KNAZ-TV
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| KNAZ-TV | |
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| Flagstaff, Arizona | |
| Branding | 2 News |
| Slogan | Northern Arizona's Own |
| Channels | Analog: 2 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner | Gannett Company, Inc. (Multimedia Holdings Corporation) |
| First air date | May 2, 1970 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Northern AriZona |
| Former callsigns | KOAI-TV (1970-1981) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 283 kW (digital) |
| Height | 488 m (analog) 465 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 24749 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.knaztv2.com |
KNAZ-TV is a full-service NBC television affiliate serving Flagstaff, Arizona and surrounding areas. It is a satellite station of KPNX in Phoenix, and is owned by Gannett. KNAZ-TV broadcasts over-the-air in analog on VHF channel 2, in digital HDTV on UHF channel 22, and is carried on the local cable system. It is the only full-service television station in northern Arizona that is affiliated with a major English-language television network.
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[edit] History
The station was founded by Wendell Elliott, Sr. as KOAI-TV[1] and began operations on May 2, 1970. Elliott had managed a television station in Dodge City, Kansas in the 1950s, had founded a station in Ensign, Kansas, and was a founder of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters in 1951.[2] Elliott died in 1974, and control of the station passed to a group headed by his son, Wendell Elliott, Jr. Little is known about the early operations of the station, but Northern Arizona University maintains an archive of KOAI-TV material from 1975 and later.[3] The group headed by the younger Elliott sold the station to Capitol Broadcasting Company (not related to Raleigh, North Carolina-based Capitol Broadcasting) in January 1981[4] and shortly afterward, the station adopted the call letters KNAZ-TV,[1] which had been briefly used at what is now KAZT-TV in Prescott.[5] Also in 1981, KNAZ maximized its signal strength to the full 100 kW allowed for a low-band VHF station.[6][7] A lightning strike near the transmitter in 1989 damaged the transmitter and left the station broadcasting in black and white for nearly two weeks.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a succession of sales and transfers of control involving KNAZ-TV. In 1984, the station was transferred from Capitol Broadcasting Company to Standard Life Insurance Company, then to Grand Canyon Television in 1988.[8][9] Grand Canyon Television was placed into receivership in 1991, then transferred to W.A. Franke in 1992.[10][11] Finally, in May 1997, Multimedia, Inc., a subsidiary of Gannett, acquired KNAZ-TV from Grand Canyon Television, along with KMOH-TV of Kingman.[12] Already an NBC affiliate, KNAZ was made a satellite station of KPNX.
In the late 1980s, the station produced three newscasts a day at 5:00 (branded as "News at Five"), 6:00 and 10:00 (branded as "News Tonite"), as well as "Northland Outlook," a local community affairs talk show and "From the Bleachers," a Sunday evening sports wrap-up show featuring local high school and college sports. Shortly after the station was placed into receivership, all in-house production was cancelled.
In December 2005, Gannett announced its intention to sell KNAZ.[13] As of March 2007, no suitable buyer has surfaced, and it is unknown whether KNAZ will continue its simulcast, or even its NBC affiliation, once the new owner takes over.
[edit] Programming
As a satellite station, KNAZ-TV for the most part is a rebroadcaster of its primary station. It simulcasts the 6:00 AM, 4:30 PM, and 5:00 PM weekday news and all of the weekend news from KPNX, and runs all of the same network and syndicated programming as KPNX. However, KNAZ airs its own local commercials, has retained a separate news staff and produces its own weekday newscasts at 6:30 AM, 6:00 PM, and 10:00 PM. KNAZ used to air its own weekend news, but dropped that newscast in a cost-cutting move to make the station more attractive to a buyer.[14] There is significant cooperation and sharing of news staff among KNAZ and KPNX. Often, KNAZ acts as a Northern Arizona news bureau for KPNX, as KNAZ reporters will also file reports for KPNX using their logo. Some KPNX personnel, especially those in weather and sports, also file reports for KNAZ, and KNAZ staff often fill in for KPNX staff when they are absent.
[edit] Current News Personalities
[edit] 2News Today
- Jan Pitre
- Nick Rabe
[edit] 2News at 6:00
- Nathan Ryder
- Chief Meteorologist Lee Born
- Nick Rabe
[edit] 2News at 10:00
- Nathan Ryder
- Chief Meteorologist Lee Born
- Nick Rabe
[edit] 2News Weekend
- Simulcast with sister station KPNX 12News; weekend newscast programs were eliminated in September 2006 to reduce costs
- 2 Weather Plus+ is used for the Flagstaff weather segment on weekends
[edit] Current Notable News Personality
- Jan Pitre
[edit] Former News Personalities
- Dave Hecht - Anchor/Reporter/Weathercast now on active duty in US Navy
- Steve Bunin -- former sports director/anchor (1997-2000). Now sports anchor at ESPN.
