[edit]The station's logo as KHIZ, used until 2012.
KILM began broadcasting on August 15, 1987, as KVVT, originally licensed to Barstow. It was the only independent commercial television station in the Mojave Desert region to provide local news programs. In 1989, the station switched to ABC as a result of the Mojave Desert at the time not receiving a good signal from KABC-TV (channel 7) in Los Angeles. It became KHIZ in 1992; that same year, KABC boosted its signal to the Mojave Desert, causing channel 64 to disaffiliate with ABC. (A similar situation occurred in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, where WEWS-TV (channel 5) and then-ABC affiliate WAKR/WAKC (channel 23, now WVPX-TV) both aired ABC programming until 1996). In the mid-2000s, the station changed its format and service area to be transmitted in both the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the Inland Empire region. Multicultural Broadcasting purchased Sunbelt Television, Inc. in 2007.[4] KHIZ eventually incorporated ethnic programming into its schedule.
At one time, KHIZ aired a weekday morning news program, Inland Empire Live, that was produced from the facilities of CBS affiliate WSEE-TV (channel 35) in Erie, Pennsylvania, and distributed to KHIZ via satellite transmission.[5]
On June 1, 2018, KILM began channel sharing with Ion Televisionowned-and-operated stationKPXN-TV (channel 30). As KPXN's broadcast radius does not adequately cover Barstow, KILM changed its city of license to Inglewood.[2] Several weeks later, Ion Media Networks agreed to a $10 million purchase of the station, continuing a nationwide pattern of Ion buying out their channel sharing partners to retain full control of their spectrum.[8][9] Multicultural terminated the Punch TV LMA at the start of August 2018, and began to carry a full schedule of paid programming from Corner Store TV while the sales process with Ion continued. The sale was completed on September 17, 2018, with Ion immediately converting the station to taking over the former channel space of KPXN-DT3 and its Ion Plus feed under KILM's 64.1 virtual channel, which allows Ion to utilize KILM's must-carry status for full-market coverage of Ion Plus.[10]
On February 28, 2021, the station became an affiliate of Grit after Ion Plus was shut down.[11]
On June 28, 2021, the station switched its affiliation to Bounce TV after the launch of TrueReal and Defy TV on KPXN's third and fourth subchannels.
On May 5, 2024, KILM switched from Bounce to sister network Scripps News, with Bounce moving to sister station KPXN-DT5.
KHIZ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 64, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 44,[14] using virtual channel 64.
^Johnson, Ted (August 11, 2012). "Fox sues startup over broadcast streaming". Variety. Retrieved September 4, 2012. …FilmOn is launching its first broadcast channel in the country, KILM-TV Channel 64, in Los Angeles starting on Sept. 1.
