KHRR

KHRR, virtual channel 40 (UHF digital channel 16), is a Telemundo owned-and-operated television station licensed to Tucson, Arizona, United States. The station is owned by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal (itself a subsidiary of Comcast). KHRR's studios are located on North Stone Avenue in downtown Tucson, and its transmitter is located atop the Tucson Mountains.

KHRR
Semi-satellite of KTAZ, Phoenix, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
United States
ChannelsDigital: 16 (UHF)
Virtual: 40 (PSIP)
BrandingTelemundo Tucson
Programming
Affiliations40.1: Telemundo (O&O)
40.2: TeleXitos
40.3: Lx
Ownership
OwnerTelemundo Station Group
(a subsidiary of NBCUniversal)
(NBC Telemundo License LLC)
History
First air date
January 5, 1985 (1985-01-05)
Former call signs
KPOL (1985–1992)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
40 (UHF, 1985–2009)
Digital:
42 (UHF, 2003–2009)
40 (UHF, 2009–2018)
Call sign meaning
Replaced "KHR-TV" as the Telemundo affiliate
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID30601
ERP396 kW
HAAT622 m (2,041 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°14′55.8″N 111°6′59.1″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.telemundotucson.com

Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KHRR is considered a semi-satellite of KTAZ (channel 39) in Phoenix. As such, it simulcasts all Telemundo programming as provided through its parent, but airs separate commercial inserts and legal identifications, and has its own website. Local newscasts, produced by KTAZ and branded as Noticiero Telemundo Arizona, are simulcast on both stations. Although KHRR maintains its own facilities, master control and most internal operations are based at KTAZ's studios on South 33rd Place in Phoenix.

History

KPOL

On November 28, 1983, a construction permit was granted to JP Communications, owned by Julius Polan of Chicago,[1] for a new commercial television station on channel 40 in Tucson. Channel 40 had been occupied since November 1980 by a translator of Phoenix Spanish-language station KTVW.[2] JP beat out Valle Verde Broadcasting Corporation, which proposed a full-service Spanish-language outlet,[3] and five other applicants, including Focus Broadcasting and National Group Telecommunications.[4] The permit was approved after JP paid out a cash settlement to rival Sunwest Communications.[5]

Taking the call letters KPOL, construction began in 1984, forcing the KTVW translator to move to channel 52.[6] The station also secured a package of Phoenix Suns road games.[7] However, channel 40 missed its planned November start because its studios had not been completed. Meanwhile, minority investor David Jácome sued, saying that Polan had brought him in to add a minority owner to the ownership group but that he had been squeezed out.[8]

KPOL signed on January 5, 1985. It was the second new independent station for Tucson in the same week. Just days prior, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson had put KDTU channel 18 on the air; the two new outlets brought Tucson from one independent station to three,[9] which sent costs for syndicated programming soaring.[10] It turned out that Polan thought KDTU would not be as commercial a station as it was, and the diocese had not planned for another competitor.[10] Initially, channel 40 broadcast in the evening hours only.[11]

After its first year, KPOL had mostly shown up as Tucson's third-rated independent and was losing money.[12] By 1988, both of the UHF startups were in poor financial condition: at KDTU, the Diocese of Tucson had instituted three waves of job cuts in two years.[13] The market had more stations than it could bear. The diocese had announced it would shut down KDTU before Clear Channel Communications stepped in to buy channel 18 in February 1989.[10]

KPOL finally succumbed to its financial woes on October 17, 1989, when the station announced it would go off air at midnight.[14] In its final days, the station was selling ads for $10 and $15, and it had stopped subscribing to ratings services.[15]

The license remained active, and Polan engaged a broker to market channel 40 to potential bidders.[16] JP Communications filed for bankruptcy in February 1990, with $35,000 in assets and $2.65 million in liabilities.[17]

KHRR

In 1991, local Tucson businessman Jay S. Zucker purchased the dormant KPOL license out of bankruptcy for $45,000.[18] Zucker already owned K14HR "KHR-TV", the low-power Telemundo affiliate. On July 1, 1992, channel 40 signed on as KHRR, K14HR's full-power replacement.[19] In addition to Telemundo programming, the station also broadcast some programs from Telemax, the state network of the Mexican state of Sonora.[20] Zucker sold his broadcasting holdings in 1999 to The Apogee Companies, who maintained the Telemundo affiliation.[21]

KHRR became a Telemundo O&O in 2002, along with KDRX-CA (now KDPH-LP). The two stations maintained a sister relationship, sharing their newscasts and programming stations, yet with each station based out of its own city of license. The arrangement continued until a 2006 station swap relocated Telemundo O&O KPHZ to Phoenix, Arizona, where it became KTAZ, and Daystar O&O KDTP to Holbrook, Arizona. The deal also transferred KDRX-CA to Daystar, where it became KDTP-CA.

