Although KTAJ-TV mainly serves the Kansas City area, it is officially assigned by Nielsen to the St. Joseph market due to the location of its city of license.[2] The station has been available on cable television providers in both the St. Joseph and Kansas City markets since its sign-on, although Charter Spectrum (in the immediate Kansas City area),[3]Comcast Xfinity,[4]Consolidated Communications,[5]AT&T U-verse[4] and Google Fiber[6] do not carry KTAJ but do carry TBN's national feed. Despite St. Joseph being KTAJ-TV's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.
Overview
The station first signed on the air on October 15, 1986, and was built and signed on by All American Television, as an affiliate of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. In 2000, KTAJ was purchased by TBN, along with the other All American Television stations. KTAJ is the only full-power TBN station in the state of Missouri, and was one of only two stations licensed to St. Joseph—alongside ABC affiliate KQTV (channel 2)—until the June 2012 sign-on of Fox affiliate KNPN-LD (channel 26)[7]—although KQTV remains the only local full-power commercial television station licensed to the city (two other low-power stations owned by KNPN parent News-Press & Gazette Company have signed on since that point—KBJO-LD (now KNPG-LD; channel 21) and KNPG-LD (now KCJO-LD; channel 30)).
As KTAJ-TV's virtual digital channel is mapped as "16" (its former analog channel assignment), NBC affiliate KNPG-LD instead maps its virtual channel as 21[8] to avoid co-channel mapping issues with KTAJ.
Local programming
Locally produced programs that are taped in the station's Kansas City studios include local versions of TBN's flagship program Praise the Lord and Joy in Our Town, a public affairs program format that is produced by TBN partner stations on a local basis.