KSTS

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For the ICAO coded airport, see Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport.
Not to be confused with STS, a Russian TV network.
KSTS
Telemundo 48 2018.png
San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland, California
United States
CitySan Jose, California
ChannelsDigital: 19 (UHF)
Virtual: 48
BrandingTelemundo 48
Telemundo Bay Area
Telemundo Área de la Bahía
Noticiero Telemundo 48 (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations
  • 48.1: Telemundo (O&O)
  • 48.2: TeleXitos
  • 11.3: NBC
  • 11.4: Cozi TV
  • 48.5: Lx
Ownership
OwnerTelemundo Station Group
(a subsidiary of NBCUniversal)
(NBC Telemundo License LLC)
KNTV
NBC Sports Bay Area
NBC Sports California
History
First air date
May 31, 1981 (40 years ago) (1981-05-31)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 48 (UHF, 1981–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 49 (UHF, until 2020)
Former affiliations
Independent (1981–1989)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID64987
ERP500 kW
HAAT703 m (2,306 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°29′57″N 121°52′20″W / 37.49917°N 121.87222°W / 37.49917; -121.87222Coordinates: 37°29′57″N 121°52′20″W / 37.49917°N 121.87222°W / 37.49917; -121.87222
Translator(s)KNTV-DT 48.3 (13.3 VHF) San Jose
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
WebsiteTelemundo 48

KSTS, virtual channel 48 (UHF digital channel 19), is a Telemundo owned-and-operated television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal, it is part of a duopoly with NBC owned-and-operated station KNTV (channel 11), also licensed to San Jose; it is also sister to regional sports networks NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California. KSTS and KNTV share studios on North 1st Street in the North San Jose Innovation District; KSTS' transmitter is located on Mount Allison.

History[]

Early years[]

Former KSTS logo from 1984.

On March 29, 1978, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted National Group Television a construction permit to build a new television station on channel 48 in San Jose. The permit took the call letters KQWT before becoming KSTS on January 2, 1979.[1] The station first signed on the air on May 31, 1981, as an independent station. It was owned by National Group Television, which was headed by John Douglas. The station's commercial programming included business programs as well as off-network shows from the 1950s and early 1960s. At night, the station originally carried subscription television programming supplied by Satellite Television and Associated Resources (STAR TV) of Santa Monica;[2] STAR had acquired the franchise from Universal Subscription Television three months prior to launch.[3] STAR would have a short run on channel 48 because it bought the Super Time STV service on KTSF and relaunched it as STAR TV that September.[4] It would be replaced by a unique STV offering known as International Network Television,[5] which consisted of three program tiers: two hours a night of Japanese-language shows, another two hours of Chinese-language programming, and a late-night adult film block.[6] Daytime hours were filled by the then-new Financial News Network after it launched in November 1981.[7]

The STV service, with just 3,000 subscribers in February 1983,[5] ended later that year. The station then added additional brokered programming, including several shows on the young computer industry. The Thursday night Affordable Computer Hotline, channel 48's highest-rated show, was one of three devoted to the topic and cemented KSTS's place as "The Computer Connection".[8] The station also rebroadcast the 1984 shareholders meeting of Apple Computer, where the Macintosh was introduced, as the company had been unable to accommodate all those who wanted to attend.[9] However, when must-carry provisions were struck down, KSTS disappeared from several San Francisco-market cable systems; the manager of Viacom Cablevision systems in Marin County said that channel 48 had "phenomenally low ratings".[10]

Telemundo acquisition[]

In 1987, after several members of National Group Television desired to sell, Douglas sold KSTS to Telemundo Group, Inc., which operated the fledgling Telemundo Spanish-language network, for $17 million.[11] At the insistence of network executive Paul Niedermayer, who had been instrumental in the 1985 launch of KVEA in the Los Angeles area, the network bypassed KCNS channel 38 to buy the station in San Jose, which at the time was home to 35 percent of the Hispanics in the Bay Area.[12] The station, however, was not Spanish around the clock even after the sale. As late as 1990, locally produced programs in Portuguese and Farsi were airing on KSTS.[13] An effort at regional expansion began in 1990 when K15CU "KCU", a KSTS translator, began broadcasting in Salinas.[14]

In October 1990, half of KSTS's 18 employees went on strike in protest of low pay and poor working conditions.[15] The week-long strike, which resulted in temporary suspensions of the station's 6 p.m. newscast and the outright cancellation of its 11 p.m. news,[16] resulted in the station staff unionizing with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and agreeing to a contract in 1992.[17]

The KNTV-KSTS studios on First Street in San Jose

The acquisition of Telemundo by NBC in 2002 came at the same time the network bought San Jose's KNTV and turned it into an NBC owned-and-operated station. Both stations moved from their separate facilities—KSTS from its site on Bering Drive—to a new building on First Street.[18]

Digital television[]

Digital channels[]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[19]
11.3 1080i 16:9 KNTV-HD Simulcast of KNTV / NBC
11.4 480i Cozi Simulcast of KNTV-DT2 / Cozi TV
48.1 1080i KSTS-HD Main KSTS programming / Telemundo
48.2 480i TeleX TeleXitos
48.5 NBCLX Lx

Analog-to-digital conversion[]

KSTS shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 48, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[20] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 49, using PSIP to display KSTS' virtual channel as 48 on digital television receivers.

