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"WMT-TV" redirects here. Not to be confused withWMTV.

KGAN
A CBS eye next to a slightly squished bold italic numeral 2
In a blue box with a chevron-shaped divider, from left: the Fox network logo and a blue 28. Beneath in white text on a red box: "K G A N 2.2 Cedar Rapids".
CityCedar Rapids, Iowa
Channels
Branding
  • CBS 2;Iowa's News Now
  • Fox 28(on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KFXA
History
First air date
September 30, 1953(70 years ago)(1953-09-30)
Former call signs
  • WMT-TV (1953–1981)
  • KGAN-TV (1981–1984)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:2 (VHF,1953–2009)
  • Digital:51 (UHF, 2002–2014)
DuMont(1953–1956)
Call signmeaning
Guy Gannett Communications,former owner
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID25685
ERP850kW
HAAT585 m (1,919 ft)
Transmitter coordinates42°18′59″N91°51′31″W/ 42.31639°N 91.85861°W/42.31639; -91.85861
Links
Public license information
Websitecbs2iowa

KGAN(channel 2) is atelevision stationlicensed toCedar Rapids, Iowa,United States, serving Eastern Iowa as an affiliate ofCBSandFox.It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group,which provides certain services toDablaffiliateKFXA(channel 28, also licensed to Cedar Rapids) under alocal marketing agreement(LMA) with Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd. The two stations share studios at Broadcast Park on Old Marion Road Northeast (alongIA 100) in Cedar Rapids; KGAN's transmitter is located inRowley,near the junction ofBuchanan,BentonandLinncounties.

Channel 2 was the first television station in Eastern Iowa, signing on as WMT-TV on September 30, 1953. It was originally the radio adjunct to Cedar Rapids radio stationWMT.A CBS affiliate from its first day on air, channel 2 initially dominated television in the region until other stations caught up. Its original ownership, American Broadcasting Stations, sold WMT radio and television to Orion Broadcasting in 1981; when Orion merged with Cosmos Broadcasting, channel 2 was split from WMT and renamed KGAN by its new owner,Guy Gannett.After being second in news ratings in the 1980s, KGAN sank to third by the early 1990s, a position it continues to hold in the market. Sinclair acquired KGAN as part of its 1999 purchase of Guy Gannett. The Fox programming previously on KFXA relocated to a subchannel of KGAN on January 1, 2021.

History[edit]

Construction and early years[edit]

American Broadcasting Stations, Inc., the owner of Cedar Rapids radio stationWMT(600 AM), applied to theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) on January 10, 1951, for permission to build a new television station on channel 9.[2]In June 1952, after the FCC lifted its four-year freeze on television station grants and changed many channel allocations nationally, the application was amended to specify channel 2.[2]In addition to the WMT application, the Davenport Broadcasting Company, owner ofKSTTinDavenport,sought to build channel 2.[3]American Broadcasting Stations charged that Davenport Broadcasting was not financially qualified to build the station.[4]

On April 8, 1953, after Davenport withdrew from contention, the FCC approved American Broadcasting Stations's application and granted aconstruction permit.[5][6]WMT-TV began regular broadcasting on September 30, 1953, as the first station in Eastern Iowa; after brief remarks by general manager and part-owner William B. Quarton, the station aired Game 1 of the1953 World Series.[7]The Series was carried by special arrangement withNBC,but WMT-TV was a primary affiliate ofCBSwith selected programs of theDuMont Television Network.Live local programming did not appear immediately because the studios on Old Marion Road were under construction.[8]As a promotional tactic, the new TV station paid its employees in unusualtwo-dollar bills.[9]It boasted that it was the first station to broadcast with aneffective radiated powerof 100,000 watts (the maximum for channels 2 through 6).[10]

WMT-TV began construction of a new, taller tower nearWalkerin June 1956. The structure, intended to be 1,358 feet (414 m) tall,[11]was toppled in a windstorm on December 10, having reached 1,250 feet (380 m) in height.[12]The structure was rebuilt and put into use in July 1957.[13]In April 1967, the station converted to color for local programming.[14]

In December 1967, American Broadcasting Stations announced it was negotiating to sell WMT radio and television toWAVE Inc.ofLouisville, Kentucky;[15]the $9.98 million purchase was approved by the FCC in June 1968.[16]In 1969, WAVE, Inc. renamed itself Orion Broadcasting in reflection of its broadcasting holdings beyond Louisville.[17]

