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|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | ABC15 Arizona; ABC15 News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KASW | |
| History | |
First air date | September 9, 1979 |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Intended original "Newswatch" format; XV is the Roman numeral for 15 |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59440 |
| ERP | 458 kW |
| HAAT | 521 m (1,709 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°20′0″N 112°3′49″W / 33.33333°N 112.06361°W |
| Translator(s) | see § Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station KASW (channel 61). The two stations share studios on 44th Street on the city's east side; KNXV-TV's transmitter is located atop South Mountain. KNXV-TV's signal is relayed across northern Arizona through a network of low-power translators.
KNXV-TV was originally established in 1979 as the Phoenix area's second independent station with part-time subscription television programming from ON TV. It was owned by the New Television Corporation, which had tried to get the station going for nearly five years prior to its launch. ON TV folded in 1983 as cable television became more prevalent in the Phoenix area and after station management refused requests to give the pay service more airtime. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting, the broadcast division of the E. W. Scripps Company, acquired KNXV-TV in 1985. Channel 15 affiliated with Fox in 1986 and surpassed KPHO-TV in the ratings as the leading independent in the market, becoming one of Fox's strongest affiliates.
In 1994, Fox announced a multi-city affiliation agreement with New World Communications which included Phoenix's then-CBS affiliate, KSAZ-TV, and mostly CBS affiliates in several other major markets. CBS expressed interest in affiliating with Scripps's ABC affiliates in other cities, most notably Detroit and Cleveland, and used this as leverage to force ABC to move its Phoenix affiliation from market leader KTVK to KNXV-TV beginning in January 1995. The station was already organizing a local newsroom when the switch was announced and aired its first newscast on August 1, 1994; News 15 received critical acclaim in its early years but sank in ratings and quality in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the news product later improved; the station has received three George Foster Peabody Awards.
- ^ "KNXV-DT". Television & Cable Factbook. 2006. p. A-120.
Began Operation: January 12, 2000. Standard and High Definition.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KNXV-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.