KCSO-LD


KCSO-LD, virtual channel 33, is a low-powered Telemundo owned-and-operated television station licensed to Sacramento, California, United States. The station is owned by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. KCSO-LD's studios are located on Media Place in the Woodlake neighborhood of Sacramento, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove.
Due to its low-power status, KCSO's programming is simulcast in widescreen standard definition on Ion Television owned-and-operated station KSPX-TV digital channel 29.7 to reach the entire market. KCSO also operates translator stations KMUM-CD and KMMW-LD in Sacramento and Stockton.
On cable, KCSO-LD is available locally on Comcast Xfinity channels 25 and 714 in HD, AT&T U-verse channels 25 and 1025 in HD, Consolidated Communications channel 25, Charter Spectrum channels 22 and 790 in HD and Wave Broadband channels 610 and 704 in HD in Placer County and channels 15 and 715 in HD in Yolo County. The station is also available on satellite television providers Dish Network and DirecTV channel 33 throughout the Sacramento market.

History

The station was founded by country-western performer Chester Smith and his company Sainte Partners II, L.P. and first signed on the air in 1999. It was the last station to be owned by his company. On August 8, 2008, Chester Smith died of heart failure at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. The station continued operating under the Sainte banner until it was sold to Serestar Communications Group in 2013. Sainte folded shortly thereafter.
Serestar agreed to sell KCSO-LD, KMUM-CD, and KMMW-LD to NBCUniversal on November 28, 2018, as part of a $21 million deal. The sale was completed on March 5, 2019.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
33.11080iKCSO-LDMain KCSO-LD programming / Telemundo
33.3480iTelexTeleXitos
33.4480i16:9LIGHTtvLight TV
33.5480i16:9NBCLXLx

On September 3, 2012, MeTV was moved to KCRA 3.2 ; 33.3 became silent afterward. 33.3 was re-launched on January 21, 2017, broadcasting TeleXitos.
In 2018, KCSO affiliated with Light TV on newly launched subchannel 33.4.

News operation

KCSO launched a local news department following its sign-on. The half-hour local evening news program was broadcast every Monday through Friday at 6:00 p.m. However, it had low ratings and was canceled after five years.
Later, news briefs were aired online. In late 2014, it started airing morning news briefs called Noticias 33 Por la mañana, which aired at :25s and :55s from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. during Telemundo's Un Nuevo Dia morning news program.
On November 6, 2016, KCSO re-launched a weekday half-hour long newscast at 6:00 p.m., 11 years after its initial newscast was cancelled. It directly competes with Univision owned-and-operated KUVS's long-established Spanish-language newscast.
In 2017, a weeknight 11:00 p.m. newscast was launched, further competing with KUVS. Noticias Telemundo California is simulcast on Fresno sister station KNSO.
On March 18, 2020, one year after the purchase by NBCUniversal, the station launched 5 and 5:30 newscasts, and began simulcasting all of their newscasts on KNSO. The station does not air any local newscasts on the weekends.