KTBC (TV)
kW | |
HAAT | 383 m (1,257 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 30°18′35″N 97°47′34″W / 30.30972°N 97.79278°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
KTBC (channel 7) is a
History
Early years with CBS
KTBC-TV aired its first television broadcast on Thursday, November 27, 1952, becoming the first television station in Austin and Central Texas. Originally housed in a small studio in the Driskill Hotel,[2] the station was originally owned by the Texas Broadcasting Company (from whom the call letters are taken), which was in turn owned by then-Senator and future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird, alongside KTBC radio (590 AM and 93.7 FM). Lady Bird Johnson used the money from her family inheritance to purchase KTBC-TV, she remained active with her radio station until she was in her eighties which led her to become the first president's wife to have become a millionaire on her own.[3][4] It carried all four major networks at the time: ABC, CBS, NBC and the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. However, it was a primary CBS affiliate. In its early history, it carried roughly 65% of CBS's schedule; NBC and ABC roughly split the remaining coverage in half.[5]
In 1960, the staff of channel 7 produced a film for the Texas Department of Public Safety, entitled Target Austin. The 20-minute film presents the scenario of a nuclear missile strike on the outskirts of Austin and follows the storylines of several characters from the CONELRAD broadcast to the announcement that it is safe to emerge from shelter. The film takes place in Austin, highlighting several iconic locations in the city, and featured an Austin-based cast and crew: including director Gordon Wilkison (of KTBC), narrator Cactus Pryor (also of KTBC), actress Coleen Hardin, and El Rancho restaurant owner Matt Martinez.[6]
KTBC-TV benefited from a quirk in the
After the FCC's Sixth Report and Order ended the license freeze and opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas would be designated as "UHF islands" since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" represented non-commercial educational stations, and "1/2" became ABC (which was the weakest network usually winding up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available).
However, Austin is sandwiched between
As a result, KTBC-TV was the only station in Austin until KHFI-TV (channel 42, now KXAN-TV on channel 36) signed on in February 1965. NBC programming continued to be broadcast solely on KTBC-TV for the next 18 months due to contractual obligations. Channel 7 became an exclusive CBS affiliate when all of ABC's programming moved to KVUE (channel 24) when that station first signed on in September 1971.
After Lyndon Johnson became President following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the networks established direct feed lines between KTBC and the various network affiliates in New York City, Dallas and Chicago. This facilitated news reports relayed while the President was residing either in Austin or at his ranch in Johnson City. News reports were also relayed in the president's Oval Office or in his private study at the White House. The Johnsons maintained a penthouse apartment on the fifth floor of the station, which was wired for camera and sound equipment, and used on occasion for local programming on occasions when the Johnsons were away.
This multi-network capability was first demonstrated live on August 1, 1966, following the
After he became President, President Johnson and his family's ownership of KTBC-TV was the source of investigative journalism and reporting, including a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal in March 1964 written by reporter Louis M. Kohlmeier.[7] With a headline that included "How President's Wife Built $17,500 Into Big Fortune in Television," Kohlmeier's reporting and the work done by other reporters and journalists at the time raised questions regarding the former Vice President and then President's influence on behalf of the Austin station.
In 1972, new FCC regulations forced the Johnsons to sell KTBC-TV to the
Outside the Austin market, KTBC and all other Austin stations previously served out-of-market coverage on cable systems in both Bryan and College Station for more than two decades, as well as some cable systems in portions of the Waco–Temple–Killeen market.[10]
In January 1994, KTBC began to manage
From CBS to Fox affiliation
In December 1993,
In late 1994, most New World-owned stations (except for two) dropped their longtime "Big Three" affiliations and switched to Fox.[15][16] On January 19, 1995, New World took over operations of the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements. Nearly three months later, New World completed its merger with Argyle.
The last CBS network program to air on KTBC was a repeat of Walker, Texas Ranger at 9 p.m. Central Time on July 1, 1995, the day that channel 7 ended its 43-year affiliation with the network and became a Fox affiliate; the CBS affiliation went to former Fox affiliate KBVO-TV, which changed its call letters to KEYE-TV. KEYE was the only logical choice as the market's replacement CBS affiliate, as both KXAN and KVUE had long-term affiliation contracts with NBC and ABC respectively at the time. As the new Fox affiliate, channel 7 was able to continue as Austin's unofficial "home" of the Dallas Cowboys, because of Fox's rights to the NFC. KTBC had carried most Cowboys games since the team's inception in 1960 by virtue of CBS winning television rights to the NFL in 1956. For many years, it also carried Cowboys preseason games, though those telecasts moved to KEYE in 2006.
