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| City | Denton, Texas |
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| History | |
First air date | September 1, 1988 (36 years ago) (1988-09-01) |
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| PBS (1988–2004) | |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 49326 |
| ERP | 415 kW |
| HAAT | 494 m (1,621 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°35′22″N96°58′12.9″W / 32.58944°N 96.970250°W /32.58944; -96.970250 |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KDTN (channel 2) is areligioustelevision station licensed toDenton, Texas, United States, serving theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex as theflagship outlet of theDaystar Television Network. The station's studios are co-located with Daystar headquarters offSH 121 inBedford, and itstransmitter is located on Tar Road inCedar Hill, just south of theDallas–Ellis county line. It is operated separately fromsister stationKPTD-LP (channel 51) inParis, Texas, whichshares spectrum with full-power KDTN despite being licensed as alow-power station.
In 1948, Variety Broadcasting, owned by Lee Segall), which already had KIXL1040 AM (nowKGGR) and 104.5 KIXL-FM (nowKKDA-FM) wanted to add a television station. Variety applied to theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) for aconstruction permit to build a television station onVHF channel 2, which would have been KIXL-TV. However, the station was never granted, and ultimately never launched.
By the time the FCC lifted itsfreeze on new television station license applications in 1952, the channel 2 allocation had been reassigned to Denton as anon-commercial educational channel. This did not stop Harwell V. Shepard, the owner of KDNT1440 AM (nowKEXB) and KDNT-FM 106.1 (nowKHKS), from applying for a commercial license for the station.[2] The application was declined, as other applicants insisted to the FCC that the VHF channel 2 allocation remain designated as an educational station.
North Texas Public Broadcasting, owner ofPBS member stationKERA-TV, operating on channel 13, first expressed interest in establishing a secondary educational television station on channel 2 in May 1977. Several other groups applied for the allocation and a long fight for a construction permit ensued with the FCC. After several other applicants dropped out, KERA-TV worked out an agreement with the lone remaining applicant in 1984 to gain the right to put the station on the air.
As part of the agreement, KERA constructed a studio facility on the campus of theUniversity of North Texas in Denton for the new station, which was given the call letters KDTN (in reference to itscity of license), and agreed to run some programs produced by the university. The station firstsigned on the air on September 1, 1988. KERA used the station primarily to run educational and instructional programs that had previously filled much of KERA's daytime schedule. Channel 13 then shifted to offering primarily entertainment programming from PBS and other public television distributors. Originally branded as "KDTN 2", the station was rebranded as "KERA 2" in the early 2000s, although it still had the KDTN call letters. Programs that have aired on KDTN during its tenure as a PBS station includedThe Joy of Painting,Sewing with Nancy,Sit and Be Fit,Plaza Sésamo (the Spanish counterpart ofSesame Street),This Old House, and occasional drama series such asUpstairs, Downstairs fromITV.
In 2003, North Texas Public Broadcasting decided that running a second television station in the Metroplex was no longer financially wise, especially withdigital television allowing stations to use subchannels for alternate programming. The organization placed KDTN up for sale. This gavereligious broadcast network Daystar an opportunity to get a better signal in the market. As a result, Daystar sold its original flagship stationKMPX channel 29 (now anEstrella TV affiliate). The acquisition by Daystar was finalized on January 13, 2004. During KDTN's last two days as a PBS member station before Daystar officially took ownership, the station ranmarathons ofThe Joy of Painting and the entire run ofUpstairs, Downstairs.
However, by special arrangement, KERA announced plans at the time to continue carrying programming sourced from the station on KDTN's digital signal, to free up bandwidth on KERA's main digital signal to allow the station to upgrade its main channel to transmit programming inhigh definition. As of 2018, improvements inmultiplexer technology allow KERA-TV to carry separatePBS Kids andCreate subchannels without affecting picture quality. So the arrangement with Daystar has gone unused.
In August 2019, as part of thebroadcast frequency repacking process following the2016–2017 FCC incentive auction, the Daystar affiliate inParis, Texas,KPTD-LP, shut down its low-powered channel 49 transmitter, and began channel sharing on KDTN's transmitter.[3] While KDTN's signal does not reach Paris, Texas, the city is part of the Dallas–Fort Worthmedia market.
| License | Channel | Video | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
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| KDTN | 2.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KDTN-DT | Daystar |
| 2.2 | 720p | KDTN-ES | Daystar Español | ||
| KPTD-LD | 51.1 | 480i | KPTD-LD | Daystar Reflections |
KDTN shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 2, on April 30, 2009.[6] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 43, usingvirtual channel 2.