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 Univision building in Houston | |
| City | Rosenberg, Texas |
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| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KFTH-DT,KAMA-FM,KLTN,KOVE-FM,KESS | |
| History | |
| Founded | August 2, 1984 (1984-08-02) |
First air date | September 16, 1987 (1987-09-16) |
Former call signs | KXLN-TV (1987–2009) |
Former channel numbers |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53847 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 592 m (1,942 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°33′45″N95°30′36″W / 29.56250°N 95.51000°W /29.56250; -95.51000 |
| Translator(s) | KFTH-DT 67.5Alvin |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KXLN-DT (channel 45) is atelevision station licensed toRosenberg, Texas, United States, serving as theHouston-area outlet for the Spanish-language networkUnivision. It isowned and operated byTelevisaUnivision alongsideAlvin-licensedUniMás stationKFTH-DT (channel 67). The two stations share studios near theSouthwest Freeway (adjacent to theI-610/I-69 interchange) on Houston's southwest side; KXLN-DT's transmitter is located nearMissouri City, in unincorporated northeasternFort Bend County.
In addition to its own digital signal, KXLN issimulcast inhigh definition on KFTH's fifthdigital subchannel (67.5) from a separate transmitter near Missouri City.
The earliest attempt at launching channel 45 was in 1968, when theOvermyer Network/United planned to launch the station as KJDO-TV.
In February 1980, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) designated three applications seeking channel 45 in Rosenberg for hearing.Trinity Broadcasting of Texas dropped out in 1981,[2] leaving two combatants for the channel. Pueblo Broadcasting, owned by businessmen A. C. Peña and J. Adán Treviño, proposed the construction of Houston's first full-time Spanish-language outlet; previously,KRIV, an English-language independent, had carried some Spanish programming from the Spanish International Network, Univision's predecessor, or adjacent to prime time. The bid had initially been prepared because SIN was interested in a station in the market and had approached local Hispanics to put together an application.[3] The other applicant was Texas 45 Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Chicago-basedWeigel Broadcasting.[3]
The comparative hearings ended up examining Weigel's bid, more specifically issues added as to whether Weigel had misrepresented the coverage area of its only TV station,WCIU-TV, on maps it gave to prospective advertisers. In 1984, administrative law judge Edward Luton found Weigel qualified to be a licensee but also gave Pueblo the nod based on its lack of substantive broadcast interests, compared to the one station owned by Weigel, and a superior proposal for integration of management.[2] That same year, on August 2, Pueblo signed on a translator for SIN on channel 45 (K45AK), which it had separately filed for in 1979.[3] Plans were then made to build the full-power facility, which began broadcasting on September 16, 1987.[4] The station originally operated from studio facilities located at 9440 Kirby Drive, near theAstrodome;[4] it moved down the road in 1989.[5]
KXLN was immediately profitable: by 1990, sales reached $6 million a year.[6] It was the fastest-growing Hispanic business in the entire United States between 1984 and 1988, according toHispanic Business magazine.[5] Univision bought KXLN from Pueblo in 1994 for $20 million.[7]
Univision Communications acquired channel 67, then KHSH-TV, fromUSA Broadcasting in 2000; that station became the Houston charter station of Univision's new secondary network, Telefutura (which was rebranded asUniMás in January 2013) when it launched in January 2002. Later that year, Univision, in a multimillion-dollar purchase, bought a six-story building in Houston'sUptown district to serve as the studio facilities for KXLN, KFTH and several Univision-owned radio stations in the Houston area. The Univision-owned local properties moved into the building in 2006.
On January 26, 2019, KXLN changed frequencies from RF channel 45 to RF channel 30 as part of the FCC'sspectrum repack.
In 1988, KXLN began producing news updates during Univision prime-time programming; two years later, the station began producing a 6 p.m. newscast.[8] In 1993, KXLN debuted Houston's first Spanish-language morning news program,Houston Ahora, as well as an innovative late evening newscast called15 Minutos. Ratings success was quick to follow; the station attracted more younger viewers thanKPRC-TV by 2001.[9]
On March 27, 2015, the station axed its morning newscast along with the local UniMás showVive La Mañana for a regionalized morning newscast titledNoticias Texas Primera Edición that would air on Univision stations in Dallas, Houston,San Antonio, andAustin.[10] Univision restored separate morning newscasts to the four Texas stations in 2019.[11]
The Univision building in Houston houses a weather center, opened in 2017, that supplies the company's broadcast stations and digital platforms nationwide with weather information and forecasts.[12]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KXLN-DT | Univision |
| 45.2 | Unimas | UniMás (KFTH-DT) | ||
| 45.3 | 480i | Mystery | Ion Mystery | |
| 45.4 | NVSN | MovieSphere Gold | ||
| 45.5 | Shop LC | Shop LC | ||
| 20.2 | 480i | 16:9 | Movies! | Movies! (KTXH) |
KXLN-DT transmits one ofKTXH's subchannels under Houston'sATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) deployment plan; in turn, KXLN is available in that format on the KTXH multiplex.[14]
KXLN-DT (as KXLN-TV) ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 45, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[15] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 46 to channel 45 for post-transition operations.[16][17]
Eleven days later, all Univision owned-and-operated stations, including KXLN, permanently added a "-DT" suffix to their call signs.
Includes Spanish-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| Telemundo | ||
| Estrella TV | ||
| UniMás | ||
| Univision | ||
| Latino-related | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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| Corporate directors |
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| US television networks |
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| Mexican television networks |
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| International networks |
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| Uforia Audio Network |
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| Univision Television Group |
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