KTLN-TV (channel 68) is a television station licensed to Palo Alto, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an owned-and-operated station of the classic television network Heroes & Icons. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting alongside San Jose–licensed low-power, Class A Catchy Comedy station KAXT-CD (channel 1). The two stations share studios on Pelican Way in San Rafael, and transmitter facilities on Mount Allison.
Even though KTLN-TV is licensed as a full-power station, it shares spectrum with KAXT-CD, whose low-power broadcasting radius does not cover all of the San Francisco Bay Area.[3] Therefore, it relies on cable and satellite carriage to reach the entire market. However, KTLN-TV shares MeTV with independent station KPYX's (channel 44) third subchannel, which has a stronger signal than KTLN.
History
Originally, Christian Communications of Chicagoland (then-owners of WCFC-TV, now Ion Television owned-and-operated station WCPX-TV) owned KTLN outright. It was formerly licensed to the Marin County community of Novato. CCC filed to sell the station to OTA Broadcasting, a company controlled by Michael Dell's MSD Capital, in June 2011.[4] The sale was completed on October 6, 2011; as part of the deal, CCC continued to operate KTLN via a local marketing agreement (LMA).[5]
Weigel Broadcasting agreed to acquire KTLN-TV and KAXT-CD, along with KVOS-TV and KFFV in Seattle, from OTA Broadcasting in a $23.2 million deal on October 18, 2017.[6] The station was temporarily off the air as of June 2018.
The station sale to Weigel was completed on April 15, 2019.[7] At midnight on April 17, KTLN returned on the air carrying high definition signals of Heroes & Icons on 68.1, and MeTV on 68.2.[8]
Technical information
Subchannels
Analog-to-digital conversion
KTLN-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 68, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[9] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 47, using virtual channel 68.
External links
References
- Modification of a Licensed Facility for DTV Application^
- KTLN-TV Form 2100 - Community of License^
- RabbitEars Contour Map for KAXT-CD^
- San Francisco TV station sold Television Business Report, June 9, 2011, retrieved July 2, 2011^
- Harry A. Jessell. Billionaire Michael Dell OK'd To Buy SF TV TVNewsCheck, August 5, 2011, retrieved October 29, 2011^
- Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License (KVOS-TV/KFFV) CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, October 24, 2017, retrieved October 25, 2017^
- "Consummation Notice", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved April 18, 2019.^
- "Where to Watch MeTV in Bay Area", MeTV, Retrieved April 18, 2019.^
- List of Digital Full-Power Stations^