NBC/Telemundo affiliate in Grand Junction, Colorado
KKCO
(channel 11) is a
television station
in
Grand Junction, Colorado
, United States, affiliated with
NBC
and
Telemundo
. It is owned by
Gray Television
alongside
low-power
dual
ABC
/
CW+
affiliate
KJCT-LP
(channel 8). The two stations share studios on Blichmann Avenue in Grand Junction; KKCO's transmitter is located at the Black Ridge Electronics Site at the
Colorado National Monument
west of the city.
The station signed on for the first time on July 29, 1996, providing Grand Junction its first in-market NBC affiliate. Its local newscasts rose to number one in the market shortly after debuting. Originally owned by Eagle III Broadcasting, it was purchased by Gray in 2005.
History
[
edit
]
In 1994, multiple groups applied for a
construction permit
to build channel 11 in Grand Junction. However, the process of awarding such permits through the
comparative hearing
process long used by the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) had been forcibly derogated by a court ruling finding its criteria "arbitrary and capricious". In 1995, the commission opened a 90-day settlement window to encourage settlements or mergers among applicants for channels with multiple applicants. Among the settlements received was a merger of Uhlmann/Latshaw Broadcasting LLC and Grand Junction Television Partners.
[2]
The lead partner in the merged corporation, Bill Varecha, had previously run a radio station in
Vail
, where he noticed the lack of a local NBC affiliate; he had previously built and sold
WCEE-TV
in
Mount Vernon, Illinois
, in the 1980s,
[3]
[4]
as well as
WAYK
in
Melbourne, Florida
.
[5]
KKCO began broadcasting on July 29, 1996; in addition to broadcasting NBC, the station also served as a secondary affiliate of
UPN
.
[3]
Its launch had the effect of removing
Denver
NBC affiliate
KUSA
from cable systems on the
Western Slope
.
[6]
This led to letters to the editor in publications including
The Denver Post
and
Broadcasting & Cable
from viewers who were upset at the removal of the Denver station's newscasts and
Denver Broncos
preseason games.
[7]
[8]
At the crux of the station's inability to air the Broncos was the team's unwillingness to share preseason television revenue with the
National Football League
, which stipulated that any sale to a station outside a 75-mile (121 km) radius from the main city was shared revenue.
[9]
The Grand Junction cable system was able to broadcast the Broncos preseason games beginning in 1998 by arrangement with KUSA,
[10]
and KKCO itself gained the rights in 2003.
[11]
Though the station initially rebroadcast some of KUSA's news programs while it developed its own,
[9]
the station's own local newscasts soon debuted; within 18 months, KKCO had risen to number one in the market in ratings and revenue.
[12]
In 2004,
Gray Television
bought the station and its translator in
Montrose
from Eagle III Broadcasting LLC for $13.5 million.
[13]
Gray closed on the purchase in February 2005.
[14]
At the time of the purchase, Varecha was working for Gray as its general manager in
Charlottesville, Virginia
, where it was starting up
WCAV
and
WVAW-LP
.
[12]
Gray acquired the programming assets of
KJCT
in 2014; unable to program the full-power station due to new scrutiny of
joint sales agreements
, its programming moved to
a low-power station
. The KJCT and KKCO newsrooms were combined.
Technical information
[
edit
]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
Translators
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for KKCO"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
McConnell, Chris (January 22, 1996). "FCC moving to grant new TVs".
Broadcasting & Cable
. p. 14.
ProQuest
1040354364
.
- ^
a
b
Perry, Erin (July 6, 1996).
"New NBC affiliate aims to be on air this month"
.
The Daily Sentinel
. p. 11B
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
DeWitte, Dave (October 20, 1985).
"Varecha sells WCEE-TV"
.
Southern Illinoisan
. p. 12
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Solomon, Scott (July 15, 1990).
"Troubled waters: Palm Bay's WAYK Television fights for recognition"
.
Florida Today
. pp. E1,
E2
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Effective September 3, 1996, Notice: TCI Customers in the Grand Valley"
.
