A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
96-780: KSMO-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri , United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV . It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KCTV (channel 5). The two stations share studios on Shawnee Mission Parkway in Fairway, Kansas ; KSMO-TV's transmitter is located in Independence, Missouri . Channel 62 in Kansas City began broadcasting as KEKR-TV in 1983, changing its call letters to KZKC in 1985. Originally owned by Media Central of Chattanooga, Tennessee , it suffered for most of its first decade on air from
192-508: A barter in some cases. KCPT KCPT (channel 19), branded as Kansas City PBS or KC PBS , is a PBS member television station in Kansas City, Missouri , United States. It is owned by Public Television 19, Inc., alongside adult album alternative radio station KTBG (90.9 FM) and online magazine Flatland . KCPT and KTBG share studios on East 31st Street in the Union Hill section of Kansas City, Missouri. KCPT's transmitter
288-561: A children's show on KSMO-TV's schedule before 6 a.m., and he described the challenge of accommodating Fox Kids, The Disney Afternoon , and the forthcoming UPN Kids as "fit[ting] so many ten-pound turnips into a five-pound sack". Meanwhile, the Royals relationship grew somewhat strained midway through. In 1994, the national television rights to Major League Baseball moved to a new arrangement known as The Baseball Network , with games on ABC and NBC; this led to more nationally telecast games than
384-488: A consortium of local community colleges, known as the Kansas City Regional Access Consortium for Higher Education (KC REACHE). In overnight hours when the station once was off the air, it began broadcasting distance learning courses in 1998. The program quickly grew from a pilot to include 10 institutions and serve 6,700 adults by 2001. In 2001, KCPT celebrated 40 years of broadcasting. At the time,
480-707: A court ruling overturned changes to its "safe harbor" for indecent programming. By the time of the indecency investigation, Media Central had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization; in July 1987, the parent company and its eight stations—KZKC initially the lone exception—presented petitions for reorganization. The firm had $ 68 million in assets but owed $ 50 million to creditors, including program suppliers; KZKC's reorganization plan stated that paying off its debts could take 10 years. The station's front office urged general manager Friedheim to barter advertising for goods and services wherever possible to save money. The disposition of
576-408: A former WDAF-TV newsman, joined KCPT in 1974 and began producing public affairs programs. In a 19-year tenure at channel 19, he led such local shows as Kansas City Illustrated and produced documentaries. By 1976, CSB had changed its name to Public Television 19, Inc. KCMO-TV (channel 5) and KCMO radio announced in 1976 that they would leave their longtime home on 31st Street—now considered in
672-593: A higher-power digital signal because of the closure of analog KAAS-TV in Salina, Kansas . In December 2013, KCPT gained a sister radio station when Public Television 19, Inc. finalized its purchase of KTBG (90.9 FM) in Warrensburg from the University of Central Missouri for $ 1.1 million, plus $ 550,000 in in-kind services. The transmitter for the station was moved 20 miles (32 km) west to adequately cover most of
768-421: A long-term affiliation agreement with Time Warner , under which the group committed five of its UPN-affiliated stations to that network in 1998, with a sixth independent station to join in 1999. KSMO-TV was not among the defecting stations and was one of six Sinclair-controlled outlets that would remain with UPN; in Kansas City, The WB had not had a broadcast affiliate until KCWB began broadcasting in 1996. However,
864-532: A low-power transmission system it wanted to try. In October 1959, the school board authorized the filing of an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the channel, and in March 1960, the school board sought bids for equipment. The construction permit was awarded on March 24, 1960, but the school system was still noncommittal about proceeding with the station, even though
960-622: A maid, in prime time. Acting on a viewer complaint, the FCC opened an investigation into the station's broadcast of the film in January 1988, with possible sanctions including a formal reprimand, a fine, or even revocation of the station's broadcast license . The case shed light on the practice of "stacking" titillating movies for ratings sweeps periods several times a year, a practice followed throughout Media Central's eight-station chain of independents. The FCC—operating with just three of five commissioners at
