KXLY-TV

For the sister AM radio station in Spokane, Washington, United States, see KXLY (AM). For the sister FM station, see KXLY-FM.

KXLY-TV

Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Branding	KXLY ABC 4 HD (general) KXLY 4 HD News (newscasts)
Slogan	Your Trusted Choice (for Local News)
Channels	Digital: 13 (VHF) Virtual: 4 (PSIP)
Subchannels	4.1 ABC HD 4.2 KXMN-LD (MyNetworkTV) 4.3 ABC SD
Translators	KXMN-LP 11 Spokane KMNZ-LP 38 Coeur D'Alene KUMN-LP 43 Moses Lake K24EX Wenatchee (for others, see article)
Affiliations	American Broadcasting Company
Owner	Morgan Murphy Media (Spokane Television, Inc.)
First air date	January 16, 1953
Call letters' meaning	The XL Network (KXLY (AM) was a flagship station for a regional network)
Sister station(s)	KEZE, KHTQ, KXLX, KXLY, KXLY-FM, KXMN-LD, KVNI, KZZU-FM
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 4 (VHF, 1953-2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (1953-1976) DuMont (1953-1955) ABC (secondary, 1953-1954) UPN (January 2006)
Transmitter power	23.3 kW
Height	936 m
Facility ID	61978
Transmitter coordinates	47°55′15.7″N 117°6′52.7″W
Website	www.kxly.com

KXLY-TV, virtual channel 4 (digital channel 13), is the ABC-affiliated television station in Spokane, Washington. KXLY-TV is owned by Spokane Television Group, a subsidiary of Morgan Murphy Media; it is one of five local Spokane area television stations available in Canada via satellite provider Shaw Direct. KXLY is operated in a duopoly with KXMN-LD, which was launched on September 5, 2006 as Spokane's MyNetworkTV affiliate.

On cable, the station is available in standard definition on channel 4 on Comcast in the Spokane area and on Time Warner Cable in the Coeur d'Alene area; it is also available in high definition on Comcast digital channel 104 in Spokane and Time Warner Cable digital channel 704 in Coeur d'Alene and the Palouse. On satellite, it is available on channel 4 in standard definition only on Dish Network and DirecTV.

History

KXLY-TV logo; 1966

Although KHQ and KXLY were both granted authorization by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build television stations on July 11, 1952, KXLY was second to sign on, going on the air with broadcast tests on January 16, 1953, with regular programming beginning on February 22. KXLY had initially hoped to have its television station on the air by Christmas of 1952, but adverse weather conditions on Mount Spokane delayed the launch.

KXLY was a primary CBS affiliate, sharing ABC with KHQ-TV. Channel 4 also carried some programming from DuMont up until as late as April 1955. ABC programming, along with partial DuMont shows that KXLY-TV did not carry, moved to KREM when it signed on in 1954.

At first, KXLY, whose AM sister was also affiliated with the CBS Radio Network at the time, enjoyed a good partnership with CBS. The national affiliate worked well with early KXLY executives Dick Jones, Bob Struble, and Jimmy Augustino, to help the station become a dominant player in the Spokane television market in the 1950s and 1960s.

However, the station's relationship with CBS faltered in later years when it started airing several CBS shows out of pattern by delaying or pre-empting them. In February 1976, CBS announced it would be terminating KXLY's affiliation with the network in August, with a spokesman from the network stating they felt they could "get wider exposure for our programs with another station." This would become a rare first in which a major US television network would strip a station of its affiliation. On August 8, the affiliation switch went into effect, with CBS programming moving to KREM (KREM wanted to wait until ABC finished airing the network's broadcast of the 1976 Summer Olympics to make the switch). KXLY then picked up KREM's old ABC affiliation, although it began the transition in February 1976 when it started airing Good Morning America while airing CBS shows throughout the day. Ironically at this time, ABC jumped to number one in the ratings for the next several years. This meant KXLY ended up broadcasting the highest-rated network (first CBS, then ABC) throughout the 1970s.

KXLY is the only station in the Spokane market to broadcast from Mount Spokane, to the northeast of the city. The site (located in a state park) was originally developed with the expectation that Spokane's other TV stations would want to follow suit. When this did not occur, KXLY built a translator (K09FZ on channel 9, later becoming K11VT channel 11, then KUUP-LP) to serve non-antenna-rotator-equipped households from the mountain ridge south of Spokane used by the other stations. On May 24, 2006, it became KXMN-LP and from September 5, 2006 until the national DTV transition in February 2009, it broadcast MyNetworkTV programming. From the digital transition date forward the South Hill transmitter rebroadcast KXLY ABC - both in analog on channel 11 and as 4.1 (ABC HD) and 4.2 (MyNetworkTV) over a Channel 9 translator.

