KNIC-DT (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Blanco, Texas, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language UniMás network to the San Antonio area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision outlet KWEX-DT (channel 41). The two stations share studios on Network Boulevard in Northwest San Antonio; KNIC's transmitter is located on Hogan Drive in Timberwood Park. Although Blanco is geographically within the Austin market, that city has its own UniMás station, KTFO-CD.

KNIC-DT
CityBlanco, Texas
Channels
BrandingUniMás 17
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedJuly 13, 2005
First air date
September 28, 2006 (18 years ago) (2006-09-28)
Former call signs
KNIC-TV (2006–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 17 (UHF, 2006–2009)
Call sign meaning
Nicolas Communications (former owner of former station on channel 17, KNIC-CD)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID125710
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT200 m (656 ft)
Transmitter coordinates29°41′48″N 98°30′45″W / 29.69667°N 98.51250°W / 29.69667; -98.51250
Translator(s)KCOR-CD 34 (27 UHF) San Antonio
Links
Public license information
WebsiteUniMás

History

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KNIC-DT's history traces back to the March 1991 sign-on of K17BY, a low-power television station that San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) was issued a construction permit to build on March 23, 1988; operating on UHF channel 17, Clear Channel sold the station in March 1991 to Nicolas Communications. In November 1997, the station changed its calls to KNIC-LP (in reference to its owners); Nicolas Communications sold KNIC-CA in November 2001 (the station received approval to upgrade its license to Class A status that same month) to Univision Communications, a sale that was completed in January 2002; that month, it became a charter affiliate of Univision's secondary network, TeleFutura (which relaunched as UniMás on January 7, 2013).

Univision had applied for a license to build a full-power television station in 2000 on UHF channel 52 in Blanco; after the Federal Communications Commission awarded Univision the license at auction, Univision requested that the FCC move the allocation to UHF channel 17; the request was granted in February 2003.[2] KNIC-TV was founded on July 13, 2005. The formal application for KNIC-TV called for Univision to either move KNIC-CA to another channel, or to shut it down outright,[3] KNIC-CA moved to channel 34 under special temporary authorization, before it ceased operations on September 28, 2006; its license survives as KCOR-CD, a translator of KNIC-DT. KNIC-DT was one of the few television stations to have been built and signed on by Univision Communications.

Technical information

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Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KNIC-DT[4]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
17.1 1080i 16:9 KNIC-DT UniMás
17.2 KWEX-DT Univision (KWEX-DT)
17.4 480i NVSN Nuestra Visión
17.5 SHOP LC Shop LC
12.5 480i 16:9 StartTV Start TV (KSAT-TV)
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

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Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. KNIC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 17, on June 12, 2009. The station "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation UHF channel 18,[5] using virtual channel 17.

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KNIC-DT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=256547[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "RabbitEars TV query for KNIC". www.rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  5. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.