View source for KNAT-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico}}
{{Redirect|KNAT|the small insect|Gnat}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = KNAT-TV
| city                   = Albuquerque, New Mexico
| logo                   =
| branding               = 
| analog                 = 
| digital                = 24 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 23
| subchannels            = 
| translators            = 
| affiliations           = {{TBN DTV/text|23}}
| network                = 
| country                = United States
| founded                = 
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1975|8|10|p=y}}
| last_airdate           = 
| location               = [[Albuquerque]]–[[Santa Fe, New Mexico]]
| callsign_meaning       = 
| former_callsigns       = {{ubl|KMXN-TV (1975–1980)|KLKK-TV (1980–1982)}}
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:''' 23 (UHF, 1975–2009)
| owner                  = [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]
| licensee               = Trinity Broadcasting of Texas, Inc.
| sister_stations        = 
| former_affiliations    = {{ubl|[[Univision|SIN]] (1975–1978)|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1978–1985)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (May 1985–December 1985)}}
| erp                    = 320 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|1245|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class                  = 
| facility_id            = 993
| coordinates            = {{coord|35|12|54|N|106|27|4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.tbn.org/}} 
}}
'''KNAT-TV''' (channel 23) is a [[religious television station]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], United States, [[owned and operated]] by the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN). The station's transmitter is located on [[Sandia Mountains|Sandia Crest]].

KNAT-TV formerly operated from a studio located on Coors Boulevard in northwestern Albuquerque. That facility was one of several closed by TBN in 2019 following the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC)'s abolition of the "Main Studio Rule", which required full-service television stations like KNAT-TV to maintain facilities in or near their communities of license.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://charismamag.com/blogs/the-strang-report/how-trump-s-new-regulation-cuts-will-save-tbn-20-million-a-year-for-gospel-purposes/|work=[[Charisma (magazine)|Charisma]]|first=Steve|last=Strang|date=July 15, 2019|title=How Trump's New Regulation Cuts Will Save TBN $20 Million a Year for Gospel Purposes|access-date=March 8, 2023|archive-date=August 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812185214/https://charismamag.com/blogs/the-strang-report/how-trump-s-new-regulation-cuts-will-save-tbn-20-million-a-year-for-gospel-purposes/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
===KMXN-TV===
Channel 23 began broadcasting as KMXN-TV on August 10, 1975.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572206/new-spanish-tv-station-to-start-aug-10/|access-date=December 21, 2020|page=B-11|work=Albuquerque Journal|date=July 17, 1975|title=New Spanish TV Station to Start Aug. 10}}</ref> It was owned by Spanish Television of New Mexico, headed by state senator [[Odis Echols]], and affiliated with the [[Spanish International Network]], broadcasting from a transmitter atop the [[Compass Bank Building (Albuquerque)|Western Bank Building]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572218/spanish-language-tv-in-operation/|title=Spanish Language TV in Operation|work=Albuquerque Journal|date=August 19, 1975|page=A-6|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref>

Problems emerged with the station's management more than a year after it began operations. At the start of 1977, Herbert Taylor, a former officer of Spanish Television of New Mexico, sued Echols, fellow state senator C. B. Trujillo of [[Taos, New Mexico|Taos]], and John Aragon, stockholder and president of [[New Mexico Highlands University]], alleging that the three were using KMXN-TV to provide advertising kickbacks and for other political purposes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572225/|page=1|work=Las Vegas Optic|date=January 11, 1977|title=KMXN TV managers facing suit for fraud|agency=Associated Press|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> The First National Bank sued the station in December 1977, claiming it had defaulted on a $67,500 loan made in March 1976; by that time, Echols had stepped down.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572287/kmxn-tv-sued-by-city-bank/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=December 30, 1977|title=KMXN-TV Sued By City Bank|work=Albuquerque Journal|page=A-9}} (See [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572294/story-incorrectly-identified-echols/ correction], December 31, 1977)</ref>