1056-435: A management style more suited to stations in smaller markets, inferior programming, and a poor reputation. In 1988, the station was fined for airing an indecent film in prime time, attracting national attention. Financial issues also strapped KZKC, particularly after Media Central entered bankruptcy reorganization in 1987. KZKC was sold out of bankruptcy to First American National Bank of Nashville, Tennessee , in early 1990;
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#17328757349741152-557: A month after it made the change, citing a potential likelihood of confusion. The lawsuit was heard by a federal judge in June 1986, and the judge ordered KZKC-TV to simply become KZKC without the suffix. In another fruitless attempt to improve its image, the station filed for channel 32 when the FCC made it available in Kansas City; however, with multiple applicants proposing new stations in the market, an FCC administrative law judge ruled against its bid in 1991 and in favor of another group. One way
1248-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in
1344-472: A new antenna was installed, and a children's club known as "Crew 62" was started. The station also changed its call sign to KSMO-TV, incorporating the postal abbreviations for Kansas and Missouri; a radio station in Salem, Missouri , agreed to share, and the O also allowed the station to insert a check mark in its logo in a nod to the voting campaign. The outgoing KZKC call sign was labeled by Jim McDonald as "probably
1440-574: A new majority investor: Media Central Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee , which purchased a 60 percent interest in the station in February 1983. With Media Central on board, consideration of STV service was dropped and an agreement reached to co-locate its transmitting facility with public television station KCPT . Media Central used modular construction methods: studio equipment was assembled in Chattanooga before being shipped to Kansas City for installation once
1536-547: A noon newscast also aired on KCTV. On August 4, 2014, KCTV began producing a half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. for KSMO, utilizing the same anchor team as the 6 p.m. newscast on channel 5. This newscast had been canceled by 2018, when KCTV shifted to airing news in the 7 p.m. hour. The station's channels are carried in ATSC 1.0 format on the multiplexed signals of other Kansas City television stations: KSMO-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 62, on June 12, 2009,
1632-468: A radio station and moving it into the Kansas City area as KTBG, starting Flatland , and setting up a local newsroom. Ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 19 was allocated to Kansas City for educational television use in 1952, and in 1958, the Kansas City School District began investigating the possibility of building such a station. The Electron Corporation of Dallas offered free use of
1728-402: A result of declining revenues, in 2002, Reed canceled plans for the endowment and discontinued the public affairs series Ruckus , laying off four staffers. Ruckus later returned to the air for a total of 23 seasons and was put on hiatus in 2020. In 2004, KCPT won a National Emmy Award for Best Documentary for Be Good, Smile Pretty , a film which documents Tracy Droz Tragos's journey to find
1824-462: A second station in Kansas City, Sinclair sold KSMO-TV to the Meredith Corporation , then-owner of KCTV, in 2005 after Meredith assumed operating control the year before. The station affiliated with MyNetworkTV upon the merger of UPN and The WB into The CW in 2006, and it also added newscasts from KCTV and other local programming to its lineup. Gray acquired Meredith in 2021, the same year that
1920-424: A second station, but it opted to focus on improving channel 19 first. The FCC granted approval for the transfer of KCSD-TV's license to CSB on December 10, 1971. On December 31, the call letters were changed to KCPT, for Kansas City Public Television. In January 1972, CSB agreed to purchase the tower from RCA and new channel 19 transmitting equipment from General Electric . In mid-1972, work took place to ready
2016-482: A transaction that would require a failing station waiver from the FCC as there would be fewer than eight unique owners of TV stations in the market. On the grounds that KSMO-TV's revenue and market share had steadily declined in the preceding five years, the commission granted the waiver in September 2005, approving the transaction. On January 24, 2006, the respective parent companies of UPN and The WB— CBS Corporation and
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#17328757349742112-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations
2208-401: A weak signal. Two new UHF stations had started in Kansas City in 1969 and 1970, both broadcasting with more effective radiated power than KCSD-TV: KCIT-TV on channel 50 and KBMA-TV on channel 41. CSB had a natural opportunity to improve this situation. KCIT-TV had struggled financially in just under two years on the air and left the air for good in early July 1971. RCA , a major creditor of