The Daily Sentinel
. August 15, 1996. p. 2B
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Linko, John J. (October 19, 1998). "Open Mike: Don't diss distant signals".
Broadcasting & Cable
. p. 87.
ProQuest
1014768122
.
- ^
Kastella, Kenneth G. (August 25, 1997). "Broncos shut out".
The Denver Post
.
- ^
a
b
Zimmer, Kurt (September 3, 1999). "Broncos fans blacked out".
Montrose Daily Press
.
- ^
"Broncos to play on TV after all"
.
The Daily Sentinel
. August 14, 1998. pp. 1A,
12A
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Saunders, Dusty (June 23, 2003). "Sardella interview offers a revealing look at Logan".
Rocky Mountain News
. p. 3C.
- ^
a
b
Hite, Patrick (May 26, 2004).
"Charlottesville to get yet another TV station"
.
The Observer
. pp. A-1,
A-2
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Changing Hands".
Broadcasting & Cable
. November 1, 2004. p. 24.
ProQuest
225293512
.
- ^
"KKCO-TV names new manager"
.
The Daily Sentinel
. February 19, 2005. p. 9A
. Retrieved
July 3,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"TV Query for KKCO"
.
RabbitEars
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Stations
|
- KFQX 4 / KREY-TV 10
(.1/.2
Fox
,
.2/.1
CBS
, .3
Mystery
, .4
Grit
)
- KREX-TV
(5.1
CBS
, 5.2
Laff
,
5.3
MNTV
, 5.4
Bounce
)
- KJCT-LP / K31OH-D
(8.1
ABC
, 8.2
CW+
, 8.3
Ion
)
- KKCO
(11.1
NBC
,
11.2
MeTV
, 11.3
TMD
, 11.4
Outlaw
)
- KRMJ / K32CW-D
(18.1
PBS
/
RMPBS
, 18.2
PBS Kids
, 18.3
Create
, 18.4
World
)
- KLML
(20.1
Court
, 20.2
Dabl
, 20.3
Defy
, 20.4
Cozi
, 20.5
Get
, 20.6
REW
, 20.7/.9 blanks, 20.8
Scripps News
, 20.10 Infomercials, 20.11
QVC
, 20.12
Buzzr
, 20.13
ATV
, 20.14
NewsNet
)
- K22JN-D
(22.1
Movies!
)
- KGJT-CD
(27.1
MNTV
,
27.2
CBS
)
|
---|
Cable
| |
---|
Out of market channels
| |
---|
|
|
---|
ABC
| | |
---|
CBS
| |
---|
Fox
| |
---|
NBC
| |
---|
The CW
| |
---|
MyNetworkTV
| |
---|
Ion Television
| |
---|
PBS
| |
---|
Telemundo
| |
---|
Univision
| |
---|
UniMas
| |
---|
Other
|
- KCDO-TV 3
(
Ind.
,
Sterling
)*
- KREG-TV 3
(
MeTV
,
Glenwood Springs
)*
- KZCS-LD 18
(
Mystery
,
Colorado Springs
)*
- K19JA-D 19.2
(
Classic Showcase
,
Cortez
)*
- KLML-DT 20.4
(
Cozi
,
Grand Junction
)*
- KSPK-LD 28
(AMGTV,
Walsenburg
)*
- K36DB-CD 36
(
Outside
,
Avon
)*
- KPJR-TV 38
(
TBN
,
Greeley/Denver
)*
- KQDK-CD 39
(
CTN
,
Aurora
)*
- KRMT 41
(
Daystar
,
Denver
)*
- K34QB-D 45
(
Outside
,
Vail
)*
- KWHS-LD 51
(
CTN
,
Colorado Springs
)*
- KPXH-LD 52
(
Daystar
,
Fort Collins
)*
- KETD 53
(
Estrella
,
Castle Rock/Denver
)*
|
---|
(*) ? indicates station is in one of Colorado's primary
TV markets
(**) ? indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Colorado
|