Channel 23 also began to branch out beyond Spanish-language shows. When [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[KOAT-TV]] (channel 7) decided not to air ''[[Monday Night Baseball]]'', KMXN-TV stepped in to carry it instead;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572318/kmxn-to-air-games/|access-date=December 21, 2020|title=KMXN To Air Games|date=April 15, 1978|page=C-1|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref> the station then added high school football games.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572348/channel-23-to-air-prep-games/|access-date=December 21, 2020|title=Channel 23 To Air Prep Games|page=C-5|date=August 2, 1978|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref>

===KLKK-TV===
In 1978, Eddie Peña began buying out the partners of Spanish Television of New Mexico.<ref name="glazer">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65792365/|first=Will|last=Hoffman|date=January 12, 1982|work=Albuquerque Journal|title=KLKK-TV Being Sold For About $7 Million|page=A-13|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> Peña was granted a construction permit the next year to move the transmitter from downtown to [[Sandia Crest]], the main tower site for the Albuquerque area.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=85144 |title= History Cards for KNAT-TV|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards|Guide to reading History Cards]])<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}--></ref>

Peña also prepared a total relaunch of channel 23's programming. The station shifted to an English-language independent—New Mexico's first—on May 19, 1980, and took on the call letters KLKK-TV.<ref name="blossoms">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572426/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=May 9, 1980|title=Independent Station Blossoms|first=Will|last=Hoffman|work=Albuquerque Journal|pages=H-2, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572436/independent-station-klkk/ H-3]}}</ref> As part of the changes, channel 23 disaffiliated from SIN, which Peña blamed for providing Latin American programming that was not well received in the Albuquerque market. Local productions included pre-existing shows from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that had aired on KMXN-TV, as well as ''Pueblo Speaks'', focusing on [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] issues, and a live call-in show.{{r|blossoms}} SIN would not be gone from Albuquerque for long, as a translator carrying the network began broadcasting in August.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572456/|access-date=December 21, 2020|first=Will|last=Hoffman|page=A-2|work=Albuquerque Journal|title=New TV Station To Begin Broadcasting in City|date=July 25, 1980}}</ref>

Not long after the relaunch, Peña began seeking buyers. Rumors circulated as early as the spring of 1981 that channel 23 would be sold. When fired general manager Milt Ledet sued the station for breach of contract at year's end, he revealed that a sale was near, and that he was entitled to two percent of the proceeds.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572587/fired-manager-sues-klkk-tv-owner/|title=Fired Manager Sues KLKK-TV, Owner|date=December 22, 1981|work=Albuquerque Journal|page=A-15|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> While a $7 million purchase by [[Malcolm Glazer]] was reported,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572408/klkk-tv-being-sold-for-about-7-million/|title=KLKK-TV Being Sold For About $7 Million|page=A-13
|first=Will|last=Hoffman|work=Albuquerque Journal|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=January 12, 1982}}</ref> it was another buyer that would win out in April: Carson Communications Corporation. A star-studded consortium headed by [[Johnny Carson]] and with [[Neil Simon]], [[David Letterman]], [[Joan Rivers]] and [[Paul Anka]] as other investors, Carson Communications acquired the station and its programming contracts for a total of $3.6 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-05-10.pdf|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=May 10, 1982|work=Broadcasting|page=129|title=In Brief}}</ref>

===KNAT===
After a brief period of silence during the transition,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63572656/change-in-ownership-darkens-channel-23/|access-date=December 21, 2020|title=Change in Ownership Darkens Channel 23|page=A-11|work=Albuquerque Journal|date=August 4, 1982}}</ref> channel 23 emerged under Carson ownership as KNAT on August 8, 1982. The station made an early and aggressive push to court advertisers. Carson hosted some at a gala event in Las Vegas, where his company also owned VHF independent [[KVVU-TV]], while the entertainer also briefly appeared in promotional advertisements. That stopped when the general manager of Albuquerque's [[NBC]] affiliate, [[Hubbard Broadcasting]]-owned [[KOB-TV]] (channel 4), complained to the network;<ref name="crook">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794385/|access-date=December 21, 2020|work=Los Angeles Times|first=David|last=Crook|title=Johnny Carson's Belly-Up KNAT: More to Come?|page=Calendar 6|date=July 28, 1985}}</ref> to make amends, Carson cut several promotions for ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]'' and KOB-TV's late newscasts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794548/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=April 13, 1983|work=Albuquerque Journal|first=Elizabeth|last=Staley|title=Owner Carson, Host Carson To Compete|page=A-13}}</ref>

