KTAZ

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KTAZ
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Telemundo Arizona
analog = 39 (UHF)
digital =
other_chs =
affiliations = Telemundo
network =
founded =
airdate = January 12, 2001
location = Phoenix, Arizona
callsign_meaning = Telemundo AriZona
former_callsigns = KPHZ (2001-2006)
former_channel_numbers = 11 (2001-2006)
owner = NBC Universal, Inc.
licensee = NBC Telemundo License Company
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ACN (2001-2002)
effective_radiated_power = 765 kW
HAAT = 537.5 m
class =
facility_id = 81458
coordinates = coord|33|20|2.7|N|112|3|40.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage =

KTAZ is a NBC Telemundo owned-and-operated television station in Phoenix, Arizona, broadcasting in analog on UHF channel 39 from South Mountain. It has no separate digital channel. KTAZ airs Spanish-language programming from the Telemundo network.

History

The station was granted an original construction permit on January 23, 1998 as KBCZ channel 11 in Holbrook, Arizona, owned by Channel 11 Television LLC. In 2000, before the permit expired, Channel 11 Television LLC sold the station to Venture Technologies Group LLC, who immediately changed the call letters to KPHZ. They licensed the station on December 5, 2001 as an affiliate for the ACN shopping channel, but the next year, they sold KPHZ, along with Phoenix stations KPHZ-LP (now KDTP-LP) and KPSW-LP (now KPDF-CA), to NBC Telemundo, who switched the programming to Telemundo. It was the Telemundo network's second full-service station in Arizona (the first being KHRR 40 Tucson). On May 27, 2006, NBC Telemundo changed the call letters to KTAZ and moved the license from Holbrook channel 11 to Phoenix channel 39 in a complex deal with the Daystar Television Network (see below). KTAZ temporarily kept the Daystar programming and the Telemundo programming remained on KDTP-CA (now KDPH-LP) channel 48 while KTAZ's permanent facilities were being constructed, but on August 9, 2006, KTAZ resumed Telemundo programming, and Daystar programming began airing on KDTP-CA. The FCC licensed the changes to KTAZ on November 7, 2006.

License swap

By 2004, NBC Telemundo concluded that in a small town like Holbrook (2000 population: 4917), KPHZ was losing money and would likely have to be shut down. At the same time, they determined that their Phoenix-based Class A LPTV station, KDRX-CA (now KDPH-LP), could not adequately compete with Univision's full-power station KTVW-TV.

NBC Telemundo reached an agreement with Daystar, and together filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the KPHZ license from Holbrook to Phoenix, where it would broadcast on channel 39. Daystar's KDTP license would move from Phoenix to Holbrook, broadcasting on channel 11. It was an unusual and complicated request that involved not only a swap of cities of license and frequencies, but would also require removing the non-commercial reservation from Phoenix channel 39 and creating a non-commercial reservation on channel 11 in Holbrook. Holbrook already had a non-commercial allocation on channel 18 which had never been built, and most likely never would be. In addition, NBC Telemundo would transfer KDRX-CA and KPHZ-LP to Daystar, preserving a Daystar Television Network outlet in Phoenix.

The FCC is extremely reluctant to remove a non-commercial reservation from a market, and naturally, Univision objected to the proposal, but in October 2005, the FCC agreed to allow the switch, saying that the benefit of having competing full-service Spanish-language TV stations in the Phoenix market outweighed the loss of the non-commercial reservation. [http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-175A1.txt] [http://azbilingualed.org/News_2005a/stronger_signal_to_expand_reachoftelemundo.htm] . In April 2006, the FCC granted construction permits to move the licenses. There were a few complications with the move, requiring newly-named KTAZ to move to a different broadcast tower, but the move was completed on July 23, 2006. [http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002876296]

Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html] , the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 17, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KTAZ will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

External links

* [http://www.telemundo.com/ Telemundo website]
* [http://www.daystar.com/ Daystar Television Network]
*TVQ|KTAZ
*BIA|KTAZ|TV|TV