KSTS

KSTS (channel 48) is a television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by the network's Telemundo Station Group division (itself a subsidiary of NBCUniversal).

Under common ownership with NBC outlet KNTV (channel 11) and regional sports networks NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California, both KSTS and KNTV share studio facilities on North 1st Street in the North San Jose Innovation District; KSTS's transmitter is located on Mount Allison, and two of its subchannels are also broadcast from the KNTV tower on San Bruno Mountain.

KSTS was established in 1981 to provide subscription television service in the South Bay and Santa Clara Valley. The STV programming ended in 1983, and the station mostly became noted for specialty programming about business and computers as well as some ethnic programs. Telemundo purchased the station in 1987, giving the Bay Area a second station focusing on Spanish-language programming and a second choice for Spanish-language local news.

History

Early years

On March 29, 1978, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted National Group Television a construction permit to build a new television station on channel 48 in San Jose. The permit took the call letters KQWT before becoming KSTS on January 2, 1979.[1] John Douglas, the principal owner of National Group Television, attempted for more than a year to secure network affiliation for channel 48, but neither CBS nor NBC wanted to cannibalize their San Francisco affiliates.[2] The station first signed on the air on May 31, 1981, as an independent station.[3] The station's commercial programming included business programs, including a local program called Business Today, as well as old off-network shows.[4] More daytime hours were filled by the then-new Financial News Network after it launched in November 1981.[5]

At night, the station originally carried subscription television programming supplied by Satellite Television & Associated Resources (STAR TV) of Santa Monica;[6] STAR had acquired the franchise from Universal Subscription Television three months prior to launch,[7] a factor that delayed the new station's launch.[8] STAR, which was not ready even after the delayed launch, bought the Super Time STV service on KTSF and relaunched it as STAR TV that September;[9] the company promised to simulcast its STV programs on both stations for a year.[10] Channel 48 broadcast its first subscription programs on November 8.[11] The service ended in June after STAR became unable to pay KSTS; the loss of this revenue prompted the cancellation of Business Today and several layoffs.[12]

The STV service, with just 3,000 subscribers in February 1983, ended on September 1.[17] The station then added Chinese-language shows in prime time and additional brokered programming, including several shows on the young computer industry. The Thursday night Affordable Computer Hotline, channel 48's highest-rated show, was one of three devoted to the topic and cemented KSTS's place as "The Computer Connection".[18] The station also rebroadcast the 1984 shareholders meeting of Apple Computer, where the Macintosh was introduced, as the company had been unable to accommodate all those who wanted to attend.[19] However, when must-carry provisions were struck down, KSTS disappeared from several San Francisco-market cable systems; the manager of Viacom Cablevision systems in Marin County said that channel 48 had "phenomenally low ratings".[20] The vast majority of its programming continued to be related to business and computing, as well as sports, wine, and photography, passions linked to its upscale audience.[21] Further, the station aired foreign-language programming in Filipino and Vietnamese

Telemundo acquisition

In 1987, after several members of National Group Television desired to sell, Douglas sold KSTS to Telemundo Group, Inc., which operated the fledgling Telemundo Spanish-language network, for $17 million.[23] At the insistence of network executive Paul Niedermayer, who had been instrumental in the 1985 launch of KVEA in the Los Angeles area, the network bypassed KCNS channel 38 to buy the station in San Jose, which at the time was home to 35 percent of the Hispanics in the Bay Area.[24] The station, however, was not Spanish around the clock even after the sale. As late as 1990, locally produced programs in Portuguese and Persian were airing on KSTS.[25] An effort at regional expansion began in 1990 when K15CU "KCU", a KSTS translator, began broadcasting in Salinas.[26]

News operation

In 1988, KSTS launched its news department with the debut of a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast, which was originally co-anchored by Celina Rodriguez and Dante Betteo; both left in 1999. The program proved successful, which resulted in the station later adding a half-hour 11 p.m. newscast. This was canceled after the 1990 strike and was not reinstated until 1997.[31] In 1999, KSTS hired model Mónica Mesones to present the weather, resulting in controversy over the selection.[32]

KSTS expanded its news programming in 2001, launching a morning newscast, Noticiero 48 Esta Mañana, and a mid-morning newscast, Noticiero 48 Al Mediodía, anchored by Blanca Garza and Santiago Aburto. These were canceled in 2004. At this time, César Bayona and Mariate Ramos anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. 2006 saw the dismantling of the local news operation and the creation of a regional news operation to serve the western United States as part of the NBCUni 2.0 cost-cutting initiative.[33] This was later reversed, and local news production was restored at KSTS in 2010.[34] On February 27, 2012, KSTS became the first Spanish language television station in the Bay Area to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[35]

There was a series of news expansions at Telemundo in 2014, which included KSTS. A second attempt at a morning newscast, titled Noticiero Telemundo 48 Primera Edición, began in June, and in November, KSTS launched a 5:30 p.m. newscast as part of a national news expansion; a 10 a.m. newscast also was added to the schedule at this time. Additionally, KSTS received a new set, began producing its own weather segments locally, launched a local Telemundo Responde consumer investigative franchise, added 20 additional staffers to its news department, and began a deeper sharing of resources, including the public affairs program Comunidad del Valle, with KNTV.[36]

Effective June 27, 2016, the morning and 10 a.m. newscasts were canceled in order to begin the production of weekend editions of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts beginning July 2.[37]

callsign	KSTS
city	San Jose, California
branding	Telemundo 48 Telemundo Área de la Bahía ("Telemundo Bay Area") Noticiero Telemundo 48 Noticiero Telemundo California (5:30 p.m.)
digital	19 (UHF)
virtual	48
translators	KNTV-DT 48.3 (11.3 VHF) San Jose
affiliations	48.1: Telemundo 11.3: NBC for others, see
owner	Telemundo Station Group
licensee	NBC Telemundo License LLC
location	San Jose–San Francisco– Oakland, California
country	United States
airdate	May 31, 1981
sister stations	KNTV, NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California
former channel numbers	Analog: 48 (UHF, 1981–2009) Digital: 49 (UHF, until 2020)
former affiliations	Independent (1981–1989)
erp	500 kW
haat	703 m
facility id	64987
coordinates	37.49917°N, -121.87222°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	https://www.telemundoareadelabahia.com/

History

Early years

Telemundo acquisition

News operation

Technical information

Subchannels

Analog-to-digital conversion

External links

References