KNVO (TV)


KNVO, virtual channel 48, is a Univision-affiliated television station licensed to McAllen, Texas, United States and serving the Rio Grande Valley metropolitan area. The station is owned by Entravision Communications, as part of a duopoly with Harlingen-licensed Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate KFXV ; it is also sister to three low-power stations licensed to McAllen: KMBH-LD, channel 67, Class A primary CW+ affiliate and secondary PBS member KCWT-CD, and Class A UniMás affiliate KTFV-CD. Entravision also operates Mexican station XHRIO-TDT with company TVNorte. All of the stations share studios on North Jackson Road in McAllen; KNVO's transmitter is located on Farm to Market Road 493, near Donna, Texas.

History

The Federal Communications Commission granted an original construction permit on October 9, 1983, to build a television station licensed in McAllen. Originally, the station was approved to broadcast on UHF channel 48 with 4,071 kW effective radiated power, but was later changed to 3,162 kW on April 16, 1992. The station made its debut on October 12, 1992. During the station's first years on the air, KNVO quickly became the highest-rated station in the market.
In 1996, LS Broadcasting, Ltd., Mundo Vision Broadcasting Company and Larry Safir station sold the licensee of KNVO to Entravision Communications for $24,8 million. Sale was completed on January 24, 1997.
On October 11, 2001, the Federal Communications Commission granted a permit to construct the station's digital facilities. The station completed construction of its full-power digital facilities in June 2006, and was granted a license on June 26, 2007.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
48.11080iUNIVISIMain KNVO programming / Univision
48.2480iUNIMASSimulcast of KTFV-CD / UniMás
48.3480iLATVLATV
48.4480iIONIon Television
48.5480i16:9Court TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

KNVO shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 48, on June 12, 2009, the official date in 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 49. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 48.

News operation

KNVO's newscast debuted in 1999. The station presently broadcasts 7 hours of locally produced newscasts each week. In September 2010, KNVO started broadcasting local news in high definition.
As of 2012, KNVO was the second highest-rated newscast in the market, behind ABC affiliate KRGV-TV.
In early December 2015, Entravision cancelled the morning newscasts in all of its stations in the United States.