KMOS-TV

KMOS-TV
Sedalia/Warrensburg/Columbia/Jefferson City, Missouri
Channels Digital: 15 (UHF)
Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
Subchannels 6.1 PBS
6.2 PBS-HD
6.3 Create / MHz Worldview
Affiliations PBS
Owner University of Central Missouri
First air date July 8, 1954[1]
Call letters' meaning MO (Missouri postal code)
Sedalia
Former callsigns KDRO-TV (1954-1959)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
6 (1954-2009)
Former affiliations Primary:
Independent (1954-1958)
ABC (1958-1959, 1959-1961 via KMBC-TV)
CBS (1961-1978 via KRCG)
Secondary:
ABC (1961-1971 via KRCG)
Transmitter power 322 kW
Height 603 m
Facility ID 4326
Website www.kmos.org

KMOS-TV is a PBS member public television station in Sedalia, Missouri, owned and operated by the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Although Warrensburg and Sedalia are part of the Kansas City media market (in fact, Warrensburg is an outer-ring suburb of Kansas City), KMOS serves as the PBS member station for the Columbia/Jefferson City market. One consequence is that KMOS can't be seen on DirecTV or Dish Network in its own city; KCPT is the sole PBS station uplinked on the Kansas City feed. However, it is carried on Charter Cable systems in Warrensburg as one of three Mid-Missouri stations provided.

Until February 17, 2009, KMOS also competed with KETC, the St. Louis PBS member station, on Mediacom cable systems in the market. KETC has since been dropped from Mediacom's systems in Columbia and Jefferson City as of February 17, leaving KMOS to be the sole PBS station in these places.

Contents

History

KMOS-TV signed-on July 8, 1954 as KDRO-TV, owned by Milt Hinlein along with KDRO radio. The calls came from the Drolich brothers, the radio station's original owners. The station was originally an independent.

KDRO-TV went through several partial changes in ownership in the late 1950s. In July 1955, Deare Publications, publisher of the "Sedalia Democrat" newspaper, purchased 50% of KDRO-AM-TV from Hinlein. In July 1957, Jimmy Glenn and Herb Brandes purchased 2/3 interest in KDRO Radio. Hinlein became the sole owner of KDRO-TV as Deare Publications became the owner of the KDRO studio properties.

In November 1957, Hinlein sold one-half interest in KDRO-TV to several station employees, who took over the operation of the station. On July 20, 1958, KDRO-TV became an ABC affiliate. ABC refused to give it a network feed to protect the rights of Kansas City's main ABC affiliate, KMBC-TV. Station engineers switched to and from KMBC-TV's signal whenever ABC network programming was on the air.

Cook Paint and Varnish Company, owner of KMBC-TV, bought KDRO-TV on January 28, 1959 and changed the call letters to the current KMOS-TV. It then became a full-time satellite of KMBC-TV. The station had always found the going difficult due to a limited viewer base, and becoming a full satellite of KMBC-TV ensured its survival.

In July 1961, Cook Paint sold KMBC-TV to Metropolitan Broadcasting (later called Metromedia). Metropolitan Broadcasting did not want KMOS-TV, so it sold channel 6 to the Jefferson City News Tribune, owner of Mid-Missouri's CBS affiliate, KRCG. KMOS-TV then became a full satellite of KRCG. However, it continued to maintain a studio of its own in Sedalia and would break away from KRCG for its own evening newscast at 6 and 10 pm. In July 1966, KMOS-TV and KRCG-TV were sold to Kansas City Southern Industries, the parent company of the Kansas City Southern Railroad.

KRCG and NBC affiliate KOMU-TV in Columbia were the only VHF network affiliates in the Columbia/Jefferson City market, and they wanted to keep it that way even though the area was just barely large enough to support three full network affiliates. With this in mind, KRCG operated KMOS at a fairly low power level, and turned down all offers to sell it to another commercial owner, not wanting to chance on the new owner making KMOS a full-power ABC affiliate. The area did not have a full-time ABC affiliate until Columbia's KCBJ-TV (now KMIZ) signed-on in 1971.

In 1978, Kansas City Southern Industries donated KMOS to Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri), who converted the station into a stand-alone PBS affiliate. Previously, Columbia/Jefferson City had been one of the few areas of Missouri without its own PBS member station. Most cable systems in the market piped in KETC, while the western part of the market could also get a grade B signal from KCPT. KMOS was off the air for sixteen months from August 15, 1978 to December 22, 1979 while the university upgraded the station and relocated the studios to the campus in Warrensburg. After relinquishing KMOS, KRCG started a translator station in Sedalia, K11OJ.

The KMOS transmitter has an effective radiated power of 100 kW for its channel 6 frequency, but 322 kW for its digital channel (corresponding to the bandwidth of channel 15), with similar height above average terrain for both transmitters (about 602 to 603 m above sea level).

Local programs

2010 Surviving Abuse
2011 Countdown to UCM
2011 Investment Fraud, Protecting Your Investments

Broadcast tower

In April 2003, opening ceremonies were conducted for the station's new digital broadcasting and transmitter facility in Syracuse, Missouri, located about fifty miles from Warrensburg, and includes a 2000-foot (609 m) guyed mast, the KMOS TV Tower (also called Rohn Tower). It was built 2001/2002 and was inaugurated on April 24, 2003. The KMOS TV Tower weighs 1 million pounds. It is put together by 18000 bolts. The tower is the tallest structure in Missouri and one of the tallest structures in the world -- more than three times the height of the Gateway Arch. The tower is 0.2 metres (0.66 ft) higher than the previous record holder KYTV (TV) in Springfield, Missouri.[2]

Awards

2007

Silver Telly - Jerry Adams Outdoors

Bronze Telly - SPORTSPAGE

Bronze Telly -First United Methodist Church

CASE Circle of Excellence Awards Gold Medal - Institution-Wide Branding Programs, University of Central Missouri

CASE District VI Grand Gold - Excellence in Multimedia, Confidence

CASE District VI Silver - Excellence in Writing, CMSU Traditions

Davey - UCM Traditions History/Biography

Davey - UCM Traditions Corporate Image

Davey - Jerry Adams Outdoors

Davey - Jerry Adams Outdoors Kiss The Fish promo Editing

Davey - Jerry Adams Outdoors Kiss The Fish promo

2008
Bronze Telly - Jerry Adams Outdoors, Kids Fishing Promo, editing

Bronze Telly - Show Me Ag Wind Turbine Segment

Bronze Telly - Jerry Adams Outdoors

Bronze Telly - Veterans History Project Promotion

Communicator - KMOS Kids Club

Communicator - Jerry Adams Outdoors Kiss the Fish Promotion

Mid-America Emmy nomination specialty program Jerry Adams Outdoors

MBA Award Public Service Announcement or Campaign - Veterans History Project

2009
MBA Award Certificate of Merit Station Sponsored Community Event - Chocolate Enchantment

2010

MBA Award Certificate of Merit Specialty Program - Cooking with Giuliano

NETA Award My Source: The Bacon Brothers – Michael’s Revenge

External links

References

  1. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says July 6, while the Television and Cable Factbook says July 8.
  2. ^ Skyscraper.com - Retrieved February 15, 2010