KTXS-TV

KTXS-TV

Sweetwater–Abilene, Texas United States
City	Sweetwater, Texas
Channels	Digital: 20 (UHF) Virtual: 12
Branding	KTXS (pronounced "K-Texas") The CW Abilene (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	12.1: ABC 12.2: CW+ 12.3: TBD (KTES-LD)
Ownership
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC)
Sister stations	KTES-LD
History
First air date	January 30, 1956 (68 years ago) (1956-01-30)
Former call signs	KPAR-TV (1956–1966)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 12 (VHF, 1956–2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (1956–1979) ABC (secondary, 1956–1979)
Call sign meaning	Texas
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	308
ERP	710 kW
HAAT	439.3 m (1,441 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	32°24′48.4″N 100°6′26.3″W / 32.413444°N 100.107306°W / 32.413444; -100.107306
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	ktxs.com
Satellite station
KTXE-LD
San Angelo, Texas United States
Channels	Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 12
Branding	ABC 38 The CW San Angelo (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	12.1: ABC 12.2: CW+
Ownership
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC)
History
First air date	July 19, 1971 (53 years ago) (1971-07-19)
Former call signs	K55AA (1971–1997) KTXE-LP (1997–2014)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 55 (UHF, 1971–1997), 38 (UHF, 1997–2014) Digital: 38 (UHF, 2014–2021)
Call sign meaning	Disambiguation of KTXS
Technical information[2]
Facility ID	309
Class	LD
ERP	15 kW
HAAT	108.2 m (355 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	31°29′6″N 100°27′27″W / 31.48500°N 100.45750°W / 31.48500; -100.45750
Links
Public license information	LMS

KTXS-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Sweetwater, Texas, United States, serving the Abilene area as an affiliate of ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside KTES-LD (channel 40), broadcasting TBD, and KTXE-LD, which rebroadcasts KTXS-TV in the San Angelo area. The stations share studios on North Clack Street in Abilene; KTXS-TV's transmitter is located near Trent, Texas, and KTXE-LD is broadcast from a site on West 26th Street in San Angelo.

Channel 12 began broadcasting on January 30, 1956, as KPAR-TV, which was owned by and rebroadcast most of the programming of KDUB-TV, the CBS affiliate in Lubbock. Texas Key Broadcasting assumed operational control in 1960; the station added ABC affiliation and broke away from the Lubbock station, and the station moved its transmitter to Trent to increase coverage.

Grayson Enterprises bought KPAR-TV in 1966 and immediately changed the call sign to KTXS-TV. It built the present Abilene-area studios, which replaced facilities in Sweetwater and led to fines and a hearing by the Federal Communications Commission; the station also built the San Angelo translator at this time. As a result of multiple indiscretions, Grayson divested itself of KTXS-TV and other stations in "distress sales" to minority-controlled broadcasters in 1980. KTXS had four owners in a six-year period, all of whom tried to raise the station from a distant last place in news ratings.

Lamco Communications purchased KTXS in 1986 and raised its news department to a more competitive second place in the Abilene market. KTXS provided the local outlet of Telemundo from 2000 to 2010 and added The CW in 2006. It was purchased by Sinclair as part of its 2017 acquisition of Bonten Media Group.