News operation[]

KSTS presently broadcasts 12 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with two hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

In 1988, KSTS launched its news department with the debut of a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast, which was originally co-anchored by Celina Rodriguez and Dante Betteo; both left in 1999.[21] The program proved successful, which resulted in the station later adding a half-hour 11 p.m. newscast. This was canceled after the 1990 strike[16] and was not reinstated until 1997.[22]

In 1999, KSTS hired model Mónica Mesones in 1999 to present the weather, resulting in controversy over the selection.[21]

In 2001, KSTS launched a morning newscast, Noticiero 48 Esta Mañana, and a mid-morning newscast, Noticiero 48 Al Mediodía anchored by Blanca Garza and Santiago Aburto. These were canceled in 2004. At this time, Cesar Bayona and Mariate Ramos anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. 2006 saw the dismantling of the local news operation and the creation of a regional news operation to serve the western United States as part of the NBCUni 2.0 cost-cutting initiative.[23] This was later reversed, and local news production was restored at KSTS in 2010.[24] On February 27, 2012, KSTS became the first Spanish language television station in the Bay Area to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[25]

2014 saw a series of news expansions at Telemundo, KSTS included. A second attempt at a two-hour morning newscast, titled Noticiero Telemundo 48 Primera Edición, began in June, and in November, KSTS launched a 5:30 p.m. newscast as part of a national news expansion; a 10am newscast also was added to the schedule at this time. Additionally, KSTS received a new set, began producing its own weather segments locally, launched a local Telemundo Responde consumer investigative franchise, added 20 additional staffers to its news department and began a deeper sharing of resources including the public affairs program Comunidad del Valle) with KNTV.[26] In 2015, the morning newscast was cut back to one hour, airing from 6 to 7 a.m.

Effective June 27, 2016, the morning and 10 a.m. newscasts were canceled in order to begin the production of weekend editions of the 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts beginning July 2.[27]

References[]

  1. ^ FCC History Cards for KSTS
  2. ^ Beebe, Greg (May 31, 1981). "New Kid On The TV Block". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 15, 24. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "Business in Brief". Los Angeles Times. February 18, 1981. p. IV:2. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Mandel, Bill (September 17, 1981). "Creating our own 'event'". San Francisco Examiner. p. A2. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Operational STV stations list provided" (PDF). Broadcast Week. February 21, 1983. p. 16. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "Profit-Tiers" (PDF). Channels of Communication. November 1982. p. 8. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Harris, Kathryn (January 4, 1982). "Ambitious News Network Beams Financial Programming to Nation". Los Angeles Times. p. IV:1. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Tyler, Tim (July 1985). "User-Friendly TV: The Affordable Computer Hotline". MicroTimes. pp. 47–50. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "The Apple Shareholders Meeting. For the rest of us". San Francisco Examiner. February 23, 1984. p. C5. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Stumes, Larry (June 14, 1986). "GGF Report Can't Air Races - No Friday Night Live". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 46.
  11. ^ Barnum, Alex (June 19, 1987). "KSTS-TV Sold to Telemundo". Mercury News. p. 17G.
  12. ^ Miller, Ron (December 9, 1990). "Winning Hispanic viewers' hearts: Two networks wage a TV war in the Bay Area". Mercury News. p. Arts 3.
  13. ^ Niedermayer, Paul (July 9, 1990). "Cable Companies Shut Out Local Stations". Mercury News. p. 6B.
  14. ^ Burleson, Marty (February 17, 1990). "Salinas gets more Spanish-language TV". The Californian. p. 6B. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Gathright, Alan (October 31, 1990). "High-Tension Television". Mercury News. p. 2B.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "Viewers sided with Channel 48 strikers". Mercury News. November 16, 1990. p. 1B.
  17. ^ Gathright, Alan (May 19, 1992). "KSTS workers win contract". Mercury News. p. 8B.
  18. ^ McCollum, Charlie (November 18, 2004). "KNTV Gets New Home After Nearly 50 Years". Mercury News. p. 1C.
  19. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KSTS
  20. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Garcia, Edwin (November 21, 1999). "New anchor's stormy start". Mercury News. p. 1B.
  22. ^ Garcia, Edwin (October 22, 1997). "Must-Sí TV: KSTS-TV has informed its viewers, and listened to them, for 10 years". Mercury News. p. 1A.
  23. ^ Olvera, Javier Erik; Villafane, Veronica (October 20, 2006). "Local newscasts to be cut from Telemundo's KSTS". Mercury News. p. 1D.
  24. ^ Tanklefsky, David (February 2, 2010). "Telemundo Rolls Out Enhances Local Newscasts in Key Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  25. ^ "Noticiero Telemundo 48 ahora en HD". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  26. ^ "KSTS San Francisco Expands Local News". TVNewsCheck. May 6, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  27. ^ "KSTS cancels morning newscasts to launch weekend shows". Media Moves. March 29, 2016.

External links[]

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