KPMR

KPMR is a full-power television station licensed to Santa Barbara, California, and serving viewers across the Central Coast. The station operates on virtual channel 38 and is affiliated with Univision, the Spanish-language television network. Its programming mix is centered on Spanish-language entertainment, including telenovelas, comedy, films, sports, national network programming, and local news. KPMR's local news output has used the Noticias Costa Central name and, more recently, the Noticias A Su Lado identity, with evening broadcasts scheduled at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. The station's origins date to a Federal Communications Commission construction permit granted in May 1997 to Coast TV for a new full-service station on channel 38. The call sign KPMR was adopted in February 1998. Entravision Communications acquired the station from Coast TV in a transaction completed in January 2001. Entravision subsequently placed KPMR on the air under program-test authority as a Univision affiliate and obtained the station's formal license from the FCC on April 12, 2002. KPMR is operated alongside KTSB-CD, a UniMás affiliate licensed to Santa Maria. The stations share studio facilities on Fairway Drive in Santa Maria, near Santa Maria Public Airport. KPMR's main transmitter is located at Broadcast Peak in the Santa Ynez Mountains, between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez, allowing the station to serve a geographically dispersed coastal and inland audience. The station has also been part of the transition from analog to digital television. Its digital facilities were initially authorized on UHF channel 21, and KPMR ultimately retained channel 21 for its digital transmission while continuing to use virtual channel 38 for viewer-facing identification. The analog signal on channel 38 ended on February 17, 2009, in accordance with the original federal timetable for the U.S. digital television transition. KPMR also carries the digital signal of sister station KTSB-CD as a subchannel. KPMR's business role is that of a local broadcast outlet and network affiliate rather than a standalone national media brand. Its value derives from combining Univision's national Spanish-language schedule with local access to news and community-oriented coverage in the Central Coast market. The station remains active under Entravision ownership, although publicly available reference material does not establish a separate corporate management team, financial profile, or independently reported audience figures for KPMR.

KPMR was created to serve Santa Barbara and the surrounding Central Coast with a full-power television station on UHF channel 38. The Federal Communications Commission issued Coast TV a construction permit on May 23, 1997. During the development period, the proposed station was identified through its application record, and it adopted the KPMR call letters in February 1998. Entravision Communications acquired the station from Coast TV in a transaction completed in January 2001. After the acquisition, Entravision applied for the station's operating license and placed KPMR on the air under program-test authority as an affiliate of Univision. The FCC granted the formal license on April 12, 2002. From that point, KPMR functioned as the Santa Barbara-market Univision outlet, combining national Spanish-language programming with local broadcasting. KPMR's facilities are linked operationally with those of KTSB-CD, a UniMás affiliate licensed to Santa Maria and also owned by Entravision. The stations share studios on Fairway Drive in Santa Maria, north of Santa Maria Public Airport. KPMR's transmitter is positioned at Broadcast Peak in the Santa Ynez Mountains between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez. This arrangement supports coverage across a market that includes coastal communities as well as inland areas of the Central Coast. The station developed local news programming under the Noticias Costa Central name. Although competing stations reported in 2011 that KPMR's news department would be closed, the station continued airing local newscasts. Its local news identity was later presented as Noticias A Su Lado, with evening editions at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. The available reference material does not provide detailed staffing, ratings, or budget information for the news operation. KPMR also underwent the U.S. television industry's digital conversion. In March 2001, the FCC authorized a construction permit for companion digital facilities on channel 21 with a proposed effective radiated power of 1,000 kilowatts. After extensions and temporary reduced-power authorization, KPMR applied for and received authorization for full-power digital facilities in 2006. The station selected channel 21 as its continuing digital channel. On February 17, 2009, it ended analog transmission on channel 38, while its digital signal remained on channel 21 and used virtual channel 38. The station's most prominent reported disruption occurred on June 15, 2015, when former employee Pablo Quiroz Jr. broke into the shared KPMR and KTSB-CA facilities. The incident involved extensive property damage, including damage to computers, cars, windows, and hard drives. The vandalism was documented on Twitter during the event. No further corporate or operational consequences are established in the cited reference material. Today, KPMR remains an active Univision affiliate under Entravision ownership. Its service proposition is based on local access, Spanish-language news, and Univision's national schedule, supported by digital transmission and shared infrastructure with sister station KTSB-CD.

• 2015

  Shared station facilities vandalized

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  A former employee damaged KPMR and sister station facilities, including equipment, vehicles, windows, and storage media.

• 2009

  Analog transmission ends

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  KPMR ended analog broadcasting on channel 38 and continued digitally on channel 21 using virtual channel 38.

• 2006

  Full-power digital facilities authorized

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  KPMR applied for and received authorization for full-power digital facilities on UHF channel 21.

• 2002

  Full FCC license granted

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  The FCC granted KPMR its formal broadcast license on April 12.

• 2001

  Entravision acquires KPMR

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  Entravision Communications completed its acquisition of the station from Coast TV and began the process of licensing and operating it as a Univision affiliate.

• 1998

  KPMR call sign adopted

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  The station adopted the KPMR call letters in February.

• 1997

  FCC grants construction permit

  [1]KPMRen.wikipedia.org

  The FCC granted Coast TV permission to construct a full-power television station on channel 38 for Santa Barbara and California's Central Coast.

A local Spanish-language broadcast station combining Univision network content with news and advertising services for the Santa Barbara and wider Central Coast Hispanic and general-market audience.

• Television programming · 2001

  Univision network programming

  KPMR's core schedule consists of programming supplied by Univision, including Spanish-language entertainment, telenovelas, comedy, movies, sports, and network news or related content. This gives the station a national programming foundation while it serves the Santa Barbara and Central Coast market.

• Local news

  Noticias A Su Lado

  KPMR's local Spanish-language newscast, previously identified as Noticias Costa Central, provides evening local coverage. Reference material identifies editions at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., although detailed information about the current newsroom structure is not available.

• Broadcast distribution · 2003

  Digital broadcast service

  KPMR's digital transmission operates on UHF channel 21 while using virtual channel 38. The digital service also carries the signal of sister station KTSB-CD as a subchannel.

• 2015

  Vandalism at KPMR and KTSB facilities

  Former employee Pablo Quiroz Jr. broke into the stations' shared facilities and damaged computers, vehicles, windows, and hard drives. He also posted documentation of the vandalism on Twitter. The available source does not establish a broader corporate scandal or subsequent operational sanction.

  Source

Read more

• 2009

  Conversion from analog to digital broadcastingGeneration change

  Background

  KPMR was required to participate in the federally mandated U.S. transition from analog television to digital broadcasting.

  Action taken

  The station shut down its analog channel 38 signal on February 17, 2009, and continued broadcasting digitally on channel 21 with virtual channel 38.

  Aftermath

  KPMR became a digital-only full-power station and retained channel 38 as its viewer-facing virtual identity.

  Source

• 2001

  Entravision acquires KPMRM&A

  Background

  Coast TV had received authorization to build the station, but Entravision became the owner before KPMR received its final FCC license.

  Action taken

  Entravision completed the acquisition in January 2001 and operated KPMR as a Univision affiliate under program-test authority while pursuing formal licensing.

  Aftermath

  The transaction established KPMR as part of Entravision's Central Coast station group alongside KTSB-CD.

  Source

1. 1KPMRen.wikipedia.org
2. 2KPMR official websitekpmrtv.com