KPIF


KPIF, virtual and UHF digital channel 15, is a MeTV-affiliated television station licensed to Pocatello, Idaho, United States and also serving Idaho Falls. The station is owned by Ventura Broadcasting, as part of a duopoly with Ion Television affiliate KVUI. The two stations share transmitter facilities on Howard Mountain near Pocatello.

History

The original construction permit for KPIF was granted on March 2, 2001, to Pocatello Channel 15, L.L.C., a partnership between KM Communications, Inc. of Skokie, Illinois, Kaleidoscope Foundation, Inc. of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Potelco Broadcasting of Greensboro, North Carolina. The three companies had been competing applicants for a channel 15 television station in Pocatello, and agreed in 2000 to form a partnership in order to expedite construction of the station. In 2003, due to irreconcilable differences that caused delays in development of the permit, Myoung Hwa Bae of KM Communications extended an offer to buy out the other two members. KM Communications completed construction of the station and signed on in March 2004 under Program Test Authority from the Federal Communications Commission. The station applied for a license to cover the construction permit on March 1, 2004, and was granted the license on October 11, 2006.
Initially, KPIF was affiliated with America One, but the station picked up a WB affiliation a few months later. It became an affiliate of The CW on September 18, 2006. At one point, KBEO of Jackson, Wyoming became a satellite of KPIF.
After The CW moved to a digital subchannel of KIFI-TV on September 7, 2009, the stations switched to RTV.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
15.1480iME-TVMeTV
15.2480iHIHeroes & Icons
15.3480iGRIT-TVGrit
15.4480iSTADIUMMarket
15.5480iTHISThis TV
15.6480iCOURTCourt TV
15.7480iPURSUITPursuit Channel
15.8480iQVCQVC
15.9480iCRIMETrue Crime Network
15.10480iDAYSTARDaystar

Analog-to-digital conversion

KPIF shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on June 12, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 15, as they were granted original construction permits after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997.
While KPIF did broadcast a digital signal after the analog shutdown, it did not apply for a license to cover or an extension of the digital construction permit until 2014. KPIF was granted a broadcast license for its digital signal on February 6, 2016.