KGBT-TV
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Harlingen/McAllen/Brownsville, Texas United States | |
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City | Harlingen, Texas |
Channels | Digital: 18 (UHF) Virtual: 4 |
Branding | KGBT 4 |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 4.1: Antenna TV (O&O) 4.2: Rewind TV 4.3: Comet 4.4: Estrella TV 4.5: Court TV Mystery 4.6: Grit |
Ownership | |
Owner | Nexstar Media Group (Tribune Broadcasting Company II, LLC) |
KVEO-TV | |
History | |
First air date | October 4, 1953 |
Former channel number(s) |
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Former affiliations |
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Call sign meaning | Genevieve Beryl Tichenor (wife of founding owner McHenry Tichenor) |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 34457 |
ERP | 860 kW |
HAAT | 397.2 m (1,303 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 26°8′56.8″N 97°49′19.2″W / 26.149111°N 97.822000°W |
Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
KGBT-TV, virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 18), is an Antenna TV owned-and-operated television station licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States and serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley metropolitan area. Owned by Irving-based Nexstar Media Group, it is part of a duopoly with Brownsville-licensed dual NBC/CBS affiliate KVEO-TV (channel 23). Both stations share studios on West Expressway (I-2/US 83) in Harlingen, while KGBT-TV's transmitter is located in La Feria, Texas.
History[]
KGBT-TV's roots lie in the 1941 establishment of KGBT radio, an independent radio station with a staff of eleven people. The station was owned by the Harbenito Broadcasting Company. KGBT became an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network in 1943.[1]
KGBT-TV signed on in 1953 as a CBS Television affiliate, mirroring its radio cousin. KGBT-TV was founded by Tichenor Media System, Inc., a regional conglomerate of Spanish-language radio stations. Tichenor owned the KGBT radio station until 2003 when the company merged with Univision Communications.[citation needed]
Before 1976, KGBT shared ABC programming with NBC affiliate KRGV-TV. When KRGV-TV became an ABC affiliate, KGBT-TV took on a secondary NBC affiliation until 1981 when KVEO-TV signed on. In 1986, Tichenor decided to exit the English-language broadcasting market by selling KGBT-TV to the Draper Holdings Business Trust, the owner of WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland. In 1998, Draper sold KGBT-TV to Cosmos Broadcasting, the broadcasting division of the Liberty Corporation. Cosmos came directly under the Liberty banner in 2001 when Liberty sold off its insurance business. Liberty merged with Raycom Media in 2006. In August of that year, KGBT-TV was sold again to Barrington Broadcasting.
In 2013, Barrington sold KGBT-TV to the Sinclair Broadcast Group as part of a larger deal which involved 18 television stations. The sale was completed on November 25.[2][3]
On January 27, 2020, Sinclair announced that it would sell WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky and the non-license assets of KGBT (including its CBS affiliation and syndication contracts) to Nexstar Media Group as part of a settlement between the two companies over Sinclair's failed acquisition of Tribune Media, which was ultimately acquired by Nexstar.[4] KVEO-TV assumed the CBS affiliation on 23.2 the next day, thus bringing an end to KGBT's affiliation with CBS after 66 years; the .1 subchannel went dark, but the station's other subchannels remained active. Channel 4.1 was reactivated on July 19, 2021, carrying Antenna TV, which had no previous affiliate in the market. Also on July 19, Nexstar announced that it will acquire KGBT outright from Mission Broadcasting, which bought the station earlier in May.[5][6] The deal was completed on September 15.[7]
Programming[]
Specialty programming[]
KGBT previously produced annual telethons to benefit children's hospitals. The station has also produced local segments for the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.
News operation[]
This section needs expansion with: further information on the history of KGBT's news operation. You can help by . (October 2011) |
24/7 Weather Lab[]
KGBT-TV was the first news station in the metropolitan area with its own live weather radar, which was called "Live Super Doppler." KGBT-TV broadcast a 24-hour weather station, which provided updated local forecasts.
On April 29, 2008, KGBT-TV's 43-year veteran weatherman, Larry James, retired. James was a veteran of the station's "glory days" during the late 1960s and 1970s when the station produced the top-rated newscast in the Rio Grande Valley.
"Sports Extra"[]
KGBT-TV formerly aired "Sports Extra", an extended sports segment that aired during the 10 p.m. newscasts on Fridays and Sundays. The main focus of the Friday segment was local high school football games, while the Sunday edition provided the highlights of high school, college and professional football, and generally featured a panel of local sports writers and sports talk radio personalities, who break down high school football games and provide analysis.
Prior to the start of the high school football season, KGBT produced Action 4 Sports: Countdown to Kickoff. The hour-long special briefly previewed each team in the Rio Grande Valley. As of September 2008, "Sunday Sports Extra" is in association with 956 Sports. 956sports.com provides commentators who share their input and provide analysis.
Notable former on-air staff[]
- Angela Hill (later at WWL-TV for 4 decades, retired)
Technical information[]
Subchannels[]
The station's digital signal is multiplexed.
Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP short name | Programming [8] |
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4.1 | 480i | 16:9 | KGBT-HD | Antenna TV |
4.2 | KGBT4.2 | Rewind TV | ||
4.3 | KGBT4.3 | Comet TV | ||
4.4 | KGBT4.4 | Estrella TV | ||
4.5 | KGBT4.5 | Court TV Mystery | ||
4.6 | KGBT4.6 | Grit |
KGBT's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.[9]
External links[]
References[]
- ^ "Columbia Network Programs Signed Up By KGBS Now: Harlingen Station To Go On Chain". Brownsville Herald. August 18, 1943. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ Malone, Michael (February 28, 2013). "Sinclair's Chesapeake TV Acquires Barrington Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Eggerton, John. "Sinclair Pays Nexstar $60M, Some Assets, to Settle Tribune Suit". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- ^ "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
- ^ "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ "Notification of Consummation", Licensing and Management System, Federal Communications Commission, 15 September 2021, Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf
- Nexstar Media Group
- 1953 establishments in Texas
- Antenna TV affiliates
- Comet (TV network) affiliates
- Court TV Mystery affiliates
- Estrella TV affiliates
- Grit (TV network) affiliates
- Harlingen, Texas
- Rewind TV affiliates
- Television channels and stations established in 1953
- Television stations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley