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KAKW-DT

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KAKW-DT, virtual channel 62 (VHF digital channel 13), is a Univision owned-and-operated television station licensed to Killeen, Texas, United States and serving the Waco and Austin television markets. Owned by the Univision Local Media subsidiary of Univision Communications, it is sister to Austin-licensed UniMás owned-and-operated station KTFO-CD (channel 31). The two stations share studios on North Loop Boulevard in Austin; KAKW's transmitter is located in unincorporated Williamson County (approximately halfway between Austin and Killeen). Although the station is licensed to a community in the Waco market, most of its local programming and advertising is targeted at the Austin market.

History

File:KAKW62.png
Former logo, used until December 31, 2012.

The station first signed on the air on May 31, 1996 as a primary affiliate of UPN and a secondary affiliate of The WB for the Waco/Killeen/Temple market; the station was originally owned by White Knight Broadcasting, with Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp), owner of Waco-based Fox affiliate KWKT (channel 44) and the station's Bryan-based satellite KYLE-TV (channel 28), providing sales and other services to KAKW under a commercial inventory agreement.[1] KAKW had secured the UPN affiliation in June 1995, prior to going on the air;[2] the WB affiliation had previously been held by KYLE before its 1996 acquisition by ComCorp.[3] Prior to the launch of Fredericksburg-based San Antonio station KBEJ (now KCWX) in 2000, channel 62 doubled as an alternate UPN affiliate for the Austin television market, alongside K13VC (channel 13); the launch of KAKW's digital signal on channel 13 would subsequently result in the shutdown of K13VC on March 29, 2003.[4]

In January 2001, KAKW became a primary WB affiliate,[5] though UPN programming was retained on a secondary basis.[6] That October, White Knight agreed to sell KAKW to Univision Communications in a $30 million deal, with the intention of converting it into a Univision station; the sale was opposed by The WB, who filed a lawsuit seeking to block the sale and the concurrent sale of El Paso sister station KKWB to Entravision Communications, as KAKW's contract with The WB was not slated to expire until January 15, 2008.[7] On January 7, 2002, after Univision assumed control of KAKW, it dropped the WB and UPN affiliations and converted it to a Univision owned-and-operated station;[8] it also expanded the station's market coverage to Austin. Univision also invested in creating a news department for KAKW and began producing daily Spanish-language local newscasts. The WB subsequently moved its programming in the Waco/Killeen/Temple market to a secondary clearance on ABC affiliate KXXV (channel 25),[9] while UPN signed a deal with Time Warner Cable to air its programming on a leased access channel.[10]

Until 2009, KAKW also operated a repeater in Austin, KAKW-CA (channel 31). That year, the station switched its affiliation to Telefutura, and changed its call letters to KTFO-CD.

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[11]
62.1 1080i 16:9 KAKW-DT Main KAKW-DT programming / Univision
62.2 KTFO-CD Simulcast of KTFO-CD / UniMás
62.3 480i 4:3 GetTV GetTV
62.4 Escape Escape

Analog-to-digital conversion

KAKW shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated transition to digital television for full-power stations.[12] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 13, using PSIP to display KAKW's virtual channel as 62 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

News operation

KAKW-DT broadcasts five hours of locally produced newscasts each week, consisting of two half-hour evening newscasts shown at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. on weekdays. Following its purchase by Univision Communications in 2002, the station invested in the development of a news department for KAKW and began producing daily Spanish language local newscasts each weeknight. On August 18, 2014, the station announced Hugo Chávez Montes would be co-anchoring with Regina Rodriguez. On March 27, 2015, the station announced it was going to launch a regionalized morning newscast, which also aired on Houston's KXLN-DT, Dallas' KUVN-DT and San Antonio's KWEX-DT. The station still was responsible for local weather and traffic cut-ins during the morning show and again during Univision's morning show Despierta America. While the morning newscast was getting ready to launch, the station did not have a morning newscast and instead aired repeats of Noticiero Univision: Edición Nocturna and entertainment programing. The regionalized morning newscast is the only station that uses the Noticias Texas branding out of the local evening 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts that the four stations produce locally.

References

  1. ^ "Report on Existing Television Local Marketing Agreements" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. July 8, 1997. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  2. ^ Flint, Joe (June 26, 1995). "UPN extends affil reach". Variety. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  3. ^ "Memorandum Opinion and Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. November 19, 1996. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  4. ^ "Low power station loses signal to Univision". Austin Business Journal. March 19, 2003. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  5. ^ "Waco/Temple/Killeen, TX TV Directory". 100000 Watts. Archived from the original on December 8, 2000. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "Waco/Temple/Killeen, TX TV Directory". 100000 Watts. Archived from the original on June 29, 2001. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  7. ^ Schneider, Michael (January 2, 2002). "Nets gird for Spanish war". Variety. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  8. ^ "KAKW-TV changes network affiliation". Temple Daily Telegram. January 9, 2002. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  9. ^ "KXXV-25 to air WB's programming". Temple Daily Telegram. January 13, 2002. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  10. ^ Ray, Randy (January 16, 2002). "Time Warner Cable airing UPN programs". Temple Daily Telegram. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  11. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KAKW
  12. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine