KSLA
Tyler, TX | |
Links | |
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Public license information | |
Website | www |
KSLA (channel 12) is a
History
Early history
The
In August 1953, citing a desire to speed the arrival of television to Shreveport,[7] Radio Station KRMD Inc., the Shreveport Television Co., and the Southland Television Co. submitted a joint application to the FCC to operate VHF channel 12 pending the outcome of the comparative hearings on their individual applications. The applicants held one-third interests in a new venture, Interim Television Corp., which would build operate the station until the FCC determined a grantee; at that time, the designated winner would buy out the others, with the permit becoming invalidated no longer than 10 days after the regular permit was issued to the winning applicant.[8][9] The FCC granted the permit to the temporary corporation on September 18, and the construction permit took the call sign KSLA-TV, representing the station's location, Shreveport, Louisiana.[10][11]
The station first signed on the air on January 1, 1954,
Shreveport Television Company and Shreveport Journal ownership
On June 8, 1954, FCC hearing examiner Fanney N. Litvin issued an initial decision looking to grant the Shreveport Television Company the construction permit application for channel 12, citing its lack of radio facilities and better television programming proposals, facilities and staffing commitments.
KSLA disaffiliated from NBC after KTBS-TV (channel 3) signed on as Shreveport's second television station on September 3, 1955. DuMont ceased operations in September 1955; KSLA remained a primary CBS affiliate with secondary ABC and DuMont affiliations until the latter network discontinued operations in August 1956, amid various issues that arose from DuMont's relations with Paramount Pictures that hamstrung it from expansion; that year, the station also added an additional affiliation with the NTA Film Network.[23] KSLA activated its permanent transmission facility on November 24, 1955; at 1,195 feet (364 m), the tower helped to significantly increase the station's reach from 177,100 viewers to 1.089 million viewers throughout northwestern Louisiana, northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas.[24] It also marked the end of more than two years of interim operation.[25]
KSLA and KTBS-TV continued to share limited amounts of ABC programming until 1961, when Texarkana, Texas–licensed KTAL-TV (channel 6) assumed the local rights to the NBC affiliation after KTAL owner Palmer Newspapers received FCC permission to relocate that station's transmitter closer to Shreveport, effectively folding the Texarkana area into the Shreveport television market. As a consequence, KTBS-TV chose to become an exclusive ABC affiliate; this left KSLA affiliated with CBS and the NTA Film Network, the latter of which KSLA continued to provide select programs from until that network ceased operations in 1961. Another local program aired on KSLA during this time was Hallelujah Train, a Sunday morning program many consider as a religious version of Soul Train. In 1959, KSLA became the first television station in the Shreveport market to broadcast in color.
In January 1960, the Shreveport Television Company to KSLA-TV Inc.—a local group headed by the Journal Publishing Company (owned by Douglas F. Attaway, owner and publisher of the now-defunct
For one month, in May 1967, KSLA maintained a secondary affiliation with the United Network (also known as the Overmyer Network), a short-lived attempt to create a fourth national commercial television network; it was one of several stations nationwide to broadcast United/Overmyer's short-lived late night program, The Las Vegas Show. In 1972, the station relocated its operations into its current studio facilities on Fairfield Avenue and Dashiel Street (near Schumpert Medical Center).[32]
Local ownership by KSLA-TV Inc.; Viacom ownership
After Attaway sold the Shreveport Journal to local businessman and philanthropist Charles T. Beaird, in February 1976, the Journal Publishing Company announced it would sell the station to KSLA-TV Inc. (a local consortium owned by Attaway, Delores La Vigne and Winston B. Linam) for $2.823 million; the transfer received FCC approval on May 27.
On January 19, 1983, KSLA-TV Inc. announced it would sell the station to the
Ellis and Raycom ownership
In 1994, following the completion of Viacom's acquisition of Paramount Pictures from
Shortly before the merger, Paramount announced the formation of the United Paramount Network (
Following the merger with Paramount, Viacom was reported to be considering the sale of all of its non-UPN stations.