In its early years as a Fox station, KTBC filled its daytime lineup with talk shows and the nighttime schedule with off-network sitcoms. Although Channel 7 acquired the rights to most of Fox's programming, KTBC and K13VC initially split the local broadcast rights to the network's children's programming block,
The station came under the ownership of Fox when New World merged with
News operation
This section needs expansion with: further information on the history of KTBC's news department. You can help by adding to it. (September 2017) |
As of October 2021, KTBC presently broadcasts 53 hours of locally-produced newscasts each week (with nine hours each weekday, four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); the most of all the broadcast television stations in the Austin market. KTBC's Sunday 5 p.m. newscast is subject to preemption due to
Like most former Big Three affiliates that switched to Fox, KTBC retains a news schedule similar to what it used in its latter days as a CBS affiliate. It continued its 10 p.m. newscast, with the 9 p.m. hour time slot filled by syndicated programming, unusual for that network's affiliates. This changed in 2000 when the station moved its evening newscast to 9 p.m. – the first prime-time newscast in Austin.
For most of its first four decades on the air, KTBC was the dominant news station in Austin, due in part to being the only station in the market for 12 years. However, with the network swap, ratings began to steadily decline and by the late 1990s, KXAN had overtaken it for first place.
Former on-air news talent
- Judd Hambrick (now retired; is the brother of fellow anchors John and Mike)
- Alan Krashesky (retired; was the anchor ar WLS-TV in Chicago before retirement)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
7.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
KTBC-HD | Main KTBC programming / Fox |
7.2 | 480i | KTBC-SD | Movies! | |
7.3 | 4:3 |
Buzzr | Buzzr | |
7.4 | 16:9 | MeTV | MeTV | |
7.5 | Decades | Catchy Comedy[20] | ||
7.6 | FoxWX | Fox Weather | ||
62.11 | UNIV | Univision in SD (KAKW-DT) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KTBC shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTBC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Dolce, Ann (Fall 2012). "Driskill Hotel: A Grande Dame 125 Years Young" (PDF). Austin History Center Association. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ Gould, Jack (January 5, 1964). "PICKING PROGRAMS / One Viewer Found Self in Enviable Position". The New York Times, Section 2, p.X 11. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ Kohlmeier, Louis (March 23, 1964). "The Johnson Wealth". The Wall Street Journal. Vol. 2. Dow Jones & Company.
- ^ "To Market, To Market, in Austin Texas". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. c. 1969. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ "Target Austin". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. 1960. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ Louis M. Kohlmeier, "The Johnson Wealth." The Wall Street Journal March 23, 1964, 1.
- ^ "Johnson Interests Are Forced to Sell Austin TV Station". The New York Times. September 2, 1972. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ The Media Business; Times Mirror in Talks to Sell TV Stations, The New York Times, March 25, 1993. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Complete information on cable in Texas (Page 1184-1204 - BC&YB 1982)" (PDF).
- ^ "Austin News, Events, Restaurants, Music - the Austin Chronicle".
- Austin Business Journal. March 19, 2003. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ CBS, NBC Battle for AFC Rights // Fox Steals NFC Package, Chicago Sun-Times, December 18, 1993.
- ^ "NBC Gets Final N.F.L. Contract While CBS Gets Its Sundays Off". The New York Times. December 21, 1993. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ "Fox Gains 12 Stations in New World Deal". Chicago Sun-Times. May 23, 1994. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ^ Fox Network Takes 12 Stations from Big Three, The Buffalo News, May 24, 1994.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (July 18, 1996). "New World Vision : Murdoch's News Corp. to Buy Broadcast Group". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ Taylor, Chuck (February 5, 1997). "Three-Network Switch Possible For Seattle TV". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KTBC
- ^ "Fox Television Stations To Carry Weigel Broadcasting's Decades TV Network Beginning in Q3". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine