| San Francisco, California | |
|---|---|
| City of license | San Francisco |
| Branding | KTSF |
| Slogan | The Face of the Bay Area |
| Channels | Digital: 27 (UHF) Virtual: 26 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Affiliations | Independent |
| Owner | Lincoln Broadcasting Company, a California LP |
| First air date | September 4, 1976 |
| Call letters' meaning | Television San Francisco |
| Former callsigns | KTSF-TV (September 4, 1976 to December 31, 1981) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 26 (UHF, September 4, 1976 to June 12, 2009) |
| Transmitter power | 500 kW |
| Height | 403.4 m |
| Facility ID | 37511 |
| Website | www.ktsf.com |
KTSF is an independent television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Although licensed to San Francisco, the station's studio building is located in south suburban Brisbane, California. It is owned by Lincoln Broadcasting Company, and broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain. Through the use of PSIP, KTSF's virtual channel is displayed as 26 on digital television receivers.
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In 1965, Lillian Lincoln Howell was issued a broadcast license for a new channel in San Francisco. Her goal was to offer programming to sectors of the market that were not being reached by the television stations then on the air. Her stated mission was to “serve the underserved.” It took many years to build the station but when it finally went on the air on September 4, 1976[1], it began broadcasting with mainly Chinese and Japanese programming. KTSF became the first US broadcaster to carry Asian-language programming.
In the 1980s, KTSF expanded its Asian content to reflect the changing demographics of the Bay Area. With increasing immigration from the Philippines and Korea, KTSF added Tagalog and Korean content and expanded its schedule to include programming from India and Iran.
A significant step in the station’s history came in 1987 when it hired Gallup to conduct the first-ever Chinese-language consumer study done in the United States. The challenge for any commercial broadcaster is to be able to demonstrate to advertisers a profile of its viewers. The Gallup study demonstrated to mainstream US companies that the Chinese-American market behaved like most other groups. For instance, the vast majority of Chinese people had bank accounts at "mainstream" financial institutions such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, while only a small percentage had accounts at Chinese-owned banks. The major grocery store chains, with their large variety of products and convenient locations, were patronized by 75% of Chinese-Americans on a weekly basis.
With this new research, KTSF was able to attract mainstream US companies to the Asian American market. KTSF built new studios in Brisbane and on February 6, 1989[1], launched the first live Chinese newscast in the United States.
Throughout the 1990s, with the H1-B visas in place, it was easier for US companies to attract qualified workers from other countries. The Bay Area saw a large number of workers from China, Taiwan and India move to Silicon Valley. KTSF responded by dramatically expanding its Mandarin-language and South Asian programming.
In 2005, KTSF became the first US Asian broadcaster to subscribe to Nielsen. With the daily overnight viewing data, KTSF was able to help advertisers better target the Asian demographic.
On February 13, 2006, KTSF began broadcasting Talk Tonight, a live Mandarin-language phone-in talk show; guests have included a variety of entertainment, political and sports figures.
By 2010, KTSF carried programming in 12 languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hindi and Tagalog.
KTSF also broadcast Japanese programming during primetime on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as the morning news program (broadcast on weekdays) known as FCI Morning Eye. Fuji TV provides Saturday night programming, branded as Fuji TV , while Tokyo TV provides Sunday night programming, branded as TTV. [1] A notable example that is broadcast on KTSF via TTV is "Hello Restaurant."
Fuji TV had been broadcast since February 1972 [2], while Tokyo Television debuted on KTSF as far back as September 4, 1976. [3] Fuji TV has been on the air even before KTSF made its actual debut.
KTSF launched its news department in 1989, and debuted Cantonese News on February 6 of the same year as the first live Chinese-language television program in the United States. The station subsequently launched Mandarin News, as well as a local Mandarin-language talk program, known presently as Talk Tonight. The station also added Weekend Cantonese and Mandarin news on March 25, 2006. Mandarin News originally was a 30 minute news program before it expanded to one hour at its current 10:00pm time slot, leading to Cantonese News, which had its time slot at 8:00pm before it moved to their current 7:00pm slot.
KTSF is currently the only station in the United States broadcasting nightly, live local and international news programming in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Cantonese News airs Monday to Friday from 7 to 8 pm and Mandarin News airs from 10 to 11 pm. Cantonese Weekend News airs at 6 pm on Saturdays while Mandarin Weekend News airs at 6 pm on Sundays. When the newscasts are to be on a break, the current time is displayed on the screen. Both Cantonese and Mandarin news, however, may be delayed or preempted due to special programming.
KTSF currently uses Traditional Chinese subtitles for both Cantonese and Mandarin newscasts; open captions are employed since closed captioning is only available for languages based on the Latin alphabet (e.g. English and Spanish).
On weekday afternoons, California Music Channel, consisting of CMC California Music Channel and CMC Beat Lounge, broadcasts on KTSF. There is also a late-night version of the CMC that broadcasts late Saturday night, known as CMC Late Night. [4]
(as of June 2010)
KTSF's digital signal launched in 2002 on UHF channel 27[2]; through the use of PSIP, the signal appears as virtual channel 26 on digital receivers. The station ceased analog transmission on June 12, 2009[3].
The station's digital channel is multiplexed, with all subchannels in 4:3 standard definition:
Digital channels
| Ch | Programming |
|---|---|
| 26.1 | Main KTSF programming |
| 26.2 | NHK World (no longer broadcasting on this channel – moved to KCNS subchannel 38.4 on November 1, 2011) |
| 26.3 | KBS World |
| 26.4 | ICN |
| 26.5 | Viet Today TV |
| 26.6 | Mirror of 26.1 |
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