please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message knsd san diego california united states branding nbc 7 san diego general ; cable channel nbc 7 news newscasts slogan coverage you count on channels digital 40 uhf virtual 39 psip affiliations .1 nbc o & o .2 cozi tv owner nbcuniversal station venture operations l.p. first air date november 14 1965 ; 50 years ago 1965 11 14 call letters meaning nbc san diego former callsigns kaar 1965 1968 kcst tv 1968 1988 former channel number s analog 39 uhf 1965 2009 former affiliations independent 1965 1973 abc 1973 1977 transmitter power 370 kw height 566 m 1 857 ft facility id 35277 transmitter coordinates 32 41 48 n 116 56 6 w 32.69667 n 116.93500 w 32.69667 ; 116.93500 coordinates 32 41 48 n 116 56 6 w 32.69667 n 116.93500 w 32.69667 ; 116.93500 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.nbcsandiego.com knsd virtual channel 39 uhf digital channel 40 is an nbc owned and operated television station located in san diego california united states . the station is owned by the nbcuniversal owned television stations subsidiary of nbcuniversal . knsd maintains office and studio facilities located at granite ridge drive in kearny mesa and its transmitter is located southeast of spring valley . the station s on air branding nbc 7 san diego is derived from knsd s cable channel position in the market on time warner cable cox communications and at & t u verse . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 switch to nbc 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable current on air staff 4.2 notable former on air staff 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit early history edit the station first signed on the air on november 14 1965 as kaar . it was the first television station in the san diego market to operate on the uhf band and was the market s first independent station . the station originally operated from a building that was once occupied by the national pen company located in the neighborhood of kearny mesa 10 miles 16 km northeast of downtown san diego . the station signed off on june 12 1967 ; channel 39 was then sold to western telecasters inc. controlled by the texas based bass family 1 and returned to the air on february 2 1968 as kcst standing for california san diego television . for a four year period from the late 1960s to the early 1970s western telecasters tried to take the abc affiliation from xetv channel 6 a station licensed across the mexican border in tijuana but which broadcast exclusively in english with a studio facility based in san diego . xetv had been san diego s abc affiliate since 1956 under a special arrangement between the federal communications commission and mexican authorities subject to renewal by the commission every year . upon the fcc granting its annual renewal to abc xetv in late 1968 western telecasters countered claiming that the presence of kcst made it no longer necessary for an american television network to affiliate with a mexican television station . 2 3 in may 1972 the fcc revoked xetv s permission to carry abc programming . 4 as the only other commercial station in the market other than cbs affiliate kfmb tv channel 8 and then nbc affiliate kgtv channel 10 kcst took over the abc affiliation in two stages daytime programming moved to channel 39 in june 1973 followed by primetime programs and all other shows including children s programs network newscasts and sports by july 1 1973 . 5 four months earlier in march western telecasters agreed to sell kcst to storer broadcasting which owned major network affiliates in the eastern and midwestern united states . 6 the sale was completed on september 30 1974 ; shortly afterwards storer added a tv suffix to the kcst callsign . the switch and sale changed channel 39 s fortunes transforming the low rated independent into a major player in the market . riding on the heels of abc s ascent to first place nationally during the 1975 76 season kcst also out rated its network affiliated rivals locally . 7 xetv meanwhile operated as an independent station until october 1986 when it became a charter affiliate of the fox broadcasting company . switch to nbc edit knsd s logo as nbc 7 39 variations of which were used from january 1 1997 to august 9 2010 . on june 27 1977 in the wake of its new success as the highest rated television network in america abc moved its san diego affiliation from kcst to kgtv causing an affiliation swap that ended with kcst taking the nbc affiliation formerly held by kgtv . 8 9 in 1985 the storer stations were acquired by kohlberg kravis roberts & co. . two years later kcst and the other storer stations were sold to gillett communications former storer flagship wtvg in toledo ohio was the only station left out of the sale and was instead sold to a local employee investor group . on september 16 1988 the station changed its call letters to knsd and adopted the on air brand channel 7 39 in respective reference to its cable and over the air channel positions . 