KKFX-CD


KKFX-CD, virtual and UHF digital channel 24, is a low-powered, Class A Fox-affiliated television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States and serving the Central Coast of California. Owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company, it is a sister station to Santa Barbara-licensed ABC affiliate KEYT-TV ; NPG also operates Santa Maria-licensed CBS affiliate KCOY-TV under a shared services agreement with owner VistaWest Media, LLC. KKFX-CD and KCOY-TV share studios at West McCoy Lane and Skyway Drive in Santa Maria north of Santa Maria Public Airport; KEYT-TV maintains separate facilities at 730 Miramonte Drive on TV Hill, overlooking downtown Santa Barbara. KKFX-CD's transmitter is located near Serrano and US 101 in the Los Padres National Forest. The station can be seen on channel 11 on most cable systems in the market, hence the Fox 11 branding.
Although KKFX-CD identifies as a station in its own right, it is officially licensed as a translator of KCOY-TV. In addition to its own digital signal, KKFX-CD is simulcast in high definition on KCOY-TV's second digital subchannel from a transmitter on Tepusquet Peak in the Los Padres National Forest east of Santa Maria. KCOY-TV, in turn, is simulcast on KKFX-CD's second digital subchannel.

History

KKFX-CD signed on for the first time on November 6, 1998 as the area's Fox affiliate. Network-owned West Coast flagship station KTTV in Los Angeles served as the affiliate of record for the Central Coast before the station began operations. Before July 1, 2006, this station could also be seen in Santa Barbara on KSBB-LP channel 17, but it switched to a repeater of KEYT-TV. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel Communications entered into an agreement to sell its television station group to Providence Equity Partners. The sale was finalized on March 14, 2008. However, Providence Equity Partners did not keep KKFX and sister station KCOY due to Federal Communications Commission restrictions. As a result, they were resold to the Cowles Publishing Company. On May 7, 2008, the deal between Cowles and Newport Television closed.
On September 20, 2013, News-Press & Gazette Company, owner of KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara, announced that it would purchase KKFX-CA as well as Monterey sister stations KION-TV and KMUV-LP. NPG also took over some operations of KCOY that Cowles retained under a shared services agreement. The sale was completed on December 13, 2013.
On January 20, 2015, KKFX began broadcasting over the air in high definition and providing an HD feed directly to cable and DirecTV. On that same date, KKFX-CA returned to the airwaves in Santa Barbara on low-power KSBB-LP channel 17.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
24.1720pFOX-DTMain KKFX-CD programming / Fox
24.21080iKCOY-HDSimulcast of KCOY-TV / CBS
24.3480iGrit TVSimulcast of KCOY-DT3 / Grit
24.4480iDabl

Programming

programming on KKFX includes 25 Words or Less, The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men, Last Man Standing and The Big Bang Theory.

Newscasts

Fox 11 News in the Morning airs weekdays on KKFX from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. A nightly hour-long newscast is included.