KXAN-TV - History

History

On February 12, 1965, KHFI began broadcasting as "KHFI-TV" on channel 42. It was owned by the Kingsbury family along with KHFI radio (AM 970, now KOKE-FM at 99.3 FM; and 98.3 FM, now at 96.7 FM). KHFI was the second television station in Austin, signing on a little more than twelve years after KTBC-TV (channel 7).

It logically should have signed-on as Austin's NBC station, since up to that time all three networks had been shoehorned on KTBC, a primary CBS affiliate. However, due to contractual obligations, it spent more than a year and a half as an independent before joining NBC in 1966. Unlike most affiliates with the network in then two-station markets, KHFI did not take on a secondary ABC affiliation. The Kingsburys would later bring in Henry Tippie as a partner and in 1973 were granted FCC permission to move KHFI-TV to channel 36.

With the channel change came a new set of call letters, KTVV. Also, the station boosted its broadcast power to five million watts, which more than doubled its coverage area. What was then known as LIN Broadcasting purchased the station in 1979. The new owners changed the call sign to the current KXAN-TV in 1987. Even with the increased power, channel 36's signal was marginal in some parts of the Hill Country such as Fredericksburg. UHF signals usually do not travel very far in rugged terrain. In 1991, LIN signed-on KLNO in Llano to improve KXAN's reach in the Hill Country. Even with the power boost, channel 36's signal is marginal at best in much of the Hill Country. It changed its calls to KXAM-TV after about a month on-air and to the current KBVO in 2009. This call sign, named after the University of Texas' mascot "Bevo", was formerly used on the new channel 42 which is now KEYE-TV and is shared with sister station KBVO-CD.

KXAN is one of two stations in Austin (the other being KVUE-TV) to retain its original network affiliation in the wake of a network swap between KTBC and Fox station KBVO (now KEYE-TV, channel 42) in 1995. On October 21, 2009, KBVO became a separate station after picking up MyNetworkTV from KNVA. That station carried the network as a secondary affiliate, known on-air as "MyNetworkTV on The CW Austin", from its launch on September 5, 2006. Programming from MyNetworkTV aired on KNVA Monday through Saturday nights from 9 to 11. In mid-September 2009, that station moved the network to a 10 to midnight slot to make room for a nightly 9 o'clock newscast to compete with Fox affiliate KTBC. To date, KNVA was one of two stations in the United States to carry The CW and MyNetworkTV (the other being KWKB in Iowa City, Iowa, which is now the only station which carries the full schedules of both netlets/programming services).

KXAN's current tower built in 1996, replaced an older one that dated to 1964. Of the fifteen towers on the hill, theirs is the tallest and the highest structure in Austin. In addition to its transmission antenna, the mast also incorporates a camera with views of downtown to the east and the hills to the west. KXAN is the Austin broadcast television home of the San Antonio Spurs sharing coverage with sister station KBVO.