KXTX-TV

KXTX-TV

Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas United States
City	Dallas, Texas
Channels	Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 39
Branding	Telemundo 39; Noticiero Telemundo 39 (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations	39.1: Telemundo 39.2: TeleXitos
Ownership
Owner	Telemundo Station Group (NBC Telemundo License LLC)
Sister stations	KXAS-TV
History
First air date	February 5, 1968 (56 years ago) (1968-02-05)
Former call signs	KDTV (1968–1973)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 39 (UHF, 1968–2009) Digital: 40 (UHF, 2002–2019)
Former affiliations	Independent (1968–January 1995, July 1995–2001) The WB (January–July 1995)
Call sign meaning	Christ (X) for Texas[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	35994
ERP	925 kW
HAAT	496.6 m (1,629 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	32°35′7″N 96°58′7″W / 32.58528°N 96.96861°W / 32.58528; -96.96861
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.telemundodallas.com

KXTX-TV (channel 39) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving as the Dallas–Fort Worth market's outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside Fort Worth–licensed NBC outlet KXAS-TV (channel 5). Both stations share studios at the CentrePort Business Park in Fort Worth; KXTX-TV's transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Channel 39 in Dallas began broadcasting as KDTV on February 5, 1968. It was built by the Doubleday Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of book publisher Doubleday & Co., and operated as an English-language independent station emphasizing business news and sports coverage. It struggled to gain ratings traction in the market, and by 1973, it was the only unprofitable station Doubleday owned. As a result, Doubleday sought to give the station away to a non-profit entity. The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which had just entered the market on channel 33, acquired KDTV and moved its station, KXTX-TV, to channel 39, occupying channel 39's studios on Harry Hines Boulevard. CBN primarily programmed religious and family-friendly entertainment shows, though it began to broaden the appeal of its program lineup in the early 1980s to be more competitive in the market. It attempted to sell the station twice in the decade, but no sale eventuated.

Beginning in June 1994, KXAS-TV began operating and programming KXTX-TV under a local marketing agreement. Channel 39 began serving as overflow for pre-empted NBC programming, and for six months in 1995 it was the market's affiliate of The WB. Beginning in 1996, the station aired Texas Rangers baseball games as part of a wide-ranging contract between the team and KXAS-TV owner LIN Media. LIN was purchased in 1997 by private equity firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst; one of the firm's principals, Tom Hicks, bought the Rangers and also owned the Dallas Stars hockey team. The next year, LIN transferred its operating agreement to a new sports business controlled by Hicks, Southwest Sports Group. Southwest Sports Group analyzed using channel 39 as the centerpiece of a regional sports network for Rangers and Stars games but ultimately decided to sell the teams' media rights to Fox Sports Southwest.

In 2000, Southwest Sports acquired the license from CBN and immediately attempted to sell KXTX-TV to Pappas Telecasting, which would have used it as a key station in its planned Azteca América network. Financing difficulties delayed the network's launch and caused the deal to collapse. Telemundo then stepped in to buy KXTX, which replaced KFWD as the network's outlet in the Metroplex on January 1, 2002. At the same time, NBC bought Telemundo; channel 39 moved from Dallas to KXAS-TV's Fort Worth studios in 2006. The station produces local Spanish-language newscasts as well as a morning news program seen on Telemundo stations across Texas.