missouri assigned the icao code kmci see kansas city international airport . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message kmci tv lawrence kansas kansas city missouri kansas city kansas united states city lawrence kansas branding 38 the spot general 41 action news on 38 the spot newscast slogan it s where you want to be . general kansas city s breaking news leader news kansas city s weather leader weather channels digital 41 uhf virtual 38 psip affiliations .1 independent .2 bounce tv .3 escape .4 grit owner e. w. scripps company scripps broadcasting llc first air date february 13 1988 ; 28 years ago 1988 02 13 call letters meaning icao assigned code for kansas city international airport and miller communications incorporated former owner sister station s kshb tv former callsigns kmci 1988 2010 former channel number s analog 38 uhf 1988 2009 digital 36 uhf 2002 2009 former affiliations primary hsn 1988 1995 secondary until 1999 secondary fox kids 4kids tv 1999 2008 dt2 live well network 2011 2013 transmitter power 500 kw height 290.8 m facility id 42636 transmitter coordinates 38 58 40 n 94 31 59.5 w 38.97778 n 94.533194 w 38.97778 ; 94.533194 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.38thespot.com kmci tv virtual channel 38 uhf digital channel 41 is an independent television station serving kansas city missouri and kansas city kansas united states that is licensed to lawrence kansas . the station is owned by the e. w. scripps company as part of a duopoly with nbc affiliate kshb tv channel 41 . the two stations share studio facilities located on oak street in kansas city missouri ; kmci maintains transmitter facilities located at the blue river greenway in the city s hillcrest section . on cable kmci is available on comcast channel 2 in kansas and channel 5 in missouri time warner cable and surewest channel 8 and at & t u verse channel 38 . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 sports programming 4 newscasts 5 references 6 external links history edit the station first signed on the air on february 13 1988 . founded by miller television it originally served as an affiliate of the home shopping network . beginning sometime in 1995 kmci began carrying a minimal amount of syndicated sitcoms cartoons and other programs alongside hsn programming . when kshb tv channel 41 lost the fox affiliation to wdaf tv channel 4 and gained the nbc affiliation that was displaced by that station in september 1994 kshb sold very little of its programming to ksmo tv channel 62 or wdaf . the station had a lot of acquired programming that it did not have room to run on its schedule due to nbc s heavy lineup of network programming as well as the station s new news programming commitments ; most of these shows were acquired by kmci . early programs on kmci included shows such as i love lucy leave it to beaver tom and jerry and popeye cartoon shorts happy days and taxi . in the summer of 1996 kshb owner scripps howard broadcasting began to manage kmci under a local marketing agreement ; 1 kmci then rebranded as 38 family greats with a family oriented general entertainment format from 6 00 a.m. to midnight with hsn programming being relegated to the overnight hours . more recent programs also airing regularly on kshb were integrated onto kmci s schedule . hsn programming was subsequently dropped from the station in 1999 . that fall kmci began carrying weekday afternoon and saturday morning programming from fox kids after the block was dropped by upn affiliate kcwe channel 29 now a cw affiliate ; wdaf chose to decline fox s children s programming lineup after affiliating with the network . the weekday afternoon fox kids block was discontinued nationwide by fox in september 2001 leaving only the saturday morning block . the station was acquired by the e. w. scripps company outright in 2002 forming a legal duopoly with kshb . 2 that same year kmci dropped the family greats branding and simply branded by its channel number . then in july 2003 the station officially became known as 38 the spot . the station continued to run children s programming from fox after it was relaunched under the fox box banner in september 2002 and again under the 4kids tv banner from january 2005 until fox discontinued its children s programming in december 2008 following a dispute with 4kids entertainment which subsequently began programming the cw s saturday morning children s programming that same year . neither wdaf nor kmci opted to air weekend marketplace the infomercial block that replaced the 4kids tv block which ended up not airing at all in the kansas city market . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 3 38.1 720p 16 9 kmci tv main kmci tv programming 38.2 480i kmci b bounce tv 38.3 480i 4 3 kmci ep escape 38.4 480i kmci gt grit live well network was originally intended to be carried on kshb digital subchannel 41.3 but was added to kmci 38.2 on september 1 2011 instead to even out the bandwidth between both stations . kmci replaced the live well network with bounce tv on digital subchannel 38.2 on october 21 2013 . kmci also added escape to 38.3 and grit on 38.4 on april 15 2015 . analog to digital conversion edit kmci tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 38 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal moved from its pre transition uhf channel 36 to uhf channel 41 the former analog era assignment and current virtual channel of sister station kshb tv for post transition operations . 