View source for KTBN-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Santa Ana, California}}
{{redirect|KTBN|text=KTBN was also the call sign of a now defunct co-owned [[KTBN (shortwave)|shortwave radio station]]}}
{{for|the airport near Waynesville, Missouri assigned the ICAO code KTBN|Waynesville-St. Robert Regional Airport}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2013}}
<!-- Please do not list any TBN repeaters in this article. The network has at least 200 to 300 of them nationwide. Furthermore, despite saying otherwise in official FCC records, they all carry programming either off the national TBN feed, or from the nearest TBN station, not KTBN, which may have some shows or messages pertinent only to Southern California viewers, and not seen nationwide on the national TBN service. -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = KTBN-TV
| city                   = Santa Ana, California
| logo                   =
| branding               = 
| digital                = 33 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 40
| affiliations           = {{ubl|'''40.1:''' [[Trinity Broadcasting Network|TBN]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| airdate                = {{Start date and age|1967|01|05|p=y}}
| location               = [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]]–[[Los Angeles]], California
| country                = United States
| callsign_meaning       = Trinity Broadcasting Network
| former_callsigns       = KLXA-TV (1967–1977)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 40 (UHF, 1967–2009)|'''Digital:''' 23 (UHF, 2004–2009)}}
| owner                  = [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]
| licensee               = Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc.
| sister_stations        = 
| subchannels            = 
| former_affiliations    = [[American English|English]]–[[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish]] [[Independent station|Independent]] (1967–1973)
| erp                    = 1,000 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|875|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id            = 67884
| coordinates            = {{coord|34|13|27|N|118|3|47.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.tbn.org/}} 
}}

'''KTBN-TV''' (channel 40) is a [[religious television station]] licensed to [[Santa Ana, California]], United States, serving the [[Los Angeles]] area as the [[flagship station]] of the locally based [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN). The station's offices are located at TBN's headquarters in nearby [[Tustin]], and its transmitter is located atop [[Mount Wilson (California)|Mount Wilson]].

==History==
Channel 40 first launched on January 5, 1967, as KLXA-TV, licensed to [[Fontana, California|Fontana]] but operating from offices and studios at 816 North Highland Avenue in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. It was Southern California's first bilingual television station. In its first months, KLXA broadcast most days from 4 to 11&nbsp;p.m., with [[American English|English]] programming made up of old [[feature film|movies]] and 1950s-era reruns of network and [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] series such as ''[[The Whirlybirds]]'', ''[[The Phil Silvers Show]]'' and ''[[Circus Boy]]'', ending with a Lyn Sherwood newscast from 8 to 8:15 p.m. Then, starting with an 8:15–8:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast from Miguel Alonso, the remainder of the schedule would be [[telenovela]]s, [[variety show]]s and sporting events (most frequently bullfighting) in [[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish]]. By 1971, the entire schedule was changed to Spanish-language programming, directly competing with [[KMEX-TV]] (channel 34).

TBN founder [[Paul Crouch]] began purchasing time in 1973 on KBSA (channel 46, now [[KFTR]]), then licensed to [[Guasti, California|Guasti]]. He wanted to buy the station, but another organization bought it from under his offer. After that station was sold, Crouch began buying two hours of programming time a day on Channel 40 in early 1974; KBSA ran Spanish language entertainment programming several hours a day, with TBN buying two hours program time in the evenings. KLXA was then put up for sale shortly after. Paul Crouch then put in a bid to buy it for $1 million and raised $100,000 for a down payment. After many struggles, the Crouches managed to raise the down payment and took over the station outright. Initially, the station ran locally produced Christian programs about six hours a day. Paul, [[Jan Crouch]], and [[Jim Bakker]] hosted the daily religious program ''[[Praise (TV program)|Praise the Lord]]''. Other programs included Christian-themed children's programs, church services from their church, bible studies, and [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] shows. Later in 1974, Jim and [[Tammy Faye Bakker]] left TBN to launch their own show in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], early in 1975, which kept the ''PTL'' initials and was called the ''[[PTL Club]]''. TBN used the full name ''Praise the Lord''. The Crouches continued to expand their religious programming to twelve hours a day by 1975, and began selling time to outside Christian organizations to supplement their local programming.

Trinity Broadcasting continued to use the KLXA call sign until November 1977, when the station officially became '''KTBN-TV'''. The station went to a 24-hour schedule by 1978. Its city of license was later relocated to Santa Ana in 1983. Today, as is the case with TBN's other [[owned-and-operated station]]s, KTBN repeats the national TBN feed for almost the entire day. It only breaks off for Southern California–specific public affairs programs. Even when TBN bought other Christian stations (such as [[WHFT-TV]] in [[Miami]], among others), the network ended local operations at those stations and replaced their programming with TBN's national feed.

Today, KTBN-TV serves the entire [[Los Angeles metropolitan area]] with a full-power signal. The station originally had a network of [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]] [[Broadcast relay station#Broadcast translators|translators]] carrying the signal to other areas in Southern California; however, during 2010, these translators went dark due to declining support, which has been attributed to the [[Digital television transition in the United States|digital transition]], and likely universal carriage of the network by the cable and satellite providers in the region. With the station being available on cable providers throughout Southern California, KTBN is not carried among the Los Angeles market stations available on either [[Dish Network]] or [[DirecTV]] at TBN's request; the national feed is carried in its place instead, but TBN's subchannel sister networks are not available.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
{{TBN DTV|40}}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
KTBN's digital signal, which went on the air in 2004, originally broadcast on channel 23. TBN's request to change the station's digital channel to ([[UHF]]) channel 33 was approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) on February 5, 2009. This in effect changed the digital allotment for Santa Ana to channel 33.<ref>[http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-187A1.pdf=1 FCC approval to move to digital channel 33]</ref> This decision ultimately displaced low-power station [[KSMV-LD|KSMV-LP]], which soon converted to digital on channel 23. Queries to the FCC database on KTBN indicated that the station had a construction permit for digital UHF channel 33, which the station used as its final post-transition digital allotment.

===Former translators===
KTBN's over-the-air translators '''K15DB''' in [[Lompoc]], '''K21FP''' in [[Bakersfield]], '''K26GN''' in [[Lancaster, California|Lancaster]], '''KVVB-LP''' (channel 33) in [[Victorville]], and '''K40ID''' in [[Palm Springs]] ceased operations as of 2012.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.tbn.org/}}

{{LA TV}}
{{California Religious Stations}}
{{TBN}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ktbn-Tv}}
[[Category:1967 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Mass media in Orange County, California]]
[[Category:Merit TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1967]]
[[Category:Television stations in Los Angeles|TBN-TV]]
[[Category:Trinity Broadcasting Network stations]]