2304-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,
2400-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around
2496-518: Is located near 23rd Street and Stark Avenue in the Blue Valley neighborhood. The station provides coverage to the Kansas City and St. Joseph areas. KCPT went on air as KCSD-TV, the television station of the Kansas City School District , on March 29, 1961. The school district used the station to broadcast instructional programming to its schools and also aired evening programming from National Educational Television , predecessor to PBS. When members of
2592-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually
2688-490: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking to establish channel 62 in Kansas City and use it to broadcast STV to paying subscribers, even though Kansas City had an area-wide cable system. You can build a two-bit Mickey Mouse station in Cape Girardeau, and it will be OK. You can't do that in Kansas City. Gary Liebling, KEKR-TV's first engineering manager After reaching a settlement with Buford that gave it
2784-475: The Union Hill neighborhood —to a new facility to be built in Fairway, Kansas . KCPT then agreed to purchase the 31st Street studios from KCMO. For KCPT, the former KCMO studios were a major upgrade over Blue Summit. The station would have two large studios instead of one small studio, additional storage space, and a film lab. The transaction did not include the tower on the site, which continued to be used to broadcast KCMO-TV. KCMO completed its move to Fairway at
2880-529: The Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner , announced that they would dissolve the two networks and create The CW Television Network , functionally a merger, beginning that fall. Even though KSMO-TV had placed fifth in total-day ratings at the time of the Meredith purchase, the company found that affiliation would not be financially viable and passed on The CW (which went to KCWE in early March); instead,
2976-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station
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3072-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has
3168-560: The previous CBS national rights agreement . As a result, in June, KSMO-TV sued the Royals for breach of contract, objecting to having lost its exclusivity over Royals telecasts; the loss of prime-time games to The Baseball Network meant that the station's commitment to a minimum number of telecasts was filled by more day games. Further, the station charged in the suit that the ABC and NBC affiliates were charging less for advertisements in their Royals games than KSMO-TV. The lawsuit never went to trial and
3264-486: The $ 16.5 million initiative, primarily raised privately, went toward remodeling the studio complex and adding space for events and performances, and the remainder was used for technology and new content initiatives. Construction work concluded in June 2023. In 2021, KCPT generated $ 13.4 million in total revenue, $ 1.4 million of that in the form of grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . $ 3.6 million in revenue
3360-411: The 11th floor of the library and administration building was being refitted as a television studio. Delays in finishing the studio in turn delayed the launch of the station. KCSD-TV began broadcasting on March 29, 1961, using the studios in the administration building and an antenna on Kansas City City Hall . The first program was a presentation to faculty, including a tour of the studios. On April 4,
3456-583: The 2009 shutdown of full-power analog broadcasting, KCPT launched a second subchannel, KCPT2, airing programs different to those on the main channel plus shows not offered by the main station. KCPT shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, the official date full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 18. The national transition allowed KCPT to send out
3552-488: The FCC waiver it needed to purchase the station. The 30-minute KCTV 5 News at 9:00 debuted in October 2005, following the closure of the Meredith purchase, promising the same experience "lock, stock, and barrel" as the station offered at 10 p.m. even though KCTV general manager Kirk Black had previously declared it would have its own presentation style. By 2010, the station was also airing a 7 a.m. morning newscast and simulcasting
3648-445: The Kansas City area. Earlier that year, an anonymous donation of nearly $ 4 million allowed the station to start a digital newsroom. In 2014, KCPT launched the online magazine Flatland . Flatland expanded in 2021 with a new monthly half-hour show. In 2020, KCPT rebranded as Kansas City PBS, bringing its brand closer to that of the national network. The station embarked on a new capital campaign named Picture This in 2022. Most of
3744-595: The Maryland-based broadcaster opted in December 1995 to purchase the station for $ 18 million. In ABRY's ownership tenure, spanning 1990 to 1995, viewership tripled and advertising revenue quadrupled to $ 17 million; because Sinclair's rate had been previously set, it significantly underpaid compared to an estimated value of $ 60 million for the station. The station continued to carry the Royals through 1996; however, due to UPN commitments, its game inventory dropped from 65 games in
3840-586: The New Orleans station. After a year, Media Central sought to turn the ailing station around by spending more money on programming and overhauling its image. In January 1985, the station changed its call sign to KZKC-TV, having decided not to purchase the designation KCKC from a radio station in California . The new call sign did attract attention—from KCTV , the Kansas City CBS affiliate, which sued channel 62
3936-520: The Royals and NBC programming: Johnny Carson 's final nights of The Tonight Show and several NBA playoff games in 1992 were seen on a tape-delayed basis to accommodate baseball telecasts. To woo the Royals, the station telecast a baseball game between Kansas and Wichita State just to prove that it could commit to the sport. The changes paid off: in 1993, twice as many Kansas City TV viewers watched KSMO-TV for more than 15 minutes per month than had done so just three years prior. Its total market share
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4032-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in
4128-500: The acquisition of a new analog transmitter helped to advance the digital launch. Initially, KCPT received high-definition programs directly from PBS in Virginia, as its master control facility could not handle them. In 2000, the station produced Uniquely Kansas City , a multi-part series that was the first high-definition television production in the market. In the late 1990s, KCPT extended its educational services in partnership with
4224-491: The bank quickly sold the station to ABRY Communications. ABRY instituted a top-to-bottom overhaul of programming and facilities, changing the call letters to KSMO-TV in April 1991. The relaunched channel 62 cemented itself as the primary sports and children's station in Kansas City; from 1990 to 1995, viewership tripled and advertising revenue quadrupled. ABRY affiliated the station with UPN upon its January 1995 debut. The station also
4320-460: The bank was interested in selling. Two and a half months later, the bank filed to sell the station to ABRY Communications. ABRY, which owned two independent stations in Baltimore and Cincinnati, promised to spend millions of dollars to replace the transmitting facility and purchase new movies for air on the station. Additionally, the company announced it would move the station to new studios. Even before
4416-519: The city school board began to disagree on which function of the station was more important amid a financial crunch, the case was made for the school district to spin out KCSD-TV to a community-owned non-profit organization. This officially took place at the start of 1972, at which time the station changed call signs to KCPT. In part by acquiring assets of the defunct KCIT-TV at bankruptcy auction, channel 19 improved its signal and began color telecasting. In addition, KCPT began producing local programming for
4512-536: The company's stations lasted three years. Only in March 1989 did a Chattanooga bankruptcy court begin considering plans to sell some of the Media Central stations, eventually approving a purchase of KZKC by one of Media Central's creditors, First American National Bank of Nashville, Tennessee . First American then contracted Act III Broadcasting , an Atlanta-based company with significant operations in Nashville, to run
4608-613: The end of 1977, with KCPT moving into 31st Street shortly after. The Missouri Lottery 's first televised drawings were conducted from the KCPT studios when the lottery began in 1986. Though a network of commercial stations led by KCTV held the rights to the telecasts, KCTV could not produce the show in its facilities in Kansas, and only KCPT had adequate space for the observers required by the lottery. Joseph Fuzy, KCPT's general manager, retired in 1992 after 18 years. He advanced his retirement to save
4704-442: The entire network lineup moved to channel 62, making the station the only one in the market programming for kids and fueling large viewership increases, particularly in the early evening hours. This also left syndicators of children's TV shows desperate for their programs to air in Kansas City to have to accept less-than-ideal time slots for their programs: general manager Jim McDonald was offered $ 100,000 in advertising support to place
4800-497: The failed station, had repossessed the transmitter facility, and a bankruptcy auction was scheduled in late October for 10 acres of land and a building in Blue Summit . CSB won the bidding, described as "exciting" by Harry Jones Jr. of The Kansas City Star , over Andrew "Skip" Carter—owner of the city's Black radio station, KPRS —and a surprise entrant to the auction, a local banker. CSB briefly considered applying for channel 50 as
4896-413: The fall lineup of PBS, which was replacing NET as the national network for public television stations, met with poor attendance from the news media. Community Service Broadcasting of Mid-America (CSB) was formed in January 1971 with a board of 23 local civic and business leaders. It was chaired by Edward T. Matheny, Jr., who had served as attorney for the school board. In August 1971, the board approved
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#17328757349744992-594: The father she lost in Vietnam and aired nationally on Independent Lens . In the mid- to late 2000s, the station had two changes in leadership. Reed retired in 2005 and was replaced by Victor Hogstrom, who had built a reputation as a revenue generator in his previous position at WTCI in Chattanooga, Tennessee . After Hogstrom resigned in 2008, he was replaced by Kliff Kuehl, previously of KNPB in Reno, Nevada . In advance of
5088-481: The first programs for schools were broadcast and every television set in the schools had to be converted to receive UHF stations. In September, the board of education authorized KCSD-TV to join National Educational Television (NET), allowing it to present adult education programming at night beginning in February 1962. As with the schools, the public would need to convert TV sets to receive KCSD-TV,
5184-589: The first time. KCPT moved in 1978 from studios near the transmitter site to the former KCMO-TV building in Union Hill in 1978. In the 1990s, KCPT debuted Kansas City Week in Review , an ongoing public affairs series, and was among the first public TV stations to begin broadcasting a digital signal. When analog telecasting ceased in 2009, KCPT began offering additional subchannels of programming. Since 2013, KCPT has expanded into related public media businesses by purchasing
5280-405: The first year of the contract to 53 games, the second-lowest exposure of any major-league franchise. In 1997, the Royals moved to an 80-game package, with 30 cable telecasts on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain and 50 games broadcast over-the-air. The broadcast rights to the package were won by KMBC-TV and KCWB (channel 29), an affiliate of The WB which KMBC-TV managed. On July 21, 1997, Sinclair signed
5376-521: The groundwork to introduce what would have been KSMO-TV's first local newscast, utilizing its News Central hybrid format. The station was approved to hire a news staff of two dozen; the newscast would feature local stories read by an anchor in Kansas City mixed with national segments from News Central's facility at Sinclair headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland . On November 12, 2004, the Meredith Corporation , owner of KCTV, announced that it would acquire
5472-494: The high-profile move by Sinclair to move five stations from UPN to The WB, its direct competitor, led to a legal dispute between the companies. UPN sued Sinclair, alleging it had breached its affiliation contract by exiting it early. At the end of December, Sinclair announced that KSMO would exit the network when its affiliation agreement ended on January 16, 1998. The station then became an independent again, even as reports surfaced of renewed talks between Sinclair and UPN. The network
5568-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of
5664-495: The inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content
5760-522: The late 1964 television season. Efforts were made toward regional planning to give school districts in the expanded coverage area a voice in KCSD-TV's educational programming. The growth of adult programming on KCSD-TV had increased the station's year-round payroll from two employees in 1963 to 13 in 1969. However, by 1969, the school board faced a financial crisis that ultimately led it to lay off more than 250 people. This exacerbated existing conflict within
5856-493: The later addition of a second Store of Knowledge, the venture lasted less than five years, closing nationally in June 2001. One local series launched at KCPT in the 1990s became a station staple, and another remains on the air. Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations , a travel program, became a regular series after positive response to a special produced the previous year. The program had a 12-season run, traveling to 40 states, and won regional awards. Kansas City Week in Review
