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KLJB
In a red box with an angled top, the Fox network logo, with two sublimated darker stripes resembling a pair of searchlights. Sitting beneath that, in a silver rectangle with concave sides, is a blue numeral 18 in a bold, wide sans serif. Beneath in a red box are the white letters K L J B.
CityDavenport, Iowa
Channels
BrandingFox 18
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerMission Broadcasting, Inc.
OperatorNexstar Media Group
KGCW,WHBF-TV
History
First air date
July 28, 1985(38 years ago)(1985-07-28)
Former call signs
KLJB-TV (1985–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:18 (UHF, 1985–2009)
  • Digital:49 (UHF, until 2020)
Independent(1985–1986, 1988–1990)
Call signmeaning
Lee J. Blumberg, father of the Hanna brothers, founders of the station[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID54011
ERP1,000kW
HAAT328.1 m (1,076 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°18′44.5″N90°22′46.2″W/ 41.312361°N 90.379500°W/41.312361; -90.379500
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.ourquadcities

KLJB(channel 18) is atelevision stationlicensed toDavenport, Iowa,United States, serving as theFoxaffiliate for theQuad Citiesarea. It is owned byMission Broadcasting,which maintains ashared servicesagreement (SSA) withNexstar Media Group,owner ofRock Island, Illinois–licensedCBSaffiliateWHBF-TV(channel 4) andBurlington, Iowa–licensedCWowned-and-operated stationKGCW(channel 26), for the provision of certain services. The three stations share studios in the Telco Building on 18th Street in downtown Rock Island; KLJB's transmitter is located nearOrion, Illinois.

KLJB began broadcasting in 1985 as the firstindependent stationin the Quad Cities area, owned by a group of local and out-of-area partners. The station affiliated with Fox when it launched in 1986, though it left the network in March 1988 before returning two years later because of the popularity ofThe Simpsons.After emerging from bankruptcy in 1990, it was purchased byGrant Communications,which owned mostly mid-market independent stations and Fox affiliates. The station began airing local news programming at the end of 1999 in a partnership with a Davenport production company that evolved into theIndependent News Network,specializing in the outsourced production of local TV newscasts.

Grant expanded with the launch ofThe WBprogramming in 1999, which was spun off as a separate station (KGWB-TV, now KGCW) in 2001. Black-ownedMarshall Broadcasting Groupacquired the station in 2014 as part of Nexstar's acquisition of Grant; Nexstar entered into an SSA to provide services. Nexstar-owned WHBF began producing the station's newscast at the end of 2015. Mission purchased Marshall's stations in 2019 after the latter company filed for bankruptcy.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Five applications were designated forcomparative hearingin March 1983,[3]though community surveys and filings had begun the year prior.[4]Davenport Communications, Limited Partnership, was granted theconstruction permitin November after the five applicants entered into a settlement agreement;[5]partners in the station included brothers Ed and Lee Hanna of New York, formerRock Islandmayor James R. Davis, and Gary Brandt, who served as general manager.[6]In June 1984, the board of supervisors inHenry County, Illinois,approved the rezoning of land atOrionfor the station's transmitter; a Christmas launch was announced at that time,[7]but the timeline had slipped to midyear by November.[8]Station officials noted that theQuad Cities' comparatively high cable TV penetration and its status as one of the larger remaining markets without an existingindependent station.[9]

KLJB-TV began broadcasting on July 28, 1985; it was named for the Hanna brothers' father, Lee J. Blumberg. As with other independents, its programming consisted of children's cartoons, syndicated reruns and movies, and sports.[1][10]It operated from studios on 53rd Street in Davenport.[11]In 1987, the station debutedLive on Tape,a local Saturday night sketch comedy program wrapped around a feature film.[12]

