KSNV

KSNV
Channels
BrandingChannel 3; News 3
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KVCW
History
First air date
January 23, 1955
(69 years ago)
 (1955-01-23)[a]
Former call signs
  • KLRJ-TV (1955–1962)
  • KORK-TV (1962–1979)
  • KVBC(-DT) (1979–2010)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 2 (VHF, 1955–1967), 3 (VHF, 1967–2009)
  • ABC (secondary, 1955–1957)
  • NTA (secondary, 1956–1961)
Call sign meaning
Southern Nevada
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID10179
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT382.9 m (1,256 ft)
Transmitter coordinates36°0′27.3″N 115°0′26.9″W / 36.007583°N 115.007472°W / 36.007583; -115.007472
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
Websitenews3lv.com

KSNV (channel 3) is a television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate KVCW (channel 33). The two stations share studios on Foremaster Lane in Las Vegas; KSNV's transmitter is located on Black Mountain, near Henderson.

What is now KSNV traces its origin to the launch of KLRJ-TV on channel 2 on January 23, 1955. KLRJ-TV was owned by and named for the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper; it was licensed to the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson and maintained studios in between the two cities. Shortly after starting KLRJ-TV, Donrey acquired Las Vegas radio station KORK; channel 2 became KORK-TV in 1962, when the FCC permitted KLRJ-TV to change its city of license to Las Vegas. The station moved from channel 2 to channel 3 on January 3, 1967, as part of a transmitter site relocation.

In 1971, the Las Vegas Valley Broadcasting Company, headed by attorney James E. Rogers, filed a competing application for channel 3. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) called a hearing to weigh the new station proposal versus KORK-TV's renewal; the case centered on KORK-TV's use of "clipping", an illegal practice of airing local commercials over network-furnished material and advertising. The ensuing legal fight lasted throughout the 1970s: the FCC and federal appeals courts consistently denied KORK-TV a renewal of its broadcast license, but the Las Vegas Valley Broadcasting application was not finally approved until the end of the decade. On October 1, 1979, KORK-TV was replaced by KVBC, which continued with the same staff but built new studio and transmitter facilities at their present sites.

While fending off a second and unsuccessful license challenge, under Rogers's ownership, KVBC rapidly improved in the late 1980s and 1990s from a distant second-place in local news ratings to a contender and market leader. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the station's programming strategy evolved to remove many syndicated programs and replace them with newscasts. After Rogers died in 2014, Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired KSNV's assets and conducted a switch of technical facilities that allowed it to retain all of its programming while divesting the former KSNV license, now KHSV.


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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KSNV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.