KZTV

KZTV
Corpus Christi, Texas
Branding Action 10 News
6 News (during simulcasted KRIS-TV shows)
Slogan The station with the most local news in South Texas. (during simulcasted KRIS-TV shows)
Channels Digital: 10 (VHF)
Subchannels 10.1 CBS
Owner SagamoreHill Broadcasting (operated through SSA by Cordillera Communications)
(SagamoreHill of Corpus Christi Licenses, LLC)
First air date September 30, 1956
Call letters' meaning TeleVision
Sister station(s) KRIS-TV, K47DF, K68DJ
Former channel number(s) 10 (VHF analog, 1956-2009)
18 (UHF digital, 2002-2009)
Former affiliations ABC (secondary, 1956-1964)
Transmitter power 39 kW
Height 289.8 m
Facility ID 33079
Website kztv10.com

KZTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Corpus Christi area of South Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter between Petronila and Robstown. Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting, the station is operated through a shared services agreement (SSA) by Cordillera Communications (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Evening Post Publishing Company). This makes it sister to NBC affiliate KRIS-TV, low-power Independent K47DF, and low-power Telemundo affiliate K68DJ. All four stations share studios on Artesian Street in Downtown Corpus Christi. Syndicated programming on KZTV includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Doctors, Dr. Phil, and The Nate Berkus Show.

Contents

History

KZTV signed-on September 30, 1956 as the second VHF television station in the area behind former rival KRIS-TV by four months. It aired an analog signal on VHF channel 10. The channel has always been a CBS affiliate but shared secondary ABC status with KRIS-TV until KIII launched on May 4, 1964. This station was home to Walter Furley, who was at the station for 45 years before retiring on May 31, 2002. Vann Kennedy, original owner and operator of KZTV and KVTV in Laredo, also has the distinction of giving legendary broadcaster Walter Cronkite his first job in journalism.

Throughout the years, the station's resources were divided between studios in Downtown Corpus Christi and transmitter north of Petronila. In 1985, a modern production facility was built on Artesian Street in Downtown Corpus Christi. In 2002, Eagle Creek Broadcasting bought the station and later in the year debuted a new and more polished product. Most on-air staff hired before the buyout were forced out. During this time, KZTV went by the brands of "CBS 10" and finally "Action 10 News". News Directors included Judith Cutright (2002–2003), Kent Harrell (2003–2006), and Hollis Grizzard Jr. (2006–2009).

On July 23, 2008, Eagle Creek announced that it had sold KZTV to Cordillera Communications. To comply with Federal Communications Commission rules, the license was instead sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting; however, the application to sell the station was opposed by McKinnon Broadcasting, then-owner of KIII.[1] This objection held up the deal until August 24, 2009 when Eagle Creek announced a shared services agreement with KRIS-TV. Cordillera now owns all station assets with Eagle Creek owning KZTV's broadcast license. On June 12, 2009, KZTV remained on channel 10 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. [2] SagamoreHill finally assumed ownership of the KZTV license on May 19, 2010.[1] As of May, 2011 KZTV has added HD recording capabilities to their syndicated programing which gives the station the ability to show syndicated programing in HD when the program is recorded in HD.

KZTV became the first station in the Corpus Christi market to broadcast news in HD on Monday, August 1 with its 5 p.m. broadcast.

News operation

After KRIS-TV's parent company bought out KZTV, KRIS-TV moved into KZTV's facilities in September 2010. Due to technical issues with the move of the station, it was not able to air newscasts from September 25 until September 28.

KRIS-TV unveiled a brand new high definition-ready set and graphics package on September 29, 2010. The station has now become the area's first to air newscasts in 16x9 enhanced definition widescreen. As of October 16, KZTV now simulcasts KRIS-TV's weekday morning, noon, and weekend broadcasts after dropping its own shows in those time periods. For the weekend newscasts, however, there could be pre-emptions on one channel due to network obligations.

This type of shared service agreement is criticized for eliminating independent and competing news-gathering in the given areas providing less public service and information for the viewers therein. [3]

On Air Talent

Anchors

Doppler 10 Meteorologists

Sports

Troubleshooters Reporter

Multimedia Journalists

References

  1. ^ a b "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1332096. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
  2. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  3. ^ Yanich, Danilo. "Study: Local TV & Shared Services Agreements". SavetheNews.org. http://www.savethenews.org/resources/study-local-tv-shared-services-agreements-honolulu. Retrieved 11/19/2011. 

External links