KUVE-DT

name1	KUVE-DT
above	Semi-satellites of KTVW-DT, Phoenix, Arizona
city1	Green Valley, Arizona
branding	Univision Arizona UniMás Arizona (46.2/42.2) Noticias N+ Univision Arizona (newscasts)
digital1	34 (UHF)
virtual1	46
translators	KFTU-DT 3.2 Douglas
affiliations	46.1/42.1: Univision 46.2/42.2: UniMás for others, see
founded1	2000
airdate1	January 5, 2001
country	United States
former callsigns1	KXGR (2001–2003)
former channel numbers1	Analog: 46 (UHF, 2001–2008) Digital: 47 (UHF, until 2009), 46 (UHF, 2009–2018)
owner	TelevisaUnivision
licensee	Univision Tucson LLC
sister stations	KFTU-DT
former affiliations1	Pax TV (2001–2003)
erp1	185 kW
haat1	1124 m
facility id1	63927
coordinates1	32.415°N, -110.71608°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	UnivisionArizona.com
name2	KUVE-CD
city2	Tucson, Arizona
digital2	36 (UHF)
virtual2	42
airdate2	November 1, 1980
former callsigns2	K40AC (1980–1985) K52AO (1985–1998) KUVE-LP (1998–2002) KUVE-CA (2002–2015)
former channel numbers2	Analog: 40 (UHF, 1980–1985), 52 (UHF, 1985–2001), 38 (UHF, 2001–2015) Digital: 42 (UHF, 2015–2018)
erp2	15 kW
haat2	577.8 m
class2	CD
facility id2	78036
coordinates2	32.24883°N, -111.11664°W

KUVE-DT (channel 46) is a television station licensed to Green Valley, Arizona, United States, serving as the Tucson market's outlet for the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Douglas-licensed UniMás outlet KFTU-DT (channel 3). The two stations share studios on Forbes Boulevard in Tucson; KUVE-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Bigelow.

KUVE operates a low-power Class A translator station: KUVE-CD (channel 42), licensed to Tucson. This station's transmitter is located atop the Tucson Mountains, serving the northwest parts of the metropolitan area shielded from the primary station by Mount Lemmon. KUVE-DT is also rebroadcast on the second digital subchannel of KFTU-DT, whose transmitter is located on Juniper Flats Road northwest of Bisbee. Likewise, KFTU is rebroadcast on KUVE's second digital subchannel.

Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KUVE is considered a semi-satellite of KTVW-DT (channel 33) in Phoenix. It airs separate commercials and legal identifications but otherwise simulcasts all of KTVW's Univision programming and statewide newscasts produced in Phoenix.

History

KTVW began broadcasting to the Tucson area on November 1, 1980, when it built a translator on channel 40.[2] K40AC was displaced from the channel by the launch of KPOL-TV in 1985, moving to channel 52.[3] The call letters were changed to KUVE-LP in 1998.

Meanwhile, in 1983, four groups applied for Green Valley's channel 46, with their applications being designated for comparative hearing.[4] Sungilt Corporation got the nod and the construction permit on October 31, 1988, and the permit took the call letters KXGR in 1990. After Paxson Communications Corporation announced plans to operate and acquire KXGR alongside stations in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Charleston, West Virginia,[5] it was identified as an intended affiliate of Paxnet, but the station failed to materialize;[6] by the time of the network's August 1998 launch, it was tabbed to start in the second quarter of 1999.[7]

After twelve years, five expired construction permits and two transmitter location changes, KXGR applied for its license to cover on December 21, 2000, and signed on as a Pax affiliate on January 5, 2001, under program test authority. However, at the completion of the first day of program testing, the station's transmitter failed, and it was unable to return to the airwaves until June 1, and then, only at low power for a minimum of two hours a day. After ten days, the station was again forced to go dark, and after being threatened with license cancellation, KXGR advised the FCC on November 28, 2001, that they had resumed program testing.[8] The station was finally licensed on June 2, 2003.

Sungilt made two attempts to sell the station. Donald E. Ledwig agreed to buy KXGR for $15 million in early 2001, with $1 million of that going to Paxson.[9] The deal never received approval and fell apart after one year. In January 2002, shortly after resuming program testing, Sungilt agreed to sell the station to Univision. The sale was approved by the FCC in September 2003 and completed in November. The new owners changed the station's call sign to KUVE-TV, to match the low-power station's call sign.

KUVE-DT

History

Technical information

Subchannels

Analog-to-digital conversion

References