KOAA-TV

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KOAA-TV
Image:KOAA530.jpg
Pueblo/Colorado Springs, Colorado
Branding NBC 5/30 for non news Newsfirst5/30 for news
Slogan Southern Colorado's news leader
Channels 5 (VHF), 30 (UHF) analog,
42 (UHF) digital
Affiliations NBC
Owner Evening Post Publishing Company
(Sangre De Cristo Communications, Inc.)
Founded June 30, 1953
Call letters meaning KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV) in Denver, former sister station)
Former callsigns KCSJ-TV (1953-61)
Website www.koaa.com

KOAA-TV is the NBC affiliate for southern Colorado. It is licensed to Pueblo, and broadcasts on channel 5. It also operates a translator on channel 30 in Colorado Springs. The station has staff and offices in both Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Its news studio is located in Pueblo.

The station signed on for the first time on June 30, 1953 as KCSJ-TV, owned by the Star-Chieftain Publishing Corporation, owners of Pueblo's two major newspapers, the morning Pueblo Chieftain and evening Pueblo Star-Journal, along with KCSJ-AM 590. It is Colorado's second-oldest station outside of Denver. In 1961, Star-Chieftain sold KCSJ-TV to Metropolitan Broadcasting, owners of KOA-AM-FM-TV in Denver. KCSJ-TV then became KOAA-TV, but remained a free-standing station and not a satellite of KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV). With much wealthier ownership, KOAA was able to add videotape in 1962. In 1967, it became the first television station in southern Colorado to broadcast local programming in color.

KOAA floundered through the early and mid-1970s largely because of its signal. While most of Colorado Springs receives the channel 5 signal very well, some parts of the city and several areas in the northern portion of the market were not as lucky, due to the market's rugged, mountainous terrain. This posed a problem for KOAA, as the Colorado Springs area underwent unprecedented population growth that continues to this day while Pueblo remained relatively unchanged at around 100,000 population. KOAA-TV 5 also changed hands several times during this period passing through several non-broadcast owners, leading the station to lose its prestige and become less profitable.

Things didn't really turn around until 1977, when the Evening Post Publishing Company of Charleston, South Carolina bought the station and brought in former ABC executive John Gilbert as general manager. Evening Post still operates the station today through its broadcasting arm, Cordillera Communications. Soon after Gilbert's arrival, KOAA opened a studio and sales office in Colorado Springs and steadily beefed up its news operation. In 1980, KOAA started a translator on channel 30 in Colorado Springs (K30AA), bringing NBC programming to much of the northern portion of the market for the first time.

[edit] News programming

KOAA has newscasts at 10pm weekly, and at 5-7 and 11am and 5 and 6 pm on weekdays. On weekends, a 5:30 pm news is broadcast.

[edit] Repeaters

In addition to its main repeater, K30AA in Colorado Springs, the station also has the following repeater stations throughout the state of Colorado.

[edit] External links


Broadcast television in the Colorado Springs/Pueblo market (Nielsen DMA #94)

KOAA 5 / K30AA 30 (NBC) - KTSC 8 (PBS/RMPBS) - KKTV 11 (CBS - MNTV on DT2) - KRDO 13 (ABC) - KXRM 21 (Fox) - KGHB 27 (UNI) - K32EO 32 (PBS) - K34FB 34 (TEL) - KJCS 38 (TBN/DS) - K48CU 48 (TBN) - K49CJ 49 (TEL) - KWHS 51 (LeSEA) - KXTU 57 (The CW