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KCPQ, channel 13, is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States that serves the Seattle-Tacoma television market. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Media Company, and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate KZJO (channel 22 & 10). The two stations share studio and office facilities located on Westlake Avenue in Seattle's Westlake neighborhood, and KCPQ's transmitter is located on Gold Mountain in Bremerton, Washington.

KCPQ is one of five local Seattle television stations seen in Canada on satellite providers Bell TV and Shaw Direct. The station is also carried on several cable systems in southeastern Alaska.

History

As KMO-TV/KTVW

Channel 13 signed on air on August 2, 1953 as KMO-TV, co-owned with KMO radio (AM 1360, now KKMO), initially owned by Carl Haymond. The station carried some NBC programming for its first year until Seattle-licensed KOMO-TV (channel 4) began broadcasting on December 11. Hampered by a poor signal from north of Tacoma and the lack of alternate sources of programming, Haymond was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell the station to J. Elroy McCaw, a colorful and eccentric radio and television station owner, and father of cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw.

Under the ownership of McCaw's Gotham Broadcasting, who changed Channel 13's call letters to KTVW, the station closed its studio in Tacoma's Roxy Theater and relocated to its transmitter building in North Tacoma overlooking Commencement Bay. McCaw operated the independent station on a shoestring budget. It limped along on a diet of a low-budget local programming, and older off-network syndicated programs and obscure movies. Its branding of the period featured a stylized black cat and the ironic tag line "Lucky 13." KTVW was opportunistic on occasion and picked up broadcast rights to Tacoma's minor-league baseball team games and an occasional Seafair hydroplane race. During much of the 1960s, an afternoon children's show, Penny and Her Pals, was hosted by ventriloquist LaMoyne "Penny" Hreha.

An interesting note in channel 13's history is that for a very brief time in late 1957 and early 1958, it carried CBS network news. KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW), which at that time was the local CBS affiliate, stopped carrying the 15-minute CBS Evening News with Douglas Edwards sometime in late summer 1957, saying that it wanted to expand its local news show to 30 minutes. KTVW picked up the newscast on October 28, 1957, according to the Seattle Times. CBS, which wanted to see its newscasts remain on the air in Seattle/Tacoma, set up special telephone lines to permit channel 13 to carry Edwards as its first live network show under the KTVW name. Speculation is that when KTNT learned that it would eventually lose its CBS affiliation to KIRO-TV, which hit the airwaves in February 1958, it threw an on-air tantrum by dropping CBS Evening News and letting channel 13 pick it up.

In the mid to late 1960s, Stu Martin (also known as "Stu Baby" and "Stu Boo") was host of a locally produced in-studio B movie program on KTVW called Stu Martin's Double Date at the Movies. In addition to its host, it featured two women with beehive hairdos, "Miss Early Date" and "Miss Late Date". During breaks in the movie, in addition to commercials, the program featured a talent show. Viewers called Miss Early Date or Miss Late Date with their vote on the evening's top talent featuring local entertainers or those who thought they were entertaining. The station got a competitor in 1962, when KTNT-TV lost its CBS affiliation for good and became an independent.

In 1970, KTVW ran a weekday stock-market news program called Business Action Line; the show's producer, Rockwell Hammond, leased 6½ hours a day on KTVW and originated the program, which was broadcast live from the Northern Life Tower in Seattle from where it was microwaved to the station in Tacoma. Their financial-news studio later moved to West Seattle and was housed in a building with ample microwave line-of-sight to the Tacoma tower. The show was hosted by Merrill Mael; Dick Stokke and, later, Joe McCusker read the news. Despite the poor over-the-air reception of KTVW in Seattle, the program had a following in the business community, if only for the 15-minute delayed stock ticker and the real time display of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. However, expenses quickly overcame the income from what proved to be a limited commercial base, and the venture failed. Mael, a respected broadcaster for six decades, died in 2000. McCusker moved on to a career with the United Nations television operation, retiring in 2007.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the station featured an on-air sports program and Swing Shift Theater movie host named Bob Corcoran, who hawked endless items from Tacoma's B & I Circus Store and Niagara recliners. He shared night-time television time with Stu Martin in airing B movies. Corcoran later forged a fledgling political career from his television late-night talk show (he died in February 2014). One of his early forays into politics was to enthusiastically support the candidacy of Seattle Chrysler/Plymouth dealer Ralph Williams for Washington Attorney General. Not long after waging a losing campaign, Williams was indicted for tax evasion.

