KRBC-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 258 m (846 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 32°16′38″N 99°35′52″W / 32.27722°N 99.59778°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
KRBC-TV (channel 9) is a
History
KRBC-TV first began its broadcasting operation on August 30, 1953, as the first television station in Abilene. The station was owned by the Ackers family, who had bought the construction permit from
In 1962, KACB-TV signed on from
In 2002, Sunrise merged with
Mission Broadcasting, in turn, contracted with the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, owner of KTAB, to provide news, traffic, sales, engineering, and business operations under a shared sales agreement.In 2005, Nexstar completed the consolidation of the KTAB operations into the older, larger KRBC building at 4510 South 14th Street in Abilene. Nexstar had already taken over KRBC's operations a year earlier under a joint sales agreement with KTAB as the senior partner. The original KTAB building was sold and has subsequently been converted into an office building. The computerized and automated master control facility not only operates KRBC and KTAB in Abilene, but also sister Nexstar/Mission stations KLST and KSAN-TV in San Angelo.
During a January 14, 2007
The station's digital signal remained off the air until October 2007, when it returned to the air on digital channel 29 with all NBC programming presented in HD.[6][7]
In 2009, following the FCC-mandated cessation of analog broadcasting, KRBC's new full-power digital transmitter was installed in a new facility at KTAB's tower site; both stations now broadcast from the same tower. The Cedar Gap facility was sold to AEP, who had already constructed a new tower at the site.
In May 2007, KTAB and KRBC's websites were combined into one, BigCountryHomepage.com. The site is maintained with content produced by both stations, and serves as a community portal to Abilene and the surrounding areas.
News operation
KRBC presently broadcasts 16+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with three hours each weekday, one hour on Saturdays and a half-hour on Sundays).
On February 2, 2013, KRBC began broadcasting its local newscasts in
Notable former on-air staff
- John Hambrick – anchor (1960s; deceased)
- Art Rascon – anchor/reporter (1985–1987; later with KTRK-TV in Houston)
- Jennifer Servo– reporter (murdered in 2002)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
9.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
KRBC-DT | Main KRBC-TV programming / NBC |
9.2 | 480i | Grit | Grit | |
9.3 | Laff | Laff | ||
9.4 | Bounce | Bounce TV |
Installation of full-power digital transmitters for both KRBC-DT and KTAB-DT was completed in October 2007. The transmitters are housed in a newly constructed building at the KTAB tower site, adjacent to the former analog transmitter building on a mountaintop southeast of Potosi. Both stations share the same digital antenna on the KTAB tower. A new digital 7 GHz microwave studio-transmitter link (STL), as well as a master control update, has allowed both stations to deliver the high definition signals to the entire coverage area, as well as delivering Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Both NBC and CBS networks use the 1080i HDTV format.
Both KTAB and KRBC operate digital microwave links in the 7 GHz and 2 GHz spectrums.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with
Analog-to-digital conversion
KRBC-TV shut down its analog signal, over
2005 cable dispute
On January 1, 2005, at midnight, KRBC was removed from the cable television lineup in the city of Abilene after months of dispute between the station owner(s) and Cox Communications, now Suddenlink Communications. In accordance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, KRBC station owner Mission Broadcasting (operated by Nexstar Broadcasting) tried to make an agreement with the cable system to continue carrying KRBC's NBC programming. Cox Communications claimed KRBC wanted its cable system to pay for its transmission. The disagreement began with KRBC/Mission/Nexstar requesting 10 cents per subscriber for KRBC to be carried on the Cox Cable system in the Abilene area. The basic argument was that satellite providers pay for the right to rebroadcast local affiliates' signals, and that cable operators should, as well.
Due to the dispute, Cox eventually dropped KRBC from its system, which caused many city residents to purchase an antenna for their homes to pick up the station's analog signal for NBC programming. Later in the year, KRBC and the other local television stations were picked up by
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KRBC-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Wednesday TV Log". Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene, TX. December 29, 1954. pp. 7B.
- ^ BIA Financial Networks (March 24, 2002). "Changing hands". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- ^ Kerschbaumer, Ken (May 18, 2003). "'Duopoly' in Terre Haute". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- ^ 2007 Tower News - Wireless Estimator
- ^ a b 'Tis the season for high-def broadcasting - Abilene Reporter News
- ^ KTAB and KRBC TV High Definition TV - Big Country Homepage
- ^ Premier Night - KRBC TV (official facebook fanpage)
- ^ Behind the Scenes on KRBC's New Set - BigCountryHomepage.com (KRBC and KTAB)
- ^ Comment in Facebook (replied by KRBC)
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KRBC
- ^ "Bounce TV, Grit, Escape, Laff Multicast Deal Covers 81 Stations, 54 Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ DTV Transition Complete - BigCountryHomepage.com
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. Press Release Thursday, October 20, 2005