| ATSC 3.0 station | |
|---|---|
 | |
| |
| Channels | |
| Branding | Nevada Sports Net |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Sinclair Broadcast Group viaJSA/SSA) |
| KRNV-DT,KRXI-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | October 11, 1981 (43 years ago) (1981-10-11) |
Former call signs | KAME-TV (1981–2019) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 21 (UHF, 1981–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Nevada Sports Net |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19191 |
| ERP | 53kW |
| HAAT | 176 m (577 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°35′3″N119°47′55″W / 39.58417°N 119.79861°W /39.58417; -119.79861 |
| Translator(s) | see§ Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | nevadasportsnet |
KNSN-TV (channel 21) is a primary sports-formattedindependent television station inReno, Nevada, United States, which has a secondary affiliation withMyNetworkTV. It is owned byDeerfield Media, which maintainsjoint sales andshared services agreements (JSA/SSA) withSinclair Broadcast Group, owner ofFox affiliateKRXI-TV (channel 11), for the provision of certain services. Sinclair also managesNBC affiliateKRNV-DT (channel 4) under a separate JSA withCunningham Broadcasting; however, Sinclair effectively owns KRNV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The three stations share studios on Vassar Street in Reno; KNSN-TV's transmitter is located on Red Hill betweenUS 395 andSR 445 inSun Valley, Nevada.
The station launched on October 11, 1981, as KAME-TV, an independent station airingmovies (TV-21's The Big Movie),cartoons,westerns, andsitcoms. On October 9, 1986, it became a charter Fox affiliate. On January 16, 1995, KAME-TV picked upUPN on a secondary basis; it became a full-time UPN affiliate on January 1, 1996, after KRXI signed-on and took Fox. Between September 1996 and May 1997, the station was briefly owned byRaycom Media. With the 2006 shutdown and merge ofThe WB and UPN to formThe CW, the station joinedNews Corporation–owned and Fox sister network MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006.
On July 20, 2012, one day afterCox Media Group purchasedWAWS andWTEV inJacksonville, Florida, andKOKI-TV andKMYT-TV inTulsa, Oklahoma, fromNewport Television, Cox put KRXI-TV (along with the LMA for KAME-TV) and sister stationsWTOV-TV inSteubenville, Ohio,WJAC-TV inJohnstown, Pennsylvania, andKFOX-TV inEl Paso, Texas (all in markets that are smaller than Tulsa), plus several radio stations in medium to small markets, on the selling block.[2] On February 25, 2013, Cox announced that it would sell the four television stations, and the LMA for KAME, toSinclair Broadcast Group;[3] as part of the deal, Ellis Communications would sell KAME-TV toDeerfield Media.[4] TheFederal Communications Commission (FCC) granted its approval on April 30, 2013, one day after it approved the sale of sister station, KRXI.[5] The sale was finalized on May 2, 2013.[6] Sinclair would subsequently purchase the non-license assets of a third Reno station, KRNV-DT, on November 22, 2013.[7] Sinclair could not buy KRNV-DT outright because Reno has only six full-power stations—three too few to legally permit a duopoly. With the sale of KRNV's license to Cunningham, Sinclair now controls half of those stations. The sale also created a situation in which a Fox affiliate is the nominal senior partner in a duopoly involving an NBC affiliate and a "Big Three" station.
On August 31, 2018, Sinclair announced that KAME-TV would relaunch as "Nevada Sports Net," which would feature extended coverage ofNevada Wolf Pack athletics, as well as theReno Aces and theMountain West Conference. The station would continue to air MyNetworkTV on a secondary basis. The new format launched on September 1. At that time, NSN took over KRNV's sports department.[8] On July 15, 2019, the station's call sign was changed to KNSN-TV. On July 25, 2023, the station converted toATSC 3.0.[9]
On September 21, 2023, NSN acquired the local television rights to theVegas Golden Knights. Coverage is produced byScripps Sports.[10]
Before the station shifted to a mainly sports-themed format,syndicated programming featured on KAME-TV includedThe Real (later aired onKRXI-TV),Judge Faith,The Simpsons,Family Guy (now airing onKOLO-DT3), andAnger Management, among others.
The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on themultiplexed signals of other Reno television stations:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ATSC 1.0 host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KNSN-TV | Sports programming /MyNetworkTV | KRXI-TV |
| 21.2 | 480i | Stadium | The Nest | KRNV-DT | |
| 21.3 | Comet | Comet | KTVN |
| Channel | Res. | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 1080p | 2 CBS | CBS (KTVN) |
| 4.1 | News4 | NBC (KRNV-DT) | |
| 8.1 | 720p | KOLO-TV | ABC (KOLO-TV) |
| 11.1 | FOX11 | Fox (KRXI-TV) | |
| 21.1 | KNSN-TV | Main KNSN-TV programming | |
| 21.10 | 1080p | T2 | T2 |
| 21.11 | PBTV | Pickleballtv |
KNSN-TV (as KAME-TV) shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 21, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 20,[16] usingvirtual channel 21.
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