On May 16, 1996, Ellis Communications announced it would sell its fifteen television and two radio stations and sports production/syndication firm
Sale to Gray Television
On June 25, 2018, Atlanta-based Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including KSLA, and Gray's 93 television stations) under Gray's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—resulted in KSLA gaining new sister stations in nearby markets, including primary CBS/subchannel-only Fox and MyNetworkTV affiliate KXII in Sherman, Texas, primary CBS/subchannel-only ABC affiliate KNOE-TV in Monroe and primary NBC/subchannel-only CBS affiliate KALB-TV in Alexandria, in addition to its current sister stations under Raycom ownership; as a result, the combined company will have broadcast properties in six of the seven television markets serving Louisiana (with Lafayette as the lone exception).[56][57][58][59] The sale was approved on December 20,[60] and was completed on January 2, 2019.[61][62]
After being acquired by Gray, KSLA expanded its signal reach to areas that struggled to receive its signal in the post-digital transition. In 2022, Gray acquired former The Box affiliate KBXS-CD in Shreveport and added the main CBS feed to its fifth subchannel shortly before changing the call sign to KTSH-CD to serve as the Telemundo affiliate for the market. In the same year, Gray acquired Texarkana, Arkansas–based station KTEV-CD from Buma Group and Tyler, Texas–based K14NR-D from Windsong Communications. By 2023, these two stations became translators of KSLA for the northern and western parts of the Shreveport market, respectively; while K14NR-D is licensed to Tyler, its signal only covers the immediate Longview area.[63][64][65][66]
Programming
As the Shreveport–Texarkana market did not have a PBS
Sports programming
KSLA was once the home of the
Since 2001, KSLA has also held the local broadcast rights to NFL preseason games from the New Orleans Saints; the station carries roughly between three and five prime time game telecasts annually due to the Saints preseason games being produced by sister station WVUE.
On December 30, 2023, KSLA parent company Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans to air 10 games on the station during the 2023–24 season.[70]
News operation
As of September 2018[update], KSLA presently broadcasts 33 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday and 1+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition, KSLA-DT3 broadcasts eight hours of locally produced newscasts each week: consisting of an hour-long extension of KSLA News 12 This Morning, and a simulcast of the hour-long 6 p.m. newscast carried on the station's main feed, both on weekdays.
News department history
The station's first news anchor and news director, Don Owen, established KSLA's news department. Initially serving as a weather anchor, Owen became a highly trusted figure among area viewers during his three-decade tenure at the station; a local columnist in the Shreveport Times once referred him "the Walter Cronkite of the Shreveport media market," comparing him to the legendary CBS News anchor.[71] Al Bolton served as the station's first meteorologist. Bolton also served as host of Al's Corral, a western-themed children's program that was one of the station's most popular local programs. Bolton remained the meteorologist until May 1991, when he began a ten-year association with KRMD radio before retiring. Bolton received the "Seal of Certification" from the National Weather Association in 1982 for "performance well above the media and meteorological standards".[72][73][74]
In 1961, Bob Griffin joined KSLA as the station's sports editor. Griffin—who originally expected to stay in Shreveport for one or two years before deciding to embark on a 50-year-plus career in the Shreveport market—became personally acquainted with statistics of area athletes, some of whom reached national prominence. He also served as host of Bob & His Buddies, a children's show that aired on channel 12 during the 1960s, and the short-lived What's News?, a current events quiz program for high schoolers that ran from 1963 to 1965, which featured questions based on stories featured on KSLA's newscast and sports segments during the previous week. In October 1967, Nita Fran Hutcheson (later a chamber of commerce official in her hometown of Texarkana, Texas) was hired by Owen to serve as an assignment reporter; her appointment made history, with Hutcheson becoming the first female television reporter in the Shreveport–Texarkana market.[75] Under Owen's stewardship, the station also hired Margaret Pelley (later of Dateline NBC) and Roseanne Colletti (later at WNBC in New York City) to serve as part of the station's reporting staff, along with local figures such as Wray Post, Tom and Barry Irwin, Carl Pendley, and Tony Taglavore.[71]
In the late 1970s, KSLA was the first television station in the Shreveport–Texarkana market to update transition from film to videotape. In 1983, KSLA also became the first to operate a live
In September 2008, KSLA became the first television station in Louisiana (and one of the first in the nation) to air a weekday morning newscast at 9 a.m. In September 2010, KSLA expanded its weeknight 6 p.m. newscast to one hour and expanded the weekend edition of its 10 p.m. newscast to one hour. On October 15, 2010, KSLA became the second television station in the Shreveport–Texarkana market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.