When McCaw died in 1969, the McCaw estate sold KTVW to Seattle-based Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation in 1971 for $1.1 million. Blaidon tried to turn KTVW around by boosting the station's signal strength, acquiring first-run syndicated programming and color-capable broadcast equipment (the station had broadcast exclusively in black-and-white until 1972). Channel 13 premiered its new programming lineup with The Tony Visco Show, its flagship effort. The talk/entertainment show was an attempt to recreate a Tonight Show-style program hosted by Las Vegas lounge entertainer/singer Tony Visco. It was taped at a Seattle night spot called the Cirque Dinner Theatre. Blaidon brought in a Los Angeles producer/director to develop the show, which featured a live band on-set, and had hopes of flying in show-business guests from L.A. and later syndicating the program nationwide. After two months on-air, the high production costs forced Blaidon to relocate the program to the station's Tacoma studios. Channel 13 cancelled The Tony Visco Show after it completed its 13-week run due to poor advertising sponsorship and high production costs.

KTVW launched an afternoon cartoon show hosted by a "superhero" for whom viewers were asked to suggest a name. The winning entry was "Flash Blaidon" and the host frequently made his entrance "flying" onto the set by jumping off a ladder whose shadow was often visible on the back wall of the cramped studio. KTVW introduced an evening movie program that included a puzzle contest offering $1,000 to the call-in winner. During the program's first week on the air, an overwhelming number of phone calls overloaded the station's phone system and put it out of order. A cult favorite program, Dr. ZinGRR's Astro-Projections, aired on Saturday nights and into the wee hours of Sunday. Dr. ZinGRR was played by popular Seattle-Tacoma radio disc jockey Robert O. Smith. He introduced Z-grade horror movies and performed satirical, comedic segments during movie breaks.[1]

Despite KTVW's improved and sometimes innovative programming, national advertisers failed to materialize and the station quickly lost momentum in the market. Channel 13's over-the-air signal, still spotty in many parts of the Seattle-Tacoma market, along with a weak Puget Sound economy and Blaidon's under-capitalized organization, rendered the station a money-losing proposition.[2] Even though Seattle-Tacoma was big enough on paper to support two independent stations, channel 13 increasingly lost ground to KTNT-TV, which had a stronger signal and much wealthier ownership that could afford stronger programming.

Plagued by numerous lawsuits from unpaid syndication suppliers who reclaimed most of their programming from the station, KTVW's ratings plummeted and remaining advertisers deserted the operation. Blaidon was forced into bankruptcy protection. Program suppliers had asked a district court judge to place the station in receivership. Interestingly, Blaidon president Donald Wolfstone had attempted to sell the station to then-unknown televangelist Pat Robertson and his fledgling Christian Broadcasting Network, but a court-appointed trustee canceled the deal. For a brief time under the court-appointed trusteeship, Len Sampson, a former KOMO-TV talk show host and personality, served as station manager and revised the schedule with a variety of syndicated programs and old network reruns as well as hosting some broadcasts himself. Another sale to Suburban Broadcasting, a Long Island television broadcast company, also fell through when the potential buyers failed to agree to assume the station's $4-million in liabilities. A bankruptcy judge then forced KTVW to cease operations at the end of a Batman rerun at 5 p.m. on December 12, 1974.

As KCPQ

The station's remaining assets were bought in bankruptcy court bidding by the Clover Park School District in Lakewood, for $378,000. Clover Park outbid the Trinity Broadcasting Network and a local group to acquire the station. The call letters were changed to KCPQ, replacing Clover Park's UHF channel 56 transmitter which had operated under the name KPEC-TV. The station went back on the air as the third PBS member station in the market (after KCTS and KTPS-TV), airing secondary PBS and educational programs. The Channel 56 license would return to the air in 2000 as KWDK.

By 1980, the Seattle/Tacoma market was large enough that it could now sustain another VHF commercial television station. Kelly Broadcasting, owners of KCRA-TV in its home city of Sacramento, California, purchased KCPQ from the Clover Park School District for $6.25 million, outbidding a Tucson, Arizona company that had initially stepped up to buy the station. The station temporarily went silent on February 28, 1980, during the ownership change. KCPQ's transmitter was relocated to Gold Mountain, a peak located west of Bremerton, where the station had erected a new tower to more effectively reach the Seattle market. While the move greatly increased the station's signal footprint across western Washington, it resulted in a somewhat weaker signal in the northern and eastern portions of the market. In promotional advertisements that aired on the station during the early 1980s, popular local celebrities (such as then-Seattle Seahawks player Steve Raible) encouraged KCPQ viewers in these areas to "aim towards Bremerton" with their TV antennas in order to get the best reception from the new transmitter.

