KPHE-LD

KPHE-LD is a low-power television station in Phoenix, Arizona, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 16 from its transmitter on South Mountain. Founded March 17, 1992, it is owned by Lotus Communications Corporation of Los Angeles, California and is an affiliate of CNN Latino and Telemax.

History

On March 17, 1992, the FCC granted an original construction permit to build low-power television station K19DD on UHF channel 19 to serve Phoenix and the East Valley. The station was owned by Scottsdale publisher Harlan L. Jacobsen, with transmitter location on Usery Mountain in east Mesa. K19DD was granted an initial license on July 13, 1995, as an affiliate of the Bloomberg Television network. In June 1998, Jacobsen was granted a construction permit to operate an experimental broadcast station using the facilities of K19DD to broadcast in digital format.

In September 1999, Jacobsen sold the station to US Interactive LLC, who soon afterward, changed its call letters to KPHE-LP. In December 2000, the station became part of a pilot program to study the feasibility of using low-power UHF television stations to deliver wireless data services to subscribers. The Digital Data Services Act pilot project was effective from December 2000 through June 2002, during which time, KPHE was unavailable as an over-the-air analog broadcast station.