As an independent station
In June 1998, USA Broadcasting launched a customized independent station format, "CityVision", which infused syndicated programming—including a few produced by sister production unit Studios USA that also aired nationally on USA Network—with a limited amount of local entertainment and magazine programs (reminiscent of the format used by CITY-TV in Toronto and more prominently, that station's sister broadcast television properties that became charter stations of Citytv, when CHUM Limited expanded the format to other Canadian markets as a television system in 2002).[5]
On October 15, 1999, the station changed its call letters to KSTR-TV (which were used as part of the station's branding, phonetically pronounced as "K-Star"). Channel 49 adopted the "CityVision" format first adopted the previous fall by Miami sister station WAMI-TV on that date, converting into a general entertainment independent station; HSN programming remained part of the schedule, however it was relegated to two separate blocks, running nightly from 2 to 5:30 a.m.
KSTR's initial lineup under the "CityVision" format began to primarily feature a mix of reality shows (such as America's Funniest Home Videos and Real TV), sitcoms (such as Sister, Sister, The Three Stooges, The Andy Griffith Show and NewsRadio) and talk shows during the daytime and prime time, as well as drama series (Knight Rider and The A-Team) on weekend evenings, and movies—under the Star Time Movies banner—during prime time on weekends and on Sunday late afternoons. It also aired USA's original programs (such as Tens—rebroadcast from its Miami sister station WAMI-TV—and Strip Poker), along with the regionally syndicated newscast The News of Texas. It also carried a decent lineup of children's programming on Saturday mornings, including those sourced from the BKN syndication block (such as Highlander: The Animated Series, Mighty Max, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Underground, Jumanji, Pocket Dragon Adventures, Beakman's World and Extreme Dinosaurs).
During this period, KSTR served as the official station for the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise. KSTR also broadcast select Fort Worth Brahmas games from the defunct Western Professional Hockey League.[6] The station also used the "City Vision" ("Your City is Our Studio") bumper cards common with USA-owned stations that had converted to general entertainment independents during this time. The local programming-infused format that was adopted by KSTR-DT and its sister stations in Atlanta and Miami, was originally planned to be expanded to the remainder of USA Broadcasting's stations, with some (such as WHOT-TV (now WUVG-DT) in Atlanta and WHUB-TV (now WUTF-DT) in Boston) having either already adopted or eventually switching to the format.
Due to financial problems, in September 2000, USA eliminated half of KSTR's entertainment programming inventory, filling the newly opened time periods with an expanded block of infomercials during the morning and an additional block of HSN programming on weekday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon (later reduced to a three-hour block from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. by September 2001). The station also reduced its children's programs inventory to a daily half-hour of educational programming (consisting of the reality-documentary series Animal Rescue).
