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Channels | |
Programming | |
Affiliations | Catchy Comedy |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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KTLN-TV | |
History | |
First air date | May 31, 1989 (35 years ago) (1989-05-31) |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 37689 |
Class | CD |
ERP | 15kW |
HAAT | 688 m (2,257 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°29′57″N121°52′20″W / 37.49917°N 121.87222°W /37.49917; -121.87222 |
Links | |
Public license information |
KAXT-CD (channel 1) is alow-power,Class A television station licensed to bothSan Francisco andSan Jose, California, United States,[1] broadcasting thedigital multicast networkCatchy Comedy to theSan Francisco Bay Area. It isowned and operated byWeigel Broadcasting alongsidePalo Alto–licensedHeroes & Icons outletKTLN-TV (channel 68). The two stations share studios on Pelican Way inSan Rafael, and transmitter facilities onMount Allison.
Due to its low-power status, KAXT-CD's broadcasting radius does not reach all of the San Francisco Bay Area. Because of that, its market affiliation is shared withKICU-TV (channel 36) which broadcasts Catchy Comedy on its fourth digital subchannel.
Founded May 31, 1989, the station previously broadcast inanalog onUHF channel 22 asKAXT-CA, anaffiliate ofSpanish-language religious network Tiempos Finales TV, formerly being an affiliate ofTBN from 1990 to 2003, and ofAlmavision from 2003 to 2006.
On July 31, 2009, KAXT beganATSC digital TV transmissions on UHF channel 42, which had been vacated byKTNC-TV. (The previous month, former owner ofKTVU/KICU-TV,Cox Media Group unsuccessfully applied for a license to use the same frequency for a KTVU digitaltranslator.[4]) KAXT's digital transmissions used the call signKAXT-LD, laterKAXT-CD. The station was the first digital television station to broadcast 12 video streams on a standard 6 MHz 19.39 Mbit/s ATSC stream. Usingstatistical multiplexing technology in the encoders and multiplexer, the system provides variable bit rate compression needed to provide full qualitystandard definition video across all of the channels with enough bandwidth for radio (audio only) services.
Broadcast Engineering nominated KAXT as Station of the Year for 2009,[5] the first low power television station to receive such a distinction.
In 2016, San Jose CouncilmanAsh Kalra filed aFederal Communications Commission complaint against the station, alleging that various Vietnamese-language subchannels had run a large volume of advertisements for opponentMadison Nguyen in the27th State Assembly District election without disclosing it in the station's public files, as required by the FCC.[6]
The DTV virtual channels between KAXT-LD's channel 22 (RF 42, formerly 22) andKRCB's channel 22 (RF 23) inCotati hadsignificant overlap that caused aPSIP conflict, allowing KAXT-CD to move to a new virtual channel,Channel 1.[2] KAXT had been operating with a PSIP of Channel 1, at one point with 12 different video program streams and one audio-only channel for a total of 13 virtual channels for a few years until the late 2010s.
Weigel Broadcasting agreed to acquire KAXT-CD andKTLN-TV, along withKVOS-TV andKFFV inSeattle, fromOTA Broadcasting in a $23.2 million deal on October 18, 2017.[7] The sale was completed on April 15, 2019.[8] By 2018, most of KAXT's Vietnamese-language subchannels had moved toKSCZ-LD.
Until 2019, KAXT broadcast anelectronic program guide, shopping channels, and several channels of ethnic news, entertainment, and religious programming. Several subchannels were produced locally, while the remainder were simulcasts. KAXT is the only television station in the United States thatbroadcasts on virtual channel 1.[9]
Since its transition to digital broadcasting, KAXT has broadcast a wide variety of programming, both local and syndicated:
License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
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KAXT-CD | 1.2 | 480i | 16:9 | KAXT-SD | Catchy Comedy |
KTLN-TV | 68.1 | 720p | KTLN-HD | Heroes & Icons | |
68.2 | MeTV | MeTV | |||
68.3 | 480i | Story | Story Television | ||
68.4 | MeTV+ | MeTV+ | |||
68.5 | Quest | Quest | |||
68.6 | TOONS | MeTV Toons |