KUVI-TV
Encyclopedia
KUVI-DT is a television
station serving Bakersfield, California
. It is a MyNetworkTV
affiliate, and transmits digitally on UHF
channel 45. It is the only English-language TV station owned by leading Spanish-language broadcaster, Univision
. The station's transmitter is located on Mount Adelaide.
(1929–2006), and change its call letters to KUZZ-TV on March 18, 1991. In 1997, Buck Owens sold the station to Univision, and on October 17, 1997, the station once again changed its call letters, this time to KUVI. One last change to the call letters during the analog era came on January 1, 2004, the station chose to add the "-TV" suffix to the letters, hence the current callsign KUVI-TV. With the digital transition completed, the station replaced the "-TV" suffix with the "-DT" duffix on June 23, 2009 (all Univision-owned full-service television stations, regardless of whether or not they had a suffix after their call signs prior to the transition, now have a "-DT" suffix as part of their legal call signs).
The station became a charter affiliate of UPN
in January 1995, and remained with that network for its entire existence.
KUVI at first was tentatively awaiting to affiliate with The CW Television Network , but instead it was announced on June 15, 2006 that it would affiliate with My Network TV, despite the fact that owner Univision was sold to a group led by children's television mogul Haim Saban
-- founder of Saban Entertainment
and former co-owner of Fox Family Channel with News Corporation
before it became ABC
-owned ABC Family Channel
. Providence Equity Partners
, one of the private equity firms which are part of the Saban-led consortium, acquired a 19 percent stake in Univision at that time.
The CW affiliation ended up on KFWB, now officially called KGET-DT2, as of September 18, 2006.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group (which included KGET
) to Newport Television
, a broadcasting holding company controlled by Providence Equity Partners. However, with only four full-power stations, Bakersfield does not have enough to legally support a co-owned duopoly operation. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission
granted conditional approval of the deal, provided that Providence Equity Partners divest either KGET or its stake in Univision as soon as the sale was finalized. That occurred on March 14, 2008. As it turned out, it was KGET which was divested by Newport Television to High Plains Broadcasting; however, Newport continues to manage that station through a joint sales agreement (JSA).
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
station serving Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
. It is a MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate, and transmits digitally 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 45. It is the only English-language TV station owned by leading Spanish-language broadcaster, 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...
. The station's transmitter is located on Mount Adelaide.
History
The station was granted its broadcast license on May 11, 1987 as KDOB-TV, but would not begin regular broadcasts until December 1988. Owned by Dorothy Owens, the station would later be sold to her brother BuckBuck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
(1929–2006), and change its call letters to KUZZ-TV on March 18, 1991. In 1997, Buck Owens sold the station to Univision, and on October 17, 1997, the station once again changed its call letters, this time to KUVI. One last change to the call letters during the analog era came on January 1, 2004, the station chose to add the "-TV" suffix to the letters, hence the current callsign KUVI-TV. With the digital transition completed, the station replaced the "-TV" suffix with the "-DT" duffix on June 23, 2009 (all Univision-owned full-service television stations, regardless of whether or not they had a suffix after their call signs prior to the transition, now have a "-DT" suffix as part of their legal call signs).
The station became a charter affiliate of UPN
UPN
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...
in January 1995, and remained with that network for its entire existence.
KUVI at first was tentatively awaiting to affiliate with The CW Television Network , but instead it was announced on June 15, 2006 that it would affiliate with My Network TV, despite the fact that owner Univision was sold to a group led by children's television mogul Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...
-- founder of Saban Entertainment
Saban
Saban Entertainment , was a worldwide-served independent American television production company formed in 1984 by music and television producers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy as "Saban Productions", a U.S...
and former co-owner of Fox Family Channel with News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
before it became ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-owned ABC Family Channel
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
. Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
, one of the private equity firms which are part of the Saban-led consortium, acquired a 19 percent stake in Univision at that time.
The CW affiliation ended up on KFWB, now officially called KGET-DT2, as of September 18, 2006.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group (which included KGET
KGET-TV
KGET-TV is a television station serving Bakersfield, California, owned by High Plains Broadcasting and operated by Newport Television, LLC. It is an NBC affiliate, and transmits on UHF channel 25 . KGET also has a digital-only/cable CW outlet called KWFB, one of the The CW Plus stations...
) to 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...
, a broadcasting holding company controlled by Providence Equity Partners. However, with only four full-power stations, Bakersfield does not have enough to legally support a co-owned duopoly operation. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission
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...
granted conditional approval of the deal, provided that Providence Equity Partners divest either KGET or its stake in Univision as soon as the sale was finalized. That occurred on March 14, 2008. As it turned out, it was KGET which was divested by Newport Television to High Plains Broadcasting; however, Newport continues to manage that station through a joint sales agreement (JSA).