4 5 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 38 . programming edit syndicated programs broadcast on kmci include the simpsons the king of queens family guy who wants to be a millionaire and how i met your mother . kmci features hosts that promote the station s programming as well as local events during commercial breaks . taunia hottman was the first spokesperson for kmci as 38 the spot . 6 meredith hoenes who became a traffic reporter for kshb tv around this time replaced hottman after she left in 2004 to join kusa in denver colorado . holly starr took over after hoenes left in february 2008 to become a weekday anchor reporter for wdaf tv ; starr remained with kmci as its program host until 2011 replaced by crystle lampitt in 2012 . sports programming edit on november 6 2013 kshb tv kmci tv announced a deal with sporting kansas city to broadcast up to 26 regular season games from the major league soccer games on kmci as well as several specials throughout the season some of which will air on kshb tv and pre game and post game shows beginning with the 2014 season . 7 newscasts edit in 2000 kshb tv began producing a half hour 9 00 p.m. newscast on kmci to compete with the in house newscast in that timeslot on wdaf tv which debuted in september 1994 when that station switched from nbc to fox . the program was canceled in 2003 one week after kmci s rebranding as 38 the spot ; by this point the newscast was called 38 news now and had completely differentiated itself from kshb s newscasts using different graphics a different and drastically smaller set and a different all percussion theme third coast by stephen arnold which kshb used as its news theme from 1999 until it rebranded as nbc action news in 2003 and was used on the kmci newscast from its launch . on august 1 2011 kmci began airing a rebroadcast of kshb s 11 00 a.m. newscast at noon on weekdays . in addition to airing rebroadcasts of local news programming from kshb tv kmci will take on the responsibility of preempting regular programming and running nbc network shows in the event of extended breaking news or severe weather coverage on kshb . on april 6 2015 kmci began airing a 3rd hour of 41 action news today from 7 to 8am after kshb begins airing nbc s today show . 8 9 references edit scripps to run tv station in lawrence kan. the cincinnati post via highbeam research march 28 1996 . scripps plans to buy kmci tv in lawrence kansas pr newswire via highbeam research december 6 1999 . rabbitears tv query for kmci dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . kc tv stations will delay digital only switch kansas city business journal february 6 2009 . 1 archived september 15 2009 at the wayback machine . morningsky autumn november 6 2013 . kshb kmci will begin broadcasting sporting kc games . kansas city business journal . retrieved august 15 2014 . 41 action news today is now on 38 the spot find local news weather and traffic at 7 a.m. 41 action news 41 action news today on 38 the spot youtube external links edit official website kshb tv website query the fcc s tv station database for kmci biafn s media web database information on kmci tv v t e television stations in kansas city reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wdaf tv 4.1 fox 4.2 antenna tv 4.3 this tv kctv 5.1 cbs kmbc tv 9.1 abc 9.2 metv kajf ld 16.1 silent 16.2 gettv 16.3 sbn 16.4 lc 16.5 qvc kcpt 19.1 pbs 19.2 pbs encore 19.3 create kcks ld 25.1 this 25.2 justice tv 25.3 q 25.4 heartland 25.5 newsmax 25.6 weathernation 25.7 rev n tv 25.8 untamed sports 25.9 the works 25.10 buzzr kcwe 29.1 the cw 29.2 movies kcdn ld 35.1 ds kmci tv 38.1 ind. 38.2 bounce 38.3 escape 38.4 grit kshb tv 41.1 nbc 41.2 cozi tv 41.3 laff k45io d 45.1 hsn kukc lp 48 uni kpxe tv 50.1 ion 50.2 qubo 50.3 life 50.4 ion shop 50.5 qvc over air 50.6 hsn ksmo tv 62.1 mntv 62.2 mundomax local cable channels fox sports kansas city jayhawk television network time warner cable sports channel 6 news lawrence adjacent locals st. joseph kqtv 2.1 abc ktaj tv 16.1 tbn 16.2 hillsong 16.3 smile juce tv 16.4 enlace 16.5 salsa kbjo ld 21.1 the cw knpn ld 26.1 fox 26.2 news press 3 now 26.4 tmd sedalia kmos tv 6.1 pbs 6.2 create 6.3 world topeka ktwu 11.1 pbs 11.2 mhz pbs kids 11.3 create pbs encore wibw tv 13.1 cbs 13.2 mntv metv ksnt 27.1 nbc 27.2 fox ktka tv 49.1 abc 49.2 wx 49.3 the cw defunct stations kujh lp 14 ind. kcty 25 dumont see also st. joseph tv topeka tv omaha tv des moines tv columbia jefferson city tv v t e other television stations in the state of kansas independent stations kksu lp 21 manhattan kmci 38 lawrence other stations ksqa 22 ind. topeka kgpt cd 26 bounce aza accuweather lwn wichita kwkd lp 28 daystar wichita kdcu 31 uni derby kctu ld 43 this tv me tv untamed fn legacy wichita kukc lp 48 uni overland park kfvt lp 40 ssn wichita ksmi lp 51 rtv the family channel pbj tuff tv fgo jtv wichita defunct kujh lp 14 k27fr 27 lawrence see