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KOLD-TV
Channels
Branding13 News
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
February 1, 1953
(71 years ago) (1953-02-01)
Former call signs
KOPO-TV (1953–1957)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 13 (VHF, 1953–2009)
DuMont (secondary, 1953–1956)
Call sign meaning
Derived from then-co-owned KOOL-TV in Phoenix
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID48663
ERP108 kW
HAAT1,123 m (3,684 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°24′56″N 110°42′52″W / 32.41556°N 110.71444°W / 32.41556; -110.71444
Translator(s)13 (VHF) Tucson
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.kold.com

KOLD-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Tucson, Arizona, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television, which provides certain services to Fox affiliate KMSB (channel 11) and dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate KTTU-TV (channel 18) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Tegna Inc. The three stations share studios on North Business Park Drive on the northwest side of Tucson (near Casas Adobes). KOLD-TV's primary transmitter is atop Mount Bigelow, with a secondary transmitter atop the Tucson Mountains west of the city to fill in gaps in coverage.

Established in February 1953, KOLD-TV is the second-oldest television station in the state and was the first on air in Tucson. It has been affiliated with CBS for its entire history. After initially being the market leader in local news, it was surpassed by KVOA in the 1970s and suffered particularly in the late 1980s and 1990s from corporate neglect and cost-cutting. The station produces local newscasts that, since the 2000s, have been competitive in the local ratings.

History

[edit]

Construction and Autry-Chauncey ownership

[edit]

In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifting its freeze on the award of new television stations, three Tucson radio stations applied for three channels. The Old Pueblo Broadcasting Company, held by Gene Autry and Tom Chauncey and owner of Tucson's KOPO (1450 AM) and owned by Gene Autry and Tom Chauncey, filed for channel 13 without opposition on June 21, 1952, and was granted a construction permit to build on November 12.[2][3] Construction got under way in early December on an interim transmitter facility mounted on the AM radio tower, as 500-foot (150 m) towers were not yet available,[4] and on a television addition to the KOPO radio facility on West Drachman Street.[5]

On January 13, 1953, at 1:13:13 p.m. (13:13:13 in 24-hour time), the KOPO-TV transmitter was turned on.[6] As construction in the television studio was still in progress, no programming was aired[7] until February 1, when the station began to carry programs from CBS and the DuMont Television Network. The day before, a dedicatory program was broadcast from the studios.[8] Network presentations had to be aired from kinescopes until a coaxial cable hookup was completed in September to be shared by KOPO-TV and new station KVOA-TV, allowing Tucsonans to see live network shows.[9]

KOPO radio and television became KOLD radio and television on April 30, 1957.[2] The KOLD call letters had been used by the Autry-owned station in Yuma until it was sold; that outlet became KOFA and closed in 1963. Autry and Chauncey owned KOOL radio and television in Phoenix; as was done there, the phones were answered "It's KOLD in Tucson".[10]) The main transmitter was moved to Mount Bigelow in 1961, simultaneously with KVOA-TV; KGUN-TV had been built on the mountain five years prior.[11]

Evening News, Knight-Ridder, and News-Press and Gazette ownership

[edit]

In December 1968, Autry and Chauncey announced the sale of KOLD-TV, separate from the radio station, for $3.8 million to the Universal Communications Corporation, the broadcasting arm of the Detroit-based Evening News Association.[12] The FCC approved of the deal in 1969, though it required the E. W. Scripps Trust to divest itself of its holding in the Evening News Association, as Scripps-Howard Broadcasting owned four VHF stations (of a limit of five), and Evening News now would own two (KOLD-TV and WWJ-TV in Detroit).[13] The commission tweaked the ruling to allow Scripps to retain an interest of one percent.[14] The radio station, split from channel 13, reverted to its former KOPO designation.[15]

The Gannett Company purchased the Evening News Association on September 5, 1985, for $717 million,[16][17] thwarting a $566 million hostile takeover bid by L.P. Media Inc., owned by television producer Norman Lear and media executive A. Jerrold Perenchio.[18] The merged company could not retain channel 13. Gannett already owned the Tucson Citizen newspaper, and channel 13's signal slightly overlapped with Gannett-owned KPNX in Phoenix.[19] Gannett subsequently divested KOLD-TV—along with KTVY in Oklahoma City and WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama—to Knight-Ridder Broadcasting for $160 million.[20][21][22]

In October 1988, Knight-Ridder announced its intent to sell the company's station group to help reduce a $929 million debt load[23] and finance a $353 million acquisition of online information provider Dialog Information Services.[24] The News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) acquired KOLD on June 26, 1989, spending $18 million.[25] It implemented budget cuts in the newsroom, which was wracked by employee turnover as a result.[26] NPG also moved KOLD from Mount Bigelow to the Tucson Mountains west of the city; this improved reception in some parts of the city that had terrain blockages, but it created signal ingress issues for cable subscribers. More critically, it impaired the signal for many over-the-air viewers, notably in outlying areas such as Benson, Arizona. A 1985 study done for KVOA, KGUN, and KOLD estimated a Tucson Mountains move would affect 15 percent of the station's viewers.[27][28][29]

Turnaround

[edit]

In 1993, New Vision Television, a new broadcast station group based in Lansing, Michigan, bought NPG's entire television station group of the time, which included KOLD and stations in five other markets.[30] New Vision took over before the end of the year and immediately made moves to shore up flagging employee morale at KOLD. In addition to a new general manager, New Vision began planning for a new facility on Tucson's northwest side with nearly twice as much space as the Drachman facility, which the station had outgrown.[31] The new facility, outfitted with a news studio called the "Newsplex", debuted in late 1994, before New Vision sold its stations to Ellis Communications in 1995; Ellis was in turn folded into Raycom Media in 1997.[29] Raycom would house its centralized design operation, Raycom Design Group, in Tucson.[32]

Shared services agreement with KMSB and KTTU

[edit]

On November 15, 2011, the Belo Corporation, then-owner of local Fox affiliate KMSB and MyNetworkTV affiliate KTTU, announced that it would enter into a shared services agreement (SSA) with Raycom Media beginning in February 2012, resulting in KOLD taking over the two stations' operations and moving their advertising sales department to the KOLD studios. All remaining positions at KMSB and KTTU, including news, engineering and production, were eliminated, and master control operations moved from Belo's KTVK in Phoenix to KOLD. Though FCC rules disallow common ownership of more than two stations in the same market, combined SSA/duopoly operations are permissible.[33]

Sale to Gray Television

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In 2018, Raycom Media was acquired by Gray Television. The $3.6 billion transaction gave Gray its first station in Arizona. The arrangements with KMSB and KTTU remained unchanged.[34][35][36][37] The sale was approved on December 20 of that year[38] and was completed on January 2, 2019.[39]

News operation

[edit]
Refer to caption
Behind-the-scenes at KOLD-TV with Ann Kirkpatrick as a guest.

Originally, local news programming for KOPO-TV/KOLD-TV was provided by KOOL-TV in Phoenix.[10] However, by the 1960s, the station was leading the news ratings in the Tucson market, a status it would hold until the late 1970s, when KVOA took the lead.[40] The station continued in second or third place for the next quarter-century, with the station reaching a nadir after being acquired by News-Press & Gazette. Budget cuts meant outdated equipment that broke down,[29] while a series of anchors were fired and replaced with cheaper, entry-level talent. Vic Caputo, who had spent seven years at channel 13, was released by his contract in a decision he attributed to the owners' "money crunch".[41] NPG fired sports anchor Kevin McCabe days before Christmas[28] in a dispute that led to a lawsuit over severance pay.[42] Weatherman Pat Evans was told that there was a "big plan" for him, but when he asked, they would not reveal it; he declined to sign a new contract and took a new job in Sacramento, California.[26]