- Reagan Leadbetter -- former reporter/anchor (1997-1999). Now co-host of Good Things Utah at KTVX in Salt Lake City.
- Heidi Goitia -- former news anchor for 2News at 6 and 10; now spokesperson for Flagstaff Family Magazine
- Mike Conneen -- former news anchor for 2News Weekend; now at WJLA in Washington, D.C. as a reporter.
- Michelle Molison -- former news anchor for 2News at 6 and 10; now at KKTV (CBS 11) in Colorado Springs as a producer and anchor/reporter[14]
- Jake Knapp -- former sports reporter/anchor; now at KGUN, the ABC affiliate in Tucson
- Joe Dana -- former news anchor/reporter; now at sister station KPNX; currently co-anchor 12News Weekend Today
- Syleste Rodriguez -- former news reporter; now at sister station KPNX; currently reporter
- Nicole Misencik -- former news anchor/ reporter of 2News Today went on to WWMT reporting in Grand Rapids/ Kalamazoo, now at WTHR in Indianapolis as weather forecaster.
- Mitzie Lewis--former weekend anchor/reporter, left to work at KZON Phoenix
- Jennifer Burgess -- former news anchor of 2News Today; former co-host of FOX 10 Arizona Morning; now at KNXV as weather forecaster/reporter
- Corrie Williams -- former sports anchor/reporter now at KNXV Phoenix
- Dina Ruiz Eastwood -- former anchor/reporter and one-time co-host of Candid Camera. Currently married to director Clint Eastwood.
- Emme Aronson -- former reporter/morning anchor and current plus size model
- Jerome Parra -- former general manager; now assistant general manager at sister station, KPNX Phoenix.[14] He is still in charge of KNAZ.
- Michelle Mahoney-- former anchor/reporter, now news anchor at KIDO in Boise, ID
- Alicia Acuna-- former anchor/ reporter, now reporter for Fox network based in Denver
- Brandon Kline -- former news reporter; now at sister station KPNX in Phoenix
[edit] Digital television
In its DTV allotment plan of April 3, 1997, the FCC assigned channel 22 for KNAZ-DT,[15] and on February 22, 2001, Gannett was granted a construction permit to build the digital facilities.[16] KNAZ-DT went on-air at reduced power after receiving a Special Temporary Authorization (STA), and after several extensions of the STA and a modification to the construction permit, KNAZ-DT applied for a license to cover their full-power DTV facilities on January 27, 2007 and was granted the license May 22, 2007.
The DTV transition plan allows a station to elect which channel it wishes to use after the end of the transition, scheduled for February 17, 2009. As a holder of a low-band VHF (54 MHz - 88 MHz) analog channel allocation, some thought that KNAZ-DT would select their DTV allocation, channel 22, or that they would select a high-VHF frequency (174 MHz - 216 MHz) in the third round of DTV elections, when holders of low-VHF allocations could choose a channel other than the two already allocated to them. However, Gannett not only elected channel 2 for their final DTV channel in the first round of DTV elections, they kept that election in the third round, when they could have selected channel 9, which will be vacated by Flagstaff station KCFG. This decision makes KNAZ-DT one of a very small number of stations choosing a low-VHF channel for their final DTV facilities. Digital stations using low-VHF channels (2 - 6) are more susceptible to interference, especially from atmospheric conditions, than stations at higher frequencies.
Unlike its primary station, KPNX, KNAZ does not offer Weather Plus or any other service as a digital subchannel. Its digital signal is a simulcast of the analog programming.[17]
[edit] References
- ^ a b KNAZ callsign history. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
- ^ S. Elliott and M. Beaver. History of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ NAU Cline Library Manuscript Collections Inventory. Northern Arizona University. Retrieved on March 19, 2007.
- ^ Sale to Capitol Broadcasting. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ KAZT callsign history. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ 100 kW construction permit. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ 100 kW license. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Sale to Standard Life Insurance. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Sale to Grand Canyon Television. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Grand Canyon Television receivership. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Sale to Franke. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ "Gannett acquires Arizona stations", The Business Journal of Phoenix, 1997-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
- ^ R. Cordova. "Flagstaff station for sale", The Arizona Republic, 2005-12-10. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ a b c J. Ferguson. "Gannett Scales Back", The Arizona Daily Sun, 2006-09-03. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
- ^ DTV Table of Allotments] (PDF). FCC Sixth Report and Order, Appendix B. Federal Communications Commission (1997-04-03). Retrieved on March 19, 2007.
- ^ DTV construction permit. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ KNAZ-TV Listings. Zap2It.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
[edit] External links
- 2 News|Northern Arizona's Own
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KNAZ
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KNAZ-TV
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