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#17328757349745952-482: The license—debuted on December 7, 1983, from studios in Blue Summit . It was the first new station in Kansas City since KYFC-TV , a Christian television station, began in 1978, and it was the first new general-entertainment independent since KSHB-TV went on the air as KBMA-TV in 1970. Programming consisted primarily of classic reruns, as well as a handful of first-run and new shows in the Kansas City area and Big Eight Conference college basketball. The station, however,
6048-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at
6144-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on
6240-465: The main subchannels of KCTV, KMBC-TV, and KCWE; those stations in turn broadcast its five subchannels in ATSC 1.0 format. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow ,
6336-401: The market's sports station, picking up rights packages including Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri , and UMKC basketball, Kansas City Blades hockey, and—starting in 1993 —65 Kansas City Royals baseball games each year, which was more than longtime rightsholder WDAF-TV had ever carried in its 13-year relationship with the franchise. In its last year, WDAF-TV had especially strained to juggle
6432-402: The non-license assets of KSMO-TV from Sinclair for $ 26.8 million, immediately assuming responsibility for KSMO's advertising sales and administrative operations under a joint sales agreement . It also had an option to buy the station if FCC rules so approved for a further $ 6.7 million. Sinclair's decision to hand over sales and most other functions of KSMO-TV, with an option to sell it completely,
6528-468: The official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 47, using virtual channel 62. The station was then repacked to channel 32 in April 2019. On August 24, 2021, KSMO-TV converted to ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) broadcasting as one of two 3.0 transmitters in Kansas City. KSMO-TV hosts
6624-521: The only UHF station in Kansas City at the time. Though the Kansas City School District invited other nearby school systems in western Missouri and far eastern Kansas to use KCSD-TV programming, some systems in outlying areas were not covered. Additionally, as a result of increasing interest in the adult education programming, in 1963, KCSD-TV applied for and received a federal grant to increase its transmission power, which took effect for
6720-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be
6816-532: The right to buy stock in SelecTV of Kansas City, that company was granted the construction permit on April 8, 1981, but channel 62 continued to sit unbuilt for more than two years. The permittee changed its name from SelecTV of Kansas City to Choice Channel of Kansas City in 1982, a year in which Kansas City and its metropolitan area were wired for cable at an accelerated pace and the national economic picture for STV began to sour. Choice Channel of Kansas City then took on
6912-447: The sale closed, the station aimed to prepare for a major overhaul and to capitalize on KSHB-TV, its primary competitor, having an increasing obligation to Fox programs. It lured a series of college basketball broadcasts from channel 41 in part by having time to air Kansas and Kansas State coaches' shows. Many major changes and a large promotion campaign were implemented in March and April 1991. A three-week "Your Vote Counts" campaign
7008-419: The school board as to the purpose of KCSD-TV. Board president Homer C. Wadsworth proposed the establishment of a community advisory board for the station in 1966, in order to enhance the effectiveness of its evening programming for adults; however, the idea met with opposition from several board members. As a result of the financial issues in the school district, superintendent James A. Hazlett recommended that
7104-576: The station affiliated with MyNetworkTV , set up by Fox Television Stations to serve former UPN and WB affiliates spurned in the merger. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, KSMO experimented with a variety of local programs, including TeenStar , a weekly teen show co-produced with The Kansas City Star ; weekly public affairs show Your Kansas City ; bilingual Hispanic program Qué Pasa KC ; film showcase CinemaKC ; and high school football and Missouri Valley Conference and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association college sports. From 2011 to 2013, it
7200-546: The station converted to ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) broadcasting. Several applications had been made for channel 62 in Kansas City in the late 1960s, including by Dick Bailey and TVue Associates, but interest around the channel allocation started in earnest at the end of the 1970s, as several business ventures around the country analyzed using unused UHF channels in major cities to broadcast subscription television (STV) programming. In 1977, Buford Television of Tyler, Texas , and SelecTV of Kansas City, Inc., both made applications to
7296-526: The station cut $ 125,000 from its $ 275,000 budget by ceasing local production of educational programs for schools, instead purchasing series produced elsewhere. Two board members instead preferred cuts to the evening programming, one saying that the station's programs for adults were an unnecessary expense in a year when the board had to increase school lunch prices. Others, including Wadsworth and former University of Missouri–Kansas City chancellor Carleton Scofield, noted that federal funding for public television
7392-479: The station had just completed a $ 6 million renovation of its studios, including an expansion in which KCPT extended the facility to cover where other businesses had stood. A capital campaign to pay for the digital television conversion also was intended to start a $ 2 million local program endowment in honor of Masterman. However, the economy declined, and the September 11 attacks further diminished charitable giving. As
7488-462: The station money during a budget crunch. He was replaced by Bill Reed. In 1996, KCPT followed KCET in Los Angeles by opening a Store of Knowledge in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza . The hope was that the venture would help replace diminishing federal funds for public broadcasting. The station took no responsibility for losses or day-to-day operations while receiving 25 percent of profits. After
7584-405: The station tried to attract interest was its policy to only edit films where there were explicit sexual acts, leading to occasional shots of nudity . On May 26, 1987, even after announcing it would start censoring frontal nudity the year before, KZKC aired the 1981 comedy-drama film Private Lessons , known for its frontal nudity and a plot involving a relationship between a high school student and
7680-571: The station. This was heavily delayed by appeals in federal court. While that went on, Steve Engles—who then left when his bid to purchase Media Central-owned KBSI in Cape Girardeau was approved—improved KZKC's programming, signal, and on-air look. On February 7, 1990, a subsidiary of First American National Bank received KZKC's license, with Act III taking over management duties. This was a short-term solution; Act III's contract precluded it from buying KZKC, and Act III president Bert Ellis noted that
7776-686: The studio facility was completed. However, its construction methods ultimately resulted in subpar equipment and poorer reception; at one time, the station volunteered to send repairmen to homes experiencing difficulty tuning it in. In a January 1988 article in Channels magazine, a former station employee was quoted as saying that the high school in Shawnee Mission, Kansas , had better equipment than channel 62, though Media Central's corporate office in Chattanooga did have high-quality equipment. KEKR-TV—whose call letters represented an attorney who helped file for
7872-522: The studios in Blue Summit and to prepare a new instructional television program, benefiting from CSB's superior financial resources compared to the Kansas City School District and a cooperative equipment purchase plan to aid schools without color TV sets. KCPT began broadcasting in color and with its increased power on October 16, 1972. In 1973, the station held its first televised auction to purchase equipment for local program production. John Masterman,
7968-467: The time—unanimously agreed the material was obscene and, on a 2–1 vote, fined KZKC $ 2,000 in June 1988. The fine represented the first punishment of a television station for airing obscene programming. Media Central chairman Morton Kent called the fine "outrageous" and declared to Dennis McDougal of the Los Angeles Times that he would not pay. However, the commission rescinded the fine in 1989 after
8064-447: The transfer of the KCSD-TV license to CSB with the stipulation that the new licensee provide five hours on weekdays for the broadcast of programs for schools, to be primarily financed by the Kansas City school district. In addition, CSB leased the school district's facilities until it could relocate the station. One of the major issues facing CSB was KCSD-TV's signal quality. In addition to being incapable of telecasting in color, it had
8160-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines
8256-522: The worst call letters that any station in America could have chosen", being tough to say and hard to remember to the point that some people noted in Nielsen Media Research ratings diaries that they had watched programs which channel 62 carried but ascribed them to other local stations. The ABRY overhaul brought KSMO-TV credibility it had previously lacked. The station made an intensive push to become
