KAZR-CA
Encyclopedia
KRNS-CA is a low-power Class A
television station
in Reno, Nevada
, broadcasting locally in analog
on UHF
channel 46 and affiliated with The CW Television Network
via The CW Plus
. Founded June 14, 1988, the station is owned by Entravision Communications
. KRNS and its Univision
/CW sister station, KREN-TV
, are housed in a 8500 sq ft (789.7 m²) glass-walled facility at the Meadowood Mall
in south Reno.
Due to its low-power Class A status, it does not currently broadcast a digital signal of its own. However, there is a standard-definition
digital signal on KREN-TV's second digital subchannel to serve as that purpose.
Less than one month after licensing, Pappas Telecasting acquired the station, eventually making it a Univision
affiliate. In December 1996, the FCC
granted Pappas Telecasting a permit to move the station to UHF channel 68. Callsign K68HO was reserved for the station to take effect upon licensing, but the calls were never used. Instead, the station took the call letters KUVR-LP in February 1998, reflecting their status as the Univision station for Reno. KUVR-LP moved to channel 68 in April 1999.
In November 2001, Pappas Telecasting dropped the Univision network for a fledgling Spanish-language network starting up in the US
, controlled in part by Pappas. The new network was called Azteca America
and was an offshoot of the Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca
. Pappas also obtained a Class A license for KUVR-LP, granted March 25, 2002, giving the station a measure of protection during the switchover to digital television that was beginning. The station changed call letters once again, this time to KUVR-CA. Later in the year, the station was granted a license to operate channel 68, but couldn't stay there, since their new status as a Class A station required them to be within the "core spectrum", i.e., channels 2–51. They requested and were granted permission to move to UHF channel 46 in January 2003 and was licensed on channel 46 on December 5, 2005. In the midst of the move, the station changed call letters once again, this time to KAZR-CA to reflect their Azteca affiliation.
Pappas Telecasting has terminated KAZR's affiliation agreement with Azteca America effective July 1, 2007; by this time, Pappas had divested their share in Azteca America. After that date, KAZR officially became a part of Pappas' independent Spanish language network, TuVision
.
. The program was also the first Spanish local newscast in high definition in the United States, with the Reno market featuring two other high definition newscasts..
The newscast was canceled on March 11, 2008, when KAZR's news department (which was shared with sister station KREN-TV
) was closed due to poor advertising revenues. Some Hispanic community leaders, such as Jessie Gutierrez, director of Nevada Hispanic Services, said that the popularity of the station will decrease without a local newscast, citing, "This is a growing Hispanic community, the news they provide at 6 p.m. is essential to let the Hispanic community know what's going on... They're not taking in the needs of the Hispanic community, and they are supposed to be the Hispanic station." Some of the dismissed staffers have planned to take legal action against the station.
. The company reported in court filings that it has more than $536 million in debt and $460 million in assets. Problems that led to bankruptcy included poor performance of The CW network, its now-former involvement with Azteca America
, and preparations for the 2009 analog shutdown. http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,99461.0.html
.http://www.mediamoves.blogspot.com/2008/09/entravision-to-buy-pappas-stations-in.html The deal closed on April 1, 2009. At some point in between KAZR dropped its TuVision affiliation and began airing The CW Plus
programming that had been displaced from the main KREN-TV channel when that channel switched to Univision. This acquisition made both KREN and KAZR/KRNS sisters to former Univision affiliate KNVV-LP
(Channel 41, which switched to TeleFutura
around the same time). Channel 46 changed its call sign to KRNS-CA in June 2009. The station completed its flash-cut of its channel 46 signal to digital in November 2011. It retained its Class A status; however, its legal call sign remains KRNS-CA.
www.univisionreno.com
Class A television service
The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" or "-CD" , although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD...
television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, broadcasting locally in analog
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
on UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
channel 46 and affiliated with The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
via The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
. Founded June 14, 1988, the station is owned by Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications Corporation is a media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several of the top Hispanic markets. They are the largest affiliate...
. KRNS and its Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
/CW sister station, KREN-TV
KREN-TV
KREN-TV is a full-service television station in Reno, Nevada, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 26. It is an affiliate of Univision. It rebroadcasts its two low-power analog sister stations—The CW Plus affiliate KRNS-CA on digital subchannel 27.2 and TeleFutura affiliate KNVV-LP on...
, are housed in a 8500 sq ft (789.7 m²) glass-walled facility at the Meadowood Mall
Meadowood Mall
Meadowood Mall is a one-level, super-regional mall in Reno, Nevada, owned and managed by Simon Property Group. Meadowood Mall contains 100 retailers and restaurants and it is anchored by Macy’s Women, Macy’s Men/Home, Sears and JCPenney.-History:...
in south Reno.
Due to its low-power Class A status, it does not currently broadcast a digital signal of its own. However, there is a standard-definition
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
digital signal on KREN-TV's second digital subchannel to serve as that purpose.
