KRVU-LD
 | |
| KRVU-LD: Chico, California KZVU-LD: Redding, California KECA-LD: Eureka, California United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding | MyTV |
| Slogan | "The Northstate's Sports Leader" |
| Channels |
Digital: KRVU-LD: 22.1 (UHF) KZVU-LD: 21.1 (UHF) KECA-LD: 29.2 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV (2006–present) |
| Owner |
Bonten Media Group (sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group pending) (California Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | 1993 |
| Former affiliations | UPN (1997–2006) |
| Transmitter power | 6 kW |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
KRVU-LD/KZVU-LD Channel 21 is the My Network TV affiliate serving Northern California (aka the "Northstate") and is based in Redding, California. The station is owned by California Broadcasting, Inc., a subsidiary of Bonten Media Group. The station's vice-president and general manager is Andrew Stewart. It is shown as a repeater station in Eureka, California, on KECA-LD Channel 29.2 (KECA-LD Channel 29.1 is an affiliate of The CW.)
Bonten owns ABC affiliates KRCR-TV in Redding and KAEF-TV in Eureka. Bonten also operates KCVU in Chico and KBVU in Eureka (both Fox affiliates, of which also MyTV was formerly a DT subchannel of both stations) owned by Esteem Broadcasting; as well as three other stations in Chico, KUCO-LP (Univision), KXVU-LP (Telemundo) and KKTF-LD (UniMás) with low-powered translators in Redding and Eureka, also owned by California Broadcasting. KRVU broadcasts on cable channel 13 on Comcast in Chico and Charter in Redding and on Suddenlink cable channel 5 in Eureka.
KRVU has long been the Northstate's broadcast source for KTVU's Ten O'Clock News and the region's sports flagship station for the San Francisco Giants and Sacramento Kings. MyTV has broadcast reruns on former KHSL-TV mainstay program The Moriss Taylor Show from the late 1990s until 2015. The station was formerly known as MyTV Northern California, but reverted to its original call letters upon the station's purchase in 2015.
KRVU Redding, KZVU Chico, and KVIQ 17.2 Eureka (formerly KEMY, now owned by Redwood Television Partners, a subsidiary of Frontier Radio Management) (all UPN affiliates) became the primary affiliate of the newly formed My Network TV on September 5, 2006. They were an affiliate of UPN since the mid-1990s, but changed its affiliation following the merger of UPN and WB to become the CW Network (CW affiliate KIWB is now owned by Heartland Media being aired by KHSL Channel 12.2.) Bonten Media recently started a new CW station in Eureka, KECA-LD. All stations merged into a regional station in April 2009, as part of the start of an ongoing consolidation of local media north of Greater Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.
History
KRVU/KZVU was founded by Sainte Partners II, L.P., owned by country-western singer Chester Smith and hit the air in 1993, seven years after the founding of KCVU. It became an affiliate of the fledgling new UPN network in 1997 and would change affiliations to MyNetworkTV following the creation of The CW in 2006. (CW now airs on KHSL-DT2.) The station airs KTVU newscasts at 5am, Noon and 10pm and has done so since its launch.
Smith remained owner until his death in 2008 and his company's aforementioned sale of the station to Bonten.
Other local programming
The Moriss Taylor Show (1997-2015)
KRVU began airing reruns of The Moriss Taylor Show, claimed to be the longest-running locally produced television program in Northstate history, in 1997 after the show's parent station KHSL-TV cancelled it following that station's purchase by Catamount Broadcasting. Shows from the late 1980s through 1995, produced and taped at the KHSL-TV studios, aired on Saturday mornings at 10:00am on My 21, but was cancelled by new owners Bonten Media Group a few years after their purchase of the station in 2015. Reasoning for the cancellation was that the show had been produced by KHSL-TV and Bonten's ownership of KRCR prevents ANY programs from the rival competitor to air.
The show also aired Saturday afternoons at 1:30pm on sister station KFBI-LD My 48 in Medford before being replaced by Celebrate Jesus with Arbee Freeman.
Taylor and fellow Oklahoman Chester Smith had similar paths and backgrounds, thus it was a natural choice to air Taylor's program in reruns on Smith's station.
So You Want To Be A Star (2005)
KRVU debuted a new local version of American Idol called So You Want To Be A Star, hosted by actress/singer Linda Regan, in 2005. The show was an instant smash with Redding resident Kim Walker winning the competition and getting a chance to sing the Star-Spangled Banner at a Sacramento Kings NBA game at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California in February 2005. She was interviewed by Kings broadcaster Jim Kozimor during halftime for the UPN 21 audience only. However, commentators Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds plugged the show and the station during the broadcast which also aired on KXTV in Sacramento. A second season of So You Want To Be A Star was planned, but the primary sponsors backed out and the project was abandoned. (Sister station KCVU Fox 20 holds a local contest called "Northern California Idol", where the winner gets a bid to audition for American Idol, thus was the inspiration for the series).
CA Shotguns (2011)
A hunting show in Northern CA. originally produced by Corbett Productions of Redding CA. With local, Dan Corbett no longer in business, in 2012 the former Crew members went to form the successful video production Company "Digital Motion Factory".
Digital television
Digital channel
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[1][2][3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.1 | 480i | 4:3 | KRVU-LD | Main programming / MyNetworkTV |
| 22.1 | KZVU-SD | |||
| 29.2 | KVIQ-My | |||
Early Switch
KCVU, along with KHSL-TV and KNVN ceased analog operations on December 22, 2008. KCVU ceased analog operations early because the post-transition tower is complete and has been up and running for at least seven months; same case with KHSL. In the case of KBVU and its sister stations, the transition for some was much later as KUCO-LP, KXVU-LP, KKTF-LD, and both KBVU and MyTV's analog translators remained analog through late 2009/early 2010 when the Sainte Television Group ended all of its analog operations.
KVIQ and KBVU already made the switch on November 28, 2008.
High Definition
Most Fox programs on KCVU broadcast from 8 PM, are broadcast in HD, including most sporting events on weekends such as Major League Baseball, NASCAR and NFL Football. Most MyNTV programs on KRVU that are a part of its normal programming hours (8-10 PM) which are normally broadcast in HD, are broadcast on KRVU in SD, but will be broadcasting in HD soon since MyTV is now on its own channel. Still in SD, and all sporting programs on KRVU are blurry and terrible to watch
Merger with Eureka Television Group
On April 27, 2009, KRVU/KZVU merged its operations with sister station KEMY in Eureka, California, and both stations were rebranded "Northern California's My TV". The Eureka station, now known as KVIQ-DT 17.2, has essentially become KRVU's repeater station. In the near future, the Spanish-language stations will also start translators in Redding and Eureka. The Eureka Television Group has unveiled a new website, but the company itself is in the process of merging with the Chico stations to form the "Sainte Television Group."
Sale to Bonten Media Group
KRVU and its sister stations were sold to Bonten Media Group in 2012. (The flagship station of Sainte, KCVU FOX 20, was sold to Esteem Broadcasting, but is operated by Bonten.)
Sale to Sinclair
On April 21, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations (including KRVU-LD) for $240 million. The deal came immediately following the re-instatement of the "UHF discount", which reduces the calculated "reach" of a station for the purposes of national ownership limits if it broadcasts on a UHF channel.[4][5]
References
External links
- MyTV Northern California's website
- Fox 20's website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KRVU
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KZVU
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KEMY
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K04QC