KREM (TV)

This article is about the CBS affiliate in Spokane, Washington. For the Belizean cable television station, see Krem Television.
KREM
Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
United States
Branding KREM 2 (general)
KREM 2 News (newscasts)
(pronounced "crem")
Slogan On Your Side
Channels Digital: 20 (UHF)
Virtual: 2 (PSIP)
Subchannels 2.1 CBS
2.2 Justice Network
Translators (see article)
Affiliations CBS (since 1976)
Owner Gannett Company
(King Broadcasting Company)
First air date October 29, 1954[1]
Call letters' meaning Named after former sister radio stations (KREM sounds like Crem)
Sister station(s) KSKN, KING-TV, KONG, KGW, KTVB, Northwest Cable News
Former channel number(s) Analog:
2 (VHF, 1954-2009)
Former affiliations Primary:
ABC (1954-1976)
Secondary:
DuMont (1954-1956)
DT2: TheCoolTV
LWN
Transmitter power 893 kW
Height 641 m
Facility ID 34868
Transmitter coordinates 47°35′40.9″N 117°17′56.8″W / 47.594694°N 117.299111°W
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.krem.com

KREM, virtual channel 2, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving the Spokane, Washington-Coeur d'Alene, Idaho market. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 20. The station is owned and operated by the Gannett Company, and is operated in a duopoly with area CW affiliate KSKN (channel 22). The two stations share all back-office functions, and KREM produces a 10 p.m. newscast for air on KSKN. KREM can be seen in high-definition on Comcast channel 102 for the Spokane area, channel 702 on Time Warner for the Coeur d'Alene area and for the Palouse, and channel 2 (both standard definition and high definition) for both Dish Network and DirecTV viewers.

KREM and KSKN are a part of a cluster of television stations in the Northwestern United States owned by Gannett, which includes KING-TV and its sister station KONG, Seattle; KGW, Portland, Oregon; and KTVB in Boise. All four stations provide material to co-owned Northwest Cable News, a regional 24-hour cable news service based in Seattle serving much of the region. KREM is the only non-NBC affiliate to be a primary contributor to NWCN, with the exception of KSKN and Seattle independent station KONG.

The station is also carried on cable systems in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, both of which are double the size of KREM's American coverage area. One result of this is that stations in Calgary and Edmonton air American shows on Pacific Time, even though Calgary and Edmonton are both on Mountain Time. It is one of five local Spokane area television stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite service. It can also been seen on local cable systems in eastern British Columbia.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[2]
2.1 1080i 16:9 KREM-HD Main KREM programming / CBS
2.2 480i 4:3 COOL-TV Live Well Network → Justice Network (coming soon)

Analog-to-digital conversion

KREM discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 20.[3][4] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 2.

History

KREM-TV signed on October 31, 1954 with an "inaugural program" at 6:30 pm,[5] followed by the 1933 movie The Private Life of Henry VIII.[6] It initially carried dual-affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Network, the latter shared with cross-town competitor KXLY-TV because of its then-CBS affiliation at the time. After DuMont dissolved, KREM continued as an ABC affiliate. In the late 1950s, the station was briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[7]

KREM-TV was affiliated with ABC until August 8, 1976, when it swapped affiliations with KXLY-TV, whom CBS immediately dropped for constantly pre-empting or delaying its network shows. KREM thus became a full member of the CBS network.

KREM-TV was originally owned by the owner of KREM radio (AM 970, now KTTO; and FM 92.9, now KZZU-FM). The King Broadcasting Company, run by Seattle businesswoman Dorothy Bullitt, bought the KREM stations in 1957; the radio stations were sold off in 1984. (Coincidentally, the former KREM-FM is now a sister station to KXLY-TV.) King Broadcasting was sold in 1992 to the Providence Journal Company, which merged with Belo Corporation five years later. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo.[8] The sale was completed on December 23.[9]

Programming

KREM currently features CBS programming, as well as local news, public affairs and syndicated entertainment programming including The 700 Club, The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Phil, Inside Edition, and Access Hollywood.

News operation

In April 2010, KREM and KSKN began broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen, and KREM became the third station in Spokane to switch in either HD or widescreen.[10][11][12] Also, KREM still holds a monopoly on midday newscasts in the Spokane area. From September 15, 2014 to January 2, 2015, KREM was the only station to air their newscasts from 7:00-9:00 a.m. on its sister station KSKN.[13] KREM switched to Gannett's "This is Home" music and graphics package on October 25, 2014 at the 5:00 newscast.[14] KREM became the last station in the Spokane market to switch their newscasts to HD.

Notable former on-air staff

Translators

KREM is rebroadcast on the following translator stations.

References

  1. ↑ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says October 31, while the Television and Cable Factbook says October 29.
  2. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KREM
  3. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  4. ↑ CDBS Print
  5. ↑ "New TV Station Plans Inaugural on Sunday Night" Spokane Daily Chronicle, October 29, 1954. Retrieved: May 19, 2012.
  6. ↑ Spokane Daily Chronicle - "Announcing the Telecast Premiere of KREM-TV" (advertisement) - October 30, 1954
  7. ↑ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice, November 10, 1956: 13
  8. ↑ "Gannett to buy KREM-TV owner Belo for $1.5 billion". KREM.com. Associated Press. June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  9. ↑ Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 23 December 2013
  10. ↑ "Is Your local news in HD?". Avsforum.com. 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  11. ↑ "KXLY 4 HD". Youtube.com. 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  12. ↑ "KHQ Local News 11@11 HD Open - 2008". Youtube.com. 2008-10-18. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  13. ↑ "For the first time, 7:00-9:00 a.m. morning news in Spokane.". changingnewscasts.wordpress.com. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  14. ↑ "New design coming to KREM 2 newscasts.". krem.com. 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=K41IW-D#station
  17. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=K50LB-D#station

External links