KOLO-TV
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| KXNV-LD | |
| History | |
First air date | September 27, 1953 |
Former call signs | KZTV (1953–1956) |
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Call signmeaning | from former sister stationKOLO (AM) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63331 |
| ERP | 15.6kW |
| HAAT | 893 m (2,930 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°18′48.6″N119°53′3.6″W/ 39.313500°N 119.884333°W |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KOLO-TV(channel 8) is atelevision stationinReno, Nevada,United States, affiliated withABCandThe CW Plus.It is owned byGray TelevisionalongsideIncline Village–licensedlow-powerTelemundoaffiliateKXNV-LD(channel 26). The two stations share studios on Ampere Drive in Reno; KOLO-TV's transmitter is located onSlide MountainbetweenSR 431andI-580/US 395/ALTinunincorporatedWashoe County.
History
[edit]KOLO hit the airwaves September 27, 1953, as KZTV. It was the second station in Nevada, followingKLAS-TVinLas Vegas(which went on air two months earlier) and the first in northern Nevada. It had hoped to be the first in Nevada, but a carpenters' strike delayed sign-on.[2]It carried programming from all four networks, but was a primaryCBSaffiliate; despite this, none of thesoap operasit cleared during the 1950s came from CBS.[3]
Its founding owner,Donald W. Reynoldsof the Donrey Media Group (nowStephens Media LLC) originally sought an affiliation withNBC.However, NBC balked; noting the fact that Reno had only 97 television sets at the time, network officials asked, "Who would be stupid enough to put a television station in Reno, Nevada?" CBS was far more responsive to Reynolds' offer. At the time channel 8 signed on, Reno was the smallest city in the country with a television station.[4]
The station also carried programs from the short-livedParamount Television Network;KZTV was one of that network's strongest affiliates, airing Paramount programs such asTime for Beany,[5]Bandstand Revue,[6]andHollywood Wrestling.[7]It also aired a large amount of local programming, much of it live. Its freewheeling production style earned it the nickname "Crazy TV."[2]
In 1956, Reynolds bought KOLO radio (AM 920, nowKIHM) and changed channel 8's call letters to the present KOLO-TV.[2]TheKZTVcall letters now reside on the CBS affiliate inCorpus Christi, Texas.Four years later, KOLO-AM-TV got sister stations in Las Vegas when it boughtKORK-AM-FM-TVas part of Donrey's purchase of theLas Vegas Review-Journal.
The station originally broadcast from a short tower at its studios on Fifth Street. However, its signal was marginal at best even in areas close to Reno; Reynolds couldn't get a picture at his home on Lake Tahoe. As a solution, channel 8 built its current tower atop Slide Mountain. It was initially thought to be difficult to maintain, given the heavy snow and high winds that are common on the mountain during the winter. In those days, the FCC required engineers to be at the transmitter site at all times. To that end, one of the engineers asked his father, who worked forU.S. Steel,to build a transmitter building designed like storage tanks for oil companies. It had a cupola on top for the microwave, and had interior walls and flooring to accommodate living quarters for the engineers. The transmitter building remains in use today.[2]Also around this time, the station began building translator after translator across its vast coverage area, which now stretched across a large swath of northern Nevada and northeastern California.
The Fifth Street studio burned down during a fire in a closet. The station was off the air until it moved to a new temporary studio on Vassar Street and Terminal Way. The current facility on Ampere Drive came online in 1979.[2]
It lost DuMont when the network ceased operations in 1955. It also lost NBC to KCRL-TV (nowKRNV-DT) when it started in 1962, and ABC toKTVNwhen that station started operations in 1967. KOLO and KTVN swapped affiliations in 1972. KOLO also carriedSesame Streetfor several years, until September 29, 1983, when Reno got aPBSstation of its own (KNPB).
Donrey sold KOLO-TV toSmith Broadcastingin 2001. In 2002, KOLO-TV was sold to current ownerGray Television.