On September 7, 2016, KSLA launched a half-hour newscast at 4 p.m. on weekday afternoons.[76]
In recent years, the station's news department has won several Regional
Notable former on-air staff
- David Begnaud
- Dennis Bounds – anchor/reporter (1987–1991; later at KING-TV in Seattle from 1991 to 2016, retired)
- Christine Negroni – reporter (now an American aviation and travel writer)
- Don Owen – anchor/reporter (1954–1983; deceased)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
KSLACBS | Main KSLA-TV programming / CBS |
12.2 | 480i | KSLA365 | The365
| |
12.3 | KSLABOU | Bounce TV | ||
12.4 | KSLAGRI | Grit | ||
12.5 | KSLADAB | Dabl | ||
12.6 | KSLADEF | Defy TV | ||
45.4 | 4:3 |
Quest | Quest (KSHV-TV )
|
Analog-to-digital conversion
KSLA discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, on June 12, 2009, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17,[79] using virtual channel 12.
References
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- Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. July 7, 1952. p. 66.
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- ^ "IDECO advertisement". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. September 17, 1956. p. 136.
- ^ "KSLA-TV Channel 12—Shreveport's First TV Station Begins Full Power Operation". The Shreveport Journal. Shreveport, Louisiana. November 25, 1955. p. B1. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. February 8, 1960. p. 76.
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"For the Record". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. February 8, 1960. p. 76. - ^ "Spacing waived in KBMT move". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. January 11, 1965. p. 77.
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"For the Record". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. February 15, 1965. p. 84. - ^ "For the Record". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. October 3, 1966. p. 80.
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- ^ "For the Record". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. June 21, 1976. p. 127.
- ^ "KSLA Tower Mysteriously Falls: Sheriff Investigating 2:30 a.m. Disaster". The Shreveport Journal. Shreveport, Louisiana. October 8, 1977. p. 1. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Towering disaster". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. October 24, 1977. p. 55.
- ^ "KSLA-TV now on full power". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. March 27, 1978. p. 9-A. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "In Brief". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. January 17, 1983. p. 144.
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- ^ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. April 18, 1983. p. 80.
"For the Record". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. April 18, 1983. p. 116. - Gannett Company. July 29, 1989. p. 6–C.
- ^ Foisie, Geoffrey, and Christopher Stern. "Viacom, Paramount say 'I do.'" Broadcasting and Cable, September 20, 1993, pp. 14-16. Accessed January 8, 2019. [1][2][3]
- ^ Foisie, Geoffrey. "At long last: Viacom Paramount." Broadcasting and Cable, February 21, 1994, pp. 7, 10, 14. Accessed January 8, 2019. [4][5][6]
- ^ Zier, Julie A.; McClellan, Steve (November 7, 1994). "Minority-led group eyes Viacom stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. p. 6.
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- ^ Pizarro, Fernando (May 9, 1995). "Viacom to sell KSLA". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 8B. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Zier, Julie A. (May 15, 1995). "Viacom takes WVEU off CBS's hands". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. p. 49.
- ^ "Viacom Sells Station And Buys Another". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 12, 1995. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
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- ^ Zier, Julie A. (November 21, 1994). "Bert Ellis buying New Vision TVs for $230 million". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. p. 6.
- ^ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. May 20, 1996. p. 49.
"Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. May 20, 1996. p. 49. - Bloomberg Business News. May 16, 1996. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
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- ^ "Ellis buys Federal for $170 million". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. June 3, 1995. p. 13.
- ^ "GRAY AND RAYCOM TO COMBINE IN A $3.6 BILLION TRANSACTION". Raycom Media (Press release). June 25, 2018. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ Eggerton, John (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (June 25, 2018). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
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- ^ "Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions", Gray Television, January 2, 2019, Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/tv-profile/ksla/equal-employment-opportunity-records/additional-documents/eeo-public-file-reports/ae67002f-0982-ab0c-023e-702624df4b6a
- ^ https://rbr.com/gray-gets-yet-another-low-power-tv-property/
- ^ https://rbr.com/gray-bulks-up-in-texarkana/
- ^ https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/station-trading-roundup-2-deals-1650000/
- ^ 'Sesame Street' series returning to local TV, The Shreveport Times, February 4, 1972, page 7-B
- ^ KSLA No Longer Airing 'Sesame Street' Series, The Shreveport Times, June 1, 1977, Page 5-B
- Arbitronlocal rastings for the Shreveport-Texarkana market, February 1984.
- ^ "WAFB will televise 10 of this season's Pelicans games" (Press release). WAFB. December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Roy, Carolyn (June 17, 2012). "Longtime KSLA anchor and news director Don Owen passes away". KSLA-TV. Raycom Media. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- WAVE-TV.
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- ^ "2019 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KSLA". RabbitEars. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.