The station was a charter affiliate of Fox when it launched in October 1986, but by early 1988, Brandt was expressing serious distaste with the network's constantly shifting programming. In January, he submitted a cancellation notice to Fox—which took effect on March 20—and shunted the network's Saturday night lineup to late nights.[13][14]Meanwhile, in order to get out from expensive programming leases that had been made at the station's launch in 1985—some for titles KLJB-TV never aired—Davenport Communications filed forChapter 11 bankruptcyprotection.[15]While the station was in bankruptcy, the Fox network found its stride with shows such asThe Simpsons,but Quad Cities viewers had no access to the network's programming, even on cable.[16]Even though station management said they had no desire to affiliate with Fox for the foreseeable future as late as April 1990,[16]the stronger ratings and more stable identity convinced Brandt to return the station to the Fox network beginning that September.[17]The move did result in fewer sports telecasts on the station to accommodate Fox programming.[18]

Grant Broadcasting ownership[edit]

In December 1990, Davenport Communications emerged from bankruptcy anddebtor-in-possessionstatus, having met the terms of a repayment schedule that saw $250,000 to $350,000 in payments on what was originally a $2 million debt.[19]Two months later, the company agreed to sell KLJB-TV to Florida-basedGrant Communications.Its founder, Milton Grant, had only the year before returned to television station ownership with the purchase ofWZDXinHuntsville, Alabama.[20]Grant extended the station's reach in 1996 by buying and restoring to air KJMH (channel 26) inBurlington, Iowa,which began to simulcast KLJB. The Burlington station, whose signal did not reach the Quad Cities, had gone on the air in January 1988 as a Fox affiliate. However, in May 1994, it lost the network affiliation (picking upChannel Americaprogramming to fill the void[21]), and six months later, it went off the air.[22]

KLJB-TV acquired the rights to programming fromThe WBin the Quad Cities market in September 1999 as a result ofSuperstation WGNceasing carriage of WB programming nationally. Selected WB shows aired in late night time slots on channel 18.[23]Grant then relaunched KJMH as KGWB-TV, a separately programmed The WB affiliate, in January 2001.[22]However, it was not even the only channel 26 in the market.WBQD-LP,a low-powerUPNaffiliate, went on the air from Moline in 2002.[24]As early as 2003, KGWB-TV's programming was added to adigital subchannelof KLJB-TV, making it available over-the-air in the Quad Cities.[25]KGWB-TV became the local affiliate ofThe CWupon the merger of The WB and UPN in 2006 under new KGCW-TV call letters.[26][27]

Nexstar ownership[edit]

On November 6, 2013,Irving, Texas–basedNexstar Broadcasting Groupannounced that it would purchase the Grant stations, including KLJB and KGCW, for $87.5 million. Due toFederal Communications Commission(FCC) ownership regulations (as Nexstar was also in the process of acquiringWHBF-TV,the localCBSaffiliate), KLJB was to then be spun off toMission Broadcasting,with Nexstar providing operational support through ashared servicesagreement as with other Mission-owned stations.[28]However, on June 6, 2014, Nexstar announced that it would instead sell KLJB and two other Fox stations toMarshall Broadcasting Group—a new, minority-controlled company headed by Pluria Marshall Jr.—for $58.5 million. While this company acquired much of the station's assets, Nexstar entered into a shared services agreement to provide non-programming resources (such as master control) and advertising sales for Marshall's three stations.[29]The sale was completed on December 1, 2014.[30]

In November 2014, while Nexstar was still waiting for the completion of its sale of KLJB to Marshall Broadcasting, there was speculation by other local media that KGCW might move to a WHBF subchannel.[31]This occurred in May 2015 as a direct consequence of the sale.[32]The simulcast was then discontinued in 2020, when KGCW was relocated from a tower atSeaton, Illinois,halfway between Burlington and the Quad Cities, to Orion.[33]

