| Portland, Oregon | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KATU (general) KATU News (newscasts) (pronounced "K-2") |
| Slogan | On Your Side. |
| Channels | Digital: 43 (UHF) Virtual: 2 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 2.1 ABC 2.2 This TV |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Fisher Communications, Inc. (Fisher Broadcasting - Portland TV, LLC) |
| First air date | March 15, 1962 |
| Call letters' meaning | Pronounced "K-2" |
| Sister station(s) | KUNP |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 2 (VHF, 1962-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (3/15/1962 - 2/29/1964) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
| Height | 524 m |
| Facility ID | 21649 |
| Website | www.katu.com |
KATU, virtual channel 2, also known as K2, is an ABC-affiliated television station broadcasting on digital channel 43 in Portland, Oregon, USA. It has been owned by Fisher Communications of Seattle, Washington, which has been the owner of the Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, ever since it began broadcasting. Its transmitter is located in Portland.
KATU has also owned and operated the local Univision-TV affiliate KUNP-LP, channel 47, since 2007.
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A construction permit for Channel 2 was issued to Fisher's Blend Station, Inc., (now Fisher Communications) as early as 1958. It was assigned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) call sign KATU. However, the station did not begin broadcasting until March 15, 1962, at first as an independent station. Its transmitter was originally located atop Livingston Mountain, about 7 miles (11 km) NNE of Camas, Washington.
On January 19, 1964, this TV station moved its transmitter site 21 miles (34 km), to Portland's West Hills to improve its broadcasting coverage. Just over a month later, it took over the American Broadcasting Company affiliation in Portland away from KPTV on March 1, 1964. This made KATU the new fourth station in the Portland market in less than a decade to have affiliated with ABC full-time (after KLOR, KGW and KPTV). It is also Portland's longest-lasting ABC affiliate to date. KATU is the only one of the first five television stations in Portland to have operated out of the same studio (at 2153 N.E. Sandy Blvd.) since it went on the air, although the building had earlier been used as a laundry for many years.
KATU is also one of the few television stations in the country (not counting owned-and-operated stations) that has had the same call letters, the same owner, and the same channel number throughout its history.
In 2002, KATU-TV celebrated its 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, it updated its on-air graphics, and added a new news set. It also aired stories from past newscasts.
In the November 2006 and February 2007 sweeps periods, KATU finished in third place overall in the local newscast ratings, behind KGW and KPTV. In 2006, KATU won two Edward R. Murrow Awards, including an investigative piece reported by Anna Song on a newborn baby that was left severely brain damaged by OHSU hospital. Song also won dual 1st place (2006) Associated Press Awards in Best Writing, and Best Investigative Reporting.
From December 2008 to June 11, 2009, KATU (and the other Fisher-owned stations) was not carried by Dish Network due to a transmission dispute.[1]
On October 11, 2007 KATU became the third Portland TV station to broadcast its daily newscasts in 16x9 widescreen. In April 2008, KATU introduced a revamped set that expanded to the entire studio, to prepare for HD in 2009. Previously, the studio was divided in half ,with one side the news set and the other the AM Northwest set. The new set was one of the most expensive projects in KATU history.
KATU started testing HD newscasts on Saturday August 8, 2009. The full rollout premiered during their 4pm newscast on August 17, 2009, making it the second station in the Portland market to broadcast newscasts in HD.
| Channel | Programming | Cable Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Main KATU programming / ABC | Comcast 702 Frontier 502 |
| 2.2 | This TV | Comcast 302 Frontier 464 |
On July 17, 2008 at 6:15 PM, KATU turned off its analog signal for 10 seconds to test if viewers' TV sets were ready for DTV. Later on KATU did similar tests to make sure its viewers were ready for the 2009 DTV switch.
KATU-DT remains on its pre-transition channel number, 43 [2] and will continue to display KATU's virtual channel as 2.
On June 12, 2009, KATU was the last station in the Portland market to carry regularly scheduled programming over its analog transmitter. During the last segment of the 11:00 p.m. newscast, anchorman Steve Dunn was in the station's master control room giving last-minute information on where to find information on the DTV transition. Then, at 11:35 p.m., he pushed the button that ended KATU's analog service.
KATU is rebroadcast on the following translator stations.
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Low power translator in Mitchell has been discontinued.
KATU Heliport (FAA LID: 21OR) is a private heliport on the roof of KATU TV's building in Portland, Oregon.[3]
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