KYES
Encyclopedia
KYES-TV is the local MyNetworkTV
affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska
, broadcasting locally on channel 5, with a repeater in Anchorage on channel 18, KYEX-LP. It has translators (repeaters) in Kenai-Soldotna on channel 6, Homer-Seldovia on channel 9 (petition to change to channel 3), and can be seen via satellite on AMC 7 at 137 degrees via an authorized Wegener satellite receiver. The station is owned by Fireweed Communications LLC. KYES is one of the few stand alone locally owned television stations left in the United States.
in 1995. It also had The WB
as an affiliate for a couple of years before Time Warner decided to drop over the air broadcasting in small markets, instead creating WB+, a cable only signal originating from a computer located at the cable head end. In January 2006 it was announced that the WB+ and UPN were to merge operations in September 2006 to form The CW. The station was expected to become a CW affiliate, but on April 24 it was announced that The CW would be carried on a digital subchannel on ABC's Anchorage affiliate KIMO. KYES instead became an affiliate of My Network TV and one of only two in Alaska (sister station
K17HC 17
in Juneau
is the other); KFXF
, the Fox
affiliate in Fairbanks
, declined an offer to run it as their secondary network.
, anchored by long-time Mat-Su Valley broadcaster Fred James. It runs Democracy Now!
live (which in Alaska is at 4:00 a.m.), and carries France24 on DTV 4, but does not and never has had the financial strength to launch its own news department.
The means of getting the digital signal out, however, was extraordinary—KYES used a TTC 100-watt analog translator and a K-Tec digital exciter purchased on eBay
, along with a temporary 30 feet (9.1 m) tower, originally used for an analog LPTV translator, on the roof of the hillside home of KYES's president and chief engineer manager, Jeremy Lansman. At only $5000 to construct, it was sufficient enough to transmit a viewable digital signal throughout most of Anchorage, with the exception of the road to the town dump. KYES's initial digital programming included high-definition programming from HDNet
and Wealth TV
, along with an in-house audio music channel, rebroadcasts of KUDO
-AM, KEUL
FM and the Republic Broadcasting Network, and a standard-definition KYES broadcast.
KYES briefly included Retro Television Network
in its digital lineup beginning in 2008. However, this was discontinued when the network was acquired by Luken Communications. No explanation has been given by KYES as to why the programming was discontinued. However, the reasons are likely technical. Under Equity Broadcasting
, RTN was uplinked from Galaxy 18
at 123° West. When Luken acquired the network, it was moved to AMC 9 at 83° West, an orbital location that is below the horizon from Anchorage.
The channel 22 signal is now licensed as K22HN, and operates at 2.8 kW ERP. KYES is authorized by the FCC to broadcast digital signals via VHF channel 5, broadcasting up to 45 kW. Thus, it has duplicate VHF and UHF signals.
In a DTV transition status report (FCC Form 387) filed by the station on October 7, 2008, Jeremy Lansman of KYES describes the station's digital readiness:
The document then goes on to cite a local newspaper article explaining that a storm and 100 mph winds had knocked out power in the area, taking K22HN dark
. Effectively, KYES-DT files its FCC digital television status reports by candlelight.
Fireweed Communications LLC has now requested FCC authorisation to operate KYES-DT post transition from multiple transmitter sites. The existing UHF 22 DTV facility would continue operation and multiple transmitters would rebroadcast the signal onto the former analog channel (5) using existing KYES low-power television facilities.
While the cash-strapped station expects this will allow rapid and less costly construction and provide replication of analog service, this technically is not a request for a DTx (distributed transmission system
). The transmitters may not be synchronized and therefore could interfere with each other in certain narrow geographical areas. The affected locations are all currently unpopulated.
Digital channels>
Channel
(PSIP)
Programming
Freq
(MHz)
Video
PID
Audio
PID
5.1
MyNetwork TV
79
97
100
5.2
UWTV
(formerly ResearchChannel
and RTV
before that)
79
129
132
5.3
Universal Sports
(formerly Wealth TV
, and HDNet
before that)
79
161
164
5.4
France24
79
385
388
5.50
KEUL
FM
79
260
5.51
Uncommon Music
79
228
5.52
Testing TBD
79
292
As of 13 June 2009, Digital TV is broadcast over VHF channel 5 and UHF channel 22, and an analog simulcast is provided to the Anchorage area on UHF channels 14 and 16. According to Mr. Lansman, none of the repeaters, nor the analog UHF, are scheduled to "switch to DTV in the immediate future."
