KBFD-DT

KBFD-DT
Honolulu, Hawaii
United States
Slogan Pioneer in Asian Programming
"Hawaii's Home for K-Drama"
Channels Digital: 33 (UHF)
Virtual: 32 (PSIP)
Subchannels 32.1 Independent
32.2 KBS World
32.3 Arirang
Affiliations Independent
Owner Chung family
(The Allen Broadcasting Corporation)
First air date March 24, 1986 (1986-03-24)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
32 (UHF, 1986–2009)
Transmitter power 108 kW
Height -5 m
Facility ID 65395
Transmitter coordinates 21°18′38.3″N 157°51′32.5″W / 21.310639°N 157.859028°W / 21.310639; -157.859028
Website www.kbfd.com

KBFD-DT, virtual channel 32 (UHF digital channel 33), is an Asian-language independent television station located in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. The station is owned by Allen Broadcasting. KBFD's studios are located on Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu, and its transmitter is located near Hawaii Pacific University. Since it does not operate any satellite stations, it can only be received in areas of the state that do not receive its signal via cable or satellite; KBFD is available on Oceanic Cable basic channel 4 in Oahu and on digital cable channels 82 and 1004 statewide, and on Hawaiian Telcom channel 6 and digital channel 1006. The station is not available to viewers on Dish Network or DirecTV.

Overview

The station first signed on the air on March 24, 1986; it is one of two television stations in Hawaii that specializes in Asian programming full-time (alongside KIKU, channel 20). Although the station airs various programs from many Asian countries, most of the programs seen on KBFD are geared to a Korean audience since most of its lineup features programs acquired from the Korean Broadcasting System, the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation and SBS. Most of the programs airing on KBFD are also subtitled in English, due to a growing audience among non-Asian viewers for its fare of music shows and drama serials, which KBFD will air around the same time as the Korean broadcasts, usually two weeks after their broadcasts. In January 2015, KFVE became the second station in Hawaii to offer Korean dramas, airing Sunday afternoons.

KBFD also handles exclusive home video distribution of Korean shows and specials under the KBFDVD brand banner, which the station advertises on air and on their website. During the morning hours (between 6 and 11:00 a.m.), KBFD fills this programming block up with infomercials.

KBFD also carries programming from KBS World, the cable program service from KBS (broadcasting as KBFD2), on digital subchannel 32.2, Arirang on 32.3, and operates the cable channel KLife, a Korean lifestyle programing service. KBFD is one of the very few television stations in the Honolulu market, and the United States as a whole, that continues to sign off, doing so each night from 12:30 to 6:00 a.m. Its sign-on and sign-off features the National Anthems of both the United States and South Korea.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
32.1 480i 4:3 KBFD-D1 Main KBFD-TV programming
32.2 KBFD-D2 KBS World
32.3 KBFD-D3 Arirang

Analog-to-digital conversion

KBFD-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 32, on January 15, 2009, the date in which full-power television stations in Hawaii transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 33,[2] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 32.

References

  1. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KBFD
  2. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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