KNVE

KNVE (Channel 57), is a television station licensed to Baytown, Texas, United States, serving as Houston's outlet for Pivot. It is owned and operated by GloboRB, alongside Freenity flagship KFRW (Channel 39). The two stations maintain studios in Uptown Houston, while KNVE's transmitter is located in Missouri City.
Since 2017, KNVE is under a channel sharing agreement with Freemax station KALV, following the sale of the over-the-air spectrum of KNVE in the FCC's spectrum reallocation auction for $130.2 million.
== History ==
=== Independent station KBYT ===
The station first signed on as independent KBYT in 1983, owned by Baytown Television Group. The company was founded by Rodney Forman, a native of Baytown, Texas, and was headquartered in Baytown as well, alongside the KBYT studios. In the first month on air, KBYT claimed eight percent of the viewing audience in the Greater Houston area, with its program lineup organized into thematic blocks.
In 1989, KBYT was purchased by Arlington, Texas-based Arlington Television Group (known as ATG) pairing with company flagship KADL in Dallas and KVDA in San Antonio, both independent stations. The joint ownership of the three stations had proven to be successful and well paid. ATG's aggressive programming, promotions strategy, and a favorable climate for independent stations nationally, made the three stations highly profitable and attracted major bidders in Texas.
By the mid-1990s, ATG had owned a total of 15 independent stations, including KBYT. Around that time, KBYT and its sisters adopted a local programming-infused format in which the station would have mixed locally produced programming, alongside first-run and off-network syndicated programs. KBYT aired two popular shows amongst the locals: Around AstroWorld, a family-oriented program showcasing currently popular rides and attractions in the Six Flags: AstroWorld amusement park (which has been defunct since 2005) and Space City Saturdays, a talk program showcasing fun, informative, and interactive segments. This style of programming would remain by the early 2000's.
While the stations received major success from this format, ATG's financial status would sharply decline in 1997 when they purchased the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, causing its shareholders to withdraw from the company. ATG sold the team in 1998, but the sale wasn't enough to recover its funds. ATG filed for bankruptcy that same year and was in the process of auctioning off its stations. Clear Channel Communications made a bid to acquire the group but was outbid by RB Media in 1999. Once the purchase was finalized in 2000, KBYT and its sisters maintained their independent formats, albeit cancelling and renaming their local programming.
=== Mas TeVe/Network flagship ===
In October 2001, RB Media relocated to Houston after its corporate offices were destroyed in New York City following the September 11th attacks. Around the same time the company planned to launch two new television networks the following year and use all of its stations as the nuclei for both networks. RB launched Freemont in 2002, replacing the ill-faded National Entertainment Network. The second network's launch was pushed back to 2003 in order to give Freemont leverage on viewership. Noticing the debuts of three new Spanish-language networks within the last three years (Azteca America in 2000, mun2 (now Universo) in 2001, and Telefutura (now UniMás) in 2002), RB Media launched "Mas TeVe" on September 15, 2003 (coinciding with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month), serving as the Spanish-language counterpart of Freemont. KBYT was selected as the network's flagship and changed its callsign to KMAS. Mas TeVe rebranded as Mas Network in 2012.
In 2016, RB Media was acquired by Studio Networks, the forerunner of GloboRB.
=== NU9VE and Pivot era ===
In 2021, following stagnant ratings, Mas Network and its stations were replaced by sister channel NU9VE on June 1st, leading to KMAS changing its callsign to the current KNVE. On January 1, 2024, the NU9VE stations were replaced by Pivot. Following the change, for the first time in 21 years, Pivot became the non-Spanish secondary network for Freenity (the new name of Freemont).
Category:Houston
Category:Texas
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1983
Category:Channel 57
Category:Pivot owned and operated stations
Category:Former Mas Network affiliates
Category:GloboRB
Category:Locally-owned stations
Category:Former NU9VE affiliates
Category:Former independent stations