Affiliations Telemundo | ||
 | ||
City Paradise, Nevada/Las Vegas Branding Telemundo Las Vegas
Noticiero Las Vegas Channels Digital: 40 (UHF)
Virtual: 39 (PSIP) Subchannels 39.1 Telemundo
39.2 TeleXitos
39.3 Ion Television
39.4 Cozi TV Owner NBCUniversal
(Comcast Corporation)
(Telemundo Las Vegas License, LLC) | ||
KBLR is a Telemundo owned-and-operated station serving Las Vegas, Nevada, which is owned by NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations. Located at digital channel 40, its transmitter is located in Las Vegas on Black Mountain.
Contents
History
During the unofficial first year (1988–89) of broadcast, KBLR aired ethnic-oriented programming and African, Asian and Latino musical footage constantly, though the TV Guide listed other programming, such as G.I. Joe and B movies.
In 1993, Summit Media put together a partnership group to purchase KBLR Television, channel 39. This failing television station became a success under the experience and direction of Mr. Gentry, as he built and developed, the first full-power Spanish language television station in Las Vegas.
Sale to NBC
On February 23, 2005, NBC bought Telemundo affiliate KBLR from Summit American (formerly Summit Media also owns KQLL, KJUL) for $32.1 million. The sale was completed on May 24, 2005.
In August 2008, KBLR confirmed reports from the Las Vegas Sun and announced at the city council meeting that its studio facility would be moving to Neonopolis on Fremont Street, which is part of the Fremont Street Experience. The station's studios was first occupied on January 20 with full completion on Feb. 22, 2009. KBLR began broadcast operations from the new facility at 4:45 am on February 22, 2009.
The station previously had a repeater in Reno, Nevada, K52FF channel 52; this station has since gone dark, and its license cancelled.
As a result of the sale to NBCUniversal, KBLR is the only network owned-and-operated station in the Las Vegas media market.
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KBLR shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 39, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 40. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 39.
News operation
As the first full power Spanish station in Las Vegas, the station launched local news, at first at 6pm and 11pm during the week and then with weekend news.
As part of budget cuts at NBCUniversal, all Telemundo newscast production was shifted to the news hub in Dallas in 2007. In late 2010, most Telemundo stations restored locally produced news, but KBLR's newscasts continued to be produced elsewhere, this time to KTAZ in Phoenix, which utilized Las Vegas-area reporters and Phoenix-based anchor talent. The 6pm program was presented live, while the 11pm broadcast was pre-taped.
On June 30, 2014, KBLR debuted a locally produced 6pm and 11pm newscast, hiring more than a dozen new staffers including anchor Beatriz Moncayo and weather presenter Leticia Castro. The newscast is produced utilizing the technical resources of NBC affiliate KSNV.