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
, broadcasting locally on channel 5, with a repeater in Anchorage on channel 18, KYEX-LP. It has translators (repeaters) in Kenai-Soldotna on channel 6, Homer-Seldovia on channel 9 (petition to change to channel 3), and can be seen via satellite on AMC 7 at 137 degrees via an authorized Wegener satellite receiver. The station is owned by Fireweed Communications LLC. KYES is one of the few stand alone locally owned television stations left in the United States.
History
KYES, a.k.a. "YES-TV", signed on the air in 1990 as an independent before joining UPNUPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
in 1995. It also had The 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...
as an affiliate for a couple of years before Time Warner decided to drop over the air broadcasting in small markets, instead creating WB+, a cable only signal originating from a computer located at the cable head end. In January 2006 it was announced that the WB+ and UPN were to merge operations in September 2006 to form The CW. The station was expected to become a CW affiliate, but on April 24 it was announced that The CW would be carried on a digital subchannel on ABC's Anchorage affiliate KIMO. KYES instead became an affiliate of My Network TV and one of only two in Alaska (sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
K17HC 17
K17HC
K17HC is a television station in Juneau, Alaska, broadcasting locally on channel 17. The station is owned by Fireweed Communications. It broadcasts MyNetworkTV to the Juneau area. The station was previously a UPN network affiliate before that network shut down in 2006...
in Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...
is the other); KFXF
KFXF
KFXF, channel 7, is the Fox affiliate in Fairbanks, Alaska. KFXF is owned by Tanana Valley Television, which also owns CBS affiliate K13XD. Its transmitter is located in Fairbanks.-History:...
, the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate in Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
, declined an offer to run it as their secondary network.
News/Station presentation
In 1990, the station broadcast news from the U.S.S.R. translated into English. It also hosted Valley News, an independent production from Wasilla, AlaskaWasilla, Alaska
Wasilla is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the sixth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The city's population was 7,831 at the 2010 census...
, anchored by long-time Mat-Su Valley broadcaster Fred James. It runs Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
live (which in Alaska is at 4:00 a.m.), and carries France24 on DTV 4, but does not and never has had the financial strength to launch its own news department.
Station slogans
- Your Window on the World (January–March 1990)
- Tune In. Turn On. Take Five. (March–August 1990)
- TV-5, The Entertainment Station (August 1990–1993)
- KYES TV-5, Your Prime Time Entertainment Network Station (1993–1995)
Digital television
KYES's digital signal on channel 22 signed on with 20 watts of power on August 25, 2003—the first television station in the Anchorage market to have a digital signal, and the first in Alaska to offer high-definition television.The means of getting the digital signal out, however, was extraordinary—KYES used a TTC 100-watt analog translator and a K-Tec digital exciter purchased on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, along with a temporary 30 feet (9.1 m) tower, originally used for an analog LPTV translator, on the roof of the hillside home of KYES's president and chief engineer manager, Jeremy Lansman. At only $5000 to construct, it was sufficient enough to transmit a viewable digital signal throughout most of Anchorage, with the exception of the road to the town dump. KYES's initial digital programming included high-definition programming from HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
and Wealth TV
Wealth TV
WealthTV is an American television network that is dedicated to the world of wealth and all aspects surrounding it such as how to achieve it and enjoy it. It is owned by Herring Broadcasting and it launched in 2004. Its corporate headquarters are in San Diego, California. It is carried on some...
, along with an in-house audio music channel, rebroadcasts of KUDO
KUDO
KUDO is a radio station licensed to serve Anchorage, Alaska. The station is licensed to IBEW Local 1547 Investments, LLC, and operated by Alaska Integrated Media. It airs a sports radio format...
-AM, KEUL
KEUL
KEUL is a non-commercial radio station in Girdwood, Alaska, broadcasting on 88.9 FM. The station originally began as a non-licensed station, during a proliferation of such in the Anchorage area during the 1990s...
FM and the Republic Broadcasting Network, and a standard-definition KYES broadcast.
KYES briefly included 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...
in its digital lineup beginning in 2008. However, this was discontinued when the network was acquired by Luken Communications. No explanation has been given by KYES as to why the programming was discontinued. However, the reasons are likely technical. Under Equity Broadcasting
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...
