KTSM-TV
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|---|---|
| City | El Paso, Texas |
| Channels | |
| Branding | KTSM 9;KTSM 9 News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | January 4, 1953 |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call signmeaning | Tri-State Music or Tri-State Media |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 67760 |
| ERP | 250kW |
| HAAT | 577 m (1,893 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 31°48′18.9″N106°29′0.7″W/ 31.805250°N 106.483528°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KTSM-TV(channel 9) is atelevision stationinEl Paso, Texas,United States, affiliated withNBCand owned byNexstar Media Group.The station's studios are located on Oregon Street (nearEl Paso Community College) in northwest El Paso, and its transmitter is located atop theFranklin Mountainson the El Paso city limits.
History[edit]
Early years[edit]
The station firstsigned onthe air on January 4, 1953. KTSM-TV was the second television station in the El PasoTV market,behind KROD-TV (channel 4, nowKDBC-TV), which debuted in December 1952. KTSM-TV was owned by Tri-State Broadcasting, a nod to theU.S. statesof Texas andNew Mexicoand theMexicanstate ofChihuahua.[2]Channel 9 was co-owned withKTSMradio (then on1380 AM,now at 690 AM) and 99.9KTSM-FM.(The two radio stations are both now owned byiHeartMedia.)
Thecall signstood for the company's original name, "Tri-State Music". The meaning has since changed to Tri-State Media. KTSM-TV claimed itsbroadcast towerat Ranger Peak, located within theFranklin Mountains,was the tallestVHFtransmission tower in Texas, standing at 2,000 feet (610 m) above downtown El Paso, and 5,990 feet (1,830 m) above sea level.
Key figures[edit]
Tri-State Broadcasting was controlled by El Paso broadcast pioneer Karl O. Wyler (1906-1990), who signed on KTSM (AM) in 1930. Wyler built the El Paso Aerial Tramway in the early 1960s to allow his staff to maintain the transmitters at Ranger Peak. The tramway was open to the public until the 1980s, when insurance laws in Texas became too costly for carrying people who were not employees. Wyler owned the station until his death in 1990, and donated his controlling stake in Tri-State Broadcasting to the El Paso Community Foundation. In 1991, the Foundation hired Richard E. Pearson, who served as station manager atABCaffiliateKVIA-TV(channel 7) at the time, to run the operations of the radio and television stations. Under Pearson's leadership, KTSM-TV flourished, and became a dominant force in the market, until the stations were sold toCommunications Corporation of Americain 1998.
Among KTSM-TV's most famous personalities was Ted Bender (1925–2013), who hosted numerous shows on the station including the local version of theDialing for Dollars,which aired weekdays at 10:05 a.m., following a five-minute mid-morning newscast at 10 a.m. Bender gave four viewers a chance to win money while watching the station. Halfway through the calls, Bender (who was a city councilman) would interview a key figure in the El Paso community. Bender also served as KTSM-TV's lead weather forecaster, from the station's inception until his retirement in 1991.
Agreement with KDBC-TV[edit]
On October 19, 2009, Communications Corporation of America entered into ashared servicesagreement (SSA) with Titan Broadcast Management, owner ofCBSaffiliate KDBC-TV. KTSM-TV provided advertising sales and administrative services as well as some news resources for Channel 4. Titan retained KDBC-TV'slicenseand both stations employed separate news departments.[3]On April 24, 2013, ComCorp announced that it would sell all of its television stations, including KTSM-TV, to theNexstar Broadcasting Group.[4]The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.[5]
The acquisition, as well as the sale of KDBC-TV to theSinclair Broadcast Group(which originally planned to transfer that station's license to partner companyCunningham Broadcasting), placed some uncertainty on the future status of the SSA between KTSM-TV and KDBC-TV, particularly as Channel 4 is now co-owned withFoxaffiliateKFOX-TV(channel 14). The SSA was indeed terminated on October 16, 2014, at which point KDBC-TV began producing its newscasts in association with KFOX-TV.
Programming[edit]
KTSM-TV clears most of the NBC network schedule. However, the station preempted theCNBCprogramMad Moneywhich formerly aired as part of the network's overnight block (although it cleared the rebroadcast of thefourth hourofTodaywhich preceded it nationally). The station airedinfomercialsin place ofMad Money.
For many years, the station delayed the airing of NBC's daytime game shows which later were seen in the afternoon hours. Instead, KTSM-TV showedDialing for Dollarsand daytimesoaps.TheNET/PBSshowsSesame StreetandMister Rogers' Neighborhoodwere also broadcast due to the lack of a full-marketpublic televisionstation in the area at the time.Las Cruces–basedKRWG-TV(channel 22) was an NET/PBS member, but its reception was spotty in parts of the El Paso TV market due to the Franklin Mountains cutting across western El Paso. NET/PBS arranged for channel 9 to carry select children's programs includingSesame Street.Sesame Streetaired on the station from its debut in 1969 until El Paso PBS stationKCOSsigned on in August 1978. Before KRWG-TV signed on the air in 1973, KTSM aired a number of additional programs from NET/PBS.[specify]
News operation[edit]
KTSM-TV presently broadcasts24+1⁄2hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with4+1⁄2hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). On August 3, 2008, starting with its 5 p.m. newscast, KTSM became the first television station in the El Paso market to begin broadcasting its local newscast inhigh definition.
In 2019, KTSM-TV reporter joined Nexstar-owned websiteBorder Reportas an El Paso correspondent.[6]
Notable former on-air staff[edit]
Technical information[edit]
Subchannels[edit]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KTSM-DT | Main KTSM-TV programming /NBC |
| 9.2 | 480i | 4:3 | KTSM-D2 | Estrella TV |
| 9.3 | Escape | Ion Mystery | ||
| 9.4 | Laff | Laff | ||
| 14.1 | 720p | 16:9 | FOX | Fox(KFOX-TV) |
KTSM began to carry theSpanish-languagenetworkEstrella TVon its seconddigital subchannelin 2009.[8]
Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]
KTSM-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, at 12:30 p.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate.[9]The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transitionUHFchannel 16 to VHF channel 9.[10][11]
Due to reports of reception issues with its signal on digital channel 9, KTSM-TV was granted permission by theFederal Communications Commissionto operate a secondary signal on its former UHF digital channel 16 under special temporary authorization on July 23, 2009, mapped to virtual channel 9.1. KTSM had filed a petition to the FCC to permanently operate its digital signal exclusively on UHF channel 16.[12]It was issued a license for that channel on June 5, 2015.
References[edit]
- ^"Facility Technical Data for KTSM-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^Murphree, Rachel."Library Research Guides: Borderlands: El Paso Broadcasting: The Stories Behind the Call Letters 12 (1994)".epcc.libguides.RetrievedApril 11,2018.
- ^"You searched for 11339223".Kvia.
- ^https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101552312&qnum=5040©num=1&exhcnum=1[bare URL]
- ^Consummation Notice,CDBS Public Access,Federal Communications Commission,Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^Winter, Meaghan (July 20, 2020)."Nexstar Nation".Columbia Journalism Review.RetrievedMarch 12,2022.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for KTSM".rabbitears.info.RetrievedApril 11,2018.
- ^"Coming, a new force in Hispanic TV".Media Life Magazine.March 20, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon March 23, 2009.RetrievedApril 11,2009.
- ^Digital Switch Complete,KTSM-TV, June 12, 2009.
- ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
- ^"CDBS Print".fcc.gov.RetrievedApril 11,2018.
- ^"NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission.January 11, 2011.RetrievedMay 19,2014.
