City Avalon/Los Angeles Subchannels (see article) | Branding Azteca América 54 Affiliations Azteca América | |
Channels Digital: 47 (UHF)
Virtual: 54 (PSIP) Owner Pappas Telecasting Companies (80%) /
TV Azteca (20%)
(Southern California License, LLC) | ||
KAZA-TV, virtual channel 54 (UHF digital channel 47), is an Azteca América-affiliated television station serving the Greater Los Angeles area, United States licensed to Avalon, it serves as a flagship station of the network. The station is jointly-owned by Visalia-based Pappas Telecasting Companies (which owns an 80% interest) and Mexican broadcaster (and owner of Azteca América), TV Azteca (20% interest). KAZA's studios are located on Grand Central Avenue in Glendale, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.
Contents
History
The station first signed on the air on July 9, 2001, originally operating as an independent station, carrying a format of Spanish language music videos.
On November 30, 2006, NBC Universal (owner of rival KVEA, channel 52 and then-owner of KWHY, channel 22) filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to deny KAZA's license renewal, on basis that TV Azteca controlled 51.6% of the station (above the FCC-designated 33% interest limit for foreign owned broadcasters) via loans and other interests. According to the Los Angeles Times, it is believed to be the first challenge to a license renewal sent to the FCC since 1979 (apparently not acknowledging some challenges to the RKO General licenses in the early 1980s). According to the filing, NBCUniversal accused TV Azteca of attempting to undermine its operations in Mexico. One example cited is the shutdown of production of the Telemundo program Quinceañera. NBCUniversal accused TV Azteca of hiring undercover police officers to enforce the shutdown; the show's production was moved to Miami, Florida as a result. Two days later, Azteca chairman, Luis Echarte, insisted that the local marketing agreement is legitimate and called NBC Universal's allegations "ridiculous", citing that: "It's obviously a ploy to damage our image, given our strong performance in the U.S.," he says. "KAZA is owned by Pappas. We’ve been paying rent to Pappas to operate the station for three years."
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KAZA-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 47, using PSIP to display KAZA-TV's virtual channel as 54 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.