CBS affiliate in Bakersfield, California
| This article
is missing information
about KBAK-TV's news operation.
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(
April 2018
)
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KBAK-TV
(channel 29) is a
television station
in
Bakersfield, California
, United States, affiliated with
CBS
. It is owned by
Sinclair Broadcast Group
alongside
low-power
,
Class A
Fox
affiliate
KBFX-CD
(channel 58). The two stations share studios on Westwind Drive west of
Downtown Bakersfield
; KBAK-TV's transmitter is located atop Breckenridge Mountain.
History
[
edit
]
The station signed on the air on August 21, 1953, as KAFY-TV.
[2]
It was originally owned by Sheldon Anderson along with
KAFY
radio (550 AM, now 1100 AM). The station originally operated from studios located on Chester Avenue in Bakersfield. It is Bakersfield's oldest television station;
KERO-TV
(channel 23) followed a month later. Four months later, Anderson sold the station to
Chronicle Publishing Company
of
San Francisco
. KAFY-TV was initially an affiliate of the Dumont television network, later becoming a primary CBS affiliate, sharing
ABC
programming with KERO-TV until KLYD-TV (channel 17, now
KGET-TV
) signed on in 1959.
In February 1954, shortly after becoming a full CBS affiliate, channel 29 changed its calls to the current KBAK-TV.
[3]
The
Chronicle
sold the station to Reeves Telecom in 1960. As a CBS and later ABC affiliate, KBAK had aired all of each network's
color
programs in color, and went to full color in 1967. In 1974, KBAK swapped affiliations with channel 17, then known as KJTV, and became an ABC affiliate.
[4]
[5]
In 1964, Reeves sold KBAK to Chicago-based Harriscope Broadcasting, which also owned
WSNS
in Chicago (now a
Telemundo
O&O
) and a partial stake in
KRQE
in
Albuquerque
(now owned by
Nexstar Media Group
). In the late 1980s, KBAK started signing off only on Fridays and Saturdays, which as a CBS affiliate it continued to do until May 2008, when the sign-offs on KBAK and KBFX were discontinued and were replaced by a simulcast of the Kern Weather Channel, which is also available on
digital cable
systems in the Bakersfield area.
In 1986, Harriscope sold KBAK to Burnham Broadcasting, which also owned
KHON-TV
in
Honolulu
and would later acquire
WVUE
in
New Orleans
,
WALA-TV
in
Mobile, Alabama
, and
WLUK
in
Green Bay, Wisconsin
. In 1995, Burnham sold most of its stations to SF Broadcasting, a joint venture between Fox and
Savoy Pictures
, but KBAK was not included in the sale to SF Broadcasting, and was instead spun off to Westwind Communications, a locally based company linked to former Burnham executives.
After
McGraw-Hill
(then-owner of KERO-TV) learned in November 1994 that its
KMGH-TV
in Denver would be losing its CBS affiliation to
KCNC-TV
, it signed a groupwide affiliation deal which called for all of its stations, including KMGH-TV and KERO-TV, to become ABC affiliates. KBAK rejoined CBS on March 4, 1996, after KERO-TV's affiliation contract with CBS expired.
On August 6, 2007, Westwind Communications announced the sale of KBAK and KBFX-CA to
Fisher Communications
of
Seattle
.
[6]
The deal closed on January 1, 2008. This marked a re-entry to the Central Valley for Fisher, who had previously bought and sold KJEO (now
KGPE
) in
Fresno
in the late 1990s.
In mid May 2010, KBAK became the first station in Bakersfield to begin broadcasting local newscasts in
16:9
widescreen
standard definition
. Then on January 16, 2011, KBAK took it one step further to become the first station in Bakersfield to launch local news in true high definition.
[7]
The KBFX shows were included in the upgrade to HD; however, until recently, they were presented in downconverted standard definition widescreen on KBAK-DT2 (which serves as a full-power companion to KBFX's low-power
Class A
digital terrestrial signal).
KBAK-TV, KBFX, and Fisher Communications' other holdings were sold to
Sinclair Broadcast Group
in a transaction announced on April 10, 2013.
[8]
[9]
The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.
[10]
The transaction marked a re-entry into California for Sinclair since it sold off its
Sacramento
station
KOVR
to CBS at the end of April 2005.
The current
announcer
for KBAK and KBFX is nationally recognized voice-over Eric Gordon.
[11]
Technical information
[
edit
]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
Simulcast of subchannels of another station
Analog-to-digital conversion
[
edit
]
KBAK-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
UHF
channel 29, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts
under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 33,
[13]
using
virtual channel
29.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for KBAK-TV"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
FCC History Cards for KBAK-TV
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
"CALL LETTERS ASSIGNED"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting-Telecasting
: 104. February 15, 1954.