Guy Gannett ownership[edit]

Orion Broadcasting announced in April 1980 that it would put all of its stations up for sale. The Morton and Norton families opted to sell the entire company in order to avoid paying inheritance taxes when 71-year-old Mrs. George Norton eventually died, taxes they were not sure the company could pay.[18]Two months later, Orion announced it would merge with Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of insurance and broadcasting conglomerateLiberty Corporation.However, the two companies together owned eightvery high frequency(VHF) television stations, three more than the FCC allowed at the time. As a condition of the merger, Cosmos opted to sell WMT-TV as well asWFRV-TVinGreen Bay, Wisconsin,andWJMN-TVinEscanaba, Michigan.[19]

Guy Gannett Broadcasting ServicesofPortland, Maine,agreed to acquire WMT-TV in February 1981, becoming the company's third television station and first in the Midwest. As Cosmos retained WMT radio and the radio stations would retain the WMT call letters, a new designation was required for channel 2.[20]Guy Gannett selected KGAN, which mirrored the company'sWGAN-TVin Portland.[21]The sale was completed on October 16, 1981, at which time WMT-TV became KGAN-TV.[22]

Sinclair ownership[edit]

Motivated by the impending expiration of the family trust that owned the company, Guy Gannett Communications put itself up for sale in 1998.[23]The Seattle Times Companyacquired Guy Gannett's newspapers, while the firm's television stations were purchased byBaltimore-basedSinclair Broadcast Group.[24]The Guy Gannett purchase gave Sinclair diversification into affiliates of theBig Threenetworks and beyond a portfolio heavy with Fox,WB,andUPNstations.[25]

Sinclair attempted later that year to sell KGAN and two ex-Guy Gannett stations in Illinois—WICSinSpringfieldandWICDinChampaign—to Sunrise Television. At the time, Sinclair was attempting to shed some of the smaller-market stations it had acquired in a string of recent purchases to improve its balance sheet.[26]The deal never received approval from the FCC or theUnited States Department of Justicebecause of the ownership structure of Sunrise, which was affiliated with investment firmHicks, Muse, Tate & Furst.That firm was also majority stockholder of theLIN TV Corporation.[27]At the time, LIN ownedWANDinDecatur,a rival to WICS/WICD.[28]

In 2002, Sinclair and Second Generation of Iowa, owner ofKFXA,entered into an outsourcing agreement whereby Sinclair began providing KFXA's sales and other non-programming services.[29]Sinclair then acquired the assets of KFXA, except the license, in 2008.[30]On January 1, 2021, the programming and Fox affiliation of KFXA's main subchannel became the 2.2 subchannel of KGAN.[31]

KGAN began broadcasting a digital signal on October 26, 2002.[30]The station has been digital-only since February 17, 2009;[32]however, the station later asked to move down from its original channel of 51[33]due to the limitations of the channel 51 signal and no buffer being left between it and wireless and cellular services occupying the spectrum formerly allocated to channels 52-69. On the morning of April 5, 2014, the station moved to channel 29.[34]

News operation[edit]

The station established a local news department in early 1954 and immediately launched a weeknight 6p.m. newscast. That fall, a 10p.m. local newscast was added, followed by a noon news program in 1956.[30]WMT-TV was the dominant television news source in Eastern Iowa in its early years. A February 1965Arbitronsurvey found that 71,000 households watched WMT's late news, whereas competitorsKWWLandKCRG-TVbetween them only attracted 33,000. In part, this was due to the consulting work ofMarion-basedFrank Magid;WMT-TV was the firm's first client, and its success attracted other station groups to the company.[35]

However, in the late 1960s, KWWL and KCRG began to make significant investments in local news programming that made them competitive in the market, with KWWL pulling nearly level with channel 2 by 1979.[36]At the time, WMT-TV made a critical mistake in ousting meteorologist Craig Johnson in favor of Bill Bailey, a popular comedic weatherman in theQuad Citiesmarket atWOC-TV.However, in his time on air at channel 2, ratings fell, and KWWL surpassed the station in the ratings; Bailey left and returned to the Quad Cities.[37]During the time KWWL ascended to first place in the market, its news director was Grant Price, who had previously parted ways with WMT-TV in 1972 over philosophical differences.[38]