The analog signal of KOLO-TV went off the air at 12:30 p.m. on January 12, 2009, so that the station could complete work on the transmitter on Slide Mountain in order to move the digital signal back to Channel 8.
News operation
[edit]KOLO-TV produces the only midday newscast that runs from 11 a.m. to noon while also airingABC World News Tonightat 6 p.m., instead at 5:30 or 6:30 p.m. KTVN also airs their network newscast at 6 p.m. while KRNV-DT is the only station to air its network newscast at 5:30 p.m. Other newscasts include a 2½-hour longGood Morning Renothat runs from 4:30 to 7 a.m. andKOLO 8 News NOWat 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6:30 and 11 p.m. The 4:30 a.m. newscast debuted on October 13, 2014, to compete with KTVN and as of 2018, KRNV is the only station to not have a 4:30 a.m. newscast. On April 20, 2015, KOLO-TV became the first station to offer a 4:30 p.m. newscast in the market afterDr. Ozwas moved to an hour-long 2 p.m. time slot afterThe Queen Latifah Showwas canceled andJeopardy!was added as a rerun for the 4 p.m. time slot.[8]KTVN has since added local news at 4 and 4:30 p.m., the latter of which competes against KOLO-TV at 4:30 p.m. and KRNV-DT at 4 p.m.
Notable former on-air staff
[edit]- Marc Brown– Former anchor (now atKABC-TVinLos Angeles)
- Jean Casarez– Former weekend anchor
- Pete Giddings– Former chief meteorologist
- Peter Laufer– Former reporter
- Vicky Nguyen– Former investigative reporter
- Brian Sussman– Former meteorologist
- Rene Syler– Former weekend anchor
- Henry Wofford– Former weekend sports anchor
Technical information
[edit]Subchannels
[edit]The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KOLO-TV | ABC |
| 8.2 | 480i | KOLO-SD | MeTV | |
| 8.3 | 720p | CW-TV | The CW Plus | |
| 8.4 | 480i | CIRCLE | Outlaw | |
| 8.5 | QUEST | Quest | ||
| 8.6 | START | Start TV |
Analog-to-digital conversion
[edit]KOLO-TV shut down its analog signal, overVHFchannel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 9 to channel 8.[10]
Translators
[edit]- K22GM-DBattle Mountain
- K26KG-DBeowawe
- K30LB-DBeowawe
- K36PN-DBeowawe
- K08LS-DElko
- K14AL-DEly
- K26KG-DEureka
- K27NN-DEureka
- K26GG-DGolconda
- K30FS-DHawthorne
- K28QC-DImlay
- K05AF-DMina/Luning
- K16FU-DMina/Luning
- K34MF-DOrovada
- K08NQ-DRyndon
- K32CQ-DSchurz
- K35OI-DStarr Valley
- K28PX-DStead
- K23OK-DWalker Lake
- K30PX-DWinnemucca
- K24KX-DCedarville, CA
- K25OT-DSusanville, etc., CA
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for KOLO-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^abcdeOn Air: 60 Years of KOLO 8(Television Production).United States:KOLO-TV. 2013.Archivedfrom the original on December 19, 2021.
- ^"Station Clearances".
- ^"KOLO-TV history".Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 1997.RetrievedFebruary 11,2020.
- ^"KZTV Programs".Reno Evening Gazette.Reno, NV. October 10, 1953. p. 10.
- ^"KZTV Channel 8".Nevada State Journal.Reno, NV. March 24, 1954. p. 17.
- ^"KZTV Log".Reno Evening Gazette.Reno, NV. March 26, 1955. p. 11.
- ^"KOLO is ready for some more" News NOW "at 4:30 p.m."The Changing Newscasts Blog.Roly Ortega. April 7, 2015.RetrievedJuly 2,2015.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for KOLO".Rabbitears.info.RetrievedFebruary 15,2014.
- ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.