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KTLM

Coordinates: 26°31′2″N 98°39′8″W / 26.51722°N 98.65222°W / 26.51722; -98.65222
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
KTLM
CityRio Grande City, Texas
Channels
BrandingTelemundo 40 (general; read as "Telemundo Cuarenta") Noticias Telemundo 40 (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedJune 10, 1994
First air date
August 1, 1999 (25 years ago) (1999-08-01)
Former call signs
KAIO (CP, 1994–1998)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 40 (UHF, 1999–2009)
  • Digital: 40 (UHF, 2009–2020)
Call sign meaning
Telemundo
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID62354
ERP350 kW
HAAT576.4 m (1,891 ft)
Transmitter coordinates26°31′2″N 98°39′8″W / 26.51722°N 98.65222°W / 26.51722; -98.65222
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.telemundo40.com

KTLM (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Rio Grande City, Texas, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Telemundo network to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group, the station maintains studios in the Chase Bank building in McAllen, and its transmitter is located near Rio Grande City.

History

The station's original construction permit was issued to the Starr County Historical Foundation on June 10, 1994,[2] with the call sign KAIO issued on September 1.[3] The foundation intended to run KAIO as a non-commercial station promoting tourism in the Rio Grande Valley; that idea, however, was later abandoned. On October 5, 1998, KAIO changed its call letters to KTLM[3] and picked up the Telemundo affiliation from XHRIO-TV (channel 2), which had struggled with signal strength in the western parts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.[4] The station went on the air August 1, 1999.[5]

In 2000, the Starr County Historical Foundation sold KTLM to Sunbelt Multimedia,[5] a division of the Starr Camargo Bridge Company, unrelated to Sunbelt Communications Company. Sunbelt Multimedia had been managing the station since its launch.[4] On September 10, 2012, Sunbelt Multimedia put KTLM up for sale, with Patrick Communications managing partner Larry Patrick named to run the station while in receivership. Documents were forwarded to the FCC to officially put the station under Patrick's control. His media worked to try to earn enough money to repay creditors of Sunbelt Multimedia.[6] A year later, a deal was reached to sell KTLM to Telemundo Rio Grande Valley LLC, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal; this made the station a Telemundo owned-and-operated station.[7][8] The sale was finalized on December 31.[9]

News operation

News logo

KTLM launched a news department in 2003, with a 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights originally anchored by Yolanda de la Cruz. In 2010, Dalia Garza was promoted from health reporter to the main anchor.

After NBC's purchase, local news was expanded to include the latest weekend news, a 9 a.m. morning show named Buenos Días Frontera, an in-house weather forecast with two new weather presenters, and a new public affairs program named Enfoque McAllen. On September 2, 2014, KTLM debuted a new anchor team. This team included a co-anchor for Dalia Garza and a new weather anchor to replace Marlen Sosa, who had left two months earlier with Elizabeth Robaina. An updated set named Noticias Telemundo 40 was inaugurated at the same time.[10] On November 3, 2014, along with 14 other stations owned by NBC Universal and Telemundo, KTLM launched a new 4:30 p.m. newscast, moving Al Rojo Vivo to 3 p.m. and Lo Mejor de Caso Cerrado to a half hour slot at 4:00 p.m. This allowed room for an extended newscast running from 4:30 to 5 p.m. On May 26, 2016, the station launched a Consumer Investigative Unit Franchise called "Telemundo Responde". This was led by anchor and reporter Ana Cecilia Méndez, who took this new role in place of her previous weekend anchor position.[11]

Notable former on-air staff

  • Daniel Tuccio – Anchored morning briefs during Un Nuevo Día and was a general assignment reporter for the weekday evening newscast.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KTLM[12]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
40.1 1080i 16:9 KTLM-HD Main KTLM programming / Telemundo
40.2 480i 4:3 TeleXIT TeleXitos
40.3 16:9 Cozi Cozi TV
40.4 KTLM-LX NBC LX Home

On August 8, 2018, KTLM added a third subchannel carrying Cozi TV programming, which moved from KFXV.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KTLM shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTLM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Television & Cable Factbook 1997 Edition (PDF). 1997. p. A-1382. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Call Sign History (KTLM)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Maldonado, Vilma (April 21, 1999). "Telemundo changes stations, UPN joins Valley lineup". Brownsville Herald. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Television & Cable Factbook 2006 Edition (PDF). 2006. p. A-2275. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  6. ^ Seyler, Dave (10 September 2012). "Texas station on the block". RBR.com. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  7. ^ "KTLM Harlingen, TX, Sold For $8.5 Million". TVNewsCheck. September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  9. ^ NBC Closes on its $8.5M KTLM Purchase TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Creative Jobs :: Careers for Graphic Designers, Copywriters, Social Media Managers, Proof Readers and More".
  11. ^ Marszalek, Diana (May 9, 2016). "Telemundo Responde Expands to South Texas". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  12. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KTLM
  13. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.