KGAN remained in second place in the 1980s, managing to hold off a challenge from KCRG.[39][40]However, in 1989, two Daves left the evening newscasts. Dave Shay moved to the noon news after 30 years, a step toward retirement, while Dave Towne was released and several weeks later began at KCRG.[41]His replacement, Mark Strehl, lasted just two years; when his contract was not renewed, he characterized KGAN as a "revolving door" with constant anchor changes.[42]

In March 2001, KGAN began producing a 9p.m. newscast for Sinclair-ownedKDSM-TVinDes Moines.[43][44]After KGAN began providing services to KFXA in 2002, the program was renamed toFox News at Nineand began to air in Eastern Iowa that October.[45][46]A 7a.m. news hour was added to KFXA in 2011.[47]

The station has won twoGeorge Foster Peabody Awards.The first award, in 1955, came for its role in developingThe Secret of Flighttelevision programs. These shows, focusing onaeronauticaleducation, were made possible with the assistance ofAlexander Lippisch,who was the director of theCollins Aeronautical Research Laboratory.[48]In 1994, KGAN won another Peabody for exposing a sewer solvent scandal in which the city bought solvent at an 800 percent markup from a local chemical company.[49][50]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of KGAN[51]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
2.1 720p 16:9 KGANCBS CBS
2.2 FOX28 Fox
2.3 480i Quest Quest

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for KGAN".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ab"FCC History Cards for KGAN".Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^"Three Apply for Cedar Rapids TV".The Gazette.July 1, 1952. p. 1.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  4. ^"Rapids Contest On TV Channel".The Des Moines Sunday Register.October 12, 1952. p. 7-G.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  5. ^"TV Station For Rapids".Des Moines Tribune.April 9, 1953. p. 37.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  6. ^"New TV Authorizations Issued"(PDF).Broadcasting.April 13, 1953. p. 52.ProQuest1285697864.Archived(PDF)from the original on January 31, 2023.RetrievedMay 9,2023.
  7. ^Subotnik, Nadine (September 30, 1953)."Television for Cedar Rapids Is Officially Begun".The Gazette.p. 10.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  8. ^Subotnik, Nadine (September 27, 1953)."First C. R. Video Station, WMT-TV, Opens Wednesday".The Gazette.p. 27.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  9. ^"Seven New Video Stations Begin; Johnson City, Tenn., Gets First"(PDF).Broadcasting.October 12, 1953. pp. 66, 71.ProQuest1401205605.Archived(PDF)from the original on January 31, 2023.RetrievedMay 9,2023.
  10. ^"Now You Can Enjoy Television At Its Best".The Des Moines Register.October 4, 1953. p. 10-W.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  11. ^"WMT-TV To Build 1,358 Foot Tower".Postville Herald.June 6, 1956. p. 10.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  12. ^"New WMT-TV Tower Topples In High Wind".The Gazette.December 10, 1956. p. 8.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  13. ^"New TV Tower Rises 1,358 Feet".Omaha World-Herald.Associated Press. July 19, 1957. p. 15.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  14. ^"Video of WMT-TV switching from black and white to color broadcasts goes viral".Iowa's News Now.April 7, 2022.RetrievedMarch 24,2024.
  15. ^"Sale of WMT Radio and TV Being Negotiated".The Gazette.December 27, 1967. pp. 1,3.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  16. ^"FCC Okays Sale of WMT Stations".Waterloo Daily Courier.Associated Press. June 14, 1968. p. 16.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  17. ^"WAVE Hunts For New Name, Chooses Orion".The Courier-Journal.July 23, 1969. p. B2.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  18. ^Dorsey, Tom (April 4, 1980)."Orion announces it's likely to sell WAVE radio, TV".The Courier-Journal.pp. B1,B2.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  19. ^"Cedar Rapids' WMT TV, radio stations sold".The Des Moines Register.June 7, 1980. p. 4A.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  20. ^"Guy Gannett Broadcasting reports purchase of WMT-TV".The Gazette.February 25, 1981. p. 8B.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  21. ^Hainey, Mark (June 7, 1981)."First, you start a little flame in our hearts".The Des Moines Register.p. 4-TV.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  22. ^"Sale of WMT-TV completed; now called KGAN-TV".The Gazette.October 17, 1981. p. 4B.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  23. ^Ford, George C. (April 1, 1998)."KGAN corporate parent will be put up for sale".The Gazette.p. 6C.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  24. ^"KGAN sold to Baltimore chain".The Gazette.September 9, 1998. p. 5B.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  25. ^Ribbing, Mark (September 9, 1998)."Sinclair buys Guy Gannett TV stations".The Baltimore Sun.pp. 1C,5C.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  26. ^Ribbing, Mark (April 1, 1999)."Sinclair sells stations in Midwest to Sunrise".The Baltimore Sun.p. 3D.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  27. ^Shelsby, Ted (March 16, 2000)."Sinclair keeping 3 stations: Deal terminated for TV properties in Illinois and Iowa".The Baltimore Sun.p. 1D.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  28. ^Dietrich, Matthew (March 29, 2000). "Hickman leaving 6 p.m. news / Anchor still on at noon, will work more on reporting, specials".The State Journal-Register.p. News 1.
  29. ^"Outsource agreement links KGAN, KFXA".The Gazette.July 19, 2002. p. 6B.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  30. ^abc"CBS 2 at 50".KGAN-TV.Archived fromthe originalon August 14, 2008.RetrievedMay 9,2023.
  31. ^"FOX 28 moving to 2.2 January 1st".KGAN.January 1, 2021.Archivedfrom the original on January 6, 2021.RetrievedMay 10,2023.
  32. ^"List of TV stations ending analog broadcasts".NBC News.Associated Press. February 17, 2009.Archivedfrom the original on January 6, 2023.RetrievedMarch 20,2023.
  33. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedAugust 29,2021.
  34. ^"CBS 2 has something important to tell you. On Saturday, April 5th we're upgrading our signal".KGAN.Archivedfrom the original on March 29, 2014.RetrievedMarch 29,2014.
  35. ^Winslow, George (October 26, 2007)."Taking Its Own Medicine".Broadcasting & Cable.Archivedfrom the original on May 28, 2022.RetrievedMay 10,2023.
  36. ^Kettner, Linda (November 2, 1979)."The ratings battle is not just national".The Courier.p. Leisure Time 15.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  37. ^Hainey, Mark (November 29, 1981)."In this case, war is heck".Des Moines Sunday Register.p. 3-TV.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  38. ^Hovelson, Jack (January 2, 1990)."KWWL veteran Price retiring from Waterloo TV news".The Des Moines Register.p. 2A.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  39. ^Rhein, Dave (January 9, 1983)."The ratings game: What do all those numbers mean?".Des Moines Sunday Register.p. 3-TV.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  40. ^Rexroat, Dee Ann (July 16, 1988)."Ratings stable but change in demographics for area stations".The Gazette.p. TV Vision 5.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  41. ^Rhein, Dave (May 31, 1989)."KGAN news anchors shuffled".The Des Moines Register.p. 4M.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  42. ^"KGAN-TV changes chief weathercaster".The Gazette.June 1, 1991. p. 2A.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  43. ^"C.R, D.M. stations will team up for 9 p.m. newscast".The Gazette.July 27, 2000. p. 9B.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  44. ^Kilen, Mike (February 8, 2001)."Details at 9: WHO-TV 13 and Fox 17 compete for viewers with 9 p.m. newscasts".The Des Moines Register.pp. 1E,2E.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  45. ^"FOX to broadcast local 9 p.m. news".Iowa City Press-Citizen.October 15, 2002. p. 3.RetrievedMay 9,2023– via Newspapers.
  46. ^Lindwall, Rebecca (October 16, 2002)."Local news show slated for Fox in Eastern Iowa".The Gazette.p. 3B.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  47. ^"KFXA will air hour of local news on weekday mornings".Telegraph-Herald.September 17, 2011. p. A3.ProQuest890561826.
  48. ^"Gleason, Como Share Peabody Award"(PDF).Broadcasting.April 16, 1956. pp. 148–154.ProQuest1285736639.Archived(PDF)from the original on January 31, 2023.RetrievedMay 10,2023.
  49. ^Zingula, Lonnie (September 7, 1994)."City worker quits amid dispute".The Gazette.p. 3B.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  50. ^"KGAN wins Peabody".The Gazette.March 31, 1995. p. 6B.RetrievedMay 10,2023– via Newspapers.
  51. ^"RabbitEars query for KGAN".RabbitEars.Archivedfrom the original on September 15, 2016.RetrievedAugust 18,2016.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KGAN&oldid=1215890597"