KPIF

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KPIF

Pocatello–Idaho Falls, Idaho United States
City	Pocatello, Idaho
Channels	Digital: 15 (UHF) Virtual: 15
Branding	MeTV Idaho Falls
Programming
Affiliations	15.1: MeTV 15.2: Heroes & Icons 15.3: Grit 15.4: Stadium (2017–2020 and since 2021) 15.5: This TV 15.6: Court TV 15.7: Pursuit Channel 15.8: QVC 15.9: True Crime Network 15.10: Daystar
Ownership
Owner	Ventura Broadcasting (Ventura Media Communications, LLC)
Sister stations	KVUI
History
First air date	March 1, 2004 (17 years ago) (2004-03-01)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 15 (UHF, 2004–2009)
Former affiliations	Analog/DT1: America One (March−July 2004) The WB (July 2004–2006) The CW (2006–2009) Retro TV (2009–2011, 2014–2017) Dark (2011–2014) DT4: Bounce TV (2020−2021)
Call sign meaning	Pocatello Idaho Falls
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	86205
Class	DT
ERP	288 kW
HAAT	331.1 m (1,086 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	42°51′50.1″N 112°31′13.3″W / 42.863917°N 112.520361°W / 42.863917; -112.520361
Links
Public license information	Profile LMS

KPIF, virtual and UHF digital channel 15, is a MeTV-affiliated television station licensed to Pocatello, Idaho, United States and also serving Idaho Falls. The station is owned by Ventura Broadcasting, as part of a duopoly with Ion Television affiliate KVUI (channel 31, also licensed to Pocatello). The two stations share transmitter facilities on Howard Mountain near Pocatello.

History[]

The original construction permit for KPIF was granted on March 2, 2001, to Pocatello Channel 15, L.L.C., a partnership between KM Communications, Inc. of Skokie, Illinois, Kaleidoscope Foundation, Inc. of Little Rock, Arkansas (a subsidiary of Equity Broadcasting Corporation), and Potelco Broadcasting of Greensboro, North Carolina. The three companies had been competing applicants for a channel 15 television station in Pocatello, and agreed in 2000 to form a partnership in order to expedite construction of the station.^{[citation needed]} In 2003, due to irreconcilable differences that caused delays in development of the permit, Myoung Hwa Bae of KM Communications extended an offer to buy out the other two members.^{[citation needed]} KM Communications completed construction of the station and signed on in March 2004 under Program Test Authority from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).^[1] The station applied for a license to cover the construction permit on March 1, 2004, and was granted the license on October 11, 2006.

Initially, KPIF was affiliated with America One, but the station picked up a WB affiliation in July 2004. It became an affiliate of The CW on September 18, 2006. At one point, KBEO (channel 11) from Jackson, Wyoming (which was the first to sign on, on March 30, 2001) became a satellite of KPIF (KBEO has since gone dark).

After The CW moved to a digital subchannel of ABC affiliate KIFI-TV (channel 8) on September 7, 2009, the station switched to RTV (later RTN, now Retro TV).

Digital television[]

Digital channels[]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion[]

KPIF shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on June 12, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 15,^[3][4] as they were granted original construction permits after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997.

While KPIF did broadcast a digital signal after the analog shutdown, it did not apply for a license to cover or an extension of the digital construction permit (which expired on June 12, 2009) until 2014. KPIF was granted a broadcast license for its digital signal on February 6, 2016.^[5]

External links[]

• KPIF in the FCC TV station database
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPIF-TV
• Post Register article on station sign-on

References[]