KMTP-TV
| |
|---|---|
| City | San Francisco, California |
| Channels | |
| Branding | KMTP |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | Non-commercialIndependent |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Minority Television Project |
| History | |
First air date | August 31, 1991 |
Former channel number(s) |
|
Call signmeaning | Minority Television Project |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 43095 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 511.7 m (1,679 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°45′19″N122°27′10″W/ 37.75528°N 122.45278°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KMTP-TV(channel 32) is anindependentnon-commercial educationaltelevision stationlicensed toSan Francisco, California,United States, serving theSan Francisco Bay Area.Owned by the Minority Television Project, the station maintains studios on Woodside Way inSan Mateo.Its transmitter, shared withKCNS,KTNC-TVandKEMO-TV,is located atopSutro Towerin San Francisco.[2]
KMTP airs a large amount of multilingual, ethnic programming. The station produces and broadcasts a daily news show,5 Day News,and also broadcasts programming fromDeutsche WelleTV,NASA TV,and theClassic Arts Showcase.KMTP is one of the few non-PBS-affiliated public television stations in the United States, and one of two such stations in the San Francisco Bay Area (the other beingKPJKin San Mateo).
History
[edit]In 1954, the station begancommerciallyas KSAN-TV on UHF channel 32;[3]it was one of the first UHF TV stations in California.[4]Owned by the Patterson family, operators ofKSAN radio,the station was a small production studio and broadcast operation housed in the renovated Sutro Mansion in San Francisco and showed an amalgam ofbo xingandwrestlingmatches, medical conferences, and old movies. The station went off the air in 1958. TheKSAN-TVcall letters now reside on theNBCaffiliate on channel 3 inSan Angelo, Texas.
The TV station was purchased byMetromediain 1968, when the call sign was moved to an FM radio station and the TV station rechristened KNEW-TV, to match its co-ownedKNEW radioand to complement Metromedia's flagship station in New York, WNEW-TV (nowFoxowned-and-operated stationWNYW).[4][5]KNEW-TV ran the syndicated Metromedia talk shows and variety programming of such stars as shock-talkerJoe Pyne,and others.
This format was unsuccessful, and by 1970, channel 32 was given to leading public broadcasterKQED(channel 9) and had its call sign changed again, this time as KQEC, amember stationofPBS.[6][4]KQED held onto the station until 1988 when theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) revoked the license, ruling that it had been off the air too long to remain in the hands of the KQED ownership (KQED kept KQEC off the air for most of 1972 through 1977, and then again for several months in 1979–80), and reassigned the license to Minority Television Project, one of the challengers of the KQEC license.[7]The present-day KMTP-TV signed on on August 31, 1991, as the nation's second African-American owned public television station.[8]
In the FCC's2016–2017 Broadcast Incentive Auction #1001,KMTP-TV successfully bid to go off the air for a compensation of $87,824,258.[9][10]KMTP claimed in a March 31, 2017, press release, that it was negotiating with other broadcast stations in the Bay Area to share a channel. In FCC filings, it claimed a Channel Sharing Agreement had been signed, after completion of the auction, that would enable KMTP to continue broadcasting but on a different channel. This would be seamless for viewers as they would still tune to channel 32.[11]
Controversy
[edit]In 2004, the FCC levied a $10,000 fine against KMTP for showing paid commercials on a station with an educational license.[12]While it is commonplace for PBS and similar stations to showunderwriters' messagesthat resemble commercials, it is illegal for educationally licensed stations, like KMTP, to show advertisements that do not meet the standards for underwriting announcements.[13][14]KMTP appealed the decision in 2005, but the fine was upheld, prompting KMTP to file a lawsuit against the FCC inU.S. District Courtthe following year.[15]
In suing the FCC, KMTP felt it was unfairly penalized by the FCC's rules concerning underwriting that did not take into account foreign language broadcasting and the variations in pronunciations and meanings. KMTP carried out research to find out what the public interpreted a commercial to be. Using a numerical grading system, certain aspects of a video clip were found by the public to "feel" like a commercial or not like a commercial. These findings were presented to the FCC, as it did not depend on particular words or phrases which can be misinterpreted when foreign languages are used. The FCC rejected KMTP's attempt to clarify the underwriting rules, leaving KMTP with no choice but to take the matter to court.
