KXPI-LD

KXPI-LD

Pocatello/Idaho Falls, Idaho- Jackson, Wyoming
City of license	Pocatello
Branding	KXPI Fox East Idaho (general) Channel 3 Eyewitness News (newscasts)
Slogan	Taking Action For You
Channels	Digital: 34 (UHF) Virtual: 34 (PSIP)
Subchannels	34.1 Fox (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary)
Translators	KIDK 3.2 Idaho Falls
Owner	VistaWest Media, LLC (operated through SSA by News-Press & Gazette Company)
Founded	June 26, 2001
Call letters' meaning	Fo'X Pocatello, Idaho
Sister station(s)	KIDK, KIFI-TV
Former callsigns	K24EV (CP, 1997-2000) KPID-LP (2000-2004) KUNP-LP (2004-2006) KPPP-LP (2006-2009) KXPI-LP (2009-2011)
Former channel number(s)	24 (UHF analog)
Former affiliations	UPN (2001-2006) TeleFutura (2006-2008)
Transmitter power	5.2 kW 200 kW (KIDK-DT2)
Height	457 m 489 kW (KIDK-DT2)
Class	LD
Facility ID	28231 56028 (KIDK-DT2)
Transmitter coordinates	42°51′58.0″N 112°30′48.0″W / 42.866111°N 112.513333°W / 42.866111; -112.513333 43°29′50.6″N 112°39′52.7″W / 43.497389°N 112.664639°W / 43.497389; -112.664639 (KIDK-DT2)
Website	KXPI (subsection of LocalNews8.com)

KXPI-LD is the low-powered primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV television station for Southeastern Idaho and Northwestern Wyoming. Licensed to Pocatello, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 (or virtual channel 34.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Howard Mountain in unincorporated Bannock County west of Downtown Pocatello. The station can also be seen on Cable ONE channel 21 and in high definition on digital channel 461.

Overview

Owned by VistaWest Media, LLC, KXPI is sister to CBS outlet KIDK and both are operated through a shared services agreement (SSA) by the News-Press & Gazette Company. That arrangement makes the two stations sister to ABC affiliate KIFI-TV and all three share studios on North Yellowstone Highway/U.S. 26 in Idaho Falls. Syndicated programming on this station includes The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory among others.

Even though KXPI airs a digital signal of its own, the low-powered broadcasting radius does not reach Idaho Falls. Therefore, the station can also be seen through a high definition simulcast on KIDK's second digital subchannel in order to reach the entire market. This signal can be seen on UHF channel 36.2 (or virtual channel 3.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter on East Butte in unincorporated northern Bingham County along the Idaho National Laboratory border. The website for the station is currently a subsection of the KIFI-TV site.

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 the Pocatello Media Group on May 19, 2000. K24EV had originally planned to simulcast the programming of future KRXZ-LP on 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 (standing for "P"ocatello, "ID"aho) 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. In January 2011, the News-Press & Gazette Company (owner of local ABC affiliate KIFI-TV) began operating KXPI-LD and its CBS-affiliated sister station KIDK through shared services agreements.

On June 15, 2012, it was announced that KXPI-LD/KIDK-DT2 would be taking over the Fox affiliation from Intermountain West Communications Company-managed KFXP beginning July 1. KFXP would then switch to This TV on that date. KXPI would retain MyNetworkTV as a secondary affiliation airing programming in a delayed arrangement at 10 on weeknights.^[8][9][10]

The affiliation move gives News-Press & Gazette operational control of five of the six largest English-language networks in the Idaho Falls market since The CW moved its Idaho Falls affiliation from KPIF to a new digital subchannel of KIFI back in 2009. It also makes the Idaho Falls–Pocatello market one of the only markets with all three historical networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) as primary affiliations and all three post-1986 networks (Fox, The CW and the MyNetworkTV programming service) as digital multicast channels in a market with four commercially-licensed full-power stations (or five when counting KPIF). After joining Fox, KXPI's call sign could also be interpreted as "FoX Pocatello, Idaho".

On April 11, 2013, Fisher announced that it would sell its stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group.^[11] The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.^[12] Shortly beforehand, a deal was reached to sell KXPI and KIDK to VistaWest Media, LLC, a company based in St. Joseph, Missouri (where NPG is also based); the stations will remain operated by NPG under a shared services agreement.^[13] The sale was finalized on November 29. ^[14]

Digital television

Newscasts

News open.

KIDK airs a nightly prime time newscast on this station known as Channel 3 Eyewitness News at 9 on KXPI Fox East Idaho. The show can be seen for 35 minutes on weeknights and a half-hour on weekends. Prior to the SSA formulation with KIFI, this outlet also rebroadcast KIDK's weekday morning show at 7. KIFI now produces KXPI's newscast as a result of the SSA. It competed with another local newscast seen weeknights at 9 on KFXP (that was produced by rival NBC affiliate KPVI-DT). However, that thirty-minute show was discontinued on June 30, 2012 as KFXP lost its Fox affiliation a day before KXPI affiliated with the network.

Anchors

• Jessica Crandall - weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Todd Kunz - weeknights at 9 p.m.

Weather team

• Steve Cannon - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 9 p.m.
• Liz Cosgrove - meteorologist; weekends at 9 p.m., also news reporter
• Kylie Bearse - fill-in weather anchor and news reporter

Sports team

• Jeff Landers - sports director; weeknights at 9 p.m.
• Michelle Ludtka - sports anchor; weekends at 9 p.m. and sports reporter

Reporters

• Marissa Bodnar - Bingham County reporter
• Brittany Borghi - Pocatello reporter
• Stephanie Hale-Lopez
• Caleb James
• Jamie Ostroff

References

• Post-Register article on station construction, February 25, 2001.

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXPI-LD
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXPI-LD