 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Paradise, California |
| Channels | |
| Branding | Fox 20 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| KRCR-TV,KRVU-LD, KZVU-LD,KUCO-LD,KXVU-LD,KKTF-LD | |
| History | |
| Founded | May 14, 1986 |
First air date | November 14, 1990 (34 years ago) (1990-11-14) |
Former call signs | KBCP (1990–1992) |
Former channel number(s) |
|
| |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 58605 |
| ERP | 500 kW |
| HAAT | 430.6 m (1,413 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°57′42.7″N121°42′43.1″W / 39.961861°N 121.711972°W /39.961861; -121.711972 |
| Translator(s) |
|
| Links | |
Public license information | |
KCVU (channel 20) is atelevision station licensed toParadise, California, United States, serving theChico–Reddingmarket as an affiliate of theFox network. It is owned byCunningham Broadcasting, which maintains alocal marketing agreement (LMA) withSinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Redding-licensedABC affiliateKRCR-TV (channel 7), for the provision of certain services. However, Sinclair effectively owns KCVU as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. KCVU is also sister to fivelow-power stations owned by Sinclair:Antenna TV affiliateKXVU-LD (channel 17);MyNetworkTV affiliatesKRVU-LD (channel 22) and KZVU-LD (channel 21);Univision affiliateKUCO-LD (channel 27); andUniMás affiliateKKTF-LD (channel 30). The stations share studios on Auditorium Drive east of downtown Redding and maintain a news bureau and sales office at the formerSainte Television Group facilities on Main Street in downtown Chico. KCVU's transmitter is located along Cohasset Road northeast of Chico.
KBVU (channel 28) inEureka operates as asemi-satellite of KCVU. As such, it clears all network programming as provided through its parent station but airs a separate offering ofsyndicated programming; there are also separate local newscasts, commercial inserts and legalstation identifications. Although KBVU maintains its own studios (shared with LMA partnerKAEF-TV) on Sixth Street in downtown Eureka,master control and some internal operations are based at KCVU's facilities.
The station was founded in 1986 byChester Smith and his companySainte Partners II, L.P. ofModesto, California, and started broadcasting as KBCP on channel 30 on November 14, 1990.[2] It was the first Sainte station to broadcast in English; its programming consisted of Christian andhome shopping programming, though Smith expressed an interest in a potential Fox affiliation at that time. The call letters changed to KCVU on October 16, 1992, and the station returned to air October 6, 1993. On January 1, 1994, the station finally obtained a Fox affiliation.[3] It replaced an affiliation on KRCR-TV seen during non-ABC hours since the network's inception in 1986. KRCR's other two satellites in Eureka andFort Bragg carried both Fox and ABC programming. Additional Fox coverage was provided byKTXL andKTVU on Chico and Redding cable systems.
On May 6, 2007, KCVU replacedMedford, Oregon Fox affiliateKMVU onNorthland Cable Television channel 13 in bothMt. Shasta andYreka when KMVU and Northland could not come to an agreement for KMVU to remain on the cable system. (Northland also carried sister stationMyTV Northern California on cable channel 2, but it was replaced withKFBI-LP of Medford.) As a result, Northland was blocked from airing Fox network programming.
On February 8, 2008, theSiskiyou Daily News reported that the dispute was being resolved and Northland was working with KMVU and KCVU to return either channel to both cable systems.KNVN replaced KMVU on channel 13 in Mt. Shasta and channel 11 in Yreka.KHSL-TV started to air on channel 6 in Yreka andKDRV is also on channel 6 in Mt. Shasta.
KMVU won thecarriage dispute, and KCVU is no longer available on any cable system outside the Chico–Redding market because all Fox affiliates are undersyndex. KMVU and all other local stations are fed to Yreka via OTA translator. These stations all havefiber optic links to Mt. Shasta, except for KNVN, which uses aDish Network feed.
TheSacramento Bee andChico Enterprise Record reported that the founder of Sainte Partners, Chester Smith, died on August 8, 2008, atStanford University Medical Center inPalo Alto, California, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife and his children. Despite Smith's death, Sainte continued to own and operate KCVU and its sister stations in the Sainte family.[4][5] The family continued to operate the station group despite poor financial practices.
In August 2012, it was announced that Sainte would sell KCVU and KBVU to Esteem Broadcasting of California and would fully merge its operations with ABC affiliates KRCR and KAEF.[6]
On April 21, 2017,Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase theBonten stations, including KRCR, for $240 million.[7] As part of the deal, Sinclair'ssidecarCunningham Broadcasting acquired the Esteem stations, including KCVU.[8] The sale was completed September 1, 2017.[9]
From February 2004 to June 2005,Fox 30 News at 10:00 pm was produced byKRCR-TV, utilizing that station's news department.
On April 1, 2013, KCVU relaunched its local news coverage withKRCR News Channel 7 at 10 on Fox 20, which airs weeknights at 10 p.m. with Tracey Leong and Mark Mester as anchors.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KCVU-DT | Fox |
| 20.2 | 480i | 4:3 | COMET | Comet |
| 20.3 | CHARGE | Charge! | ||
| 20.4 | NEST | The Nest | ||
| 20.5 | DABL | Dabl |
On August 21, 2009, KCVU and KBVU replaced the digital simulcast ofMyNetworkTV withThis TV on their DT2 sub-carriers. This was later replaced withCozi TV.
On December 22, 2008, KCVU shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 30, due to financial hardship; KCVU used its existing digital facilities, as did its other debt-ridden rivals KHSL and KNVN.[11] The virtual channel was changed from 30 to 20 and the station was re-branded as "Fox 20 Digital".
Download coordinates as:
| Broadcast TV stations |
|  | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels |
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Programming | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquisitions | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||