KTVB

KTVB


Boise, Idaho
United States
Branding Idaho's
NewsChannel 7
Slogan Where News Comes First
Channels Digital: 7 (VHF)
Virtual: 7 (PSIP)
Subchannels 7.1 NBC
7.2 Idaho's Very Own 24/7
7.3 NW Cable News
Translators KTFT-LD 20 (7.1)
Twin Falls
(for others, see article)
Affiliations NBC (primary until 1974; exclusive 1974-present)
Owner Gannett Company
(King Broadcasting Company)
First air date July 12, 1953
Call letters' meaning TeleVision Boise
Former callsigns KIDO-TV (1953-59)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
7 (VHF, 1953-2009)
Digital:
26 (UHF, 1997-2009)
Former affiliations Both secondary:
DuMont (1953-1955)
ABC (1953-1974)
Transmitter power 42.1 kW
Height 806 m
Facility ID 34858
Transmitter coordinates 43°45′16″N 116°5′56″W / 43.75444°N 116.09889°W
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.ktvb.com

KTVB, channel 7, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Boise, Idaho, and is owned by the Gannett Company. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7.

The station also operates a low-power repeater in Twin Falls, KTFT-LD, the programming for which originates from the KTVB studios. The two signals are identical, with the exception of commercials, which are sold and targeted to the Magic Valley area.

History

The station, Idaho's oldest, signed on July 12, 1953, as KIDO-TV. It was originally owned by Georgia Davidson, along with radio station KIDO-AM. Davidson was one of only three female station owners in the NBC network including Dorothy Bullitt of future sister station KING-TV in Seattle. Davidson sold KIDO-AM in 1959 but kept KIDO-TV, which she renamed KTVB.

KTVB has always been a primary NBC affiliate. After KBOI-TV (Channel 2, CBS) signed on in November 1953, the two stations briefly shared secondary DuMont affiliations, and shared secondary ABC affiliations until KITC (Channel 6) signed on in 1974. Before KAID-TV (Channel 4, PBS) signed on in December 1971, KTVB pre-empted the second hour of the Today Show to carry Sesame Street without commercials on weekday mornings.

In the early 1960s, KTVB built a satellite station in La Grande, Oregon. KTVR-TV channel 13 went on the air December 6, 1964, as a semi-satellite of KTVB, but had a La Grande studio at 1605 Adams Ave., producing a nightly newscast and other local programming. However, by 1967, the La Grande studio and office had been closed and KTVR was a total satellite of KTVB. KTVR was unique in the Pacific time zone because as a repeater of a Mountain time zone station, its "prime-time" schedule was broadcast from 6 to 9 p.m. PT, two hours early. OEPBS (now Oregon Public Broadcasting) bought KTVR on August 31, 1976, and converted it to PBS programming on February 1, 1977.

Philo Farnsworth, the father of television and an Idaho native, was present as the station signed on the air. During KTVB's fiftieth year celebration, the tag line "the first television station in the state where TV was invented" was used in some promotional announcements.

In 1979, KTVB was sold to the Bullitts' King Broadcasting Company, joining KING in Seattle, KREM-TV in Spokane, and KGW-TV in Portland, as part of King Broadcasting. That company was sold to the Providence Journal Company in 1992, which was later sold to Belo Corp. in 1997.

In November 2003, KTVB launched Idaho's Very Own 24/7, a unique 24-hour channel consisting primarily of syndicated programming and original newscasts; the network is distributed on digital channel 7.2 as well as on a variety of local cable systems. It started as a newscast repeat station before evolving into its current form.

KTVB has branched out into non-traditional areas, such as its free "Idaho Classifieds" project on the ZIdaho website. KTVB is no longer affiliated with ZIdaho as of January, 2013.[1] In August 2011, KTVB became the first station in Boise to broadcast its entire weekday schedule in high definition.

On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo.[2] The sale was completed on December 23.[3]

On September 24, 2014, KTVB announced that they would switch to the Gannett graphics package and "This is Home" music package on September 28, 2014.

News operation

The KTVB news slogan is "Where News Comes First". The station produces 6.5 hours of original news programming each weekday distributed between KTVB & 24/7, and a total of 38 hours of original news and sports programming per week.

Former reporters have gone on to attain national prominence, including Christi Paul of CNN Headline News, Trace Gallagher of Fox News, David Kerley of ABC News[4] and Meg Oliver of CBS News Up To The Minute.

The KTVB news gathering fleet includes a new state of the art satellite truck purchased in 2006, allowing for live coverage of events across the region. KTVB's resources also include two live units, 10 news gathering vehicles, and a digital production truck.

The station has won a total of seven National Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. KTVB is also the recipient of numerous Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Northwest Chapter. On September 30, 2013, KTVB added the area's second weekday hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast (after KBOI-TV) [5]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[6]
7.1 1080i 16:9 KTVB-HD Main KTVB programming / NBC
7.2 480i 24/7 Idaho's Very Own 24/7
7.3 NWCN NW Cable News

Analog-to-digital conversion

KTVB shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, 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 relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 26 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.[7][8][9]

Translators

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

KTVB is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

All of the translators in Nevada and most in Oregon are in the Pacific Time Zone.

KTFT-LD translator

KTFT-LD is rebroadcast on digital translator K49IT-D in Hagerman, Idaho.[11] K49IT-D is owned and operated by the Hagerman Translator district and not Gannett Company and King Broadcasting Company.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.zidaho.com
  2. ↑ "Belo, owner of Boise's KTVB-TV, sold to Gannett". Idaho Statesman. June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 23 December 2013
  4. ↑ "TV reporter Kerley off to ABC in D.C.". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  5. ↑ KTVB Set to Launch 4 p.m. Newscast TVSpy, September 30, 2013.
  6. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KTVB
  7. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  8. ↑ Congress postpones DTV transition, Seattle may not, KING/AP, February 5, 2009
  9. ↑ Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise Station Gets Power Boost". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  10. ↑ ||Winnemucca||style="width:75px"|K19EU-D
  11. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=K49IT-D#station

External links