KKTV-TV

KKTV (Digital Channel 49, virtual channel 11) is the CBS affiliate for the Colorado Springs/Pueblo TV market, based in Colorado Springs, CO. It is the oldest television station in Colorado not based in Denver, having started broadcasting on December 7, 1952. It has always been a CBS affiliate, although it carried a secondary affiliation with ABC until KRDO-TV switched to ABC in 1960. As of 2008, KKTV has had a My Network subchannel called MyKKTV. It briefly had a local weather subchannel that was discontinued in January 2010.

History

From 1952 to 1982, KKTV was locally owned, and for its early history, was co-owned with KVOR-AM (which was a CBS radio affiliate from its founding until 2007, long after it lost common ownership with KKTV). KKTV was bought by Ackerley Group in 1982, which sold it to Benedek Broadcasting, which sold it to its current owner Gray Broadcasting in 2002. It broadcast in analog on Channel 11 from 1952 until June 12, 2009. It had a digital signal on Channel 10 (which is currently its cable channel number in Colorado Springs) from 2003 until January 24, 2011. KKTV claimed that the Channel 10 digital signal wasn't reaching enough of their pre-digital audience, and petitioned the FCC to let them move to Channel 49. KKTV moved to Channel 49 on January 21, 2011, but the station is still plagued with signal problems.

News

KKTV airs news from 5-7AM, 9-9:30AM, 12-12:30PM, 4-4:30PM, 5:30-6PM, 9-9:30 (on MyKKTV 49.2) and 10-10:30PM on weekdays. Sometimes MyKKTV will air CBS or regular KKTV programming in case of emergencies or big events (such as airing KKTV's morning news while KKTV's main channel was airing the 2011 Royal Wedding). KKTV's syndicated programming includes Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Inside Edition, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and Oprah. For most of its history, KKTV was the dominant news station in the market, but the February 2011 sweeps show KKTV a competitive 3rd in most news slots behind KRDO and Pueblo's KOAA, although KKTV's syndicated Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy were well ahead of newscasts on KRDO, KOAA, and KXRM from 6-7PM. KKTV won station of the year from the Colorado Broadcasters' Association in March 2011 and won an Edward R. Murrow Award for its sports department in April 2011. Despite placing 3rd in the February 2011 sweeps, KKTV has the most viewed television website in the market (about 40000 rankings ahead of 2nd place KOAA) and 2nd in Facebook popularity (with about 6000 fewer fans than KOAA).