The station relaunched on November 4, 1980 under its now-familiar "Q13" branding (although for the first several months on the air, it was referred to as "The NEW 13"), as well as another slogan: "The Northwest's Movie Channel". (It would also be occasionally be referred to on-air as "Puget Sound Television", with an alternate ident featuring a drawing of a boat within the green "Q" portion of the logo.) It used a logo similar to that of sister station KCRA, but with the square converted into a stylized "Q." Channel 13 ran movies during the midday hours, late nights and weekends, and chose to counter-program the network shows during primetime with uncut versions of feature films. The station also ran CBS and NBC shows that KIRO-TV and KING-TV respectively preempted, including CBS Late Night, NBC's Saturday morning cartoons and select game shows from both networks. For a short time after the relaunch, the station had an afternoon children's program, "Captain Sea-Tac", featuring a friendly boat captain. But eventually, other than Saturdays, KCPQ did not run children's programming during the week. The station also did not carry many off-network sitcoms, choosing instead to air first-run syndicated talk and game shows, off-network dramas, and some early morning religious programs. KCPQ also carried college sports for the majority of the 1980s and early 1990s, in particular Pacific-10 Conference football and basketball, and college football bowl games. The station held contracts with the University of Washington and Washington State University to televise football and basketball coaches shows during this period.

On October 9, 1986, KCPQ joined Fox as a charter affiliate. In 1987, with the children's television business growing, KCPQ began running cartoons weekday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m., and afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m. Channel 13 added sitcoms as well, and continued airing first-run syndicated shows and movies. As the Fox network's viewership and ratings strengthened in the 1990s, KCPQ gained prominence as a major broadcaster in the local Seattle market.[citation needed] In February 1990, KCPQ signed a three deal with Buena Vista Television to carry The Disney Afternoon over Fox's Fox Children's Network.[3]

KCPQ was in danger of losing its Fox affiliation in February 1997, when Fox Television Stations was reported to be in negotiations to acquire then-UPN affiliate KIRO-TV from Belo Corporation (the then-owners of NBC affiliate KING-TV, whose acquisition necessitated KIRO's sale).[4] Fox was reportedly dissatisfied with KCPQ, as it was described by one observer as being "recalcitrant."[5] At the time, KCPQ was one of the few large-market Fox stations without a news department. However, KIRO was ultimately sold to Cox Broadcasting,[6] and KCPQ retains its Fox affiliation to this day.

The Tribune Company acquired KCPQ in August 1998, as part of Kelly Broadcasting's exit from the television business. The deal was structured as a three-way transaction, in which Kelly sold the station to the Meredith Corporation, which then swapped it to Tribune in exchange for its Atlanta station WGNX.[7] Following the purchase of channel 13, Tribune merged KCPQ's operations with those of KTWB-TV (channel 22, now KZJO), which Tribune had acquired earlier in 1998. The two stations became co-owned in 1999, after the FCC began to allow same-market duopolies.

In January 2007, KCPQ made headlines when, during a satellite interview with the station's morning newscast, Paula Abdul (who was promoting American Idol) began to sway in her chair and slur her speech. Abdul's publicist attributed this to fatigue and technical difficulties during the recording of the interview, which she was also doing with other Fox affiliates.[8] It was later revealed on Abdul's Bravo reality show Hey Paula, which had followed Abdul with a video camera prior to the interviews, that she had not been sleeping, perhaps suffering from some mild form of insomnia.

Since the Seattle Seahawks move to the NFC from the AFC in 2002, KCPQ has aired the majority of Seahawks regular season games through the NFL on Fox. Seattle is the largest NFC market where the Fox station is only an affiliate. In 2012, KCPQ became the official television station of the Seahawks, adding analysis programs, along with coverage of the team's pre-season games (with replays of games on KZJO the following day). As Fox held rights to the game as part of its three-year cycle, KCPQ also broadcast the Seahawks' victory in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.

