Until 2018 when
KGKC-LD started carrying
Telemundo, KUKC had the distinction of being the only standalone
Spanish-language television station in the Kansas City market (
KSMO-TV (channel 62) carried
MundoMax on its second
digital subchannel before that network's shutdown in late November 2016), but is the only Univision network affiliate in the state of Missouri.
History
The station first signed on the air in 1989 as K29CF; it originally operated as an affiliate of the
home shopping network
ValueVision. To allow full-power outlet KCWB (channel 29, now
KCWE) to sign on the air, the station relocated to UHF channel 48 in 1996, and changed its callsign to K48FS. It remained a ValueVision affiliate, however it also carried children's programming during the afternoon hours (such as The Flintstones and Mighty Max).
In 2004, the station was purchased by
Equity Media Holdings. Shortly after it was finalized, in January 2005, the station became the market's Univision affiliate; reflecting this, its callsign was changed to KUKC-LP (for "Univision Kansas City").[3] On December 8, 2008, Equity Media Holdings filed for
Chapter 11bankruptcy protection;[4] it then began to sell off its television station properties. KUKC was sold to SP Television on June 2, 2009.[5] The sale closed on August 17, 2009.[6] SP Television reached a deal to sell KUKC to Media Vista Group on December 21, 2012.[7]
On September 18, 2023, it was announced that KUKC-LD and sister station
WUMN-LD in
Minneapolis would be sold to Bridge News LLC, led by investor
Manoj Bhargava, for $2.25 million; the sale does not include the stations' Univision affiliations.[1]