It's official - KTFL is dead

[dhett]

In case you haven't already seen...

On 9/7, the FCC canceled their license. On 9/13, they deleted the callsign. KTFL is now DKTFL. Flagstaff channel 4 is dead.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/...call_hist.pl?Facility_id=74149&Callsign=DKTFL

 

[w9wi]

In case you haven't already seen...

On 9/7, the FCC canceled their license. On 9/13, they deleted the callsign. KTFL is now DKTFL. Flagstaff channel 4 is dead.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/...call_hist.pl?Facility_id=74149&Callsign=DKTFL

That's interesting...

I was going to ask, "are you sure they didn't land in one of those renewal snafus that's affected so many stations lately?". But according to the CDBS, the KTFL license wouldn't have expired until Oct. 1st. It would appear the cancellation was at the licensee's request. (I'm not aware of any enforcement proceedings against KTFL that could have resulted in license revocation, and of course any misdeeds serious enough to result in revocation would have been big news!)

 

[dhett]

Pure speculation here, but I'm guessing that it was for financial reasons. FamilyNet in Flagstaff, Arizona isn't exactly a cash cow. Without major network affiliation, full-power television in Flagstaff is difficult at best, and that isn't likely to change, as the low-power network translators are each owned by their respective affiliates in Phoenix. There's really no need to expand coverage through a full-power station, as the populated areas of Coconino and Yavapai counties are already served by translators in Flagstaff, Cottonwood and Prescott, again in each case, owned by the Phoenix network affiliates. The only buyers I could see would be the religious and Spanish stations. I'm surprised that TBN or Daystar didn't try to buy KTFL, although Daystar's Holbrook DTV station might reach Flagstaff and TBN already has affiliates in Flagstaff and Verde Valley.

Another station to keep an eye on is KMCC, licensed to Laughlin NV, but serving Bullhead City AZ and the Mohave Valley. They're operating their DTV station at <2% power on an STA at the Laughlin transmitter site instead of at the Dolan Springs AZ site that the CP specifies. Moreover, they had an equipment failure at their analog facilities and are operating at about 5% power. They're claiming severe financial constraints prevent them from making the repairs to their analog facilities. Not good.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/...xt=25&appn=101147568&formid=911&fac_num=41237

 

[EricStein]

Pure speculation here, but I'm guessing that it was for financial reasons. FamilyNet in Flagstaff, Arizona isn't exactly a cash cow. Without major network affiliation, full-power television in Flagstaff is difficult at best, and that isn't likely to change, as the low-power network translators are each owned by their respective affiliates in Phoenix. There's really no need to expand coverage through a full-power station, as the populated areas of Coconino and Yavapai counties are already served by translators in Flagstaff, Cottonwood and Prescott, again in each case, owned by the Phoenix network affiliates. The only buyers I could see would be the religious and Spanish stations. I'm surprised that TBN or Daystar didn't try to buy KTFL, although Daystar's Holbrook DTV station might reach Flagstaff and TBN already has affiliates in Flagstaff and Verde Valley.

KTFL's owner, WTVA in Tupelo, MS, has been going through some troubled times as of late. WTVA's founder and owner, Frank Spain, died earlier this year, and now his widow is in control of the ownership. They're still having troubles (legally and financially) with the DTV transition at WTVA. There was no revenue stream for KTFL (and when you factor in the costs of sending a microwave signal or fiber to DirecTV and DISH Network's POP's, the operation must have lost a good amount of money).

Gannett is having a tough time finding a buyer for KNAZ; just imagine how hard it was for the Spains to find someone to buy KTFL.

 

[KeithE4]

Gannett is having a tough time finding a buyer for KNAZ; just imagine how hard it was for the Spains to find someone to buy KTFL.

Trouble is, a market of around 200,000 (Flagstaff + Prescott + Verde Valley) just isn't viable as a separate market anymore. If Flagstaff-Prescott was a separate market, it would be somewhere around #170 - a drop in the bucket for CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox that wouldn't generate enough viewership to be worth signing affiliates there (The sum total of viewers of markets #101-210 is about the same as NY, LA, and Chicago combined - about 15% of the country). IIRC, Flagstaff by itself was around #205 when then-KOAI was a standalone station, but that was many years ago. I'll guess that once Gannett sells off KNAZ or takes it dark (don't rule it out if it is losing a lot of money), they'll build a translator in Flagstaff to keep NBC service there.

There probably isn't a need for full-powered television service in a relatively small area like Flagstaff when existing translators of Phoenix stations serve the area just fine.