 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
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| Channels for KUNP | |
| Channels for KUNP-LD | |
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| KATU | |
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| Univision (2001–2024) | |
Call sign meaning | "Univision Portland" (former affiliation) |
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Licensing authority | FCC |
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| ERP | |
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| Translator | KATU 2.2 Portland |
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| Website | kunptv |
KUNP (channel 16) is anindependent television station licensed toLa Grande, Oregon, United States. It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group alongsidePortland-basedABC affiliateKATU (channel 2). The two stations share studios on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; KUNP's transmitter is located east ofCove atop Mount Fanny, withineastern Oregon'sWallowa–Whitman National Forest.
Because of the location of its transmitter facilities 240 miles (390 km) fromdowntown Portland, KUNP'sover-the-air signal is unable to reach Portland proper. To overcome this, its signal is relayed on alow-powertranslator station,KUNP-LD (channel 47), which serves the immediate Portland area from a transmitter on Willamette Stone Park Road (near Skyline Boulevard) in theSylvan-Highlands section of Portland, along withcable andsatellite coverage folded into KATU'sretransmission consent agreements to cover themarket, along with some outlying areas. Additionally, KUNP issimulcast in fullhigh definition on KATU's seconddigital subchannel.
The station was founded on August 6, 1999, and formally signed on the air on December 3, 2001, as KBPD; it changed its call letters to KPOU on May 14, 2002. From the start, the station was an affiliate of the Spanish-language networkUnivision.[3]
As KBPD and KPOU, the station was owned byEquity Broadcasting Corporation; it was acquired byFisher Communications on November 3, 2006, for $19.3 million. Fisher would associate KPOU with KATU, the ABC affiliate it owned in Portland.[4] Fisher changed the call letters to the current KUNP on December 5, 2006.
On August 21, 2012, Fisher Communications signed an affiliation agreement withMundoFox, a Spanish-language competitor to Univision that was owned as a joint venture betweenFox International Channels and Colombian broadcasterRCN TV, for KUNP and Seattle sister stationKUNS-TV to be carried on both stations asdigital subchannels starting in late September.[5] MundoFox would eventually rebrand as MundoMax in 2015 before ending all operations on December 1, 2016.
On April 10, 2013, KUNP, KATU, and Fisher Communications's other holdings were acquired by theSinclair Broadcast Group.[6][7] TheFederal Communications Commission granted its approval of the deal on August 7,[8] and the sale was completed the following day.[9]
On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Groupentered into an agreement to acquireTribune Media—owner ofCW affiliateKRCW-TV (channel 32)—for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. Sinclair would have been required to sell one of KUNP or KRCW-TV if the deal were to be approved.[10] However, in 2018, the FCC designated the deal for hearing by anadministrative law judge;[11] the deal was then terminated by Tribune.[12]
On September 23, 2024, thePortland Trail Blazers announced a new television deal with Sinclair to create the Rip City Television Network. Under the deal, KUNP would begin airing Blazers games in January 2025.[13] On September 26, Sinclair announced that KUNP would drop its Univision affiliation in 2025 to pivot the station to English-language programming, which in turn left the Portland market without a Univision outlet.[14]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KUNP | KUNP-LD | ||||
| 16.1 | 47.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KUNP | Main KUNP programming |
| 16.2 | 47.2 | 480i | TheNest | The Nest | |
| 16.3 | 47.3 | Charge | Charge! | ||
| 16.4 | 47.4 | ROAR | Roar | ||
Since KUNP did not sign on-the-air before the April 21, 1997, deadline for the FCC's digital television allotment plan, the station was not granted a companion digital signal. Therefore, on or before June 12, 2009, the station was required to turn off its analog signal and turn on a new digital signal (a method known as a "flash cut") on UHF channel 16. KUNP-LP, as a low-power station, continued to broadcast in analog until April 13, 2012, when it made its flash-cut to digital transmission on UHF channel 47 and changing its callsign suffix from "-LP" to "-LD".
KUNP also previously relayed its signal viaanalog translator KABH-LP (channel 15) inBend. KABH was owned by WatchTV, Inc., alongside its crosstown PortlandHSN affiliateKORK-CA, but was operated by Sinclair under alocal marketing agreement (LMA). KABH-LP was founded on June 1, 1992, as K15DO, but did not take to the air until November 3, 1993. KABH's license was canceled by the FCC on March 19, 2015, for failure to file a license renewal application.[citation needed]
At one point, KUNP also hadKKEI-CA as another translator prior to the Fisher acquisition. That station is now aTelemundo affiliate owned by WatchTV, Inc., which owned the now-defunct KABH-LP.[citation needed]
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofOregon | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Oregon | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofWashington | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Washington | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other |
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| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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