Lufkin TV Stations: ABC 9, FOX 30 and How Far the Other Networks Are

Lufkin channels

Lufkin has two stations of its own, KTRE and KFXL-LD, and borrows the rest from the north.

On your TV	Network	Station	Broadcast channel
9.1	ABC	KTRE, Lufkin, "KTRE 9"	UHF 24
9.2	Telemundo	KTRE	UHF 24
9.3	Start TV	KTRE	UHF 24
19.1	CBS	KYTX, Nacogdoches	UHF 15
19.2	The CW	KYTX	UHF 15
30.1	FOX	KFXL-LD, Lufkin	UHF 29
42.1	Independent	KLNM-LD, Lufkin, "Texas Family TV"	UHF 32
56.1	NBC	KETK-TV, Jacksonville	UHF 22

From the RabbitEars Tyler market list, checked October 19, 2026. Lufkin is part of the Tyler-Longview-Lufkin-Nacogdoches market; our East Texas TV stations guide covers the whole area.

How far the towers are

ABC 9 is 7 miles from downtown Lufkin. Every other full-power network tower is 44 miles or more away.

Distances we computed from the stations' listed coordinates. CBS 19, at 44 miles north-northwest, is within reach of a good roof antenna. NBC 56, 61 miles out, is a fringe signal in most of Lufkin. FOX 51's main tower is 65 miles away, which is where the channel 30 repeater comes in.

Houston's stations don't help here. Their towers are well over 100 miles southwest.

KTRE, from Houston satellite to Lufkin's ABC

KTRE signed on August 31, 1955, as a satellite of Houston's NBC station, KPRC-TV. A satellite station is one that rebroadcasts a bigger station's programs to an area its signal can't reach. The Houston TV stations themselves are still too far away for a Lufkin antenna. The owners of local radio station KTRE started it, and it sometimes broke from the Houston schedule for ABC and CBS shows.

In 1964, the FCC folded Lufkin and Nacogdoches into the Tyler-Longview market. The Buford family, owners of Tyler's KLTV, bought KTRE soon after and made it KLTV's southern partner. Until 1984, it carried all three networks in a "joint primary" arrangement that leaned toward ABC.

For years KTRE broadcast from a short 540-foot tower, kept low to avoid interfering with stations in Baton Rouge and Arkadelphia. Today Gray Media owns it, with studios and transmitter on TV Road in Pollok. It shares programs with KLTV but airs its own weeknight news and Lufkin ads.

KTRE used to broadcast on VHF 9. RabbitEars now lists it on UHF 24, so a UHF antenna can get it, though it still shows up as 9.1.

FOX on channel 30

KFXL-LD repeats FOX 51 for Lufkin from a transmitter northwest of the city, on SH 103 near Loop 287. It shows up as 30.1 and carries the same FOX programming and East Texas newscasts as KFXK in Longview.

It's a low-power station, so it covers the Lufkin area but fades quickly beyond it. Out in the county, FOX can be the hardest network to find.

Diboll, Huntington, Crockett and nearby towns

Town	To ABC 9 KTRE	To CBS 19 KYTX
Nacogdoches	15 mi, southwest	33 mi, northwest
Diboll	16 mi, north	53 mi, north-northwest
Huntington	17 mi, northwest	53 mi, northwest
Crockett	39 mi, east	46 mi, north-northeast
San Augustine	42 mi, west	63 mi, west-northwest

Distances we computed from the stations' listed coordinates. Diboll and Huntington get KTRE well but sit 50-plus miles from CBS 19. Nacogdoches is the one nearby city in decent range of both; see our Nacogdoches TV channels guide.

Antenna setup in Angelina County

Aim north-northwest. KTRE, CBS 19, NBC 56 and FOX 51 all lie roughly that way from Lufkin. One directional antenna can try for all of them. KFXL-LD's site northwest of town falls in the same general direction.

A small antenna gets ABC 9 and usually FOX 30 in town. For CBS 19 and NBC 56, mount a larger UHF antenna as high as you can, above the pines if possible. The FCC's DTV reception map shows which signals reach your address.

Watching without cable

In Lufkin, the antenna question is mostly about CBS and NBC, and that's where IPTV helps.

• An antenna, $25 to $60 for ABC 9 and FOX 30 in town, more with a mast for CBS and NBC.
• A live-TV streaming service, such as YouTube TV at $82.99 a month, or one of the lower-priced plans in our list of the cheapest live TV with local channels.
• IPTVZ. A single screen costs $74.99 for 12 months; a 3-month plan is $29.99.

The hard stations from Lufkin are the easy ones on IPTVZ. Its October 16, 2026 catalogue lists CBS 19 KYTX, NBC 56 KETK and FOX 51 KFXK. KTRE isn't part of the IPTVZ lineup, but ABC 7 KLTV carries the same ABC programs, with Tyler's news in place of Lufkin's. Our IPTV in East Texas guide covers the costs.

Lufkin TV FAQ

What channel is ABC in Lufkin?

ABC is KTRE, channel 9.1, from Pollok, about 7 miles northwest of Lufkin. It now broadcasts on UHF 24.

What channel is FOX in Lufkin TX?

FOX is on 30.1, KFXL-LD, a low-power repeater of FOX 51 KFXK.

Can I get CBS 19 in Lufkin?

Often, with a roof antenna aimed north-northwest. The KYTX tower is about 44 miles away in Cherokee County.

What channel is NBC in Lufkin?

NBC is KETK-TV, channel 56.1, from about 61 miles northwest, a fringe signal in most of Lufkin.

Is there a Telemundo station in Lufkin?

Yes, on KTRE's 9.2 subchannel.

The short version

• Lufkin's own stations are ABC 9 KTRE and the FOX repeater on 30.
• CBS 19 is 44 miles away and NBC 56 61 miles, so they need a roof antenna.
• KTRE began in 1955 as a Houston NBC satellite and became Lufkin's ABC.
• Aim north-northwest; every network tower sits that way.
• IPTVZ lists CBS 19, NBC 56 and FOX 51, the hard ones from Lufkin.

In Lufkin, ABC is easy and the rest take effort. If a tall mast isn't for you, the free trial shows the alternative. Our guide to antenna reception in Texas explains why distance is the problem in Deep East Texas and which fixes to try first.