On April 12, 2012, a three-judge panel on theU.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appealsruled on two of the issues raised by KMTP's suit. The panel ruled that non-commercial stations can air advertisements for both candidates and political position statements. The 1981 federal law was found to be violating free speech. This was a partial victory for KMTP, as it did not address the basic issue of how commercials differ from the sponsorships on which most public stations depend for financial support.[16]The case was reheard by the 9th Circuiten banc,which in 2013 overruled the panel, declaring that the 1981 law was constitutional (NPRandPBSfiled in support of the FCC);[17]theSupreme Courtdeclined to hear the case in the following year, ensuring that non-commercial stations cannot air political advertisements.[18]
Subchannels
[edit]| License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KCNS | 38.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KCNS | Shop LC |
| 38.2 | 480i | SkyLink | Sky Link TV
| ||
| 38.3 | SBN | Sonlife | |||
| 38.5 | NTD | New Tang Dynasty | |||
| 38.6 | NTD Eng | NTD English | |||
| KMTP-TV | 32.1 | 4:3 | KMTP | Ethnic | |
| KTNC-TV | 42.1 | 720p | 16:9 | TCT | TCT |
| 42.2 | 480i | ESNE | ESNE TV (Spanish) | ||
| KEMO-TV | 50.1 | 720p | ShopHQ | ShopHQ | |
| 50.2 | 480i | VisionL | Visión Latina | ||
| 50.3 | GoldenT | Golden TV (Asian Multilingual) | |||
| 50.4 | Outlaw | Outlaw | |||
| 50.5 | 4:3 | Timeles | Timeless TV |
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for KMTP-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"KMTP-TV SAN FRANCISCO, CA".rabbitears.info.
- ^"File:Market near 7th Street".FoundSF.August 1970.RetrievedMarch 26,2023.
- ^abcRichards, K. M. (2015)."KQEC/32, San Francisco CA".History of UHF Television.RetrievedNovember 26,2021.
- ^"KNEW California Gold June 30, 1974".Bay Area Radio Museum. August 5, 2014.RetrievedAugust 22,2018.
- ^Ferretti, Fred (May 16, 1970)."Metromedia to Give TV Station To KNEW of San Francisco".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 22,2018.
- ^Friend, Alex (May 11, 1988)."FCC revokes license for San Francisco public TV station KQEC".Current.Archived fromthe originalon July 1, 2004.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
- ^Bracks, Lean'tin (January 2012).African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence.Visible Ink Press.ISBN9781578593828.
- ^FCC Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice DA 17-314 released April 13, 2017.
- ^FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction – Appendix A(PDF).Federal Communications Commission(Report). April 4, 2017. p. 6.RetrievedMarch 11,2022.
- ^"KMTP TV Benefits in FCC Spectrum Auction"(PDF).Minority Television Project. March 31, 2017.RetrievedAugust 1,2018.
- ^"Memorandum Opinion and Order".Federal Communications Commission.October 20, 2005.RetrievedDecember 10,2023.
- ^Public and broadcastingfcc.gov[dead link]
- ^Commission Policy on the Noncommercial Nature of Educational Broadcastingfcc.gov
- ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on July 18, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 6,2011.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Appeals court OKs political ads on public stations".April 13, 2012.
- ^Stempel, Johnathan (December 2, 2013)."UPDATE 2-U.S. court OKs ban on political ads on public TV, radio".Reuters.RetrievedOctober 10,2023.
- ^Johnson, Ted (June 30, 2014)."Supreme Court Declines to Review Case Over Ads on Public TV".Variety.RetrievedOctober 10,2023.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for KCNS".Archivedfrom the original on October 29, 2013.RetrievedOctober 27,2013.
