National

SBE Events at the 2026 NAB Show

Las Vegas, NV
Saturday, April 18

SBE BEITC Session: Unique and Particular Technical Requirements for Live Sports Production; 2 – 3 p.m.; N261

Sunday, April 19

 SBE Booth NL5, Drawing, $200 Amazon gift card; 5 p.m.

Monday, April 20

Using the SBE/NAB Self-Inspection Guides; 3:30-4:30 p.m.; N225. Open to anyone interested in the SBE/NAB Self-Inspection Guides.

SBE Membership Meeting; 5 – 6 p.m.; N256. Sponsored by Blackmagic Design. Membership Meeting prize drawings include the grand prize of two Blackmagic Design Micro Studio Camera 4K 2Gs to two winners. The first 100 attendees will receive an SBE-logoed keychain.

SBE Booth Drawing, sponsored by Blackmagic Design, at the SBE Membership Meeting, N256

SBE Member Reception; 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.; N250. Member Reception prize drawings: American Tower: Three $100 Amazon gift cards; Dielectric: Techie backpacks; Heartland Video Systems: $100 Amazon gift card

Tuesday, April 21

SBE Ennes Workshop (two tracks); 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Rooms N250 and N254

SBE Certification Exam Session; 9 a.m. – noon; N227, advance registration required

SBE Booth Drawing, $200 Amazon gift card; 5 p.m. SBE Booth NL5, sponsored by Broadcasters General Store

Wednesday, April 22

SBE Ennes Workshop (two tracks); 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Rooms N250 and N254

New SBE/NAB Guides and Other News for 2026. 10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.; C2450 – TV and Radio HQ on the floor of the Central Hall.

Local News, National

KFMB-TV 8 Joins The Nexstar Group

[Update – On Friday, March 27, a U.S. district judge ordered television operator Nexstar Media Group to temporarily keep TEGNA’s assets separate pending a review of the acquisition for potential antitrust violations.]

On March 19, 2026, the FCC approved the $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA TV stations by Nexstar Media Inc., including KFMB-TV 8 San Diego. The CBS network affiliate will join independent KUSI and Fox network affiliate KSWB (“Fox 5”) under common ownership in the San Diego market. The deal makes Nexstar the owner of 259 television stations in the U.S. and includes a waiver of the FCC’s national ownership rule, which prohibits a single corporation from owning more than 39% of the country’s stations. Cable and satellite distribution groups have filed legal challenges, citing Nexstar’s future leverage in retransmission fee negotiations. Some states and Newsmax have also filed legal challenges.

FCC rules currently disallow a single entity from owning more than two full-power TV stations in a given Designated Market Area (DMA), but the FCC waived this rule for San Diego, citing a possible loss of local news should KUSI be divested.

There is some speculation and rumors that the local operating group of stations will close the Engineer Road plant, where KFMB has operated since 1976. No word yet on what will happen with the current engineering staff.

Local News, National

Cox Cable and Charter to Merge

Remember when San Diego was once served by two cable companies? Southwestern Cable had the territory north of Interstate 8, and Cox Cable had the territory south of that highway. Well, now it’ll be one company.

On February 27, the FCC approved Charter Communications’ $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications. The combined corporation will be called Cox Communications, but the fiber and cable TV delivery service will continue to be called “Spectrum.” It’s set to become the largest internet service provider, with 38 million customers.

The two companies’ business services have been competitive over most of San Diego County for some time.

The future impact on San Diego employees is unknown.

Local News

Tijuana Adds Channel 9 TV Signal

AVSForum viewers report a new signal from south of the Mexican border on Channel 9 VHF, 186–192 MHz. XHCPAT-TDT is said to broadcast from Colinas de Agua Caliente in Tijuana with a licensed power of 60kW ERP.

This is an interesting development since KSDX-LD is licensed for channel 9 from Mt. San Miguel, albeit at a very low power of 275W ERP from a two-element omni-directional horizontal antenna.

Society of Broadcast Engineers