KNCT is the CW member station serving the eastern half of Central Texas, including Temple, Killeen, and Waco, TX. The station is licensed to Belton, TX, and is owned by Central Texas College in Killeen.
History[]
When KNCT originally signed on the air, it was the only PBS station in the area; however, the signal generally only reached the south side of the market due to the transmitter's location, so to remedy this, a low-powered translator was set up in Waco in 1978 on channel 34. Later on this translator would be upgraded to full-power and would become its own station, KCTF, eventually having ownership taken over by Baylor University and becoming KWBU. When KWBU fell off the air due to funding problems, however, KNCT once again became the single PBS station for the area. The station was never turned back into a low-powered translator.
In the early years of its broadcasting, KNCT only operated on a limited schedule from 2-10PM on weekdays. Now, like most PBS member stations, it operates 24 hours every day.
On June 22, the board voted to shut down the station at midnight on August 31, 2018.
On August 28, 2018, it was reported that the Central Texas College Board of Trustees had voted to assign KNCT's broadcast license to Gray Television, which would create a duopoly with KWTX-TV. This was possible because KNCT broadcasts on a channel not reserved for non-commercial broadcasting. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 12, and it was completed on December 17.
When KNCT went dark three days later, KAMU became the sole PBS member station in the Waco–Temple–Bryan market. Most cable systems on the western side of the market replaced KNCT with Austin's KLRU.
On December 31, 2018, Gray filed an application to move KNCT's transmitter to KWTX's tower outside Moody, Texas. Two days later, on January 2, 2019, Gray Television formally assumed operations of KNCT and transferred the group's local affiliation rights for The CW Plus – which had been held by KWTX-DT2 since The CW launched in September 2006 – to the station's main channel.
TV stations in Texas |
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KIAH, Houston KNVA, Austin |
TV Stations in the Central Texas area | |
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Waco/Killeen/Temple | Bryan/College Station |
KCEN 6 (NBC) | KBTX 3 (CBS) |
KWTX 10 (CBS) | KAMU 12 (PBS) |
KXXV 25 (ABC) | KSCM 18 (TMD) |
KPLE 31 (TBN) | KAGS-LD 23 (NBC) |
KWKT 44 (FOX) | KYLE 28 (MNTV) |
KNCT 46 (CW) | KZCZ 34 (Bounce) |
KAXW 51 (AZTECA) | KRHD-CD 40 (ABC) |
KAKW 62 (UNI) | K47ED 47 (TBN) |
Defunct stations | |
KWBU/KDYW 34 (PBS) | |
KWKO 38 (IND) |