KSCI
CityLong Beach, California
Channels
BrandingLA 18
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
June 30, 1977 (1977-06-30) (in San Bernardino, California; license moved to Long Beach in 1998)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 18 (UHF, 1977–2009)
  • Digital: 61 (UHF, until 2009)
Call sign meaning
"Science of Creative Intelligence"
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35608
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT892 m (2,927 ft)
Transmitter coordinates34°13′25.78″N 118°3′47.91″W / 34.2238278°N 118.0633083°W / 34.2238278; -118.0633083
Links
Public license information

KSCI (channel 18) is a television station licensed to Long Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. Owned by WRNN-TV Associates, the station airs programming from Shop LC. KSCI's studios are located on South Bundy Drive in West Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Harvard. KSCI served as a multicultural independent station until June 2021.

History

1970s

The channel 18 allocation in Los Angeles was previously occupied by KCHU-TV, which was licensed to San Bernardino and signed on the air on August 1, 1962, before it went off the air in June 1964. The station was owned by the San Bernardino Sun-Telegram. KSCI signed on the air on June 30, 1977,[3] operating from studios in West Los Angeles, although still licensed in San Bernardino.[4] It became a non-profit owned by the Transcendental Meditation movement (the call letters stood for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's theoretical "Science of Creative Intelligence"). The station broadcast news stories, prerecorded lectures and variety shows with TM celebrities.[3] KSCI's goal was to report "only good news"; sister stations were planned for San Francisco and Washington, D.C.[5][6] The station manager was Mark Fleischer, son of Hollywood director Richard Fleischer.[5]

1980s

In 1980, KSCI switched to a for-profit operation and earned $1 million on revenues of $8 million in 1985.[7] In November 1985, the station loaned $350,000 to Maharishi International University in Iowa.[8] By June 1986, the station's content began to consist of "a hodgepodge of programming" in 14 languages.[4][9] They had dubbed themselves the "international station" and claimed to offer the most diverse ethnic television programming in the early 1980s.[10] Almost all Iranian American television programs in the early 1980s were on KSCI.[10]

In October 1986, the station was purchased by its general manager and an investor for $40.5 million.[11]

1990s

In 1990, the station was sold to Intercontinental Television Group Inc., with programming being produced by Wahid Boctor of Arab American Television.[12][13] In 1998, KSCI transferred its city of license from San Bernardino to Long Beach. In 2000, a Korean newspaper, The Hankook Ilbo, took over the International Media Group (IMG), which operated KSCI. IMG was re-launched as the AsianMedia Group, Inc., who purchased the station.[14]

2000s

By 2005, the station was broadcasting seven English-language and three Spanish-language newscasts plus "local news programs in Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean" to 2.5 million Asian-American viewers in Southern California.[15] In early 2005, KSCI changed its on-air branding to "LA18."

In October 2008, KSCI broadcast the Presidential debate along with translation in Mandarin and offered political analysis by their news staff. The broadcast was one of several that covered election events in Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Filipino languages.[16]

2010s

On January 9, 2012, KSCI, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.[17] On August 11, 2012, KSCI was purchased by NRJ TV LLC, a company which has acquired smaller television stations in various U.S. cities for the possibility of placing their spectrum for auction once the Federal Communications Commission rolls out a voluntary spectrum auction for use for non-broadcast purposes in 2014.[18]

On June 22, 2017, KSCI announced that they had canceled all of its programming in Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, and Armenian and replaced it with English-language infomercials beginning July 1. The subchannels of the station continued to air its programs in Chinese and Armenian, but as a result of the station's programming cutbacks, KSCI also announced they reduced its Korean programming from 8 to 11 p.m. and would cut its subchannels list from 12 to 5 the following year.[19]

On September 12, 2017, KSCI's parent company NRJ TV LLC announced that they would sell its Poway translator station, KUAN-LD, to the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations group (owners of KNBC/KVEA and KNSD), for $650,000; the sale was completed on December 21, 2017.[20]

Sale to RNN

On December 9, 2019, it was announced that WRNN-TV Associates, owner of New York City–based WRNN-TV, secured a deal to purchase seven full-power TV stations (including KSCI) and one Class A station from NRJ.[1] The sale was approved by the FCC on January 23,[21] and was completed on February 4, 2020.[22]