In the late 1990s, KOLD-TV became Tucson's first station to operate a news helicopter.[43][44] Despite these improvements, newscast ratings continued to languish far behind the other two major stations, with channel 13 drawing half as many news viewers, into the 2000s.[45] The station won its first and (to date) only Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, given in 2001 to Chip Yost for a story about exploding fuel tanks in police cars.[46] By 2004, KOLD had pulled ahead of KVOA in all evening timeslots in the 25–54 demo, a feat which had not occurred in Tucson in 25 years.[47] During this time, KOLD-TV also produced a 9 p.m. local newscast for KWBA-TV.[48] Not all were happy: anchor Randy Garsee was fired in 2006 after sending an email to all employees criticizing the news director for "micromanaging".[49]

As part of taking over KMSB's operations, KOLD-TV took over production of its local 9 p.m. newscast and added a weekday morning newscast, with the existing KMSB news team laid off.[50][51] KMSB and KOLD also introduced a shared website, originally branded Tucson News Now.[52]

In 2022, Gray introduced new 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. newscasts for KOLD.[53]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KOLD-TV[54]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
13.1 1080i 16:9 KOLD DT CBS
13.2 480i Me TV MeTV
13.3 Outlaw Outlaw
13.4 KOLDDT4 Ion Plus
13.5 AZSPORT Arizona's Family Sports (KPHE-LD Phoenix)
13.6 CHARGE! Charge!
40.4 480i 16.9 Oxygen Oxygen (KHRR)
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital transition

[edit]

KOLD-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[55] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 32, using virtual channel 13.[56]

While KOLD's analog signal originated from a transmitter site in the Tucson Mountains west of downtown, KOLD's primary digital transmitter is at the Mount Bigelow transmitter site to the northeast of the city, where the major Tucson stations built a common digital transmission facility in 2003.[57] The Tucson Mountains site was then converted to a digital replacement translator on channel 13 to provide service to the Catalina Foothills.[58]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KOLD-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b FCC History Cards for KOLD-TV
  3. ^ "2 TV Stations Authorized in Tucson". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. November 14, 1952. p. 1A, 12A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Harrington, Norman (December 4, 1952). "Construction Near On TV; One Station Readies Tower". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. p. 29. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Permit for TV Given to KCNA". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. December 19, 1952. p. 8A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "KOPO-TV Airs First Telecast With No. 13 In Starring Role". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. January 14, 1953. p. 20. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Harrington, Norman (January 12, 1953). "KOPO-TV Expects To Have Most Powerful Station: Feb. 1 Is Set For First Local Casts". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. p. 21. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Sunday To See KOPO-TV Debut: Columbia Program Will Inaugurate Start of Television Here". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. January 31, 1953. p. 2A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Cable Will Mean More Shows". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. September 26, 1953. p. 24. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Turner, Tom (June 25, 1995). "Tucson TV: KOLD". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 10-I. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "KOLD-TV Joins Move To Bigelow Tomorrow". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. September 30, 1961. p. 2. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "KOLD-TV Sold To Detroit Firm". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. December 11, 1968. p. 27. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "$4.1 Million Tag: KOLD-TV Sale Given Approval". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. Associated Press. May 29, 1969. p. 2A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "FCC eases ruling on sale of Tucson TV". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. June 20, 1969. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "KOLD-TV Sold; Radio Again KOPO". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. July 3, 1969. p. ★1. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Gannett's magic touch wins Evening News" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 2, 1985. pp. 31, 32. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  17. ^ Mary Jo Nelson (August 28, 1985). "Gannett May Bid For ENA Control". The Daily Oklahoman. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  18. ^ "Lear, Perenchio make $1,000-share bid for ENA" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 5, 1985. pp. 24–26. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ "FCC regulations disqualify Gannett from taking ownership of KOLD-TV". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. August 30, 1985. p. 1F. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Nelson, Mary Jo (November 16, 1985). "Gannett Sells KTVY To Knight-Ridder". Saturday Oklahoman & Times. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. p. 21. Retrieved October 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Knight-Ridder agrees to purchase KTVY-TV". Journal Record. October 16, 1985. ProQuest 258986810 – via ProQuest.
  22. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 18, 1985. p. 126. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  23. ^ "Owner Negotiating Sale of Channel 4". The Daily Oklahoman. February 18, 1989. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  24. ^ "Stations to Be Sold, Including Channel 4". The Daily Oklahoman. October 4, 1988. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  25. ^ "KOLD-TV purchase price $18 million, says buyer". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. February 24, 1989. p. 17B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ a b Sorenson, Dan (March 29, 1990). "Lean times at KOLD". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. pp. 1B, 3B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Huff, Dan (March 14, 1991). "Southeast Ariz. man irate about loss of KOLD signal". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 4B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ a b Bronson, Peter (April 4, 1991). "Channel 13's unlucky new signal is not good news". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. p. 13A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ a b c Turner, Tom (May 3, 1995). "KOLD's new look: Executive foresees bright future". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 1D, 3D. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Gary, Roderick (July 9, 1993). "Broadcast group buys KOLD-TV, 7 other stations". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 8B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Cermak, Frank (January 10, 1994). "KOLD's management eager to upgrade station's facilities". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 4B, 6B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Dickson, Glen (August 17, 2007). "Graphic Consolidation". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  33. ^ "Belo Turning Over KMSB, KTTU To KOLD". TVNewsCheck. November 15, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  34. ^ "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 October 6, 2018.
  35. ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  36. ^ Eggerton, John (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  37. ^ Hayes, Dade (June 25, 2018). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  38. ^ "FCC OK with Gray/Raycom Merger". Broadcasting & Cable. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  39. ^ "Gray Closes On $3.6 Billion Raycom Merger". TVNewsCheck. January 2, 2019. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  40. ^ Hatfield, David (August 30, 2013). "What goes around, goes around again in TV news ratings". Inside Tucson Business. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  41. ^ Henry, Bonnie (September 30, 1989). "KOLD and anchor Vic Caputo reach a parting of the ways". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 7B. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "McCabe sues KOLD for severance pay". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. April 19, 1990. p. 1D. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ Abbott, Jim (April 12, 2000). "WKMG hires new general manager". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. p. B-1. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ Bailey, Rob (February 21, 2001). "Channel 13 opts to ditch helicopter it touted heavily". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. B4. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ Mitchell, Jim (November 13, 2000). "Local TV news caught up in survival struggle". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. B7. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ^ "KOLD reporter wins award for TV news series". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. Associated Press. December 21, 2001. p. B5. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ Hatfield, David (May 2, 2004). "KVOA falls to KOLD in news race". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. E1, E3. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  48. ^ White, Erin (December 11, 2005). "WB News at 9 signing off after Thursday". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. E6. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ^ "KOLD anchor says he was fired for email". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. October 6, 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  50. ^ "Belo Shuts Down KMSB News Operations; Dozens of Layoffs Expected". TVSpy. November 15, 2011. Archived from the original on November 16, 2011.
  51. ^ "Fox 11 to lay off news staff, cancel newscast in Feb". Tucson Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  52. ^ "Answering Your Questions about Tucson News Now". tucsonnewsnow.com. Raycom Media. Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  53. ^ "KOLD Adds 9 a.m. And 3 p.m. Newscasts". TVNewsCheck. August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  54. ^ "RabbitEars query for KOLD-TV". www.rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  55. ^ Villarreal, Phil (June 13, 2009). "Nearly all locals prepared for digital TV". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. A11, A12. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  56. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  57. ^ Abeyta, Oscar (July 4, 2003). "Mt. Bigelow blaze threatening to darken local TVs". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. p. 4A. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. ^ "Request for Special Temporary Authority". FCC Consolidated Database System. February 27, 2009. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.

Notes

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