Nexstar twice acquired other companies that owned Quad Cities-area television stations, selling them off to retain WHBF-TV and KGCW. In 2016, it acquiredMedia General,owner ofNBCaffiliateKWQC-TV;that station was spun off toGray Television.[34]When Nexstar acquiredTribune Mediain 2019, it spun offABCaffiliateWQAD-TV(channel 8) toTegna Inc.[35][36]

On December 3, 2019, Marshall Broadcasting Group filed forChapter 11bankruptcy protection.[37]Mission Broadcasting agreed to purchase Marshall Broadcasting's stations for $49 million on March 30, 2020.[38]The transaction was completed on September 1, 2020.[39]

Newscasts[edit]

Independent News Network[edit]

Further information:News Hub

On December 31, 1999, KLJB-TV launched a 30-minute prime time newscast known as theFox 18 Nine O'Clock News,airing Sunday through Friday.[40][41]In an unusual arrangement, production of the newscast was outsourced to Davenport video production house EBI Video, with Grant providing marketing and sales support. EBI provided the news presenters and facilities.[42]The station previously had only aired syndicated weather updates.[43]

For EBI, the KLJB partnership was a springboard to the remote production of TV newscasts for stations elsewhere in the United States. In April 2001, EBI began to produce a second newscast, forWVFXinClarksburg, West Virginia.[44]EBI was supplanted by Independent News Network (INN), which specialized in the outsourced production of television newscasts for small-market local stations from its Tremont Avenue studios.[45]The company also brought weather production in house in 2003.[46]INN filed forChapter 7bankruptcy in January 2009; a new company, Fusion Communications, acquired the assets and retained most of the staff, the INN name, and nearly all of the clients, including KLJB.[47]

News share agreements[edit]

After nearly 11 years, KLJB ended its relationship with INN in September 2010 and began having the newscast produced under contract by another local TV station. The first station to do so was WQAD-TV, whose general manager successfully convinced KLJB to partner with it for its newscast. The change in producer also led to the debut of a Saturday night newscast for the first time.[48]

On December 31, 2012, newscast production changed hands again, this time to KWQC-TV.[49][50]This continued until December 30, 2015.[51]By that time, the Nexstar purchase of WHBF-TV and shared services agreement had come into effect; it had been known for months that production of the newscast would be assumed by WHBF-TV.[52]

A two-hour morning news extension to air from 7 to 9 a.m.—the only such local program in the market—was added in September 2017, by which time the late newscast had expanded to one hour.[53]

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of KLJB[54]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
18.1 720p 16:9 KLJB-DT Main KLJB programming /Fox
18.2 480i MeTV MeTV
18.3 HSN HSN
18.4 Bounce Bounce TV

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

KLJB-TV shut down its analog signal, overUHFchannel 18, at noon on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 49, usingvirtual channel18.[55][56]

References[edit]

