KVME-TV

KVME-TV (channel 20) is a television station licensed to Bishop, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles television market as an affiliate of Jewelry Television. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting alongside Avalon-licensed MeTV owned-and-operated station KAZA-TV (channel 54). KVME-TV's studios are located on North Main Street in Bishop, and its transmitter is located in the White Mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) east of Bishop.

The station signed on the air on August 21, 2007, as KBBC-TV on analog channel 20, operating as a bilingual independent. KBBC's programming was mostly Spanish, featuring such shows as La Corte del Pueblo (a Spanish-language version of The People's Court), La Corte de Familia, the daily soccer program Fútbol al Día from Monterrey-based Multimedios Televisión, and a newscast with extensive coverage from Central America. The nighttime programming had premiered on KNLA-LP, which was a translator station.

The station later added afternoon and overnight programming from the Home Shopping Network. KBBC also offered English-language religious programming from Hosanna, a Christian program service. On Saturday mornings, English-language children's programs aired along with a public affairs program, Eastern Sierra News.

In March 2012, Venture Technologies Group filed and received approval to sell KNLA-CD and sister station KNET-CD to Local Media TV Holdings.^[3] On March 9, KBBC-TV's callsign was changed to KVME-TV.

KVME-TV became affiliated with MeTV on April 30, 2012, sharing the affiliation with the third digital subchannel of Anaheim-based KDOC-TV (channel 56). KVME-TV carried MeTV on their primary digital channel 20 (virtual channel 20.1), which is also available on the DirecTV and Dish Network local packages tier for the Los Angeles market. KVME-TV and KDOC-TV marketed the subchannel as "MeTV Hollywood," changing from KDOC's previous brand of "MeTV Los Angeles." Local advertising for MeTV Hollywood was sold by a jointly managed ad sales team for both stations.^[4] However, KVME-TV's MeTV feed did not carry the full schedule of programming, electing to carry Spanish-language religious and paid programming during the early morning weekday hours of 5 to 8 a.m., preempting regularly-scheduled programming within those hours. The MeTV affiliation ended on January 15, 2018.

On January 15, 2018, KVME-TV became an affiliate of MeTV's sister network, Heroes & Icons, sharing the affiliation with the fourth digital subchannel of Los Angeles-based KCOP-TV (channel 13).^[5] Like the previous affiliation with MeTV, KVME-TV's Heroes & Icons feed did not carry the full schedule of programming, electing to carry Spanish-language religious and paid programming during the early morning weekday hours of 7 to 10 a.m., preempting regularly-scheduled programming within those hours. On February 28, 2022, subchannel 20.2 was upgraded to 720p high definition, mirroring low-power sister station, KSFV-CD 27.2 in Los Angeles, which also carries Heroes & Icons in HD.

In 2020, KVME-TV changed its affiliation from Heroes & Icons to Jewelry Television; the H&I affiliation was moved to the station's second digital subchannel.

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997,^[7] the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KVME-TV was required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut"). On November 30, 2008, KVME completed the transition to digital by turning off its analog signal and immediately turning on its digital signal on channel 20.