In 2007, a restructuring plan by parent company NBC Universal, called "NBCU 2.0", moved the KHRR and KTAZ newscasts to the Telemundo News Hub in Dallas, along with news operations of other Telemundo stations in the West.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[22]
40.11080i16:9KHRR-DTMain KHRR programming / Telemundo
40.2480iT-XitosTeleXitos
40.3LocalXLx

In their Sixth Report and Order, dated April 3, 1997, proposing a digital television table of allotments, the FCC allocated UHF channel 41 for the KHRR-DT operations.[23] However, by February 1998, the DTV Table of Allotments had been changed to specify channel 42 for KHRR-DT.[24] KHRR applied for DTV facilities to broadcast at 303 kW in October 1999, and eventually amended the ERP to 411.5 kW in February 2002.[25][26] In May 2003, in order to meet an FCC deadline for having a digital television station operational, KHRR requested a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) to operate at 12.7 kW, which the FCC granted the following month.[27] After delays due to coordination with the Mexican government, interference issues, and the sale of the station from the Apogee Companies to NBC Telemundo, by June 2006, the station was still operating under their STA facilities, the STA having been extended several times. Having to meet another FCC deadline to have fully operational facilities by June 30, 2006, KHRR requested to make their STA facilities permanent.[28] The FCC granted the request on July 10, 2006, and the next day, KHRR applied for a license to cover their facilities, from which they were already broadcasting. The FCC granted the license on January 31, 2007.[29]

Analog-to-digital conversion

KHRR discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated from analog to digital television.[30] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 42 to channel 40.[31]

References
  1. Smith, Jeff (August 3, 1984). "KPOL will take over Channel 40 soon". Tucson Citizen. p. 9C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  2. Stern, Sherry (October 23, 1980). "Tucson to get Spanish TV outlet Nov. 1". Arizona Daily Star. pp. 1A, 8A. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  3. Stern, Sherry (March 7, 1981). "Firm seeks Tucson Spanish-language TV station". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  4. Hatfield, David (July 1, 1981). "3 stations changing hands, but only 1 its Spanish tune". Arizona Daily Star. p. 8C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  5. "FCC approves cash settlement". Arizona Daily Star. Associated Press. October 22, 1983. p. 4C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  6. Wilkinson, Bud (July 26, 1984). "Applicants seem to be cool to new channels in hot market". Arizona Republic. p. E5. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  7. Hansen, Greg (September 30, 1984). "New UHF channel to air Suns road games". Arizona Daily Star. p. 4D. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  8. Smith, Jeff (November 7, 1984). "Delays show all is not well with KPOL". Tucson Citizen. p. 5B. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  9. Moulton, Kristen (December 31, 1984). "New stations take optimistic outlook". Arizona Daily Star. p. 3C, 8C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  10. Radcliffe, Jim (March 12, 1989). "Local TV stations jockey to stay on in crowded market". Arizona Daily Star. pp. 1E, 7E. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. Smith, Jeff (January 4, 1985). "Starting tomorrow, there'll be more TV programs than ever when Tucson starts watching UHF". Tucson Citizen. p. 1D, . Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. Wilson, Terry (April 2, 1986). "He liked TV, so he bought a station". Tucson Citizen. p. 3F. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  13. Radcliffe, Jim (October 13, 1988). "KDTU's money woes trigger Catholic diocese job losses". Arizona Daily Star. p. 3C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  14. "Channel 40 to go off air at midnight". Tucson Citizen. October 17, 1989. p. 1A. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  15. Rosenblum, Keith (October 18, 1989). "Channel 40, KPOL, goes off the air". Arizona Daily Star. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  16. "KPOL closes, fulfills TV prophecy". Tucson Citizen. October 18, 1989. p. 1B. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  17. "KPOL-TV files for liquidation". Arizona Daily Star. February 22, 1990. p. 8B. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  18. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 18, 1991. pp. 85, 86. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  19. "Channel 40 now a Telemundo outlet". Arizona Daily Star. July 21, 1992. p. 11B. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  20. "TV Tucson". Arizona Daily Star. June 25, 1995. p. I10. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  21. Pittman, David (January 20, 1999). "Spanish-language station sold". Tucson Citizen. p. 5C. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  22. RabbitEars TV Query for KHRR
  23. "Proposed DTV Table of Allotments" (PDF). FCC Sixth Report and Order, Appendix B. Federal Communications Commission. 1997-04-03. p. 12. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  24. "1998 Initial DTV Table of Allotments" (PDF). Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration of the Sixth Report and Order, Appendix B. Federal Communications Commission. 1998-02-17. p. 19. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  25. "Original DTV application". Federal Communications Commission. 1999-10-28. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  26. "Amended DTV application". Federal Communications Commission. 2002-02-21. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  27. "Amended STA request" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 2003-08-29. p. 6. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  28. "Application to make STA facilities permanent". Federal Communications Corporation. 2006-06-26. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  29. "DTV license application". Federal Communications Commission. 2006-07-11. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  30. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-288530A2.pdf
  31. "DTV channel election". Federal Communications Commission. 2005-02-09. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
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