8352-459: Was begun in March; ballots were placed at points around the city to allow viewers to vote on programming, following a model ABRY had successfully used at its WNUV in Baltimore. The next month, the station relocated to the Cambridge Circle office park in Kansas City, Kansas , in studios that were twice the size of the Blue Summit facility built by Media Central; the program lineup was shuffled,
8448-694: Was far from an immediate success. In its first year on air, it attracted just three percent of the Kansas City viewing audience, well below the six to eight percent its founding program director had set as a goal. The station's lone bright spot was that it was drawing young people to watch cartoons in mornings and afternoons. A new general manager, Steve Friedheim, was appointed in a management shakeup; when he attempted to gather public feedback, he found that nobody had heard of his station. Three of his colleagues at his former employer, independent station WNOL-TV in New Orleans , followed him to Kansas City amid turmoil at
8544-522: Was increasing and called any cuts to that portion unwise. In July 1970, the school board voted to fully fund instructional television and provide half funding for public television for the 1970–1971 school year, after which it would quit supporting KCSD-TV. A new public non-profit corporation backed by Scofield and Wadsworth was being formed to pick up the remainder and eventually become the licensee. The group struggled to attract public interest to its efforts at first. A press conference to announce locally
8640-512: Was left without a Kansas City affiliate for more than a month, but by late February, all signs pointed to KCWB taking on the UPN affiliation as KSMO negotiated with The WB. This occurred on March 30, 1998; Kids' WB did not immediately move from channel 29 because of the Fox Kids program commitment at channel 62, with those blocks instead swapping stations later in the year. In the early 2000s, Sinclair laid
8736-412: Was motivated by a corporate decision to focus on duopoly markets where it owned or could feasibly own two stations. It created the third such combination in Kansas City, alongside KSHB-TV with KMCI-TV and, indirectly, KMBC-TV with KCWE (the former KCWB). After the sale, KSMO-TV operations were moved to KCTV's offices in Fairway, Kansas . Meredith then filed to buy KSMO-TV outright in January 2005,
8832-730: Was settled out of court that December. On January 16, 1995, KSMO-TV became the Kansas City charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network ( UPN ), which was created as a partnership between Paramount Television and Chris-Craft/United Television . KSMO-TV, the only available independent sought by two new networks— The WB and UPN—initially chose the latter on the strength of its primary attraction, Star Trek: Voyager . Sinclair Broadcast Group had acquired an option to buy KSMO-TV and WSTR-TV in Cincinnati from ABRY in 1994, after ABRY had sold most of its other TV properties to Sinclair;
8928-551: Was seven percent, far better than the three percent registered in May 1990, before the ABRY acquisition. KSMO-TV also profited from a major change elsewhere in the Kansas City television market. As a result of a group affiliation agreement between Fox and New World Communications , the Fox affiliation moved from KSHB-TV to WDAF-TV in September 1994. WDAF-TV, however, did not take Fox Kids programming;
9024-499: Was started by John Masterman in 1992 and was conceived as a counterpart to the national Washington Week in Review . It has been anchored by Nick Haines since 1997, who had joined as a Kansas statehouse panelist in 2014. KCPT became the first Kansas City station to begin digital telecasting when KCPT-DT on channel 18 began operating on November 6, 1998. KCPT was the first client for a new television transmitter capable of broadcasting in analog and digital on adjacent channels. Delays in
9120-437: Was the broadcast home of Kansas City Royals baseball for four years, further increasing its visibility. Sinclair Broadcast Group exercised an option to buy KSMO-TV in December 1995. The station dropped UPN in January 1998 after a corporate dispute between Sinclair and the network; two months later, the station became the new Kansas City affiliate of The WB . With the company focusing on duopolies elsewhere and unable to buy
9216-594: Was the television home of Sporting Kansas City soccer. On May 3, 2021, Gray Television announced its intent to purchase the Meredith Local Media division, including KSMO and KCTV, for $ 2.7 billion. The sale was completed on December 1. While Sinclair had first intended to establish a News Central newscast in Kansas City, that had not materialized by the time Sinclair outsourced most of KSMO-TV's operations to Meredith. Meredith, however, pledged to extend KCTV's newsroom to KSMO-TV as part of its proposal to win
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