HD race

On March 11, 1999, KXLY-DT signed on the air as Eastern Washington's first digital television signal on Channel 13. Much like the first black and white television broadcasters, this initial effort was launched utilizing a low power digital transmitter and antenna co-located at the Boone Avenue studio location in downtown Spokane. The station's first authentic telecasts began with its 5 pm and 6 pm newscasts March 26, 1999.

Later behind the scenes that year, engineers assembled the new ABC High Definition satellite equipment to ready the station for ABC's foray into HD with Monday Night Football. By Monday, September 27, 1999, KXLY-DT had permanently moved its digital transmissions to the top of Mt. Spokane and increased its power to the FCC maximum of 23,300 watts. That evening marked the region's first broadcast of high-definition pictures with the airing of ABC Monday Night Football.

On April 20, 2006, the race to high-definition live local newscasts in the Spokane television market began when KXLY became the first station in Spokane to broadcast a local news segment in high definition, an experiment the station continued to explore by showing one pre-taped news segment in HD each Tuesday night during its 6 pm broadcast until it switched to showing full HD newscasts on August 3, 2008.

On May 16, 2008, KHQ announced that it would leap ahead of KXLY in becoming the first station to produce HD newscasts beginning August 8, 2008. After months of KHQ marketing this milestone, on August 1, 2008, KXLY shocked KHQ when it made a surprise announcement that starting on August 3, 2008, just a mere two days after the announcement, it would begin producing all news broadcasts in high definition. The date was chosen in order to beat KHQ to the milestone of being the first station to broadcast high definition local news in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene market. Due to technical limitations KHQ has delayed broadcasting a true HD newscast. A 16:9 (widescreen) standard definition broadcast continues to be broadcast instead.

Digital Television

Channel	Video	Aspect	Name	Programming
4.1	720p	16:9	KXLY-TV	Main KXLY-TV programming / ABC
4.2	480i	4:3	KXMN-SD	MyNetworkTV
4.3			KXLY-SD	SD Simulcast of 4.1

KXMN-LD, simulcast on KXLY-DT channel 4.2, is available locally on Comcast cable channel 29; it is not currently available on Dish Network or DirecTV.

Analog to Digital Conversion

KXLY-TV shut down its analog signal on February 17, 2009, remaining on its pre-transition channel 13. Through the use of PSIP, KXLY-TV's main ABC signal is displayed as virtual channel 4.

Programming

KXLY currently clears the entire ABC schedule, as well as local news, paid programming, and syndicated entertainment programming including Live with Kelly, The Rachael Ray Show, The Nate Berkus Show, Entertainment Tonight, and The Insider.

News operation

On December 22, 2008, KXLY began producing high-resolution weather segments for sister stations KAPP/Yakima and KVEW/Kennewick. Both stations discontinued their 6 p.m. newscast, the 11 p.m. newscast was reduced to five minutes and weekend newscasts are now produced at KXLY. This includes all weather and sports reports for weekdays and weekends. In addition to this move, 17 employees from KVEW and KAPP, were laid off.

Newscasts

KXLY's newscasts, titled "kxly4 HD News", are featured at these following times:

Weekdays

• Good Morning Northwest HD - 5-7 a.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 5 - 5-5:30 p.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 6 - 6-6:30 p.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 6:30 - 6:30-7 p.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 11 - 11-11:35 p.m.

Saturday

• kxly4 HD News at 6 - 6-6:30 p.m.

Sunday

• kxly4 HD News at 5 - 5-5:30 p.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 6 - 6-6:30 p.m.
• kxly4 HD News at 11 - 11-11:35 p.m.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• KXLY Television Newsreel (1953–1960)
• The World Today/The World Tonight (1960–1964)
• The News/Nite Edition (1964–1971)
• NewsScene (1971–1973)
• News 4 (1973–1976, 1981–1986, 1996–2001)
• Total News 4 (1976–1981, 1991–1996)
• KXLY News 4 (1986–1991, 2001–2007; displayed in on-air graphics as 'News 4 KXLY' from 2001–2005)
• KXLY 4 News (2007–2008)
• KXLY 4 HD News (2008–present)

Station slogans

• "News for Your Life... Turn to Four." (1984–1985)
• "Making the Northwest Difference" (1991–1998)
• "The Inland Northwest's #1 Source for Breaking News" (1998–2001)
• "First 4 Local News" (1996–2001; same slogan as KOMO-TV in Seattle, also an ABC affiliate broadcasting on channel 4)
• "See the Difference" (2001–2004)
• "Uncovering More" (2004–2007)
• "Never Miss a Story" (2007–2011)
• "See the Difference Every Day" (2009–2011, secondary)
• "Your Trusted Choice (for Local News)" (2011–present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team

Anchors

• Kalae Chock - weeknights at 11 p.m.; also weeknight 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m. reporter
• Derek Deis - weekday mornings Good Morning Northwest HD (5-7 a.m.)
• Mike Gonzalez - weeknights at 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m.
• Robyn Nance - weekday mornings Good Morning Northwest HD (5-7 a.m.)
• Colleen O'Brien - weekends on Saturday at 6 and Sunday at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
• Nadine Woodward - weeknights at 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m.

