Pahrump’s sole television station has certainly undergone many changes over the past 20-plus years.
For more than two decades, KPVM-TV 25 has provided news, entertainment and local programming to viewers throughout the Pahrump Valley.
Just recently, station owner Vern Van Winkle completed yet another transformation in terms of an expanded viewership, as residents of Las Vegas are now able to tune in.
Wider reach
Van Winkle said he began broadcasting in Las Vegas at 8:38 p.m. on December 31st.
“We knew that the marketplace was there for us to have, but I never really wanted to originally because there was already a bunch of stations over there,” he said. “What I felt was missing, was Pahrump needed a positive connection to Las Vegas because the information that was coming out of Pahrump has always been from certain sources that was negative, and I felt it was not an accurate portrayal of the town of Pahrump. We now have the ability to show Las Vegas all of the positives of living in the true West, and to be able to have an acre and a quarter, and live in a home in a way that you wish, without all the laws, covenants and conditions basically.”
Van Winkle’s wife and station co-owner, Ronda, noted that most people who are not familiar with Pahrump seem to have erroneous assessments, assumptions and conclusions about the town.
“The opinion about Pahrump is often about the brothels or what they see on programs like “Live PD”, or what they hear about a brothel owner or the Binion silver case,” she said. “It always seems to be something that has a negative connotation. We will provide a more positive approach to what Pahrump is really about, because we do cover all of the real things about Pahrump.”
Banking on additional business
Ronda Van Winkle also spoke about how many Pahrump businesses rely on not just local residents, but those from Las Vegas and beyond.
“It’s also about location, location, location,” she said. “We are limited in Pahrump, and have been for the last 22 years. There are only so many businesses to go around and it’s hard to make your company grow past a certain extent, when you are limited to such a small population. A lot of our businesses here do depend on many people from Las Vegas. Pahrump real estate agents need people from Las Vegas and even California to be interested in moving here, so if we’re on in Las Vegas, we are more likely to be able to reach people who would want to come here from California and Las Vegas. A lot of people and families travel into Las Vegas from California.”
One step at a time
The new venture, Ronda Van Winkle noted, began roughly a year ago.
“Vern engineered the entire project and he had to do a whole lot of research to make it happen,” she said. “At night, in the morning, and throughout the weekend, he did it the same way he built KPVM Channel 46, which was to dig in the dirt and find the gold. He just figured it out pretty much one step at a time. He was relentless about it and he set a goal that he would be on the air in Las Vegas before the end of 2019, and we completed it with three hours to spare.”
Big investment
Costs associated with the expansion, Ronda Van Winkle said, were steep.
“The entire project cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” she noted. “It’s like building another TV station without the actual property. With engineering and equipment costs, overall, right now we are at $144,000, and it is penciled out at $204,000 when it’s all done.”
Vern Van Winkle, meanwhile, said as far as staffing is concerned, Pahrump viewers may see a few individuals from the station’s past.
“We are basically keeping the staff that we have here, and we are adding some staff in Las Vegas, but that is still being worked out. There will definitely be faces in the past re-entering the picture. Between Pahrump and Las Vegas, we will be reaching almost 3 million viewers.”
Other projects
Aside from expanding to the Las Vegas television market, Van Winkle spoke about additional projects he has implemented at KPVM Channel 25.
“We also have Lobby Entertainment, which is an opportunity for businesses to have information in their lobby that is displayed from our creation, which would allow people to have a clear understanding of a particular doctor’s office, or dentist’s office, and what offers they have. Essentially, it’s another way of advertising. Our recording studio is doing what it always has in the past. The KACE radio station is continuing to do gangbusters as well.”
Spreading the word
Shortly after hitting the Las Vegas airwaves, Van Winkle provided public comment during a Nye County Board of Commissioners meeting, which received an interesting response from the room.
“I told them that they were on TV in Las Vegas and the response was dead silence, but afterwards, one of the commissioners said they were happy,” he said. “Since we began broadcasting in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve, the response has been great. Every single day I get a positive response from somebody.”
Future of television
Vern Van Winkle also spoke about the next generation of home televisions that are on the horizon, known as ATSC 3.0.
He noted that in the not-too-distant future, the new sets will become commonplace in most homes.
“The standard basically has been put together by the Advanced Television System Committee, which we are also set up for,” he said. “It’s coming into play very quickly. We are probably going to see everyone’s TVs at home in the next year or so become obsolete. It is largely a replacement for the analog National Television System Committee.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, on Twitter: @pvtimes