KVME-TV

KVME-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Bishop, California, and serving the broader Los Angeles television market. The station broadcasts on channel 20 and operates from studios on North Main Street in Bishop, with its transmitter positioned in the White Mountains roughly 20 miles east of the city. Its coverage and distribution have connected the Eastern Sierra community with Los Angeles-market television services, including carriage through satellite local-channel packages. The station began broadcasting on August 21, 2007, under the call sign KBBC-TV. It initially operated as a bilingual independent station, with a schedule weighted toward Spanish-language programming. Early offerings included locally or regionally oriented versions of court-format shows, the Monterrey-based soccer program Fútbol al Día, Central American news coverage, religious programming from Hosanna, and weekend children's and public-affairs content. It also carried selected Home Shopping Network programming, illustrating the mixture of entertainment, religious, shopping, and community material common to smaller independent stations. The call sign changed to KVME-TV on March 9, 2012. Later that year, the station adopted MeTV as its primary affiliation, sharing the Los Angeles-market service with a digital subchannel of KDOC-TV. The two outlets marketed the service as MeTV Hollywood. KVME's MeTV schedule was not completely identical to the network's standard national schedule because Spanish-language religious and paid programming occupied weekday early-morning hours. On January 15, 2018, KVME replaced MeTV with Heroes & Icons, another network associated with Weigel Broadcasting, while continuing to share the Los Angeles-market affiliation with KCOP-TV. The station moved Heroes & Icons to a secondary digital subchannel when it adopted Jewelry Television as its main affiliation on January 11, 2019. The H&I service later received a high-definition upgrade on February 28, 2022. The station expanded its digital multiplex in 2025 by adding MeTV Toons on channel 20.3. Later that year, it discontinued the over-the-air H&I service on channel 20.2 and became a charter station for the WEST network. The change was also reflected on KVME's satellite feed and the related KSFV-CD service. As a result, H&I ceased to be available over the air in the Bishop area, although it remained available in the Los Angeles area through other stations. KVME's history therefore reflects the flexibility of digital television stations, whose multiple subchannels can change affiliations without requiring a change to the principal license or transmitter.

KVME-TV signed on August 21, 2007, as KBBC-TV, broadcasting on analog channel 20 from Bishop, California. It began as a bilingual independent station whose schedule was primarily Spanish-language. Its early programming included court-format programs such as La Corte del Pueblo and La Corte de Familia, the Monterrey-produced soccer program Fútbol al Día, and a news service with substantial Central American coverage. The station also used portions of its schedule for Home Shopping Network programming, English-language Christian broadcasts from Hosanna, weekend children's shows, and the public-affairs program Eastern Sierra News. In March 2012, following regulatory approval connected with the transfer of related stations, the station adopted the call sign KVME-TV. On April 30 of that year it became an affiliate of MeTV. The affiliation was shared with a digital subchannel of KDOC-TV in Anaheim, and the combined Los Angeles-market service was promoted as MeTV Hollywood. KVME carried MeTV on its primary digital service, virtual channel 20.1, and the station was included in local-channel packages offered by DirecTV and Dish Network for the Los Angeles market. KVME did not always carry the complete MeTV schedule, preempting weekday programming from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. for Spanish-language religious and paid content. On January 15, 2018, KVME changed affiliations from MeTV to Heroes & Icons, another Weigel-associated network. It shared that service with KCOP-TV's digital subchannel in Los Angeles. The same type of schedule flexibility continued, with Spanish-language religious and paid programming replacing portions of the standard H&I schedule during weekday early mornings. On January 11, 2019, Jewelry Television became the station's principal affiliation, and Heroes & Icons was moved to KVME's second digital subchannel. KVME's digital operation continued to evolve. On February 28, 2022, subchannel 20.2 was upgraded to 720p high definition, matching the HD presentation used by related KSFV-CD service in Los Angeles. In 2025, KVME added MeTV Toons to a new 20.3 service. On September 29, 2025, it discontinued the H&I feed on 20.2 and became a charter station for the WEST network. The same change affected its satellite feed and the related KSFV-CD service, while H&I remained available elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. The station completed its analog-to-digital transition through a flash cut on November 30, 2008. Because its construction permit was issued after the Federal Communications Commission finalized the digital television allotment plan, it did not receive a separate companion digital channel and instead switched directly from analog operation to digital operation on channel 20. KVME's development illustrates how a geographically remote, full-power station can serve a local license area while participating in the larger Los Angeles television market through network affiliations, multicast services, and satellite distribution.

• 2025

  MeTV Toons and WEST added

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  MeTV Toons is added to 20.3, and the station later becomes a charter WEST station after removing H&I from 20.2.

