based in Fresno, California. Founded in the early-1980s by Valley broadcasting veteran Gary Cocola, Cocola owns full-power digital television stations KGMC in Fresno and KKJB in Boise, Idaho, and several low-power television stations in Central...
. Univision bought the station in October 2004 and entered into an outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
agreement with Equity Broadcasting (which Univision's principals held a stake in at the time) to operate the station. At that time Channel 32 swapped affiliations and call signs with what was then KUTH (Utah's original full-power Univision affiliate on channel 12, licensed to Logan, Utah
Logan, Utah
-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...
, which became KUTF in 2005) and became the new Univision affiliate.
When Univision sold the last of its shares in Equity Broadcasting in 2007, KUTH was supposed to go to Equity outright; however, the transfer of KUTH from Univision to Equity never materialized. Later, Univision planned to purchase KUTF to create a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
with KUTH but cancelled its plans shortly after Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
announced the sale of its Salt Lake City duopoly to High Plains Broadcasting; by that time, private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
owned sizable stakes in both Univision and Newport Television. This cancellation resulted in Newport Television retaining ownership of KTVX and selling only KUCW
KUCW
KUCW is the CW-afifliated television station for the state of Utah that is licensed to Ogden. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter on Farnsworth Peak. Owned by High Plains Broadcasting, the station is operated through joint sales and shared services...
to High Plains Broadcasting (with Newport Television continuing to control both of those stations).
Digital television
Because it was granted an original construction permitConstruction 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, KUTH turned 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 turned 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...
").
KUTH officially shut down its analog transmitter on June 12 and turned on its digital signal on channel 32 the next day. On June 23 all Univision-owned full-service stations, including KUTH, added the -DT suffix to their legal call signs.