KUNP-LP

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KUNP-LP
Pocatello, Idaho
Channels	24 (UHF) analog
Affiliations	TeleFutura
Owner	Fisher Communications (Fisher Broadcasting Company)
Founded	June 20, 1997
Call letters meaning	K UPN Pocatello
Former callsigns	KPID-LP, K24EV
Former affiliations	UPN (2001-2006)
Transmitter Power	10.2 kW
Height	457 m
Class	LPTV
Facility ID	28231

KUNP-LP is a low-power television station serving Pocatello and Idaho Falls, Idaho as an affiliate of TeleFutura. The station is owned by Fisher Communications and broadcasts in analog on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on Howard Mountain in Pocatello.

[edit] History

An original construction permit for low-power station K24EV was granted on June 20, 1997 to Idaho Independent Television, Inc. This construction permit was acquired by Pocatello Media Group on May 19, 2000.

K24EV had originally planned to simulcast the programming of future KRXZ-LP channel 59, licensed to Rexburg, and air UPN programming. KRXZ-LP's license originally covered low-power K63GA on channel 63, which was only on the air for less than a year, from August 1999 to July 2000 [1], when it was granted Remain Silent Authority from the FCC.

K24EV had its call letters changed to KPID-LP (Pocatello IDaho) and applied for a license to cover on February 2, 2001, which was dismissed in May [2] because it was not timely filed. The underlying construction permit had expired in June 2000, more than seven months before Pocatello Media Group filed for the license. Both KPID-LP and KRXZ-LP were put up for auction, but the company winning the FCC auction (ESI Communications) went into bankruptcy and neither signal had gone on the air.

However, Pocatello Media Group's license to cover for KPID-LP was reinstated [3] and granted on June 26, 2001, indicating that the station had finally gotten on the air. At this time, the call letters were changed back to K24EV. KRXZ-LP, however, which was to broadcast UPN to the northern portion of the broadcasting area, never went on the air on channel 59. KRXZ-LP's license was deleted in 2003.

Equity Broadcasting, through its subsidiary EBC Pocatello, Inc., acquired K24EV on February 3, 2003 [4], and changed the call letters to KUNP-LP on March 5, 2004. The station was finally acquired by Fisher Communications [5], owner of CBS affiliate KIDK, on May 15, 2006.

UPN merged with The WB to form The CW, and WB affiliate KPIF acquired the CW affiliation. UPN ceased programming on September 15, 2006, and KUNP-LP became an affiliate of the Spanish-language TeleFutura network [6].

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for KUNP
• Post-Register article on station construction, February 25, 2001.