- ^
"Central California Edition"
. Archived from the original on January 29, 2006
. Retrieved
May 30,
2006
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
"Old Tv Newscast Titles, Part One (Alaska-Louisiana)"
.
- ^
"FisherCommunications - News"
. Archived from
the original
on January 11, 2013.
- ^
"Eyewitness News 1st to air local HD programming"
. Archived from
the original
on July 22, 2011
. Retrieved
January 17,
2011
.
- ^
"Sinclair acquiring Fisher Communications"
.
bakersfieldnow.com
. April 11, 2013. Archived from
the original
on April 12, 2013
. Retrieved
April 11,
2013
.
- ^
Colman, Price (April 10, 2013).
"Sinclair poised to buy Fisher stations"
.
TVnewscheck.com
. Retrieved
April 11,
2013
.
- ^
"Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes On Fisher Communications Acquisition"
.
All Access
. August 8, 2013
. Retrieved
August 8,
2013
.
- ^
KBAK intends to make DTV switch Feb. 17
Archived
February 8, 2009, at the
Wayback Machine
, KBAX/KBFX, February 4, 2009
- ^
RabbitEars TV Query for KBAK
- ^
"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on August 29, 2013
. Retrieved
March 24,
2012
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Full-power
stations
|
- KGET-TV
(17.1
NBC
, 17.2
CW+
,
17.3
TMD
, 17.4
Laff
)
- KERO-TV
(23.1
ABC
, 23.2
Court
, 23.3
Grit
, 23.4
Ion
, 23.5
Bounce
, 23.6
Scripps News
, 23.7
HSN
)
- KBAK-TV
(29.1
CBS
, 29.3
Charge!
, 29.4
Dabl
,
58.2
Fox
)
- KUVI-DT
(45.1
Quest
,
45.2
UNI
,
45.3
UniMas
, 45.4 [blank], 45.5
Court
, 45.6
Shop LC
)
|
---|
Low-power
stations
|
- KTLD-CD
(8.1
3ABN
, 8.2
Shop LC
, 8.3
Lx
, 8.4
Oxygen
, 8.5
Novelisima
, 8.6
beIN Sports Xtra en Espanol
, 8.7 Informercials)
- KKEY-LD
(13.1
TMD
)
- KXBF-LD
(14.1
SonLife
, 14.2
LATV
, 14.3
NOST
, 14.4
[Blank]
, 14.5
Defy
, 14.6
Ion
)
- K08PT-D (24.1
3ABN
, 24.2 Proclaim, 24.3 Dare to Dream, 24.4 3ABN Latino, 24.5 3ABN Radio, 24.6 3ABN Radio Latino, 24.7
Radio 74
)
- K18HD-D
(18.1
PBS
, 18.2
Valley PBS Kids
, 18.3
Create
, 18.4
World
)
- KBBV-CD
(19.1
TXO
)
- KZKC-LD
(
28.1
ABC
, 28.2
Court
)
- KBFX-CD
(29.2
TBD
, 58.1
Fox
, 58.3
Comet
, 58.4
Nest
)
- KBTF-CD
(31.1
UniMas
, 31.2
Get
, 31.3
Mystery
)
- KCBT-LD
(34.1
Estrella
, 34.5
TCN
, 34.9
QVC
, 34.10 Ventana TV)
- KBFK-LP
(34.2
Movies!
, 34.3
Daystar
, 34.4
HSN
, 34.6
SonLife
, 34.7
ANT
, 34.8
Buzzr
, 34.11
Cozi
, 34.12
ShopLC
)
- KABE-CD
(39.1
UNI
)
- KEBK-LD (41.1/.2
Rel.
, 41.3 Paid)
- KPMC-LD (43.1
HSN
)
- K04SB-D
(46.1
PBS
, 46.2
Create
, 46.3
NHK
)
- KNXT-LD
(53.1
MNT
, 53.2
MeTV
, 53.3
This
, 53.4
Grio
, 53.5
H&I
, 53.6
Start
)
|
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Silent
| |
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Defunct
|
- K21FP 21 (
TBN
- ceased in 2012)
- KJBC 33/35/55 (Christian religious, home shopping)
- KERN/KRNT 65 (Ind. educational/public access)
- "KWFB"
(
WB
) (cable only)
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Broadcast
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Cable channels
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Streaming services
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Programming
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Acquisitions
| |
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- 1
Operated by Sinclair under an
LMA
.
- 2
Formerly separately licensed as WCGV-TV and merged with WVTV's spectrum, but remains on its former channel number as a separate station
- JV
Joint Venture
|