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| City | Long Beach, California[a] |
| Channels | |
| Branding | LA 18 |
| Programming | |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | June 30, 1977; 48 years ago (1977-06-30) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | "Science of Creative Intelligence" |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 35608 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 892 m (2,927 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′25.78″N118°3′47.91″W / 34.2238278°N 118.0633083°W /34.2238278; -118.0633083 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
KSCI (channel 18) is atelevision station licensed toLong Beach, California, United States, serving theLos Angeles area. Owned byWRNN-TV Associates, the station airs programming fromhome shopping networkShop LC. KSCI's studios are located on South Bundy Drive inWest Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson. KSCI served as a multiculturalindependent station until June 2021.
The channel 18 allocation in Los Angeles was previously occupied by KCHU-TV, licensed toSan Bernardino, which signed on the air on August 1, 1962, before it went off the air in June 1964. The station was owned by theSan Bernardino Sun-Telegram. KSCI signed on the air on June 30, 1977,[3] operating from studios in West Los Angeles, although still licensed in San Bernardino.[4] It became a non-profit owned by theTranscendental Meditation movement (the call letters stood forMaharishi Mahesh Yogi's theoretical "Science of Creative Intelligence"). The station broadcast news stories, prerecorded lectures and variety shows with TM celebrities.[3] KSCI's goal was to report "only good news"; sister stations were planned forSan Francisco andWashington, D.C.[5][6] The station manager was Mark Fleischer, son of Hollywood directorRichard Fleischer.[5]
In 1980, KSCI switched to a for-profit operation and earned $1 million on revenues of $8 million in 1985.[7] In November 1985, the station loaned $350,000 toMaharishi International University inIowa.[8] By June 1986, the station's content began to consist of "a hodgepodge of programming" in 14 languages.[4][9] They had dubbed themselves the "international station" and claimed to offer the most diverse ethnic television programming in the early 1980s.[10] Almost allIranian American television programs in the early 1980s were on KSCI.[10]
In October 1986, the station was purchased by its general manager and an investor for $40.5 million.[11]
In 1990, the station was sold to Intercontinental Television Group Inc., with programming being produced by Wahid Boctor of Arab American Television.[12][13] In 1998, KSCI transferred itscity of license from San Bernardino toLong Beach. In 2000, aKorean newspaper,The Hankook Ilbo, took over the International Media Group (IMG), which operated KSCI. IMG was re-launched as the AsianMedia Group, Inc., who purchased the station.[14]
By 2005, the station was broadcasting seven English-language and three Spanish-language newscasts plus "local news programs inVietnamese,Mandarin Chinese, andKorean" to 2.5 million Asian-American viewers in Southern California.[15] In early 2005, KSCI changed its on-air branding to "LA18".[citation needed]
In October2008, KSCI broadcast the Presidential debate along with translation in Mandarin and offered political analysis by their news staff. The broadcast was one of several that covered election events in Korean, Mandarin,Cantonese, Vietnamese andFilipino languages.[16]
On January 9, 2012, KSCI, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization underChapter 11 bankruptcy protection to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.[17] On August 11, 2012, KSCI was purchased by NRJ TV LLC, a company which has acquired smaller television stations in various U.S. cities for the possibility of placing their spectrum for auction once theFederal Communications Commission rolls out a voluntary spectrum auction for use for non-broadcast purposes in 2014.[18]
On June 22, 2017, KSCI announced that they had canceled all of its programming in Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, andArmenian and replaced it with English-languageinfomercials beginning July 1. The subchannels of the station continued to air its programs in Chinese and Armenian, but as a result of the station's programming cutbacks, KSCI also announced they reduced its Korean programming from 8 to 11 p.m. and would cut its subchannels list from 12 to 5 the following year.[19]
On September 12, 2017, KSCI's parent company NRJ TV LLC announced that they would sell itsPoway translator station,KUAN-LD, to theNBC Owned Television Stations group (owners ofKNBC/KVEA andKNSD), for $650,000; the sale was completed on December 21, 2017.[20]
On December 9, 2019, it was announced that WRNN-TV Associates, owner ofNew York City–basedWRNN-TV, secured a deal to purchase seven full-power TV stations (including KSCI) and oneClass A station from NRJ.[1] The sale was approved by the FCC on January 23,[21] and was completed on February 4, 2020.[22]
From February 1 until February 4, 2020, WRNN-TV Associates operated KSCI under a short-termlocal marketing agreement (LMA) while it awaited full consummation of its purchase. KSCI began airing WRNN-TV's independent network RNN on its primary channel. RNN's schedule consists primarily of infomercials, with occasionalreligious,E/I, and news/talk programs.[23]
On May 30, 2021, it was announced that KSCI (along with its sister stations owned by WRNN-TV Associates) would become an affiliate of theShopHQ 24/7 channel on June 28, 2021.[24]
iMedia Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 28, 2023.[25] On July 10, 2023, iMedia announced that it would sell its assets, including ShopHQ, to RNN Media Group for $50 million;[26] the deal was terminated in August in favor of a $55 million bid for ShopHQ by IV Brands, owned byManoj Bhargava.[27] In October 2023, KSCI switched toShop LC.
| License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KSCI | 18.1 | 720p | 16:9 | LA18 | Shop LC |
| 18.2 | 480i | 4:3 | SBS | SBS (Korean) | |
| 18.3 | MBCD | MBC-D (Korean) | |||
| 18.4 | YTV | Yonhap News TV (Korean News) | |||
| KOCE-TV | 50.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | PBS-HD | PBS |
| 50.2 | 480i | PBS-2 | PBS SoCal Encore | ||
| 50.3 | Daystar | Daystar | |||
| 50.4 | PBSwrld | World | |||
| 50.5 | PBSkids | PBS Kids |
KSCI shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 18, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[29] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 61, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its former analog-era UHF channel 18.