  1. ^abWillard, John (June 16, 1985)."Here comes channel 18: New kid on our TV block will be big on entertainment".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 1C.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 27,2023– via Newspapers.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for KLJB".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^"Hearing: New TV rights".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. March 4, 1983. p. 11.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  4. ^Schechter, David M. (May 13, 1982)."A new channel for Q-C?".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  5. ^"For the Record"(PDF).Broadcasting.November 14, 1983. p. 90.ProQuest1014705392.Archived(PDF)from the original on January 31, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.
  6. ^Davidson, Tom (July 19, 1985)."TV station hits airwaves July 28".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  7. ^Ford, George C. (June 18, 1984)."New TV station for QC".The Argus.Rock Island, Illinois. p. 17.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  8. ^Sawyer, Gary (November 16, 1984)."New station hits Q-C TV scene".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  9. ^"Quad-Cities to get fifth television station by July".The Argus.Rock Island, Illinois. May 29, 1985. p. 25.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  10. ^"KLJB has made key moves recently".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. March 22, 1987. p. 5A.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  11. ^Willard, John (September 29, 1985)."New kid on block is tough: Upstart TV station hits the deck running".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 1C.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  12. ^Lorenzen, Ron (June 29, 1987)."Saturday night, it's 'Live on Tape'".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 13.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  13. ^Lorenzen, Ron (January 4, 1988)."Q-C's Channel 18 may jump ship as Fox flounders".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 11.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  14. ^VanDeWostine, Lee (March 13, 1988)."KLJB—the gamble pays off".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. Businesses & Commerce 16.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  15. ^Willard, John (June 8, 1989)."KLJB files Chapter 11 to shed leases of previous owners".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 29.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  16. ^abSchneeberger, Gary (April 26, 1990)."OutFoxed? 'The Simpsons' and other shows are big hits on the Fox television network, but the Q-C may never see them".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 19.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  17. ^Schneeberger, Gary (August 3, 1990)."'The Simpsons' comes to Quad-City television screens ".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 1A.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  18. ^Schneeberger, Gary (September 2, 1990)."A Fox primer; KLJB faces some other changes too".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 1G.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  19. ^Willard, John (December 13, 1990)."KLJB-TV gets out of bankruptcy".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 7B.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  20. ^Willard, John (February 20, 1991)."Florida man buys KLJB: Station becomes part of chain".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 7A.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.This article misidentifies the Huntsville station Grant owned.
  21. ^"Channel America welcomes... (advertisement)".Electronic Media.June 6, 1994. p. 24.
  22. ^abBurke, David (December 31, 2000)."WB makes its home in Quad-Cities".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. TV Times 4.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  23. ^Leary, Sean (September 26, 1999)."KLJB comes to the rescue of the vampire slayer".The Dispatch.Moline, Illinois. p. H1,H4.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  24. ^Burke, David (May 18, 2002)."UPN station should be in the Q-C by this summer".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. A1,A2.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  25. ^"Television".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. August 24, 2003. p. Answer Book 33.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  26. ^Burke, David (March 30, 2006)."Networks sort out programming; KGWB lands The CW".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. A10.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  27. ^"Television".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. August 20, 2006. p. Answer Book 36.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  28. ^Malone, Michael (November 6, 2013)."Nexstar to Acquire Seven Grant Stations For $87.5 Million".Broadcasting & Cable.Archivedfrom the original on November 9, 2013.RetrievedNovember 6,2013.
  29. ^"Nexstar Selling 3 Fox Affils For $58.5 Million".TVNewsCheck.June 6, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on June 25, 2014.RetrievedJune 7,2014.
  30. ^"Consummation Notice".Consolidated Database System.Federal Communications Commission.Archivedfrom the original on January 20, 2015.RetrievedDecember 3,2014.
  31. ^Burke, David (November 10, 2014)."Big changes likely ahead for 3 Quad-City television stations".Quad-City Times.Lee Enterprises.Archivedfrom the original on December 24, 2014.RetrievedMay 30,2015.
