View source for KDFX-CD

{{Short description|Television station in Indio–Palm Springs, California}}
{{About|Fox 11 in the Inland Empire/Coachella Valley|other uses|Fox 11 (disambiguation){{!}}Fox 11}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = KDFX-CD
| city                   =
| logo                   = File:KDFX Fox 11 2016.webp
| logo_size              = 225px
| branding               = Fox 11 (cable channel)
| analog                 = 
| digital                = 33 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 33
| translators            = [[KESQ-TV]] 33.2 Palm Springs
| subchannels            = 
| affiliations           = [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1990|3|2|p=y}}
| location               = [[Indio, California|Indio]]–[[Palm Springs, California]]
| country                = United States
| callsign_meaning       = Desert Fox
| owner                  = [[News-Press & Gazette Company]]
| licensee               = Gulf-California Broadcast Company
| sister_stations        = [[KESQ-TV]], [[KPSP-CD]], [[KCWQ-LD]], [[KUNA-LD]], [[KYAV-LD]], [[KUNA-FM]]
| former_affiliations    = [[CBS]] (via [[KECY-TV]], 1990–1994)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 40 (UHF, 1990–1997), 33 (UHF, 1997–2015)|'''Digital:''' 39 (UHF, until 2019)}}
| former_callsigns       = {{ubl|K40DB (1990–1997)|KDFX-LP (1997–2003)|KDFX-CA (2003–2015)}}
| erp                    = 15 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|196.9|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id            = 51207
| class                  = [[Class A television service|CD]]
| coordinates            = {{coord|33|51|58.1|N|116|26|5|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.kesq.com/}} 
}}

'''KDFX-CD''' (channel 33) is a [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]], [[Class A television station]] licensed to both [[Indio, California|Indio]] and [[Palm Springs, California]], United States, serving as the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate for the [[Coachella Valley]]. It is owned by the [[News-Press & Gazette Company]] alongside [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[KESQ-TV]] (channel 42) and four other low-power stations: Class A [[CBS]] affiliate [[KPSP-CD]] (channel 38), [[The CW|CW]] affiliate [[KCWQ-LD]] (channel 2), [[Telemundo]] affiliate [[KUNA-LD]] (channel 15), and [[independent station]] [[KYAV-LD]] (channel 12). The six stations share studios on Dunham Way in [[Thousand Palms]]; KDFX-CD's transmitter is located on Edom Hill northeast of Cathedral City and [[Interstate 10 in California|I-10]].

Along with other major Coachella Valley television stations, KDFX identifies itself on-air using its [[Cable television|cable]] designation ('''Fox 11''') rather than its over-the-air channel position. The unusual practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable [[Market penetration|penetration]] rate of 80.5% which is one of the highest in the United States.

In addition to its own digital signal, KDFX is [[simulcast]] in [[standard definition]] on KESQ's fourth [[digital subchannel]] (virtual channel 33.2) from the same Edom Hill transmitter facility.

==History==
The station signed on March 2, 1990, as K40DB, a [[broadcast relay station|translator]] of CBS affiliate [[KECY-TV]] in [[El Centro]] and  began identifying as "KDBA-TV".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84664770/cbs-tv-affiliate-now-broadcasting-kecy/|accessdate=September 3, 2021|date=March 6, 1990|title=CBS-TV affiliate now broadcasting|page=A3|work=The Desert Sun}}</ref> The station was added on cable television on November 1, 1992. Along with its parent outlet, the station switched to Fox in September 1994, becoming the first CBS affiliate in the United States to join the so-called "[[fourth network]]" outside of the network's [[Fox affiliate switches of 1994|1994 affiliation agreement]] with [[New World Communications]]. In fact, one reason owner Judge [[Robinson O. Everett]] of [[Wilmington, North Carolina]] signed with Fox was because Fox was willing to give Everett the primary Palm Springs affiliation, whereas CBS felt that [[KCBS-TV]] had sufficient penetration in the area and was demanding that the company's CBS affiliates resume producing local news.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1994/BC-1994-04-18.pdf#page=18|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=April 18, 1994|page=16|title=Fox's latest four add up to 96%|first=Steve|last=McClellan|accessdate=September 2, 2021}}</ref> Prior to this switch, KECY aired some Fox programming,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84665069/kecy-tv-programs-are-actually-ahead-of-t/|first=Bill|last=Mundell|date=August 14, 1991|title=KECY-TV programs are actually ahead of time|page=A10|work=The Desert Sun|accessdate=September 3, 2021}}</ref> and cable viewers received [[KTTV]] from Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84665374/desert-hot-springs-forum-airs-on-tv-toda/|accessdate=September 3, 2021|date=October 22, 1994|title=Desert Hot Springs forum airs on TV today|page=A3|work=The Desert Sun}}</ref>

In 1997, Pacific Media Corporation (which was principally controlled by Robinson O. Everett) entered into a [[local management agreement]] (LMA) with a subsidiary of [[Beverly Hills, California]]–based Lambert Broadcasting, LLC. That company split the translator off and relaunched it as a separate Fox affiliate serving the Coachella Valley. On August 23 of that year, the station moved to UHF channel 33 and adopted KDFX-LP as its [[call signs in North America|call sign]]. The LMA and options to purchase the two stations were sold a year later to the News-Press Gazette Company of [[St. Joseph, Missouri]], bringing KDFX under common control with KESQ-TV.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84666403/tv-group-reaches-out-to-control-competit/|accessdate=September 3, 2021|work=The Desert Sun|date=May 5, 1998|title=TV group reaches out to control competition|first=John|last=Hussar|page=E1}}</ref> Lambert invested heavily in the station and upgraded it to Class A status on April 7, 2003, as KDFX-CA. In November 2007, NPG filed to buy the stations for $2 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/deals-84003|title=Deals|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=November 23, 2007|accessdate=September 3, 2021}}</ref> The station was licensed for digital operation on March 18, 2015, taking on the call sign KDFX-CD.

==Newscasts==
{{main|KESQ-TV#News operation}}
KDFX airs a two-hour morning newscast (7–9 a.m.) and 6:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts from KESQ-TV.

==Subchannels==
The station's signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of KDFX-CD<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KDFX#station|title = RabbitEars TV Query for KDFX|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=February 16, 2025}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming 
|-
! scope = "row" | 33.1 
| rowspan=2| [[720p]] || rowspan="3"| [[16:9]] || KDFX-LD || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
|-
! scope = "row" | [[KCWQ-LD|33.2]] 
| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|KCWQ-LD || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[The CW Plus]] ([[KCWQ-LD]])
|-
! scope = "row" | 33.3 
| [[480i]] || DDFX || [[Dabl]]
|}
{{legend|#E6FFF7|Simulcast of subchannels of another station}}

==See also==
*[[Channel 11 branded TV stations in the United States]]
*[[Channel 33 low-power TV stations in the United States]]
*[[Channel 33 digital TV stations in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.kesq.com KESQ-TV "NewsChannel 3 HD"]
*[http://yourcwtv.com/partners/palmsprings KCWQ-LP/LD "Palm Springs CW 5"]
*[https://www.kesq.com/kunamundo/index.html KUNA-LD "Telemundo 15"]

{{Coachella Valley TV}}
{{Fox California}}
{{NPG}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kdfx-Cd}}
[[Category:1990 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Indio, California]]
[[Category:Low-power television stations in California|DFX]]
[[Category:News-Press & Gazette Company]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1990]]
[[Category:Television stations in the Coachella Valley|DFX-CD]]