KPIF
Encyclopedia
KPIF is a full-power television station serving Pocatello
and Idaho Falls, Idaho
, as an affiliate of the Retro Television Network
. The station is owned by KM Communications Inc.
and broadcasts on UHF
channel 15 from a transmitter located on Howard Mountain in Pocatello. It has no separate digital channel allotment. The station appears to be still broadcasting; however, it may be available only on cable. The station may be forced to shut down permanently (and may also force KM Communications to forfeit the licenses of all of its remaining stations) if it actually continues to broadcast an over-the-air signal without a license.
, 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. 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. KM Communications completed construction of the station and signed on in March 2004 under Program Test Authority from the FCC
. 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 a few months later. It became an affiliate of The CW
on September 18, 2006. At one point, KBEO
of 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 KIFI-TV
on September 7, 2009, the stations switched to RTV.
s after the FCC
finalized the DTV
allotment plan on April 21, 1997, KPIF did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
. Instead, on June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KPIF was to have turned off its analog signal
and turned on its digital signal
(called a "flash-cut
").
While KPIF did broadcast a digital signal after the analog shutdown, it never applied for a license to cover or an extension of the digital construction permit (which expired on June 12, 2009). As a result, the KPIF license was cancelled by the FCC on February 16, 2011, and the call sign was deleted.
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...
and Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
, as an affiliate of the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
. The station is owned by KM Communications Inc.
KM Communications Inc.
KM Communications, Inc. is the owner of several television and radio stations throughout the United States. The company, based in Skokie, Illinois, gets its name from the first names of its President, Myoung Hwa Bae and her husband, Kun Chae Bae...
and broadcasts on UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
channel 15 from a transmitter located on Howard Mountain in Pocatello. It has no separate digital channel allotment. The station appears to be still broadcasting; however, it may be available only on cable. The station may be forced to shut down permanently (and may also force KM Communications to forfeit the licenses of all of its remaining stations) if it actually continues to broadcast an over-the-air signal without a license.
History
The original construction permit for KPIF was granted on March 2, 2001, to Pocatello Channel 15, LLC, a partnership between KM Communications, Inc. of Skokie, IllinoisSkokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
, Kaleidoscope Foundation, Inc. of Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
(a subsidiary of Equity Broadcasting Corporation
Equity Broadcasting
Equity Media Holdings was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, which is now used for its broadcast station subisdary...
), and Potelco Broadcasting of Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
. 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. 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. KM Communications completed construction of the station and signed on in March 2004 under Program Test Authority from the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. 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
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...
, but the station picked up a WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
affiliation a few months later. It became an affiliate of The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
on September 18, 2006. At one point, KBEO
KBEO
KBEO was a full-power television station serving Jackson, Wyoming. The station was owned by KM Communications Inc. and broadcasted on VHF channel 11 in Wyoming's Jackson Hole area.-History:KBEO signed on March 30, 2001...
of Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson is a town located in the Jackson Hole valley of Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,647 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Teton County....
(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
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
of KIFI-TV
KIFI-TV
KIFI-TV is the local American Broadcasting Company affiliated television station for Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho. It broadcasts a digital signal on channel 8. The station is owned by News-Press & Gazette Company of St...
on September 7, 2009, the stations switched to RTV.
Digital television
Because they were granted original construction permitConstruction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s after the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
finalized the DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
allotment plan on April 21, 1997, KPIF did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
. Instead, on June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KPIF was to have turned off its analog signal
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
and turned on its digital signal
Digital signal
A digital signal is a physical signal that is a representation of a sequence of discrete values , for example of an arbitrary bit stream, or of a digitized analog signal...
(called a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
").
While KPIF did broadcast a digital signal after the analog shutdown, it never applied for a license to cover or an extension of the digital construction permit (which expired on June 12, 2009). As a result, the KPIF license was cancelled by the FCC on February 16, 2011, and the call sign was deleted.