| Tamuning, Guam | |
|---|---|
| Branding | ABC 7 (general; cable channel) Pacific News Center (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Giving You More |
| Channels | Digital: 14 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 14.1 ABC 14.2 Simulcast of KEQI-LP |
| Translators | KPPI-LP 7 Saipan, MP |
| Owner | Sorensen Television Systems, Inc. |
| First air date | October 19, 1987 |
| Call letters' meaning | Tamuning, Guam |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 14 (1987-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 12.5 kW |
| Height | 168 m |
| Facility ID | 29232 |
| Website | www.abc7guam.com |
KTGM is a full-power television station located in Hagåtña (Agana), Guam (licensed to Tamuning, Guam) transmitting over digital channel 14 and on cable channel 7 (from which the "ABC 7" branding is derived). The station is owned by Sorensen Television Systems, Inc. and is the ABC affiliate for United States territory of Guam, with a repeater (KPPI-LP) on Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands.
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KTGM signed on the air in 1987 as a ABC/Fox/CBS affiliate, broadcasting on NTSC analog channel 14. It dropped the Fox and CBS affiliations by the end of the 1990s, shifting its focus to ABC programming. Between 2002 and 2005, KTGM also carried WB programming (previously carried by KUAM-LP).
KTGM was previously located on the third floor of the Atlantica Building at 692 North Marine Drive in Upper Tumon (Municipality of Tamuning). Due to the building's ownership issues, KTGM moved to a commercial building on Route 16 (now known as Army Drive) in Barrigada Heights in 2003. In 2009 Sorensen moved the station's facilities, along with its sister stations, from Barrigada Heights to Hagåtña.
Originally owned and operated by Island Broadcasting, Inc., KTGM was purchased by Sorensen Media Group (then owner of five radio stations on Guam and Saipan, and now additionally three TV stations) in 2005. Soon after, it moved its cable channel position from 14 to 7, hence the current station branding.
In 2008 KTGM apparently had its DTV construction permit expire, and was waiting for the FCC to reinstate it, which it did later that year[1]. On February 18, 2009 KTGM officially signed off its analog channel at 2PM Chamorro Standard Time (6PM HST / 11PM EST on February 17, 2009) and switched on its ATSC digital channel 14.[2]
In 2001, the station also launched a repeater, KPPI-LP, in Garapan, Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands, on VHF 7. The station started off as K07XG (November 19, 2001-December 17, 2004), before gaining the callsign of KPPI-LP (December 17, 2004-March 28, 2005). It was delted for three days (as DKPPI-LP, from March 28 to March 31, 2005), before being re-instated as KPPI-LP on March 31, 2005. The station currently as a construction permit to flash-cut to digital as KPPI-LD on VHF 7.
Because Guam is a day ahead of the continental United States and that most programs arrived by tapes from California, KTGM used to air most ABC shows (except those available through satellites) on a one-week delay basis. With advancing communication technology, KTGM now airs the complete ABC lineup on the "same day" (just a few hours behind Hawaii), meaning that a Monday through Sunday stateside pattern is aired on a Tuesday through Monday pattern on Guam due to the time zone and day-ahead hindrance. A listing of its modified primetime lineup can be found at the external link below. Programs from ABC Sports are aired with less delay, and often in the middle of the night, Guam time.
KTGM's syndicated product includes Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Inside Edition. These same programs are also repeated on KEQI.
In 2005, KTGM began airing repeats of their ABC children's and primetime shows (like Ugly Betty) during the week after their original airings, which made them the only ABC affiliate to hold this unique programming distinction. It was discontinued in 2009.
KTGM broadcast hourly weather segments from what it dubbed the "ABC14 WeatherCenter" between January 1999 and December 2002. (It was never revived after Super Typhoon Pongsona.)
The merger with Sorensen allowed KTGM to share resources with Sorensen's radio stations, and thus allowed the K57 (KGUM) news operations (which took on the name "Pacific News Center") to expand into television. KTGM's half-hour evening news began broadcasting in summer 2005, ending KUAM's monopoly of local TV news since 1998. Currently, the PNC TV news is broadcast live nightly at 6 pm, then rebroadcast on KEQI (Fox-6) at 7 pm and 10:30 pm, as well as on KTGM after ABC prime time programming at 10 pm.
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