KMPX

KMPX, virtual channel 29 (UHF digital channel 30), is an Estrella TV-affiliated television station licensed to Decatur, Texas, United States and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., as part of a duopoly with Dallas-licensed ABC affiliate WFAA (channel 8). KMPX's offices are located on Gateway Drive in Irving, and its transmitter is located south of Belt Line Road in Cedar Hill. Master control and most internal operations are based at the WFAA Communications Center Studios on Young Street in Downtown Dallas.

For the former San Francisco FM radio station, see KMPX (defunct).
KMPX
Decatur/Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
United States
CityDecatur, Texas
ChannelsDigital: 30 (UHF)
Virtual: 29 (PSIP)
BrandingEstrella TV Dallas
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerTegna Inc.
(WFAA-TV, Inc.)
WFAA
History
First air date
September 15, 1993 (1993-09-15)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
29 (UHF, 1993–2009)
Daystar (1993–2004)
Spanish Independent (2004–2009)
Call sign meaning
MetroPleX
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID73701
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT544 m (1,785 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°35′20″N 96°58′5.9″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.estrellatv.com

KMPX is the largest primary Estrella TV affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the network's parent company Estrella Media.

History

Prior history of UHF channel 29 in Dallas–Fort Worth

The UHF channel 29 allocation in the Dallas–Fort Worth market was originally planned to be used to sign on KLIF-TV (which was to have stood for "Oak Cliff"); on January 15, 1953, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit for that station to legendary radio broadcaster Gordon McLendon.

Had KLIF-TV signed on, it would have been a sister station to radio station KLIF (570 AM). KLIF-TV was intended to operate from the Cliff Towers Hotel in Dallas, which formerly served as the studios of KLIF radio and would later house KGKO (1480 AM, now KNGO) and KKSN (730 AM, now KKDA). The broadcast license was issued that year, but the station never went on the air; the KLIF-TV license was cancelled in 1955. Since television sets were not required to include UHF tuners until the All-Channel Receiver Act went into effect in 1964, McLendon apparently had second thoughts about developing a station that might not have any viewers (another unrelated television station using the KLIF-TV call letters was later planned to sign on 1967, but also never launched).

Channel 29 signed on the air in June 1964[2] from downtown Dallas as KAEI-TV, which was owned by Automated Electric Incorporated and ran a format of automated stock quotes for eight hours a day. However, poor reception reportedly led to that station's demise later that same year. In 1966, three applicants tried to take over channel 29—Grandview Broadcasting (which later took itself out of the running), Overmyer Communications and Maxwell Electronics. In a successful bid to give both applicants a channel, Overmyer proposed changing out channel 29 for channels 27 and 33 at Dallas; Overmyer never built its station, and Maxwell signed on KMEC-TV on channel 33 in October 1967. Channel 29 was later restored to the market. In 1985, three applicants vied for a license to operate a television station on channel 29, including the Wise County Messenger newspaper, owned by former WBAP-TV (channel 5, now KXAS-TV) anchor Roy Eaton.

KMPX station history

After years of debating, KMPX first signed on the air on September 15, 1993 as the flagship station of the religious broadcast network Daystar. It was founded by Daystar founders Marcus and Joni Lamb, under the licensee Community Television Educators of DFW Inc. From that point until 1999, its slogan was "The Heart of Texas". In 2003, Daystar acquired Denton-licensed PBS member station KDTN (channel 2) from North Texas Public Broadcasting.

KMPX was then sold to Liberman Broadcasting (which was renamed Estrella Media in February 2020, following a corporate reorganization of the company under private equity firm HPS Investment Partners, LLC), a sale that was finalized on January 13, 2004; after Liberman took over on that date, the station was converted into a Spanish-language independent station featuring programming distributed by the company. On September 14, 2009, KMPX became a charter owned-and-operated station of Liberman's Estrella TV network, which carries some programming seen during the station's tenure as an independent.

Sale to Tegna

On September 25, 2020, it was announced that Tegna Inc. (owner of ABC affiliate WFAA, channel 8) would acquire KMPX for $19 million, pending FCC approval.[3] The deal includes a five-year affiliation agreement between Estrella and Tegna, as well as an option for Estrella to purchase WFAA's VHF license.[4] The transaction for KMPX was completed on November 20.[5]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[6]
8.81080i16:9WFAA-HDUHF simulcast of WFAA / ABC
29.1720pKMPX-HDEstrella TV
29.2480iKMPX-2Estrella News
29.4SHOP-LCShop LC

Analog-to-digital conversion

KMPX shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 29, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[7] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30, using PSIP to display KMPX's virtual channel as 29 on digital television receivers.

References
  1. "Estrella TV Inks Affil. Deal With Sunbeam". Mediaweek. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  2. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc946775/
  3. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  4. Option Agreement
  5. "Consummation Notice", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, 25 November 2020, Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  6. RabbitEars TV Query for KMPX
  7. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
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