KVMD

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KVMD
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding =
analog =
digital = 23 (UHF)
other_chs =
subchannels = 23.1 independent 23.2 KXLA 23.3 KJLA
affiliations = Almavision
Jewelry TV
network =
founded =
airdate = December 1, 1997
location = Twentynine Palms, California
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers = Analog:
31 (1997-2003)
owner = KVMD Acquisition Corporation (Ronald Ulloa)
licensee = KVMD Licensee Company, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 150 kW
HAAT = 784 m
class =
facility_id = 16729
coordinates = coord|34|2|16.8|N|116|48|49.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kvmdtv.com/ www.kvmdtv.com]

KVMD is a digital-only independent television station licensed to Twentynine Palms, California, USA. The broadcast signal covers most of the Inland Empire on digital UHF channel 23. It was also on DirecTV and Dish Network at channel 31, its former analog channel, until December 19, 2007. KVMD-DT is now carried only as part of DirecTV's HD (digital) package on channel 31, along with Los Angeles' 7 VHF stations. KVMD is currently back on Dish Network in the SD locals package. This channel is still seen throughout the Los Angeles media market on various cable TV systems.

It is the local affiliate of the Almavision Spanish-language evangelical television network.

The station broadcasts digitally, with subchannel DT2 carrying the Asian-language programming of KXLA and DT3 carrying the programming of KJLA, including more paid programming and Jewelry TV. KVMD's owner, Ronald Ulloa, is also president and majority owner of KXLA, and his brother Walter Ulloa owns KJLA. KVMD's programming is also carried on KXLA's digital signal on 44.2, and on KJLA's digital signal on 57.3.

KVMD carries Big West Conference basketball games and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of minor league baseball's California League.

KVMD's transmitter is located atop Snow Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains north of Banning, California.

History

KVMD signed on in December 1, 1997 on analog channel 31. While its analog signal was rather weak and could not generally be received beyond Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley, it sought and obtained carriage on many cable television systems throughout Southern California, as well as satellite TV, due to its fortuitous location in the outskirts of the Los Angeles DMA and FCC must-carry rules. On July 29, 2002, its digital signal went on the air on channel 23. This signal is much stronger, potentially reaching 80 times as many viewers over the air as its analog signal, and reaching most of the Inland Empire. It also reaches a good portion of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, but overlaps the signals of KTBN-TV Santa Ana/Los Angeles and XETV-TV Tijuana/San Diego, which also broadcast digitally on channel 23, thus making reception difficult in many of these areas. That issue in the Los Angeles market will remedy itself in the near future. KTBN-TV has requested permission from the FCC to change its digital broadcast channel from 23 to 33. On June 1, 2003, KVMD became the first station in the country to shut off its analog channel and go digital-only, in support of the government-mandated digital transition.

While the FCC database shows that the station currently has an application pending for analog channel 53 with a much stronger signal (5,000 kilowatts), it appears to date back to 2000, prior to the digital transition, and it is unlikely that the application will ever be granted, since the FCC has announced that no television channels above 51 will be used for broadcast after the digital transition is complete [http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/News_Releases/2001/nrwl0109.doc] .

External links

* [http://www.kvmdtv.com/ Official site]
*TVQ|KVMD
*BIA|KVMD|TV|TV
* [http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA265667.html "L.A. DTV Spat Could be a Test Case"] , "Multichannel News", December 16, 2002
* [http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2006/db0703/DA-06-1376A1.pdf 2006 FCC petition] requesting mandatory carriage under "must-carry" rules