Affiliations Fox (1986–present) | ||
Branding Texoma's Fox (general)
Texoma's Fox News (newscasts) Slogan Texoma's Only Primetime News Channels Digital: 15 (UHF)
Virtual: 18 (PSIP) Subchannels 18.1 Fox
18.2 Grit
18.3 Bounce TV
18.4 Escape Owner Mission Broadcasting
(Mission Broadcasting, Inc.) | ||
KJTL, virtual channel 18, is the Fox affiliate located in Wichita Falls, Texas also serving Lawton, Oklahoma owned by Mission Broadcasting, and its operated by Nexstar Media Group, in a virtual duopoly with NBC affiliate KFDX channel 3. KJTL's transmitter is located near Grandfield, Oklahoma.
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History
The station originally signed on the air on May 14, 1985 as an Independent station owned by Wichita Falls Television airing movies, sitcoms, cartoons, dramas, and westerns. It originally operated from studios located on Call Field Road in Wichita Falls. In 1986, KJTL became one of the early affiliates of Fox. Wichita Falls Television then sold the station to BSP Broadcasting in 1989. BSP sold both KJTL and KCIT in Amarillo to Epic Broadcasting Corporation in 1991. Epic then sold KJTL and KCIT to Wicks Broadcast Group in 1995. Wicks Broadcast Group sold the station to current owner Mission Broadcasting in 1999.
Digital channel
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV networks (the last one of which is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whose COO Jonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including KJTL and KFDX-TV.
Analog-to-digital conversion
KJTL shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 15. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 18.