KNIC

KNIC-CA

KNIC-CA, is a low-power Class A television station in San Antonio, Texas, licensed to operate in analog on UHF channel 17, but silent since late September 2006, when it shut off to make way for full-service station KNIC-TV, which signed on channel 17 in early October 2006. KNIC-CA is owned by Univision under licensee Telefutura Partnership of San Antonio, and has applied to the FCC to move its operations to UHF channel 34. been granted Special Temporary Authorization (STA) to move its operations to UHF channel 34.

History

The station began as a construction permit issued to Clear Channel Communications on March 23, 1988 to build a low-power television station on UHF channel 17 in San Antonio. Given callsign K17BY, the station went on air in March 1991 and was licensed April 2, 1991. Also in March 1991, Clear Channel agreed to sell the station to Nicolas Communications, who assumed full control several weeks later. In November 1997, the station took call letters KNIC-LP, named after its owners, and in November 2001, the station upgraded to a Class A license, changing its call letters to KNIC-CA. Also in November, Nicolas Communications and Univision reached an agreement for Univision to buy the station, and the transaction was consummated in January 2002, just in time for the launch of Univision's new network, Telefutura. KNIC-CA affiliated with the new network and simulcast its programming on KFTO-LP (now KFTO-CA).

Univision had been an applicant since 2000 for a full-service television station on UHF channel 52 in Blanco, and after winning the auction to build the station, they requested that the FCC change the allocation from channel 52 to channel 17. The FCC granted the request, to be effective February 2003 In their formal application to build the full-service station, to be called KNIC-TV, Univision declared their intent to either move KNIC-CA to another channel, or to shut it down altogether (p. 4). In September 2006, with KNIC-TV about to go on-the-air, Univision requested an STA to move KNIC-CA to channel 34. The FCC granted the STA, and KNIC-CA channel 17 went silent on September 28, 2006.

In moving to channel 34, KNIC-CA disrupted plans for digital operations for three other local television stations: KMHZ-LP, KVDF-CA and KEVI-LP. The stations had competing applications to build a low-power digital television facilities on channel 34, but Class A displacements have priority over other low-power applications not caused by displacement (paragraph (a)(4)(iii)). A displacement occurs when a higher-priority station forces a lower-priority station to change its broadcast channel. Full-service KNIC-TV had priority over Class A low-power KNIC-CA, so KNIC-CA was displaced.

Digital television

On or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KNIC-CA may continue broadcasting its analog signal, since its a licensed Class A low power television station and has certain interference protection rights.