History
The station began with an original construction permit granted on June 14, 1988 to Que Television Production Inc. to build low-power television station K47CO to serve the Reno area. Shortly after getting the permit, Que Television Production sold the station to K-Fun Television Inc. After several extensions of the construction permit, K-Fun Television sold the station to Kidd Communications. There were more extensions of the permit, but Kidd Communications completed the construction, and the station was granted its initial license on July 12, 1995. Initial programming for the station is unknown.Less than one month after licensing, Pappas Telecasting acquired the station, eventually making it a Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
affiliate. In December 1996, the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
granted Pappas Telecasting a permit to move the station to UHF channel 68. Callsign K68HO was reserved for the station to take effect upon licensing, but the calls were never used. Instead, the station took the call letters KUVR-LP in February 1998, reflecting their status as the Univision station for Reno. KUVR-LP moved to channel 68 in April 1999.
In November 2001, Pappas Telecasting dropped the Univision network for a fledgling Spanish-language network starting up in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, controlled in part by Pappas. The new network was called Azteca America
Azteca América
Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...
and was an offshoot of the Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...
. Pappas also obtained a Class A license for KUVR-LP, granted March 25, 2002, giving the station a measure of protection during the switchover to digital television that was beginning. The station changed call letters once again, this time to KUVR-CA. Later in the year, the station was granted a license to operate channel 68, but couldn't stay there, since their new status as a Class A station required them to be within the "core spectrum", i.e., channels 2–51. They requested and were granted permission to move to UHF channel 46 in January 2003 and was licensed on channel 46 on December 5, 2005. In the midst of the move, the station changed call letters once again, this time to KAZR-CA to reflect their Azteca affiliation.
Pappas Telecasting has terminated KAZR's affiliation agreement with Azteca America effective July 1, 2007; by this time, Pappas had divested their share in Azteca America. After that date, KAZR officially became a part of Pappas' independent Spanish language network, TuVision
TuVisión
TuVisión was an American Spanish-language broadcasting network, which is owned by Pappas Telecasting. TuVisión is a portmanteau of tu and televisión . During the latter part of 2007, Pappas hired Moelis & Company to develop long-term objectives to identify which television assets it should retain...
.
Programming
As a Class A station, KAZR-CA is required to air a certain amount of locally-produced programming. The station once fulfilled that requirement with a daily 30-minute local newscast at 6:00 p.m. The newscast was repeated at 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. and was the only local Spanish-language newscast in northern NevadaNevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The program was also the first Spanish local newscast in high definition in the United States, with the Reno market featuring two other high definition newscasts..
The newscast was canceled on March 11, 2008, when KAZR's news department (which was shared with sister station KREN-TV
KREN-TV
KREN-TV is a full-service television station in Reno, Nevada, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 26. It is an affiliate of Univision. It rebroadcasts its two low-power analog sister stations—The CW Plus affiliate KRNS-CA on digital subchannel 27.2 and TeleFutura affiliate KNVV-LP on...
) was closed due to poor advertising revenues. Some Hispanic community leaders, such as Jessie Gutierrez, director of Nevada Hispanic Services, said that the popularity of the station will decrease without a local newscast, citing, "This is a growing Hispanic community, the news they provide at 6 p.m. is essential to let the Hispanic community know what's going on... They're not taking in the needs of the Hispanic community, and they are supposed to be the Hispanic station." Some of the dismissed staffers have planned to take legal action against the station.
Bankruptcy
On May 10, 2008, 13 of Pappas' stations, including KREN-TV and KAZR-CA, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Pappas cited "the extremely difficult business climate for television stations across the country" in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
. The company reported in court filings that it has more than $536 million in debt and $460 million in assets. Problems that led to bankruptcy included poor performance of The CW network, its now-former involvement with Azteca America
Azteca América
Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...
, and preparations for the 2009 analog shutdown. http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,99461.0.html
Sale to Entravision Communications
On September 20, 2008 Entravision Communications has signed a deal to buy KREN-TV and KAZR-CA in Reno for $4 million. The deal also included KREN's low-power repeater, KREN-LP in Susanville, CaliforniaSusanville, California
Susanville is the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States. Susanville is located on the Susan River in the south-central part of the county, at an elevation of 4186 feet . The population was 17,974 at the 2010 census, up from 13,541 at the 2000 census...
.http://www.mediamoves.blogspot.com/2008/09/entravision-to-buy-pappas-stations-in.html The deal closed on April 1, 2009. At some point in between KAZR dropped its TuVision affiliation and began airing The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
programming that had been displaced from the main KREN-TV channel when that channel switched to Univision. This acquisition made both KREN and KAZR/KRNS sisters to former Univision affiliate KNVV-LP
KNVV-LP
KNVV-LP, channel 41, is the affiliate of TeleFutura that serves the Reno, Nevada, U.S. area. As a low-power station, it does not currently have a digital signal of its own. However, there is a standard-definition digital signal on KREN-TV's third digital subchannel to serve as that purpose...
(Channel 41, which switched to TeleFutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
around the same time). Channel 46 changed its call sign to KRNS-CA in June 2009. The station completed its flash-cut of its channel 46 signal to digital in November 2011. It retained its Class A status; however, its legal call sign remains KRNS-CA.
External links
Station websitewww.univisionreno.com