In 2014, KCPQ and KZJO began broadcasting games of the MLS' Seattle Sounders FC that are not carried by either NBC, NBCSN or ESPN; the stations replaced KING-TV and KONG.[citation needed]

Averted loss of Fox affiliation

As Seattle was, for a period, the second-largest NFC market where the Fox affiliate was not owned and operated by the network, Fox has repeatedly attempted to acquire a station in the region so that it could take advantage of the local revenue generated by Seahawks games, on top of that generated by Fox's NFL coverage as a whole. In June 2014, Fox reached a deal with Cox to trade its San Francisco Fox affiliate KTVU (along with its independent KICU) to Fox in exchange for its owned-and-operated stations in Boston and Memphis. Fox was also, reportedly, considering a deal to acquire KIRO, which would have displaced the Fox affiliation from KCPQ.[9] In 2013, Fox made a similar move in Charlotte, North Carolina (home market of the Carolina Panthers), terminating the Fox affiliation of WCCB and acquiring WJZY to convert it into a Fox O&O.[10]

In September 2014, the New York Post reported that Fox was planning to acquire KCPQ in exchange for its Chicago MyNetworkTV station WPWR—which would have given Tribune a sister station to its CW affiliate and flagship station WGN-TV.[11] On September 23, Tribune announced that it had been notified by Fox that its affiliation with KCPQ would be terminated as of January 17, 2015, but that discussions between the two companies were still ongoing. The affiliation would have been terminated one day before the 2014-15 NFC Championship Game (which ended up with the Seahawks winning against the Green Bay Packers at home).[12] Days earlier, on September 19, Fox struck a deal to buy KBCB, a station in Bellingham, for $10 million;[13] the purchase, submitted for FCC approval on October 3,[14][15] was described as a "strategic option" for Fox by an insider. Naming KBCB as Fox's Seattle affiliate would have had immediate complications for Fox's distribution in the market, as KBCB's transmitter on Orcas Island was much closer to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, and provides a marginal signal to Seattle proper.[16] By the time the KBCB purchase was disclosed, talks between Tribune and Fox had deteriorated; a Wall Street Journal report on October 7 stated that Fox no longer planned to include WPWR in a potential swap for KCPQ.[17]

On October 17, 2014, Fox announced that Tribune had agreed to extend its affiliation agreement for KCPQ through July 2018, and that it had agreed to pay increased reverse compensation fees to Fox for the broadcasting of its programming beginning in January 2015.[18] Shortly thereafter, Fox's purchase of KBCB was abandoned, and was dismissed by the FCC on November 20, 2014.[19]

Digital television

Digital channel

Channel[20] Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
13.1[21] 720p 16:9 KCPQ Main KCPQ programming / Fox
13.2 480p 4:3 KCPQ-DT2 This TV
13.3 480p 4:3 KCPQ-DT3 Escape

KCPQ previously carried The Local AccuWeather Channel on digital channel 13.2, branded as the Q13 FOX First Forecast Channel. As of November 2015, KCPQ carries This TV on 13.2. KCPQ's signal is also rebroadcast on KZJO's 22.2 digital subchannel[22] in 480i widescreen standard definition to better serve viewers who rely on over-the-air television signals in the northern and eastern portion of the market.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KCPQ shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated from analog to digital television.[23][24] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.[25]

News operation

File:KCPQ open.png
Q13 Fox News at 10p.m. newscast title card used from 2009 to 2013

KCPQ presently broadcasts 53.5 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 10 hours on weekdays, one hour on Saturdays and 2.5 hours on Sundays). It also airs a local version of America's Most Wanted called Washington's Most Wanted, hosted by weeknight anchor David Rose.

KCPQ once ran several news updates between movies during the early 1980s, and briefly ran a half-hour 10 p.m. newscast in the middle of the decade. This operation could not compete with the more established 10 p.m. news on then-independent KSTW, and was eventually canceled. In June 1997, KCPQ announced a news share agreement that would have had KIRO-TV produce a 10 p.m. newscast for the station; this came at the same time that KIRO was preparing to switch affiliations with KSTW, with KIRO becoming a CBS affiliate once again and KSTW becoming a UPN affiliate. This newscast, however, did not come to fruition.[26][27] The current news department began on January 18, 1998, when it launched a 35-minute 10 p.m. newscast, which initially ran only on Sunday through Thursday nights for its first year-and-a-half.[28]

Channel 13 also launched a morning newscast on January 17, 2000; the newscast originally ran for three hours from 6-9 a.m. before expanding over time to its current 6 hour length.[29] On March 31, 2008, the station began producing a 9 p.m. newscast for sister station KMYQ (now KZJO),[30] making the station one of the few Fox stations to produce a newscast for another station in the same market. In April 2009, KCPQ became the second station in Seattle to broadcast its local newscasts in widescreen standard definition. In 2010, KCPQ began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition, becoming the fourth Seattle station to do so. In June 2011, KCPQ added a 5 p.m. newscast, making it the last Tribune-owned Fox station to debut an early evening newscast (its five other Fox-affiliated sister stations all debuted early evening newscasts during the fall of 2010). On March 26, 2012, KCPQ debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast that competes with ABC affiliate KOMO-TV's own hour-long newscast in that timeslot. On August 17, 2014, Q13 Fox launched the half-hour Q13 Fox News at 11, which airs every Sunday through Thursday at 11 p.m. PDT.

