KXPI-LD

KXPI-LD is a low-power television station serving Pocatello and Idaho Falls, Idaho. The station is owned by Fisher Communications and broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter located on Howard Mountain in Pocatello. As of early 2011, the News-Press & Gazette Company (owner of local ABC affiliate KIFI-TV) is now operating KXPI and its CBS-affiliated sister station KIDK through shared services agreements.

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 Federal Communications Commission (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]. The call letters changed again on December 15, 2006 to KPPP-LP.

In mid-December 2008, KPPP dropped its TeleFutura affiliation and signed off. The station then changed its call letters to the current KXPI-LP on April 22, 2009. The station signed back on September 14, 2009 with programming from MyNetworkTV; at that time, KXPI began to be simulcast on a new subchannel of KIDK-DT.[7] Prior to this latest relaunch, the Idaho Falls - Pocatello market was one of the few markets in the country without a MyNetworkTV affiliate of its own.

Newscasts

KXPI airs a 9 p.m. newscast seven nights a week, produced by KIDK. The station also rebroadcast KIDK's morning newscast at 7 a.m. on weekdays until KIFI took over the operations of Fisher's Idaho Falls/Pocatello cluster in early 2011.

External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXPI
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KXPI
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXPI-LD
• Post-Register article on station construction, February 25, 2001.