HD 4Cast Weather

• Kris Crocker (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m., also seen on KAPP and KVEW, and heard on KXLY-AM/FM
• Aaron Luna - weather anchor; on Saturday at 6 and Sunday at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., also reporter; also seen on KAPP and KVEW
• Mark Peterson - weather anchor; weekday mornings Good Morning Northwest HD (5-7 a.m.)
• Kylee Cruz - weather anchor; fill-in, also reporter
• Kate Derning-Hudson - meteorologist; fill-in, also 6 and 6:30 p.m. producer (wife of Gonzaga basketball and baseball radio announcer Tom Hudson)

ESPN Northwest Sports

• Ben Kaplan - sports director; weeknights at 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m.
• Tom Giles - sports anchor; weekends on Saturday at 6 and Sunday at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter
• Dennis Patchin - "Are You Kidding Me?" feature reporter; also KXLY-FM program director

Reporters

• Annie Bishop - general assignment reporter
• Kylee Cruz - general assignment reporter
• Ian Cull - multimedia journalist
• Kristi Gorenson - special projects and health reporter; also KXLY (AM) news anchor
• Jeff Humphrey - general assignment reporter (son of NBC correspondent Don Harris)
• Melissa Luck - general assignment reporter; also executive producer
• Erik Loney - weekday morning reporter
• Anusha Roy - North Idaho bureau reporter

Contributors

• Michael Foley
• Jaime Johnson
• George Lee

Notable former on-air staff

• Richard Brown - anchor/managing editor (1998–2007; now 3-6 p.m. weeknight anchor at CKOM (AM) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

Translators

KXLY is rebroadcast on the following translator stations.

K03DJ-D Channel 3 Polson, Montana K04KZ Channel 4 Oroville K04QH-D Channel 4 Thompson Falls, Montana K05FN Channel 5 Winton K05MP-D Channel 5 Leavenworth K06QF-D Channel 6 Heron, Montana K07CP Channel 7 Ferdinand, Idaho K07NL Channel 7 Juliaetta, Idaho K07CH-D Channel 7 Paradise, Montana K08CW Channel 8 Malott K08CX Channel 8 Tonasket K08DU Channel 8 Ahsahka, Idaho K09MP Channel 9 Curlew K09DG Channel 9 Omak K09FQ-D Channel 9 Thompson Falls, Montana K10KR Channel 10 Coolin, Idaho K10LG Channel 10 Dryden K10DF Channel 10 Coulee City K10GJ Channel 10 Colville K10GH Channel 10 Laurier K10LH Channel 10 West Glacier, Montana K10DK Channel 10 Malott K10AF Channel 10 Troy, Montana K10BD Channel 10 Twisp K10DM Channel 10 Riverside K10AF Channel 10 Troy, Montana K10QH-D Channel 10 Trout Creek, Montana KXMN-LP Channel 11 Spokane K11AS Channel 11 Bridgeport K11HM Channel 11 Bonners Ferry, Idaho K11KP Channel 11 Bull Lake Valley, Montana K11EY Channel 11 Soap Lake K11FC Channel 11 Waterville K11KP-D Channel 11 Troy, Montana K12CX Channel 12 Tonasket K12BA Channel 12 Winthrop K13RU Channel 13 Molson K13JL Channel 13 White Bird, Idaho K24AI Channel 24 Quincy K24EX Channel 24 Wenatchee K26IV-D Channel 26 Wenatchee K26CK Channel 26 Grangeville, Idaho K30KA-D Channel 30 Wenatchee K32FN Channel 32 Wenatchee Valley K40EE Channel 40 Pullman K41IW-D Channel 41.4 Polson, Montana K43HZ Channel 43 Moses Lake/Othello K45FZ Channel 45 Lewiston, Idaho K50LB-D Channel 50.4 Polson, Montana K53CX Channel 53 Brewster K64DL Channel 64 Libby, Montana K58AU Channel 58 Chelan K64DL Channel 64 Libby, Montana K66AC Channel 66 Weeksville, Montana

Translators in Montana are located in the Mountain Time Zone.

External links

• kxly4 News
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXLY-TV
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KXLY
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXMN-LD
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KXMN-LD
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KMNZ
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KMNZ-LP
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KMNZ-LD
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KUMN
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for KUMN
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXLY-TV