Notable former on-air staff

Repeaters

All repeaters are owned by KCPQ and are within the Seattle-Tacoma market, unless specified.

City Channel Database
Seattle Ch. 22-2 Template:TVQ Subchannel of KJZO broadcasting from Capitol Hill. Serves Seattle and eastern portion of the market. Widescreen/Standard Definition.
Seattle Ch. 22 Template:TVQ RF 22 15 kW Digital From Capitol Hill for fill in service in downtown Seattle.
Wenatchee Ch. 14 Template:TVQ Owned by a Third Party
Aberdeen Ch. 25 Template:TVQ
Chelan Ch. 28 Template:TVQ
Centralia Ch. 42 Template:TVQ

References

  1. ^ "Dr. ZingRR on KTVW"
  2. ^ Financial Problems for Channel 13
  3. ^ "Fox affiliate defects to Buena Vista" (PDF). Broadcasting. No. Vol. 118 No. 7. Broadcasting Publications Inc. February 12, 1990. p. 22. Retrieved November 30, 2015. {{cite news}}: |issue= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Taylor, Chuck (February 5, 1997). "Three-Network Switch Possible For Seattle TV". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  5. ^ Taylor, Chuck (February 3, 1997). "Fox trading for KIRO-TV; network will swap Phoenix, Austin stations for Seattle". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 30, 2013. (preview of subscription content)
  6. ^ Taylor, Chuck (February 21, 1997). "Deals Shuffle 3 TV Stations – KIRO, KSTW To Get New Owners, Networks; KING Still NBC". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  7. ^ "3-Way Accord For TV Stations". The New York Times. August 25, 1998. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  8. ^ "Singer Paula Abdul cancels interviews after video". Reuters. January 12, 2007. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  9. ^ "Fox Steps Up its Pursuit of Station Acquisitions in NFL Markets". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Fox NFL Strategy Drives Seattle Affiliate Grab". TVNewsCheck. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  11. ^ "Fox targets Tribune's Fox affiliation in Seattle over NFL revenues". New York Post. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  12. ^ Malone, Michael (September 23, 2014). "Fox Gives Tribune Termination Notice For Seattle Affiliate". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  13. ^ "ASSET PURCHASE AGREEMENT dated as of September 19, 2014 by and among WORLD TELEVISION OF WASHINGTON, LLC, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, INC. and VENTURE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, LLC". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  14. ^ "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE (KBCB)". Federal Communications Commission. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Fox Buying Station In Seattle". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  16. ^ Malone, Michael (October 7, 2014). "Fox Television Stations Acquiring Seattle Independent". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  17. ^ Flint, Joe (October 7, 2014). "Eyeing NFL Value, 21st Century Fox Acquires Seattle Area TV Station". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2014. (subscription required)
  18. ^ "Tribune To Keep KCPQ And Fox Affiliation". TVNewsCheck. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Application Search Details (KBCB to Fox)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  20. ^ RabbitEars.info Query for KCPQ
  21. ^ "Northwest Broadcasters - Digital TV". nwbroadcasters.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  22. ^ "Stations for Seattle, Washington". rabbitears.info. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  23. ^ Peninsuladailynews.com-
  24. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  25. ^ "DTV Transition Status Report". FCC CDBS Database. February 19, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  26. ^ KCPQ May Air KIRO News Seattle Times, June 14, 1997.
  27. ^ Issues Snag KIRO, KCPQ News Pact, Seattle Times, June 25, 1997.
  28. ^ KCPQ-TV Adds A 10 P.M. News Show, Seattle Times, January 9, 1998.
  29. ^ Hip and lively, KCPQ's new morning show is local and Perky, Seattle Times, January 18, 2000.
  30. ^ Malone, Michael (March 19, 2008). "KMYQ Seattle Adds 9 p.m. News". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  31. ^ Moore, Jim (24 January 2005). "Don Poier, 1951-2005: Voice of Grizzlies honed his skills in NW". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
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