KRET-CA is a low-power Class A

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 Cathedral City, California

Cathedral City, California

Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...

, 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 45 as an affiliate of Me-TV, This TV

This TV

This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....

, Estrella TV

Estrella TV

Estrella TV is a Spanish-language television network owned by Liberman Broadcasting. The network launched September 14, 2009.-Affiliates:-Former Affiliates:-Controversy:...

 and Antenna TV

Antenna TV

Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...

. Founded January 24, 1996, the station is owned by Charles R. Meeker.

History

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 an original construction permit to Charles R. Meeker on January 24, 1996, to build a low-power television station on UHF channel 45 to serve Cathedral City and Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

. It was given the callsign K45ET and began broadcasting in late 1997 as an independent station. Its nickname was "Sun-TV" to represent the desert locale of the Coachella Valley. The station was licensed January 8, 1998, and took the call letters KPSP-LP one month later. In February 1999, Meeker-owned Palm Springs stations KPSP-LP and KDPX-LP switched call letters and programming (see next section), and channel 45 became Pax affiliate KDPX-LP. The station upgraded its license to Class A on September 10, 2001. In June 2005, the Pax network rebranded as i

I (TV network)

Ion Television is a United States broadcast television network. Owned by ION Media Networks, the networked commenced broadcasting on August 31, 1998 as PAX TV, a named it used until July 1, 2005, when it became i: Independent Television; the network was rechristened Ion on January 29, 2007...

, the new name meaning "independent television" (later changed to "Ion"). In 2008, the call letters for the station were changed to KRET-CA. In May 2008, KRET added Retro Television Network

Retro Television Network

The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...

.. In 2011, KRET added Me-TV to its digital channel 31.1.

Digital television

Digital channels>

Channel	Name	Programming
31.1	Me-TV	Classic television programs
31.2	This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....	Movies and some classic television programming
31.3	Estrella TV Estrella TV Estrella TV is a Spanish-language television network owned by Liberman Broadcasting. The network launched September 14, 2009.-Affiliates:-Former Affiliates:-Controversy:...	Spanish programming
31.4	Antenna TV Antenna TV Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...	Classic television and movies

Station swap

When the station signed on as K45ET in late 1997, and later as KPSP-LP, it was an independent. However, in February 1999, Charles Meeker, who owned co-located UHF low-power stations on channels 45 and 58 in the Palm Springs area, switched callsigns and programming among his two stations; the Pax affiliate KDPX-LP on channel 58 became the Pax affiliate KDPX-LP on channel 45, while the independent station KPSP-LP on channel 45 became independent station KPSP-LP on channel 58. However, the licenses did not change.