10 gillett was restructured into sci tv in 1991 after gillett defaulted on some of his bond purchases . after sci filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992 the company s stations were sold in a group deal to new world communications . knsd s logo as nbc san diego used august 9 2010 to june 2011 . a modified version reflecting the nbc 7 san diego branding was then used until july 11 2012 ; during this time the station s website continued to use this logo . new world subsequently entered into a deal with news corporation that would result in most of new world s television stations which were primarily cbs affiliates along with a few abc and nbc stations switching from their big three network affiliations to join fox causing the network s affiliations in the affected markets relocating from uhf to vhf stations . however knsd retained its nbc affiliation since fox s san diego affiliation was already on the vhf band through xetv . new world sold knsd and wvtm tv in birmingham alabama to nbc in may 1996 ; the sale was finalized that august . following the sale s closure in january 1997 knsd modified its on air branding to nbc 7 39 . in october 1997 nbc sold a 24 % ownership interest in knsd to lin television ; in exchange nbc acquired majority control 76 % of its dallas fort worth affiliate kxas tv from lin . the deal closed on march 2 1998 marking the official launch of the new nbc lin joint venture known as station venture operations lp which was controlled by nbc . 11 under the traditional definition knsd is the only owned and operated station of a major network in the san diego market however several stations owned by grupo televisa on the mexico side of the market are o & os of that company s various networks . the station blamed its woes on its uhf status in the past but as viewers migrated to cable television san diego has one of the highest cable penetration rates in the united states 12 along with the fact that most of the market s uhf stations brand by their cable channel placements or call letters rather than by their physical channel along with vhf analog stations operating their post transition digital signals on the uhf band the issues with its position on the uhf dial have been reduced . knsd had formerly owned low power station knsd lp channel 62 which was leased to entravision communications to expand the coverage area of univision affiliate ktcd ca channel 17 now kbnt cd . in the spring of 2001 knsd moved its operations into the nbc building a high rise office building in downtown san diego that was redeveloped to serve as its studio and office facilities which includes a glass enclosed street level news studio resembling that of the streetside studio at rockefeller center in new york city used by nbc s today . in february 2013 lin media withdrew itself from the station venture operations joint venture as part of a corporate reorganization . as a result nbc regained full ownership in knsd and gained full ownership of kxas . 13 14 on january 9 2014 knsd announced that it would not renew its lease for the 225 broadway studios when it expires in 2016 . 15 on june 23 the station announced the purchase of a two story 50 000 square feet 1.1 acres building at the stonecrest office complex on granite ridge drive in the kearny mesa neighborhood for 9.6 million which will be converted into a new facility for the station . the location was chosen due to its easy access to san diego county s main thoroughfares and no cost parking for its employees . the studio opened on february 29 2016 . 16 17 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 18 39.1 1080i 16 9 knsd hd main knsd programming nbc 39.2 480i cozi tv cozi tv on december 20 2012 knsd as well as nbc s owned and operated stations began carrying cozi tv a network focusing on classic television programming which replaced nbc california nonstop which had aired on the subchannel since 2011 on digital subchannel 39.2 . 19 analog to digital conversion edit knsd shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 39 on february 17 2009 the original target date in which full power television stations in the united states were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later pushed back to june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 40 . 20 21 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 39 . as part of the safer act 22 knsd kept its analog signal on the air until june 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the national association of broadcasters . programming edit as an nbc owned and operated station knsd carries the entire nbc schedule . syndicated programs broadcast by the station include access hollywood steve harvey wheel of fortune and jeopardy among others . 23 the first three are distributed by nbc s parent company while these latter two are distributed by cbs television distribution making it the only nbc o & o to carry these game shows in the 7 p.m. hour on weeknights . local lifestyles and infotainment program streetside san diego and spanish language newscast noticias mi san diego the latter of which was a holdover from knsd s operation of kbop ca channel 43 now ksex cd were local programs previously produced by knsd ; these programs along with the station s weekend morning newscasts which were restored in december 2013 as part of a gradual newscast expansion resulting from a benefits package offered to the fcc upon the nbcuniversal comcast merger 24 were canceled on december 5 2008 as a result of budget cuts at the station . 25 the station currently produces a late night music and lifestyle program sounddiego on saturdays . news operation edit knsd presently broadcasts 31 hours of locally produced newscasts each week with 5 hours on