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|---|---|
| City | Odessa, Texas |
| Channels | |
| Branding | Fox 24;Fox 24 News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mission Broadcasting, Inc. |
| Operator | Nexstar Media Group viaSSA |
| KMID | |
| History | |
| Founded | December 26, 1984 |
First air date | June 16, 1986 (1986-06-16) |
Former call signs | KPEJ (1986–2009) |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 24 (UHF, 1986–2009) |
| |
Call sign meaning | randomly assigned |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 12524 |
| ERP | 600kW |
| HAAT | 333 m (1,093 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°5′51.4″N102°17′22.5″W / 32.097611°N 102.289583°W /32.097611; -102.289583 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KPEJ-TV (channel 24) is atelevision station licensed toOdessa, Texas, United States, serving as theFox affiliate for thePermian Basin area. It is owned byMission Broadcasting, which maintains ashared services agreement (SSA) withNexstar Media Group, owner ofMidland-licensedABC affiliateKMID (channel 2), for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Windview Street (alongI-20) in southwestern Odessa; KPEJ-TV's transmitter is located onFM 1788 in rural southeasternAndrews County.
The station first signed on the air on June 16, 1986; it originally operated as anindependent station and was owned by Southwest Multimedia. In September 1987, KPEJ became the Midland–Odessa market's Fox affiliate. Southwest Multimedia sold the station to Associated Broadcasters of Layfette (later renamed Communications Corporation of America) in 1990. In 1998, the station began carrying programming from the United Paramount Network (UPN) as a secondary affiliation; UPN programming moved toCBS affiliateKOSA-TV (channel 7) in 2003, when that station launched a second digital subchannel (later affiliated withMyNetworkTV and now withThe CW Plus as asatellite ofKCWO-TV (channel 4)). In August 2007, KPEJ changed its on-air branding from "Fox 24" to "Fox West Texas"; the following year, it reverted to the "Fox 24" brand, but continued to use the "Fox West Texas" brand for its website and other special promotions.
On April 24, 2013, theCommunications Corporation of America announced the sale of its television stations to theNexstar Broadcasting Group, owner of ABC affiliate KMID (channel 2). Since the Odessa–Midland market has only eight full-power stations, Nexstar could not legally purchase KPEJ (Federal Communications Commission rules require a market to have eight remaining unique station owners after aduopoly is formed). In addition, KMID and KPEJ are two of the four highest-rated stations in the market in monthly total-day viewership, respectively ranking at third and fourth place. As a result, Nexstar planned to sell KPEJ's license assets toMission Broadcasting, with Nexstar assuming the station's operation under ashared services agreement, which would have formed a virtual duopoly with KMID.[2]
However, on June 6, 2014, Nexstar announced that it would instead sell KPEJ-TV, along with two other Fox affiliates—sister stationKMSS-TV inShreveport, Louisiana andKLJB inDavenport, Iowa—to theMarshall Broadcasting Group (marking the company's first television station acquisitions) for $58.5 million. The minority-owned Marshall intends to fund the acquisitions through borrowings guaranteed by Nexstar, and are subject to FCC approval of the other stations Nexstar plans to acquire from ComCorp, White Knight Broadcasting andGrant Broadcasting; Marshall plans to launch news operations and provide sports and minority-orientedpublic affairs programming to KMSS and the other two stations, with Nexstar providing sales and certain non-programming services (including engineering,master control and other administrative functions).[3] The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.[4]
On December 3, 2019, Marshall Broadcasting Group filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[5] Mission Broadcasting, another company associated with Nexstar Media Group, agreed to purchase Marshall Broadcasting's stations for $49 million on March 30, 2020.[6] The transaction was completed on September 1, 2020.[7]
AfterFox acquired the rights to theNFL'sNational Football Conference in1994, KPEJ has carried preseason football games from theDallas Cowboys, along with team ownerJerry Jones' weekly game discussion program. In2010, KPEJ also acquired the rights toHouston Texans preseason games, which aired ontape delay if the game started while a Cowboys pre-game broadcast or preseason game telecast was ongoing. KPEJ lost the Dallas Cowboys preseason games toNBC affiliate KWES-TV in2011, resulting in KPEJ broadcasting Texans preseason games live. In2014, KMID acquired the rights to the Dallas Cowboys preseason games. When conflicts exist that won't allow KMID to air the games, KPEJ has been given the rights to air the Dallas Cowboys preseason games. When Dallas plays Houston in the preseason, KMID airs the Dallas broadcast while KPEJ airs the Texans broadcast.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KPEJ-TV | Fox |
| 24.2 | 480i | KPEJ-SD | Estrella TV | |
| 24.3 | Rewind | Rewind TV | ||
| 24.4 | 4:3 | Antenna | Antenna TV |
KPEJ-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 24, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, usingvirtual channel 24.[9]
As part of theSAFER Act, KPEJ kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop ofpublic service announcements from theNational Association of Broadcasters.[10]
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
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** Owned by third parties but operated by Nexstar through various agreements. | ||
