KBHK, digital channel 45 (virtual channel 44), was a former West Coast flagship station of the The United Paramount Network based in San Francisco, California. KBHK was owned by Viacom Corporation, and is part of a duopoly with CBS station KPIX-TV. The station's signal is transmitted from Sutro Tower.
From January 1995 until September 2006, KBCW was an owned-and-operated station of United Paramount Network (UPN). Before 1995, the station was an independent station.
History[]
The station continued with its format and in 1995, United Television partnered with Paramount to create the UPN (United Paramount Network). Along with United Television's other independents, KBHK became a UPN owned-and-operated station. Later on in the 1990s, KBHK became home to anime such as: Ronin Warriors, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon while it was still in syndication before moving to Kids WB.
The old sitcoms and cartoons were gradually replaced with more recent sitcoms, talk shows, game shows, court shows, and reality shows.
When News Corporation purchased the Chris-Craft station group in 2001, it traded KBHK-TV to Viacom in exchange for KTXH in Houston and WDCA in Washington, D.C.. Viacom had purchased CBS a year earlier, making KBHK a sister station to KPIX. Since News Corp. also owned the Fox television network, the station trade-off also protected Cox Enterprises-owned KTVU as the Bay Area's Fox affiliate. The Viacom purchase also reunited KBHK with Detroit's WKBD, which had been purchased by Paramount Stations Group (which was in the process of being sold to Viacom) in 1993. Under new ownership, KBHK moved from its original long-time studios on California Street in the Nob Hill area to share facilities with KPIX on Battery Street.