KESQ-TV

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KESQ-TV
Kesq-hd-logo.png
Palm Springs, California
Branding NewsChannel 3 HD
(cable slot)
Slogan The Desert's News Leader
Channels Digital: 42 (UHF)
Subchannels 42.1 ABC
33.2 Fox
15.1 Telemundo
2.3 The CW
42.2 AccuWeather
Translators K27DS 27 Yucca Valley
Owner News-Press & Gazette Company
(Gulf-California Broadcast Company)
First air date October 5, 1968
Call letters' meaning ESQuire Magazine
(former owner)
Sister station(s) KDFX-CA, KCWQ-LP/LD, KUNA-LP/LD, KUNA-FM, KESQ-AM
Former callsigns KPLM-TV (1968-1978)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
42 (UHF, 1968-2009)
Digital: 52 (UHF)
Transmitter power 50 kW
Height 219 m
Facility ID 25577
Transmitter coordinates 33°52′0″N 116°26′5.5″W / 33.866667°N 116.434861°W / 33.866667; -116.434861
Website kesq.com

KESQ-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Coachella Valley of California licensed to Palm Springs. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter on Edom Hill northeast of Cathedral City and I-10. Owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company, the station is sister to Class A FOX affiliate KDFX-CA, low-powered CW affiliate KCWQ-LP/LD, and low-powered Telemundo affiliate KUNA-LP/LD. All four stations share the same studios located at 42-650 Melanie Place in Palm Desert. Syndicated programming on KESQ includes: Access Hollywood, Ellen, Extra and Rachael Ray. The station can also be seen on K27DS Channel 27 licensed to Yucca Valley with a translator west of Morongo Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest along the San Bernardino and Riverside County line. Along with other major Coachella Valley television stations, KESQ-TV identifies itself on-air using its cable designation (News Channel 3 HD) rather than its over-the-air channel position. The unusual practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable penetration rate of 80.5% which is one of the highest in the United States.[1]

Contents

[edit] Digital programming

Their signal in multiplexed. Due to its Class A status, KDFX-CA does not air a digital signal of its own. However, there is one offered on KESQ-DT4 that remaps to 33.2 via PSIP. KUNA-LP and KCWQ-LP air their own low-powered digital signal as well as being available on KESQ-DT7 (PSIP 15.1) and KESQ-DT8 (PSIP 2.3) respectively. On KESQ-DT9, PSIP 42.2, is the "First Alert Weather Channel" that features the First Alert Weather Channel on Time Warner digital cable Channel 303.

RF PSIP Programming Aspect ratio
42.3 42.1 main KESQ programming / ABC HD 16:9
42.4 33.2 KDFX-CA "Fox 11" 4:3
42.7 15.1 KUNA-LP/LD "Telemundo 15" 4:3
42.8 2.3 KCWQ-LP/LD "Palm Springs CW 2" 4:3
42.9 42.2 "First Alert Weather Channel" 4:3

[edit] History

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

KESQ-TV is one of the oldest television stations in the Palm Springs area. KESQ-TV first went on air as KPLM-TV in 1968. KPLM-TV named for the "Palm" as in "Palm Springs" changed call letters in late 1979 to KESQ-TV under ownership of Esquire Communications.

At this point KESQ radio and television were combined into a studio complex on Melanie Place in Palm Desert, where KESQ-TV remains today.

KESQ-TV began to air a nightly newscast in the mid-1980s and had its call signs above a tri-color "red-blue-yellow" rainbow logo until replaced by a golden "3" in 1994/95 still in use. KESQ-TV used to cover a wide area of the Low Desert with translators in Hemet/San Jacinto (K82HQ), Banning/Beaumont (K33BL) and Blythe (K71AB) in the 1980s. KESQ-TV owns the license for KESQ (AM) 1400 kHz of Indio, which is leased to a local church. The station shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, the date of the DTV transition.

On January 31, 2012, KESQ announced a merger with competitor KPSP-LD channel 2, a CBS affiliate serving the area. Source: http://www.kesq.com/news/30340907/detail.html

[edit] Newscasts

Nightly news open at 11.

KESQ is the #1 rated station in the Palm Springs market.[2] In addition to its own newscasts, KESQ-TV produces newscast for KDFX-CA and KUNA-LP. The FOX broadcasts air weekdays at 7:00 AM and weeknights at 5:30 PM and 10:00 PM. Telemundo newscasts air weeknights at 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM.

[edit] News/station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

  • Action News (1970s)
  • Channel 3 News (1980s)
  • The KESQ-TV News/KESQ-TV 3 xx:00 Report (1980s-1992)
  • TV-3 News (1992–2005)
  • NewsChannel 3 (2005–2009)
  • NewsChannel 3 HD (2009–present)

[edit] News team

Anchors

  • Celina Avila
  • Marc Blaine
  • Tamara Damante
  • Karen Devine
  • Jason Sloss
  • Jeff Stahl
  • John White

NewsChannel 3 First Alert Weather

  • Ashley Brown
  • Ginger Jeffries
  • Jerry Steffen

Sports

  • Spencer Linton
  • Greg Lee

Reporters

  • June Bulnes
  • Philippe Djegal
  • Bianca Rae
  • Erik Sandoval

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/Cable_and_ADS_Penetration_by_DMA.asp
  2. ^ http://desertsunonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/BUSINESS/706210312/1003/business

[edit] External links

Television stations in Palm Springs, California and the Coachella Valley
Local stations
Cable channels
KCET Desert Cities (Public Independent)

California television: Bakersfield • Chico-Redding • Eureka • Fresno • Los Angeles • Medford OR • Monterey • Palm Springs • Reno NV • Sacramento • San Diego • San Francisco • Santa Barbara • El Centro CA / Yuma AZ

See also: Phoenix TV
ABC Network affiliates in the state of California
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KESQ-TV&oldid=474267402"
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