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KTBC fox 7
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KLRU pbs 18
KVUE abc 24
KXAN nbc 36
KEYE cbs 42
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CBS 42, more commonly known as KEYE-TV, launched in 1982 as KBVO, an independent, before becoming an inaugural Fox affiliate. In 1995, Channel 42 switched networks with KTBC, becoming KEYE, a CBS affiliate. CBS bought the station in 1999; KEYE is currently being sold off to Cerebrus Capital Management, the company which also recently bought the Chrysler automobile company.
Whatever Happened To...
Kristine Kahanek has been working the radars in Dallas recently, first at WFAA 8 and now as Chief Met at KTVT CBS 11. She was named Best Meteorologist 2005 by D Magazine. (Image: cbs11tv.com)
KVC may not have been "edgy" in the way television executives may have liked. Indeed, its program schedules often were comprised of talk show repeats and shows sister station KTBC dumped over to it. Even with a brief hold of the UPN franchise, KVC at its best was an a textbook example of an independent that is little-remembered today. And to think it only left the Austin airwaves over four years ago...
KVC has its roots in the early 90s. Officially known as K13VC, the low-power independent signed on at the beginning of the 90s (this needs to be confirmed; FCC records don't seem to be accessible).
The only real sign that KTBC also operated 13 was a three to five minute newscast at the tail end of KVC's primetime lineup from the studios of Channel 7. The station started off with a completely independent schedule of off-network repeats and talk shows the other stations in town hadn't bought. As time went on, and talk show libraries became more swollen, shows such as Sally Jessy Raphael were offering double-runs of their gabbers. KTBC aired new episodes of the show in its usual daytime slot, then gave the rerun airing to KVC during the 7pm time slot.
After the Big Switch in 1995, KTBC was somewhat burdened with the addition of the Fox Kids Network block of cartoons and live-action series. Not wanting to give up its highly profitible afternoon talk show schedule, and to allow for an expanded morning newscast, Fox Kids aired on KVC afternoons instead, thereby still fulfilling FCC educational/informational programming commitments.
Also in that year came the launch of the United Paramount Network. UPN was an upstart network competing with other newcomer The WB focusing on more urban and 'street smart' programs. Critics rarely found shows on UPN worth raving about, which may be a reason Austin never recieved the network in any official capacity (you'll read about the Hill Country Paramount Network in the KNVA section) for its first three years in existence.
However, Fox negotiated with UPN and finally secured KVC as the official Austin affiliate for the network. But ratings didn't really improve. They couldn't. KVC was still a low-powered station barely recievable outside of Travis County in the best of weather conditions and not carried by half of the area cable companies or satellite systems.
Still, KVC limped along. Austinites finally had a place to watch shows like Enterprise and Moesha. Kids still got to see their Fox Kids cartoons and umpteenth incarnation of Power Rangers. But then the rush for digital television frequencies came. And it spelled the end for KVC.
KAKW, a former WB/UPN affiliate in Waco, moved its broadcast facilities from that area to Austin, and became a Univision affiliate. And they applied to have Channel 13 become its digital channel number. The FCC approved. KVC went dark in 2003, relegated to obscure local trivia.