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| City | Laughlin, Nevada |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | The Spot Vegas 34 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | |
| KTNV-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | August 21, 2003 (22 years ago) (2003-08-21) |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 34 (UHF, 2003–2009) |
| |
Call sign meaning | Meridian Communications Company (original licensee) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 41237 |
| ERP | |
| HAAT |
|
| Transmitter coordinates | |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | vegas34 |
KMCC (channel 34), brandedThe Spot Vegas 34, is anindependent television station licensed toLaughlin, Nevada, United States, serving theLas Vegas area. It is owned by theE. W. Scripps Company alongsideABC affiliateKTNV-TV (channel 13). The two stations share studios on South Valley View Boulevard in the nearby unincorporated community ofParadise (though with a Las Vegasmailing address). KMCC uses adistributed transmission system, with the main transmitter located nearDolan Springs, Arizona, and a secondary transmitter at the KTNV studios.
Channel 34 was originally intended to be built atLake Havasu City, Arizona. However, the original permittee, Meridian Communications Company, had the channel reallocated to Laughlin in order to allow it to broadcastNBC programming, increase its service area, and overcome various technical restrictions. The station began broadcasting in August 2003 and was soon after sold to Cranston II LLC, which used it to broadcast Spanish-language programming from a series of services:TeleFórmula,Multimedios Televisión,Mega TV,VasalloVision, andMundoFox/MundoMax.Entravision Communications acquired KMCC in 2017 and switched its programming source toAzteca América.
Ion Media acquired KMCC in early 2020 and was in turn acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company. In 2023, Ion programming moved to a subchannel, and the station became a new English-language independent station under the name Vegas 34. This coincided with Scripps obtaining the broadcast rights toVegas Golden Knights hockey, which aired on KMCC beginning in the 2023–24 season.
On May 14, 1996, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) issued aconstruction permit to Meridian Communications Company (later Mojave Broadcasting Company) for a full power television station on UHF channel 34 to serveLake Havasu City, Arizona. Its original call letters were to be KAUE, adopted in February 1997, but changed to KMCC a month later.
In July 1996, while preparing to build the station, Mojave Broadcasting determined that the proposed transmitter location was inadequate for a full-power television operation and that the alternate site nearOatman, Arizona, could not provide city-grade service to Lake Havasu City due to terrain. In early 1999, the company requested to move the station and both the analog and digital allotments to Laughlin, Nevada, with the transmitter at the Oatman site. It later modified its proposal to specify a transmitter in Laughlin, allowing it to secure an affiliation withNBC, since the new location would not interfere with Las Vegas NBC station KVBC (channel 3, nowKSNV); the children of James Rogers, chairman of KVBC ownerSunbelt Communications Company, owned Mojave Broadcasting, and Sunbelt had signed atime brokerage agreement with KMCC.
The FCC formally granted the request in June 2000,[2] and Mojave Broadcasting began building the station in Laughlin. The FCC granted a construction permit for a digital companion channel, UHF 32, on January 15, 2002, and grantedspecial temporary authority (STA) on April 6, 2004, to broadcast in digital at reduced power from the analog transmitter location.
The analog station signed on August 21, 2003, as asatellite of KVBC, and was granted a license on May 28, 2004. The arrangement was temporary, as before the station was licensed, Cranston II LLC had agreed to buy KMCC from Mojave Broadcasting. The sale was approved by the FCC in October 2004 and consummated in July 2005. Upon taking ownership, Cranston changed the station toSpanish-language programming from TeleFórmula, the cable news arm ofGrupo Fórmula. In March 2006, equipment failure forced the station to reduce power significantly; in November, it switched toMultimedios Television.
KMCC had a construction permit to broadcast on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter location approximately 40 kilometers (25 mi) NNE of the analog transmitter location. The site, located near Dolan Springs, Arizona, is over 1,200 meters (3,937 ft) higher in elevation than the analog site, so while the analog station served the Mohave Valley fromBullhead City, Arizona, and Laughlin down toNeedles, California, the digital station, when fully built and operational, would not only serve Laughlin and the Colorado River Valley, but most of centralMohave County, Arizona, and would reach beyond Las Vegas.[3] As of October 2017[update], however, the station was broadcasting on STA from the analog site at 15 kW with coverage approximately that of the analog signal. Cranston filed a request to extend the STA until January 1, 2007.
On January 26, 2009, KMCC switched toMega TV, an independent television network based inFlorida. The station again changed affiliations onJanuary 1, 2010, affiliating withVasalloVision.[4] KMCC then became an affiliate of MundoFox (laterMundoMax) when it launched on August 13, 2012.[5] In 2015, KMCC aired amusic video format 24/7 calledTheCoolTV on digital channels 32.2, 32.3 with some local programming. On December 1, 2016, with the demise of MundoMax, KMCC switched toLuken Communications' The Action Channel andHeartland networks.[6]
Entravision Communications agreed to purchase KMCC for $2.75 million on March 1, 2017; the sale created aduopoly withUnivision affiliateKINC.[7] The sale was completed on January 17, 2018.[8] In April 2018, KMCC became anAzteca América affiliate.[9]
On January 27, 2020, it was announced thatIon Media would purchase KMCC from Entravision for an undisclosed price.[10] The sale was completed on April 3.[11] Because of this, sometime in February 2020,Ion Plus replaced Azteca as the station's main affiliate. On September 24, 2020, theCincinnati-basedE. W. Scripps Company (owners ofABC affiliateKTNV-TV, channel 13) announced that it would purchase Ion Media for $2.65 billion, with financing fromBerkshire Hathaway.[12][13][14] After the sale was finalize, it was announced that Ion Plus,Qubo, and Shop Ion would cease operations in February 2021 and the station switched to anIon Television affiliate.
On May 4, 2023, theVegas Golden Knights announced that KMCC, through the E. W. Scripps Company'sScripps Sports arm, would become the team's new television partner, replacingAT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain after the latter's parent company,Warner Bros. Discovery, announced its intentions to exit theRSN business. Along with broadcasting all Golden Knights non-exclusive games over the air in partnership with a network of stations across the Golden Knights' broadcast territory, KMCC rebranded as Vegas 34 and became independent on August 14, 2023,[15] with Ion programming moving to the station's second subchannel.[16]
On March 13, 2025, Scripps Sports announced a deal with theLas Vegas Aces of theWNBA which would move their games fromKVVU to KMCC.[17]
The station carries all regional Vegas Golden Knights games beginning in the2023–24 NHL season and airs ancillary programming such asKnight Life.[15] KMCC also simulcasts select programming fromScripps News and airs games from theHenderson Silver Knights, a minor league affiliate of the Golden Knights.[18] It also carries ABC programming in lieu of KTNV when required for local breaking news and sports preemptions. Starting in the2025 WNBA season, the station will also air regional Las Vegas Aces games along with a weekly program titled "In the Paint".
KMCC airs four hours of local news each weekday, simulcasting programming from sister station KTNV-TV.
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Vegas34 | Independent |
| 34.2 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
| 34.3 | CourtTV | Court TV | ||
| 34.4 | BUSTED | Busted | ||
| 34.5 | IONPlus | Ion Plus[20] | ||
| 34.6 | Bounce | Bounce TV | ||
| 34.7 | GameSho | Game Show Central | ||
| 34.8 | HSN | HSN |
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofNevada | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Nevada | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other stations | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