When Peña had flipped KMXN-TV to KLKK-TV in 1980, it was the first independent television station in the Albuquerque market. A year later, competition emerged when [[KGSW-TV]] (channel 14) signed on; a year after Carson took over, the two independents were tied at the bottom of the market ratings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794620/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=August 30, 1983|first=Tom|last=Jacobs|title=TV Rating Services Differ on Who's Gaining|page=A-11|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref> After KNAT relaunched, two more independent stations licensed to Santa Fe piled into a crowded market: KNMZ-TV (channel 2)–which later merged with KGSW to become [[KASA-TV]]–and [[KCHF]] (channel 11), a religious station. As advertising revenues doubled, program costs increased sixfold due to competition between the independent stations.{{r|crook}}

On April 25, 1985, it was announced that KNAT would go dark on April 27, though it said two buyers were in the process of scouting out the station. The ownership group had changed its name from Carson Communications Corporation to Albuquerque Broadcasting Corporation, removing any mention of the host, after selling KVVU-TV the year prior. General manager Dave Cavileer cited the failure of ownership to market the station and said that "what they paid for programming broke their backs".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794801/|page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794851/ A3]|work=Albuquerque Journal|first=Rick|last=Nathanson|title=TV-23 Going Off Air on Saturday|date=April 25, 1985|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> Competing station executives claimed that, unwilling to provoke Carson's ire, syndicators let the station slide for months without paying fees to purchase programming.{{r|crook}} Channel 23 ended up on the air several more days while sale talks continued—airing music videos, as most of the other programming had already been returned<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794930/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=April 27, 1985|first=Rick|last=Nathanson|work=Albuquerque Journal|title=TV-23 Remains on Air During Sale Discussions|page=A14}}</ref>—however, the station went off the air at midnight on May 1.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794973/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=May 1, 1985|page=B6|title=Channel 23 Goes Off Air; Owners Negotiating Sale|first=Rick|last=Nathanson|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref>

It was more than six months after the station went dark that a buyer finally emerged for channel 23: the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which purchased KNAT for $2.25 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-11-04.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=November 4, 1985|title=Changing Hands|page=68|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> The station returned to the air with TBN programming on December 17, 1985.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65795216/|access-date=December 21, 2020|date=December 17, 1985|title=Channel 23 Returns to the Airwaves|page=B1|first=Rick|last=Nathanson|work=Albuquerque Journal}}</ref>

Four years later, in December 1989, TBN sold KNAT to All American TV (not to be confused with [[All American Television|an unrelated television syndication company of a similar name]]), a minority-owned firm which owned several other stations that were TBN affiliates.<ref>{{cite news|title=For the record–Ownership changes|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/89-OCR/BC-1989-12-04-OCR-Page-0112.pdf|access-date=April 29, 2023|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=December 4, 1989|page=112}}</ref> TBN sold KNAT in order to allow the ministry to acquire a station in a market larger than Albuquerque and remain at the FCC's then limit of 12 stations per group owner. TBN reacquired KNAT with its purchase of All American TV in March 2000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Changing Hands|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/00-OCR/BC-2000-03-27-OCR-Page-0106.pdf|access-date=April 29, 2023|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=March 27, 2000|page=74}}</ref>

==Subchannels==
{{TBN DTV|23}}

KNAT-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 23, on that date. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 24,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |format=PDF |access-date=March 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref> using [[virtual channel]] 23.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.tbn.org/ Official website]

{{TBN|state=collapsed}}
{{Albuquerque TV}}
{{New Mexico English TV}}
{{Arizona English TV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knat-Tv}}
[[Category:1975 establishments in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Mass media in Albuquerque, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Merit TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1975]]
[[Category:Television stations in New Mexico|NAT-TV]]
[[Category:Trinity Broadcasting Network stations]]