KDFX-CD

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Television station in Indio–Palm Springs, California

title: "KDFX-CD" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1990-establishments-in-california", "fox-broadcasting-company-affiliates", "indio,-california", "low-power-television-stations-in-california", "news-press-&-gazette-company", "television-channels-and-stations-established-in-1990", "television-stations-in-the-coachella-valley"] description: "Television station in Indio–Palm Springs, California" topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDFX-CD" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Television station in Indio–Palm Springs, California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox television station"]

Field	Value
callsign	KDFX-CD
logo	File:KDFX Fox 11 2016.webp
logo_size	225px
branding	Fox 11 (cable channel)
digital	33 (UHF)
virtual	33
translators	KESQ-TV 33.2 Palm Springs
affiliations	Fox
airdate
location	Indio–Palm Springs, California
country	United States
callsign_meaning	Desert Fox
owner	News-Press & Gazette Company
licensee	Gulf-California Broadcast Company
sister_stations	KESQ-TV, KPSP-CD, KCWQ-LD, KUNA-LD, KYAV-LD, KUNA-FM
former_affiliations	CBS (via KECY-TV, 1990–1994)
former_channel_numbers
former_callsigns
erp	15 kW
haat	196.9 m
facility_id	51207
class	CD
coordinates
licensing_authority	FCC
website
::

::callout[type=note] Fox 11 in the Inland Empire/Coachella Valley ::

KDFX-CD (channel 33, cable channel 11) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to both Indio and Palm Springs, California, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Coachella Valley. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company alongside ABC affiliate KESQ-TV (channel 42) and four other low-power stations: Class A CBS affiliate KPSP-CD (channel 38), CW affiliate KCWQ-LD (channel 2), Telemundo affiliate KUNA-LD (channel 15), and independent station KYAV-LD (channel 12). The six stations share studios on Dunham Way in Thousand Palms; KDFX-CD's transmitter is located on Edom Hill northeast of Cathedral City and I-10.

Along with other major Coachella Valley television stations, KDFX identifies itself on-air using its cable designation (Fox 11) rather than its over-the-air channel position. The unusual practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable penetration rate of 80.5% which is one of the highest in the United States.

In addition to its own digital signal, KDFX is simulcast in standard definition on KESQ's fourth digital subchannel (virtual channel 33.2) from the same Edom Hill transmitter facility.

History

The station signed on March 2, 1990, as K40DB, a translator of CBS affiliate KECY-TV in El Centro and began identifying as "KDBA-TV". The station was added on cable television on November 1, 1992. Along with its parent outlet, the station switched to Fox in September 1994, becoming the first CBS affiliate in the United States to join the so-called "fourth network" outside of the network's 1994 affiliation agreement with New World Communications. In fact, one reason owner Judge Robinson O. Everett of Wilmington, North Carolina signed with Fox was because Fox was willing to give Everett the primary Palm Springs affiliation, whereas CBS felt that KCBS-TV had sufficient penetration in the area and was demanding that the company's CBS affiliates resume producing local news. Prior to this switch, KECY aired some Fox programming, and cable viewers received KTTV from Los Angeles.

In 1997, Pacific Media Corporation (which was principally controlled by Robinson O. Everett) entered into a local management agreement (LMA) with a subsidiary of Beverly Hills, California–based Lambert Broadcasting, LLC. That company split the translator off and relaunched it as a separate Fox affiliate serving the Coachella Valley. On August 23 of that year, the station moved to UHF channel 33 and adopted KDFX-LP as its call sign. The LMA and options to purchase the two stations were sold a year later to the News-Press Gazette Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, bringing KDFX under common control with KESQ-TV. Lambert invested heavily in the station and upgraded it to Class A status on April 7, 2003, as KDFX-CA. In November 2007, NPG filed to buy the stations for $2 million. The station was licensed for digital operation on March 18, 2015, taking on the call sign KDFX-CD.

Newscasts

Main article: KESQ-TV#News operation

KDFX airs a two-hour morning newscast (7–9 a.m.) and 6:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts from KESQ-TV.

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed: ::data[format=table title="Subchannels of KDFX-CD{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KDFX#station|title = RabbitEars TV Query for KDFX|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=February 16, 2025}}"]

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name
720p	16:9	KDFX-LD	Fox
KCWQ-LD	The CW Plus (KCWQ-LD)
480i	DDFX	Dabl
::

References

(March 6, 1990). "CBS-TV affiliate now broadcasting". The Desert Sun.
McClellan, Steve. (April 18, 1994). "Fox's latest four add up to 96%". Broadcasting & Cable.
Mundell, Bill. (August 14, 1991). "KECY-TV programs are actually ahead of time". The Desert Sun.
(October 22, 1994). "Desert Hot Springs forum airs on TV today". The Desert Sun.
Hussar, John. (May 5, 1998). "TV group reaches out to control competition". The Desert Sun.
(November 23, 2007). "Deals". Broadcasting & Cable.
"RabbitEars TV Query for KDFX".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::