  32. ^"Important Programming Note".Quad Cities CW (Facebook).May 14, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.You spoke and we listened! We are happy to announce that KGCW-TV, the Quad Cities CW, is now being broadcast on channel 4.2. You will remember that FCC Ownership Rules forced us to take The CW off of the channel 18 transport stream (18.2), leaving the station largely unavailable to many over-the-air viewers who were unable to access it on 26.1. So, after overcoming some technical and operational hurdles, as of Thursday afternoon, the Quad Cities CW is now available on channel 4.2. A channel re-scan on your digital tuner will likely be necessary.
  33. ^"Watch the Quad Cities' CW on Channel 26.1!".Quad Cities CW (Facebook).July 8, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.Recently, some viewers have wondered why they can no longer watch KGCW, The Quad Cities' CW on channel 4.2. KGCW has always been available on channel 26.1, but the KGCW broadcast tower was in Seton, IL and many viewers had issues receiving a clear and consistent signal. In March, the KGCW began broadcasting from Orion, IL and the signal has been more reliable for Quad City viewers. So Monday, WHBF changed 4.2 programming to Court TV in an effort to provide a larger variety of free program choices to Quad City television viewers.
  34. ^"Gray Buying Two Nexstar Spinoffs For $270M".TVNewsCheck.June 3, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on August 6, 2017.RetrievedJune 3,2016.
  35. ^"Nexstar Selling 19 TVs In 15 Markets For $1.32B".TVNewsCheck.March 20, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on March 20, 2019.RetrievedMarch 20,2019.
  36. ^Ahmed, Nabila; Sakoui, Anousha (March 20, 2019)."Nexstar to Sell Stations to Tegna, Scripps for $1.32 Billion".Bloomberg News.Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2019.RetrievedMarch 20,2019.
  37. ^"The week in bankruptcies: 7 companies file for bankruptcy protection in Houston".Houston Business Journal.December 26, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedDecember 29,2019.
  38. ^Aftab, Hassan (April 6, 2020)."Mission Broadcasting to buy certain assets of Marshall Broadcasting TV stations".S&P Global Market Intelligence.S&P Global.Archivedfrom the original on July 22, 2020.RetrievedApril 9,2020.
  39. ^"Consummation Notice".Consolidated Database System.Federal Communications Commission.September 7, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on March 19, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 10,2020.
  40. ^DeWitt, Jennifer (November 11, 1999)."TV newscast wars heat up wth new player".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 1A,2A.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  41. ^DeWitt, Jennifer (January 1, 2000)."TV crew celebrates with first newscast ever: KLJB overcomes some minor glitches".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. Good Morning 2000 5.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  42. ^Wang, Karissa S. (November 15, 1999)."Iowa Fox affil puts new twist on news: Outsources news to video firm with no news experience".Electronic Media.
  43. ^Lorenzen, Ron (November 15, 1999)."New kind of news is KLJB-EBI aim".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. 3T.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  44. ^Burke, David (April 24, 2001)."Newscast experiment under way in Davenport: Q-C TV news crew makes news in West Virginia".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. C1,C3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  45. ^Cooper, Craig (September 21, 2003)."Live from... Everywhere! Davenport company tries to recreate local news nationally".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. B12,B9.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  46. ^Lorenzen, Ron (October 6, 2003)."KLJB has local eye on weather".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. B3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  47. ^Burke, David (January 7, 2009)."Newscast producer goes bankrupt: KLJB picks up another source".Quad-City Times.Davenport, Iowa. p. A8.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  48. ^Turner, Jonathan (August 7, 2010)."WQAD to produce KLJB Fox 18's news".The Dispatch.Moline, Illinois. p. A6,A8.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  49. ^"KWQC Will Produce KLJB Fox 9 O'clock News".KWQC-TV.Archived fromthe originalon October 16, 2012.RetrievedOctober 11,2012.
  50. ^Burke, David (September 29, 2012)."KWQC excited about expanding their reach".Quad-City Times.Archivedfrom the original on October 2, 2012.RetrievedOctober 4,2012.
  51. ^Nielsen, Brianna (December 30, 2015)."KWQC to stop production of Fox 18 News at Nine".KWQC-TV.Archived fromthe originalon January 1, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 2,2016.
  52. ^Malone, Michael (June 15, 2015)."Market Eye: Clear Winner Along the Big Muddy".Broadcasting & Cable.Archivedfrom the original on May 26, 2022.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.
  53. ^Ellis, Jon (September 7, 2017)."TV listings indicate FOX 18 (KLJB Davenport)..."Northpine.Archivedfrom the original on January 27, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.
  54. ^"RabbitEars query for KLJB".RabbitEars.Archivedfrom the original on May 29, 2021.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.
  55. ^Turner, Jonathan (February 7, 2009)."KLJB, WQPT to delay switch to digital TV".The Dispatch.Moline, Illinois. p. A3.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023– via Newspapers.
  56. ^"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.

External links[edit]

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