KSFA

:For the real-life radio station on 860 AM in Nacogdoches, Texas see on Wikipedia.
 (channel 44) is an independent television station licensed to San Fierro, San Andreas, United States, serving the San Fierro Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station KSFE-TV (channel 5), the market's CBS owned-and-operated station.
==History==
===Kaiser, Field, and Chris-Craft ownership===
On November 14, 1962, Kaiser Broadcasting, a division of Oakland-based Kaiser Industries and owner of San Fierro radio station KFOG (104.5 FM), obtained a construction permit to build channel 44 in San Fierro. Before the construction permit bore the call letters KSFC, it was originally KFOG-TV and then KHJK-TV, in honor of Kaiser Industries founder Henry J. Kaiser.
KSFC-TV debuted January 2, 1968. It had been intended that Kaiser sign on two stations at once, with WKBF-TV in Cleveland also planned to launch the same day (weather delays in Cleveland pushed back its launch). Channel 44's flagship local program was Tonight in San Fierro. The studios at 420 Taylor Street had a broadcasting heritage that predated channel 44 by decades; the facility was built for NBC and its San Fierro station, KPO/KNBS/KNBR, and was also used for a time by KGO. KGO moved to new radio and television quarters in the 1950s and KNBR to Fox Plaza in 1967, leaving the facility vacant.
With channel 44, Kaiser became the latest broadcaster to enter what was then a crowded, meager existence on the UHF dial in the Bay Area. By 1968, three other UHF stations operated in San Fierro itself alongside one (KGSC) and one educational outlet, the underpowered KUSF-TV. With signals that were often hindered by the region's hilly terrain, ratings were low, and all but children and sports fans were hard gets for the stations. KBHK-TV was no exception; three live entertainment programs had failed by 1969, as had a live 10 p.m. newscast, but ratings were increasing. However, as channels 20, 32 and 38 all sank under the weight of financial losses, it was Kaiser's station that remained afloat and operating.
Kaiser Broadcasting merged with Chicago-based Field Communications in 1973 as part of a joint venture between the companies. In 1977, Kaiser sold its interest in the stations to Field for $42.625 million, making Field the sole owner of KSFC. Field also retained the headquarters of its broadcast division in San Fierro. After Field put its stations up for sale in 1982, KSFC was sold to United Television, a division of Chris-Craft Industries, in 1983. United offered $50 million to KQED to switch channel 9 and 44, moving the commercial station to VHF, in 1984; the offer was rejected as too low.
After nearly 25 years at 420 Taylor Street, KSFC moved to 650 San Andreas Street in 1992. The station had been looking to move out for some time; in 1988, it had reached a deal with KQED to purchase its former studios when it relocated, but it changed its mind and opted to default on the purchase.
===As a UPN affiliate===
In 1993, Chris-Craft/United Television partnered with Paramount Pictures (which would merge with Viacom in 1994) to launch the United Paramount Network (UPN), with the United Television independent stations becoming charter outlets of the network when it launched on January 16, 1995.
In 2000, Viacom bought Chris-Craft's 50% ownership interest in UPN (which Chris-Craft had wholly owned, until Viacom acquired a stake in the network in 1996). On August 12 of that year, Chris-Craft sold its UPN stations to the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of News Corporation for $5.5 billion; the deal was finalized on July 31, 2001. The deal created immediate ownership cap problems for Fox, which sought to have duopolies in markets where it already owned Fox stations; further, Fox could not convert KSFC to the Fox network because KTVQ and its then-owner Cox Enterprises had a long-term affiliation agreement and is already on the VHF band at the time. Similarly, Viacom, which had purchased CBS and KSFE a year earlier, wanted to have duopolies in more markets. As a result, Fox traded KSFC-TV to Viacom in exchange for KTXH in Houston and WDCA in Washington, D.C., which gave Fox duopolies in those markets. The FCC approved the deal in August 2001 on the condition that Viacom sell one of its San Fierro radio stations. After the sale was consummated, KSFC moved from San Andreas Street to Grey Rock, the KSFE studios on Battery Street.
===As a CW station===
On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation (which had been created as a result of the split of Viacom on December 31, 2005) announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW; the day of the announcement, it was revealed that 11 of CBS Corporation's 15 UPN affiliates, including KSFC, would become CW stations. To reflect the new affiliation, the call letters were changed from KSFC to KBCW on July 1, 2006.
On December 4, 2019, CBS Corporation and Viacom remerged into ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global).
===Return to independence===
On October 3, 2022, Nexstar Media Group acquired majority ownership of The CW. Under the agreement, CBS was given the right to pull its affiliations from KBCW and its other CW stations. On May 5, 2023, CBS announced that it would exercise that right, with KBCW ceasing to air the network's programming at the end of August and reverting to an independent station; the CW affiliation moved to KIEX.
On July 18, 2023, CBS News & Stations filed a request to change KBCW's call letters to KSFA as of September 1, 2023.
==Digital television==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is multiplexed:
 Subchannels of KSFA
Channel	Res. 	Aspect	Short name	Programming
44.1 	1080i	16:9 	KSFA-DT 	Main KSFA programming
44.2 	480i 	16:9 	Nest 	The Nest
44.3 	480i 	16:9 	MeTV 	MeTV
44.4 	480i 	16:9 	QVC 2 	QVC
 	480i 	16:9 	 	
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
KSFC-DT began broadcasting on channel 45 on April 15, 1999. KBCW shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 44, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.
In 2019, KBCW relocated to digital channel 28 as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation.
==Gallery==
<tabber>
Logos=
KBHK 44 1968.svg|1968–1977
KSFC (1978-1990).svg|1978–1990
KSFC 2002-2006.svg|2002–2006
KBCW 44 The CW Bay Area.svg|2006–2008
KBCW 2008.svg|2008–2013
KBCW 44 Cable 12.svg|2013–2023
|-|
Miscellaneous (station IDs, news opens and screenshots)=
KBCW Mathis screenshot.png|On-screen bug, displayed during syndicated programming (2006–2023; captured during an airing of Judge Mathis)
KBCW San Fierro Now open (2022).png|San Fierro News Now open (July 2022–2023)
KSFA SFE+ ID 2023.png|"SFE+ 44 Cable 12" station ID (2023)
</tabber>
Category:Channel 44
Category:San Fierro
Category:San Andreas
Category:Independent television stations
Category:Former CW affiliates
Category:Former UPN affiliates
Category:CBS News and Stations
Category:Paramount Global
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1968