KYES

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KYES

Anchorage, Alaska
Branding	My KYES 5
Channels	5 (VHF) analog, 22 (UHF) digital
Translators	KYEX-LP (18, UHF), Anchorage
Affiliations	My Network TV
Owner	Fireweed Broadcasting
Founded	December 10, 1986
Former callsigns	KFTC (1986-1987)
Former affiliations	Independent (1989-1995) The WB (secondary) UPN (1995-2006)
Transmitter Power	100 kW
Website	www.kyes.com

KYES is the local MyNetworkTV affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska, broadcasting locally on channel 5, with a repeater in Anchorage on channel 18, KYEX-LP. The station is owned by Fireweed Broadcasting.

1 History
2 Digital Television
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

KYES, a.k.a. "YES-TV", signed on the air on December 10, 1986 as an independent before joining UPN in 1995. It also had The WB as an affiliate for a couple of years before dropping them from its lineup. In January 2006 it was announced that the WB and UPN will end operations in September 2006 to form The CW. The station was expected to become a CW affiliate, but on April 24 it was announced that The CW would be carried on a digital subchannel on ABC's Anchorage affiliate KIMO. KYES will instead become an affiliate of My Network TV and the only one in Alaska; KFXF, the Fox affiliate in Fairbanks, passed it as their secondary network.

[edit] Digital Television

KYES's digital signal on channel 22 signed on with 20 watts of power on August 25, 2003 -- the first television station in the Anchorage market to have a digital signal, and the first in Alaska to offer high-definition television. The means of getting the signal out, however, was extraordinary -- KYES used a TTC 100-watt analog translator and a K-Tec digital exciter purchaed on eBay, along with a temporary 30-foot tower, originally used for an analog LPTV translator, on the roof of the hillside home of KYES's president and chief engineer manager, Jeremy Lansman. At only $5000 to construct, it was sufficient enough to transmit a viewable digital signal throughout Anchorage. ([1]) KYES's initial digital programming included high-definition programming from HDNet and WealthTV, along with an in-house audio music channel, rebroadcasts of KUDO-AM, KEUL-FM and the Republic Radio Network, and a standard-definition KYES broadcast. ([2])

KYES is authorised by the FCC to move to channel 6, broadcasting up to 45kw.