From February 1 until February 4, 2020, WRNN-TV Associates operated KSCI under a short-term local marketing agreement (LMA) while it awaited full consummation of its purchase. KSCI began airing WRNN-TV's independent network RNN on its primary channel. RNN's schedule consists primarily of infomercials, with occasional religious, E/I, and news/talk programs.[23]

On May 30, 2021, it was announced that KSCI (along with its sister stations owned by WRNN-TV Associates) would become an affiliate of the ShopHQ 24/7 channel on June 28, 2021.[24]

iMedia Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 28, 2023.[25] On July 10, 2023, iMedia announced that it would sell its assets, including ShopHQ, to RNN Media Group for $50 million;.[26] the deal was terminated in August in favor of a $55 million bid for ShopHQ by IV Brands, owned by Manoj Bhargava.[27] In October 2023, KSCI switched to Shop LC.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KSCI[28]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
18.1 720p16:9LA18Shop LC
18.2 480iSBSSBS (Korean)
18.3 MBCDMBC-D (Korean)
18.4 YTVYonhap News TV (Korean News)

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSCI shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[29] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 61, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its former analog-era UHF channel 18.

References

  1. 1 2 "RNN Reaches Agreement to Increase Permanent Distribution Platform to 28 Percent of the US With NRJ Purchase". Globe Newswire. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KSCI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. 1 2 "Behavior: THE TM CRAZE: 40 Minutes to Bliss". Time. October 13, 1975. Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  4. 1 2 HOLLEY, DAVID (June 15, 1986). "Eclectic TV KSCI's Programming in 14 Languages Offers News, Entertainment, Comfort to Ethnic Communities". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  5. 1 2 William, Jefferson (1976) Pocket Books, The Story Of The Maharishi, page 118
  6. ↑ "The TM Craze". Time. October 13, 1975. Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  7. ↑ Stevens, Gus (July 11, 1986). "Few languages are foreign at San Bernardino's KSCI". The Tribune. San Diego, Calif. p. C.21.
  8. ↑ "Maharishi U. Nets $6.3 Million In Gifts in '84". Omaha World - Herald. Omaha, Neb. November 4, 1985. p. 1."Private support also came in the form of a $350,000 loan from independent UHF station KSCI in San Bernardino, Calif., which is owned by a TM organization."
  9. ↑ "Eclectic TV : KSCI's Programming in 14 Languages Offers News, Entertainment, Comfort to Ethnic Communities". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 1986. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Naficy, Hamid (1993). "From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: Middle Eastern Diaspora in Los Angeles". Middle East Report (180): 31–34. doi:10.2307/3013230. ISSN 0899-2851. JSTOR 3013230 – via JSTOR.
  11. ↑ VALLE, VICTOR (October 29, 1986). "KSCI TO CANCEL ITS SPANISH PROGRAMMING;". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  12. ↑ Haugsted, Linda (April 23, 1990) New basic set to launch. (Intercontinental Television Group Inc. to offer news and entertainment programming from Los Angeles cable station), Multichannel News
  13. ↑ Haugsted, Linda (July 9, 1990) International Channel officially launches with 300,000 subs, Multichannel News
  14. ↑ (October 12, 2000) Hankook Ilbo Buys KSCI-TV in US, Korea Times (Seoul, Korea)
  15. ↑ Romano, Allison (October 10, 2005) Asian-American market is ready.(KSCI Holding Inc.) Broadcasting & Cable
  16. ↑ (October 16, 2008) Los Angeles TV Station to Broadcast October 7 Presidential Debate Live in Chinese, Politics & Government Week
  17. ↑ "KSCI, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  18. ↑ "NRJ TV To Acquire Asian-Language KSCI". TVNewsCheck.com. March 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  19. ↑ "LA18 To Replace Local Asian TV Programs With English Infomercials". CBS Los Angeles. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Station Trading Roundup: 2 Deals, $660,000". TVNewsCheck. September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Application Search Details".
  22. ↑ Consummation Notice
  23. ↑ "WRNN-Tv | RNN".
  24. ↑ "KIKU Television Will Stop Airing Japanese Content in June". May 30, 2021.
  25. ↑ "iMedia Brands Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Delaware". Bloomberg Law. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  26. ↑ Gilyard, Burl; Kennedy, Patrick. "iMedia Brands to be sold for $50 million out of bankruptcy". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  27. ↑ Kennedy, Patrick; Gilyard, Burl (August 14, 2023). "iMedia's $50M sale is canceled; founder of 5-Hour Energy emerges as new buyer". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  28. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KSCI
  29. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
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