KXAN-TV
KXAN-TV, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 21), is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Austin, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Media General, and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO (channel 14); Media General also operates CW affiliate KNVA (channel 54) under a local marketing agreement with owner Vaughan Media. All three share studios on West Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (between the Old West Austin section of Austin and the University of Texas at Austin campus), KXAN's transmitter is located at the West Austin Antenna Farm north of West Lake Hills. Syndicated programming on KXAN includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Castle, Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray.
History
The station first signed on the air on February 12, 1965 as KHFI-TV, broadcasting on UHF channel 42. It was owned by the Kingsbury family, along with KHFI radio (970 AM, now KTAE at 1490; and 98.3 FM, now KVET-FM at 98.1). KHFI was the second television station in Austin, signing on a little more than twelve years after KTBC-TV (channel 7). Although Austin was big enough to support three television stations as early as the 1950s, KTBC was the only VHF license in the area. Until 1964, UHF stations could only be seen with an expensive converter, and even then picture quality left much to be desired. Additionally, UHF signals usually do not travel very far over long distances or over rugged terrain. This made several potential owners skittish about the prospects for UHF in a market that stretched from Mason in the west to La Grange in the east, and also included much of the Hill Country.
