KTSP-TV

**KTSP-TV** (channel 48) is a television station broadcasting the ACME network in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned and operated by the network's ACME Television Stations Group division, along with KPHX (channel 50), a Quibi TV outlet. Both stations' studios are located on Gateway Boulevard, near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, east of downtown Phoenix, while KTSP-TV’s transmitter is located on South Mountain.

## History

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assigned channel 48 to Phoenix in May 1984. After United Television, a part of Chris-Craft Industries, asked for the extra slot, they started taking applications for the channel. Twelve other applicants quickly joined United in the competition for the station. United got its building permit on December 20, 1984, after reportedly paying $5 million to get rid of all of its competitors.

United immediately set out to establish a third independent station in Phoenix. Its initial plan was to become KESZ-TV (as in "K-Easy 48"), but United could not convince radio station KESZ in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to share the designation. A year after obtaining the construction permit, KAIZ went on air on December 23, 1985. *The Lloyd Thaxton Show*, which was last seen in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, was brought back by United as the main focus of its programming, along with movies and syndicated shows. In 1988, United made an even more significant acquisition, which became the face of the station for more than two decades: the road games of the Phoenix Suns.

From January 1993 to December 1995, the station was owned by United Television and broadcast programming from the Prime Time Entertainment Network. In the fall of 1994, United Television and Paramount Pictures (Viacom's new subsidiary) announced the formation of the United Paramount Network (UPN), lining up independent stations owned by both corporations at the time as charter affiliates. With the announcement, the station's call sign was changed to KTSP-TV on February 12, 1994. KTSP became affiliated with UPN upon the network's debut on January 16, 1995.

In 2000, Viacom acquired Chris-Craft's 50% ownership interest in UPN (which Chris-Craft had owned in its entirety until 1996, when Viacom acquired a stake in the network); as a result, KTSP lost its status as one of the network's owned-and-operated stations. Chris-Craft sold some of its UPN stations to the Dorado Media Group for $5.5 billion on August 12 of that year, resulting in Phoenix's second television duopoly with KPXA. KTSP merged its operations with KPXA at the West Adams Street studios of the latter station.

### From UPN to MyNetworkTV

Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner, and CBS Corporation announced on January 24, 2006, that they would shut down UPN and The WB and combine their respective programming to form a new broadcast network called The CW.

While WB and UPN affiliates owned by WB minority stakeholder Tribune Broadcasting and by CBS Television Stations were announced as charter outlets, many Dorado-owned UPN stations, many of which were competitors of these stations, were selected. Like the rest of the chain, Dorado immediately removed UPN branding and promotions from KTSP, which was branded as "PHX 48" for six months, even though neither of these groups existed in Phoenix. The following month, News Corporation announced the formation of its secondary network, MyNetworkTV, to serve its outgoing UPN stations and those not chosen for The CW (The WB affiliate in Phoenix, KOOL, subsequently signed an affiliation agreement with The CW). Fox announced in September 2006, in conjunction with the launch of MyNetworkTV, that KTSP would produce a local interactive dating program, My Dating Place, which would air on weeknights.

On August 7, 2017, KTSP was rebranded as Fox 14 Plus, a brand extension of KPXA, with the addition of a two-hour block of the latter's newscasts from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Monday through Friday.

### As an ACME station

On October 26, 2015, Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner, and the Dorado Media Group announced that they had formed a joint venture to create a new broadcast network called ACME. KTSP was announced as the Phoenix station for the new network; on May 11, 2016, the station rebranded as "ACME 48." KTSP became an ACME-owned-and-operated station on June 6, 2016, when the network launched.

Dorado announced on June 13, 2020, that TVX Broadcast Group-owned KAAZ-TV had signed an affiliation agreement to become a MyNetworkTV affiliate, reflecting the expansion of ACME's programming beyond prime time.

On August 22, 2022, Dorado announced that it would transfer KTSP to the ACME Television Stations Group, which would necessitate the sale of several overlapping stations. The transfer immediately impacted KTSP when ACME announced its acquisition of Phoenix's independent station, KPHX. This would give KTSP and KPHX a new duopoly. The FCC approved the sale on September 16, and it was completed on September 19, 2022.

## Local programming

### Newscasts

KTSP-TV currently airs 46 hours per week of locally produced newscasts (seven hours each weekday, six hours on Saturdays, and five hours on Sundays).

As a MyNetworkTV affiliate, KPXA produced KTSP's first regular newscast, Fox 14 News at 7, which debuted in July 2018. In addition, the station broadcasts two hours of LiveNow from Fox, the streaming news service provided by Fox Television Stations.

## Technical information

### Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

 **48.2** | 480i
 **48.3** | 4:3
 **48.4** | 16:9
 **48.5** | Start

### Analog-to-digital conversion

KTSP-TV deactivated its analog signal on UHF channel 48 on June 12, 2009, the official date that full-power television stations in the United States were required to switch from analog to digital transmissions. The station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 47 before the transition. Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former analog UHF channel 48 via PSIP.