KBFX-CD
{{short description|Fox affiliate in Bakersfield, California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KBFX-CD
| logo = LOGO KBAK-KBFX solid legal fox blk.png
| logo_size = 250px
| image =
| location = Bakersfield, California
| country = United States
| city =
| branding = Fox 58; Eyewitness News
| analog =
| digital = 29 (UHF)
| virtual = 58
| subchannels =
| translators = KBAK-TV 58.2 Bakersfield
| affiliations = {{ubl|58.1: Fox|for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}}}
| owner = Sinclair Broadcast Group
| licensee = Sinclair Bakersfield Licensee, LLC
| founded = August 23, 1989
| airdate = {{start date and age|1990|11|1|p=y}}
| last_airdate =
| callsign_meaning = Bakersfield Fox
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|K58DJ (1989–1995)|KMPH-LP (1995–1998)|KBFX-LP (1998–2005)|KBFX-CA (2005–2011)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|Analog: 58 (UHF, 1989–2010)}}
| former_affiliations =
| erp = 15 kW
| haat = {{convert|1113.2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = CD
| facility_id = 51501
| coordinates = {{coord|35|27|10.8|N|118|35|28.3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
| website = {{url|https://bakersfieldnow.com/}}
}}
KBFX-CD (channel 58) is a low-power, Class A television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KBAK-TV (channel 29). The two stations share studios on Westwind Drive west of Downtown Bakersfield; KBFX's transmitter is located atop Breckenridge Mountain.
In addition to its own digital signal, KBFX-CD is simulcast in high definition on KBAK's second digital subchannel (58.2) from the same transmitter site.
History
KBFX signed on November 1, 1990,{{cite book|title=Television & Cable Factbook 1993 Edition|year=1993|page=B-12|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1993-TV-Factbook/Television-Factbook-1993-ALL-OTHER.pdf|access-date=September 20, 2018}} as K58DJ, a low-powered relay translator of KMPH, Fresno's Fox affiliate. It changed its call letters to KMPH-LP in 1995. Later, the Fox network wanted to include a new separate affiliate station for the Bakersfield market; as a result, in 1998, channel 58 was relaunched as KBFX-LP. Among the features on the new station was a KBAK-produced 10 p.m. newscast, Fox 58 News @ 10. It was so successful that KBAK's then-owner Westwind Communications bought the station in 2005 from KMPH's owners, Pappas Telecasting.
On August 6, 2007, Westwind Communications announced the sale of KBAK and KBFX-CA to Fisher Communications of Seattle,{{cite web |url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=61026&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=1037227& |title=FisherCommunications - News |website=phx.corporate-ir.net |access-date=February 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111213322/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=61026&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=1037227& |archive-date=January 11, 2013 |url-status=dead}} with the sale closing on January 1, 2008.
On February 28, 2010, Bright House Networks (now Spectrum) announced that KBFX would be carried in Tehachapi on cable channel 6.
In January 2011, KBFX began airing its local news in high definition.
Fisher Communications announced on April 11, 2013, that it would be acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval.{{cite news|title=Sinclair acquiring Fisher Communications|url=http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Sinclair-acquiring-Fisher-Communications-202532881.html|work=bakersfieldnow.com|date=April 11, 2013|access-date=April 11, 2013|archive-date=April 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412180745/http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Sinclair-acquiring-Fisher-Communications-202532881.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Colman|first=Price|title=Sinclair poised to buy Fisher stations|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/66787/sinclair-poised-to-buy-fisher-stations|work=TVnewscheck.com|date=April 10, 2013|access-date=April 11, 2013}} The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.{{cite news|title=Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes On Fisher Communications Acquisition|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/121117/sinclair-broadcast-group-closes-on-fisher-communic|access-date=August 8, 2013|newspaper=All Access|date=August 8, 2013}} On October 3, 2013, Sinclair announced the completion of the sale of four stations owned by Titan TV Broadcast Group, including KMPH, which reunites KBFX as sister-stations for the first time in eight years.{{cite web |url=http://sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Titan%20close.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=October 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215829/http://sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Titan%20close.pdf |archive-date=October 4, 2013 }}
KBFX is the only Bakersfield television station to never change its affiliation, having always been a Fox affiliate.
Technical information
=Subchannels=
The station's signal is multiplexed:
| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of KBFX-CD{{cite web|title=Digital TV Market Listing for KBFX|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KBFX#station|website=RabbitEars.info|access-date=September 9, 2014}} ! Channel ! Res. ! Aspect ! Short name ! Programming |
| scope = "row" | 29.2{{efn|Per ATSC standards, a station on channel X must map to channel Y if another station on channel Y maps to channel X; channel 58.2 (an HD simulcast of 58.1) already exists on KBAK.}} |
|---|
| scope = "row" | 58.1 |
| scope = "row" | 58.3
| rowspan=2|480i || Comet || Comet |
| scope = "row" | 58.4
| TheNest || The Nest |
The analog signal went off the air in August 2010. KBFX just recently launched their new digital transmitter on RF channel 29. This signal carried This TV on its subchannel, which maps to virtual channel 29-2.
The station's 29.2 subchannel was an initial affiliate of the American Sports Network with its first broadcast on August 30, 2014.{{cite news|last1=Minium|first1=Harry|title=ODU's opener with Hampton to be televised in 66 markets|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/odus-opener-hampton-be-televised-66-markets|access-date=September 8, 2014 |work=HamptonRoads.com|publisher=The Virginian-Pilot|date=August 27, 2014}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://bakersfieldnow.com/}}
{{Bakersfield TV}}
{{Fox California}}
{{SBGI}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kbfx-Cd}}
Category:1990 establishments in California
Category:Comet (TV network) affiliates
Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates
Category:Sinclair Broadcast Group
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1990