• 2022

  H&I subchannel upgraded to HD

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Digital subchannel 20.2 begins broadcasting Heroes & Icons in 720p high definition.

• 2019

  Jewelry Television becomes primary affiliation

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Jewelry Television replaces Heroes & Icons on the main service, with H&I moving to a secondary subchannel.

• 2018

  Heroes & Icons affiliation begins

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  KVME-TV replaces MeTV with Heroes & Icons as its principal network affiliation.

• 2012

  Call sign changes to KVME-TV

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station adopts the KVME-TV call sign and later that year begins carrying MeTV.

• 2008

  Analog-to-digital flash cut

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station turns off its analog signal and immediately begins digital transmission on channel 20.

• 2007

  Station signs on as KBBC-TV

  [1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  KBBC-TV begins broadcasting from Bishop on analog channel 20 as a bilingual independent station.

A small-market, full-power broadcast station that combines Eastern Sierra local service with digital multicast and nationally distributed specialty-network programming for the Los Angeles television market.

• Television broadcasting · 2007

  KVME-TV over-the-air service

  The station's principal full-power digital television service, licensed to Bishop and transmitted from the White Mountains. It provides broadcast coverage for the Eastern Sierra while also participating in the Los Angeles television market through distribution and network affiliations.

• Shopping television affiliation · 2019

  Jewelry Television

  Jewelry Television became KVME-TV's principal affiliation in January 2019. The service supplies televised jewelry shopping and related product programming as part of the station's main digital schedule.

• Digital multicast network · 2025

  MeTV Toons

  MeTV Toons was added to KVME-TV's new 20.3 digital subchannel in 2025, extending the station's multicast offering with an animation-focused specialty network.

• Digital multicast network · 2025

  WEST

  KVME-TV became a charter station for WEST in September 2025 after discontinuing its over-the-air Heroes & Icons service on channel 20.2.

• 2025

  Reconfigured the digital multicast lineupStrategy

  Background

  KVME-TV expanded its digital services and changed the network carried on its second subchannel.

  Action taken

  The station added MeTV Toons on 20.3, dropped Heroes & Icons from 20.2, and became a charter station for WEST.

  Aftermath

  H&I was no longer available over the air in the Bishop area, though it continued on other Los Angeles-area stations.

  Source

• 2019

  Made Jewelry Television the primary affiliationStrategy

  Background

  KVME-TV revised its multicast and network lineup after carrying Heroes & Icons as its principal service.

  Action taken

  Jewelry Television moved onto the main service, while Heroes & Icons was retained on digital subchannel 20.2.

  Aftermath

  The station continued to operate a mixed digital lineup rather than relying on a single general-entertainment network.

  Source

• 2018

  Changed from MeTV to Heroes & IconsStrategy

  Background

  The station changed to another specialty network affiliated with the same broader network group.

  Action taken

  Heroes & Icons replaced MeTV as the primary affiliation and was shared with KCOP-TV in the Los Angeles market.

  Aftermath

  Heroes & Icons later moved to KVME-TV's second digital subchannel when Jewelry Television became the main affiliation.

  Source

• 2012

  Adopted MeTV and the MeTV Hollywood market identityStrategy

  Background

  KVME-TV sought a stronger national programming identity while sharing Los Angeles-market distribution with KDOC-TV's MeTV digital service.

  Action taken

  The station began carrying MeTV on its primary digital channel and participated in the jointly marketed MeTV Hollywood service.

  Aftermath

  The affiliation lasted until January 2018, although some early-morning MeTV programming was preempted for religious and paid content.

  Source

• 2025

  KVME-TV adds MeTV Toons and joins WEST[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Product generation

  KVME-TV added MeTV Toons to subchannel 20.3 and later dropped the over-the-air Heroes & Icons feed from 20.2 when it became a charter station for WEST.

• 2022

  KVME-TV upgrades its Heroes & Icons subchannel to HD[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  The station upgraded digital subchannel 20.2, carrying Heroes & Icons, to 720p high definition.

• 2019

  KVME-TV adopts Jewelry Television[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  Jewelry Television became KVME-TV's principal affiliation, while Heroes & Icons moved to the station's second digital subchannel.

• 2018

  KVME-TV replaces MeTV with Heroes & Icons[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  The station changed its primary network affiliation from MeTV to Heroes & Icons, sharing the latter service with KCOP-TV.

• 2012

  KBBC-TV changes call sign to KVME-TV[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Bishop station changed its call sign from KBBC-TV to KVME-TV in March 2012.

• 2012

  KVME-TV begins MeTV affiliation[1]KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  KVME-TV became a MeTV affiliate and shared the Los Angeles-market service with KDOC-TV's MeTV digital subchannel under the MeTV Hollywood branding.

1. 1KVME-TVen.wikipedia.org