| Sweetwater/Abilene, Texas | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KTXS 12 (general) KTXS News 12 (newscasts) (pronounced "K-Texas") |
| Slogan | Earning Your Trust |
| Channels | Digital: 20 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 12.1 ABC 12.2 CW 12.3 This TV |
| Translators | KTXE-LP 38 San Angelo |
| Affiliations | ABC The CW |
| Owner | Bonten Media Group, LLC (BlueStone License Holdings, Inc.) |
| First air date | January 30, 1956 |
| Call letters' meaning | TeXaS |
| Former callsigns | KPAR-TV (1956-1966) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1956-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1956-1979) Secondary: ABC (1956-1979) |
| Transmitter power | 26.44 kW |
| Height | 351 m |
| Facility ID | 308 |
| Website | www.thecwabilene.com |
KTXS-TV is the ABC television affiliate for the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood market. The station is licensed to Sweetwater, and broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 20 (Suddenlink cable 4 in Abilene) from a broadcasting tower near Trent, Texas.
KTXS also has a low powered repeater, KTXE-LP channel 38 in San Angelo, Texas (called "KTXE 12", reflecting its cable slot on Suddenlink channel 12 in San Angelo).
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KTXS signed on as KPAR-TV on January 2, 1956. It was part of the West Texas Television Network, based at KDUB-TV (now KLBK-TV, channel 13) in Lubbock, and was a primary CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] The station's first studio was built on the eastern edge of Sweetwater; broadcasts from this location included a 6pm newscast.
Grayson Enterprises bought the West Texas Television Network stations in 1961. Grayson opened a satellite studio in Abilene in the early 1960s, and soon moved most of KPAR's operations there. This resulted in the first of many fines from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for violating "main studio" regulations. In 1966, the station moved most of its operations to a new studio in north Abilene and the call letters were changed to KTXS. The station became a sole ABC affiliate when KTAB-TV signed on in 1979 and took over as Abilene's CBS affiliate.
In the late fifties or early sixties, auxiliary studios were built at a former auto dealer building in Abilene. In 1962 or later, the Abilene studios were moved to a new shopping mall (Westgate Shopping center) on the west edge of Abilene. These were used until 1966 when the studios were moved to the highway bypass at the north edge of town, straddling the city of Abilene, the county, and a small town called Impact (founded to allow liquor in otherwise dry west Texas).
Grayson nearly lost its stations, including KTXS, four times between 1968 and 1971 due to licensing issues. In 1977, their renewals were deferred pending a hearing. Grayson was accused of fraudulent billing, program and transmitter log fabrication, main studio violations, failure to make required technical tests, and other problems.
The case was settled in what was then described as a "distress sale" where the stations were sold to a minority controlled group (nowadays known as a historically underutilized group) at a reduced price. The company breakup helped define the parameters of such a sale. KLBK and KTXS were sold to Prima, Inc., who was granted a permanent waiver of the main studio rule. It shut down the Sweetwater studio, but still identifies as "Sweetwater/Abilene."
In 1979, the station dropped CBS and became a full ABC affiliate after KTAB-TV signed on. In September 2006, KTXS started broadcasting the CW Television Network on digital subchannel 12.2. Bluestone Television sold KTXS to Bonten Media Group in 2007. Bonten Media also owns station WCYB in Bristol, Tennessee and manages several other stations. On December 31, 2008 KTXS began broadcasting in High Definition on Suddenlink cable. On June 12, 2009, KTXS Chief Engineer Leland Ohlhausen turned off the analog transmitter.
On Wednesday, August 10, 2011, KTXS began broadcasting the news in 720p high definition with a new set and new graphics.
Anchors
Reporters
Weather team
Sports team
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