, RTN was uplinked from Galaxy 18
Galaxy 18
Galaxy 18 is a Space Systems/Loral 1300-series hybrid communications satellite owned by Intelsat and located in geosynchronous orbit at 123° W longitude, serving the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, and Canada with 24 C-band, and 24 Ku band transponders...
at 123° West. When Luken acquired the network, it was moved to AMC 9 at 83° West, an orbital location that is below the horizon from Anchorage.
The channel 22 signal is now licensed as K22HN, and operates at 2.8 kW ERP. KYES is authorized by the FCC to broadcast digital signals via VHF channel 5, broadcasting up to 45 kW. Thus, it has duplicate VHF and UHF signals.
In a DTV transition status report (FCC Form 387) filed by the station on October 7, 2008, Jeremy Lansman of KYES describes the station's digital readiness:
- "The form asks: 'licensee/permittee has other needs that must be addressed before it can fully construct and operate its post-transition facility. (if checked, explain.)
-
- 1. Reliability and quality of using 1970's Harris transmitting gear is unknown.
- 2. No equipment is available to accurately measure DTV or ACLR power.
- 3. The 8VSB signal will originate at K22HN. Reliability of reception of the 8VSB signal is unknown, though it seems to work in spite of two path terrain obstacles.
- 4. Electricity supplies are unreliable at both sites; Hillside where K22HN will originate 8VSB signals for the region, and Eagle River where KYES-DT will translate those signals. Both sites are subject to winds in excess of 100 mph. Serial retransmission will compound the probability of off air time. The station needs back up generators, but has no money for one, no less two. Public safety will be compromised after the analog signal is switched off due to lack of back up power.
- For example, power at K22HN failed last night (Oct 10, 2008) shortly after 4.30 am. It is still off as of this time, 6 pm. As a result, KYES has had no DTV signal at all for over 12 hours. This will not be a unique experience. The analog signal originates from a UPS-protected studio. the 8VSB signal is encoded at K22HN.
- The FCC form asks what is needed. The answer? Funds from the spectrum auction as made possible by this conversion to DTV, said funds to be applied to equipment that may be needed, especially by stations in financial distress. Dumpster diving may result in an 8VSB signal, but the result will be less than ideal.
The document then goes on to cite a local newspaper article explaining that a storm and 100 mph winds had knocked out power in the area, taking K22HN dark
Dark (broadcasting)
In the broadcasting industry, dark is a term used to describe a radio station or television station that has gone off-the-air for an indefinite period of time, or as defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission , a "silent" station...
. Effectively, KYES-DT files its FCC digital television status reports by candlelight.
Fireweed Communications LLC has now requested FCC authorisation to operate KYES-DT post transition from multiple transmitter sites. The existing UHF 22 DTV facility would continue operation and multiple transmitters would rebroadcast the signal onto the former analog channel (5) using existing KYES low-power television facilities.
While the cash-strapped station expects this will allow rapid and less costly construction and provide replication of analog service, this technically is not a request for a DTx (distributed transmission system
Distributed transmission system
In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites...
). The transmitters may not be synchronized and therefore could interfere with each other in certain narrow geographical areas. The affected locations are all currently unpopulated.
(PSIP)
(MHz)
PID
PID
UWTV
UWTV is an educational television service from the University of Washington , originating from Seattle. Through on air, online and mobile distribution formats, UWTV serves as an ambassador to the scholarship, discoveries and breakthrough science of the nation’s top ranked public research...
(formerly ResearchChannel
ResearchChannel
The Research Channel was an educational television network based at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and operated by a consortium of leading research and academic institutions who contribute science-related programming to viewers in the United States and in other countries via...
and RTV
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...
before that)
Universal Sports
Universal Sports is an American television network that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon.-Programming:...
(formerly Wealth TV
Wealth TV
WealthTV is an American television network that is dedicated to the world of wealth and all aspects surrounding it such as how to achieve it and enjoy it. It is owned by Herring Broadcasting and it launched in 2004. Its corporate headquarters are in San Diego, California. It is carried on some...
, and HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
before that)
KEUL
KEUL is a non-commercial radio station in Girdwood, Alaska, broadcasting on 88.9 FM. The station originally began as a non-licensed station, during a proliferation of such in the Anchorage area during the 1990s...
FM
As of 13 June 2009, Digital TV is broadcast over VHF channel 5 and UHF channel 22, and an analog simulcast is provided to the Anchorage area on UHF channels 14 and 16. According to Mr. Lansman, none of the repeaters, nor the analog UHF, are scheduled to "switch to DTV in the immediate future."