KPHE-LP

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KPHE-LP
Phoenix, Arizona
Branding	TV 44
Slogan	Su Inspiración Familiar
Channels	44 (UHF) analog
Affiliations	Multimedios Television
Owner	Lotus Communications Corporation
Founded	March 17, 1992
Call letters meaning	PHoEnix
Former callsigns	K19DD
Former affiliations	Bloomberg News, Bohemia Visual Music
Transmitter Power	10 kW
Height	500 m
Facility ID	30885
Website	www.kphetv.com

KPHE-LP is a low-power television station in Phoenix, Arizona, broadcasting locally in analog on UHF channel 44 from its transmitter on South Mountain. It is not carried on any of the local cable television systems. Founded March 17, 1992, it is owned by Lotus Communications Corporation of Los Angeles, California and is an affiliate of Multimedios Television, a Spanish-language network based in Monterrey, Mexico. When not airing Multimedios programming, the station broadcasts Christian and family-oriented Spanish-language programming under the brand TV Inspiración.

Contents 1 History 2 Digital television 3 Previous Logos 4 See Also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

On March 17, 1992, the FCC granted an original construction permit to build low-power television station K19DD on UHF channel 19 to serve Phoenix and the East Valley. The station was owned by Scottsdale publisher Harlan L. Jacobsen, with transmitter location on Usery Mountain in east Mesa. K19DD was granted an initial license on July 13, 1995, as an affiliate of the Bloomberg Television network. In June 1998, Jacobsen was granted a construction permit to operate an experimental broadcast station using the facilities of K19DD to broadcast in digital format.

In September 1999, Jacobsen sold the station to US Interactive LLC, who soon afterward, changed its call letters to KPHE-LP. In December 2000, the station became part of a pilot program to study the feasibility of using low-power UHF television stations to deliver wireless data services to subscribers.^[1] The Digital Data Services Act pilot project was effective from December 2000 through June 2002, during which time, KPHE was unavailable as an over-the-air analog broadcast station.^[2]

After the pilot project was complete, KPHE programming consisted of a camera focused on a fish tank. Viewers could watch the fish while music played in the background. That changed in October 2003, when Valley residents Jeff Crawford and Jennifer Harris Crawford leased the station from US Interactive and took over its operations. The Crawfords had been operating a music video service called Bohemia AfterDark since 1982, and launched Bohemia Visual Music (BVM), a 24/7 music video channel.^[3]

In January 2004, Lotus Communications Corporation purchased KPHE from US Interactive. The sale was finalized in March, and the station continued to be operated by the Crawfords as Bohemia Visual Music. Lotus had intended to launch family-friendly Spanish-language programming,^[4] but the station continued to air Bohemia Visual Music. In March 2005, KPHE moved from channel 19 to channel 44, moved broadcast facilities from Usery Mountain to the South Mountain antenna farm, and upgraded their broadcast signal in preparation for future digital broadcasting.

In July 2006, more than a year after announcing its intention to launch a family-focused station, Lotus replaced Bohemia Visual Music programming, first with a mix of music videos, including recorded worship services, and later, with talk shows and other Bible-based instruction. The new programming was branded TV Inspiración. It was lacking in production values, and had an amateur, almost public access, presentation, as evidenced by the station's ID slide (pictured below), which would appear full-screen for a few seconds in the middle of programming. KPHE affiliated with Multimedios in November 2006, while keeping TV Inspiración as secondary programming. In February 2007, they announced that they would carry Spanish-language telecasts of Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball home games, beginning with the 2007 season. Unlike most Spanish-language telecasts, the Diamondbacks games will feature a full Spanish-language broadcast, with its own play-by-play, color commentary and on-field announcers.^[5]

[edit] Digital television

In May 2006, the FCC opened up a brief application period in which low-power television licensees and permittees could apply for a digital companion channel by short form application. KPHE-LP applied for UHF channel 16, to broadcast from the same location as the analog station. In September, the FCC identified the station as a singleton applicant, meaning that there were no competing applications on the same or adjacent channels, and giving the station until October 31 to file a long form application. On October 26, 2006, KPHE-LP formally applied for a digital companion channel on UHF channel 16.^[6]

[edit] Previous Logos

KPHE logo used from 2003-2005, under the Bohemia Visual Music name; at the time, the station broadcast on channel 19.

KPHE / Bohemia Visual Music logo used from 2005 through 2006, after the station had moved to channel 44.

KPHE-LP station ID slide, as "TV Inspiración", used from 2006 through early 2007 during local programming. The slide was created in Microsoft PowerPoint.

[edit] See Also

• Multimedios Television
• Bohemia Visual Music

[edit] References

1. ^ US Code, Title 47, Section 336. Broadcast spectrum flexibility, accessed March 4, 2007
2. ^ Implementation of LPTV Digital Data Services Pilot Project, FCC CDBS database, April 19, 2001, accessed March 4, 2007
3. ^ E. Gately, Tempe, Ariz., TV Station Build Fans with All-Music-Video Format, Mesa Tribune, December 20, 2003, accessed March 4, 2007, (from website - free registration required for full article)
4. ^ A. Gozales, New Spanish-language TV station headed to Phoenix, The Business Journal of Phoenix, March 9, 2005, accessed March 4, 2007
5. ^ K. Alltucker, D-Backs set to televise 50 games in Spanish, The Arizona Republic, February 28, 2007, accessed March 4, 2007
6. ^ FCC Application, FCC CDBS database, October 24, 2006, accessed March 4, 2007

[edit] External links

• Official KPHE website
• Multimedios Television official site
• Old KPHE/BVM website (2004 - before move to channel 44)
• Lotus Communications Corp
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KPHE-LP