KEPR-TV
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| Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Washington United States |
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| Branding | KEPR (general) KEPR Action News (newscasts) (pronounced "keeper") CW 9 Yakima/Tri-Cities (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Taking Action for You |
| Channels | Digital: 18 (UHF) Virtual: 19 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 19.1 CBS 19.2 The CW |
| Affiliations | CBS (Secondary through 1970) The CW (DT2: 2006–present) |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair Yakima Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | December 28, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | KEnnewick, Pasco & Richland (The Call Letters are named after The Tri-Cities of The U.S. State of Washington and aka the word "KEEPER") |
| Sister station(s) | KIMA-TV, KLEW-TV & KVVK-CA/KORX-CA |
| Former channel number(s) | 19 (UHF analog, 1954–2009) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (secondary, 1954–1965) ABC (1954–1970) |
| Transmitter power | 32.43 kW |
| Height | 355.5 m |
| Facility ID | 56029 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Website | www.keprtv.com |
KEPR-TV (pronounced "Keeper") virtual channel 19 is the CBS affiliated television station for the Tri-Cities area of Richland, Pasco and Kennewick, Washington. It is still licensed to Pasco and it is still the sister station to KIMA-TV in Yakima, Washington and KLEW-TV in Lewiston, Idaho. Its studios are located on West Lewis Street (US 395) in Pasco, KEPR's transmitter is located on Johnson Butte near Kennewick.
Though identifying as a station in its own right, KEPR is considered a semi-satellite of KIMA. It clears all of KIMA's syndicated programming, but airs separate IDs and commercials. On satellite, both Dish Network and DirecTV carry KEPR-TV along with KIMA-TV.
All of KEPR's programming are all run out of Fisher Plaza in Seattle. KEPR is also a sister station to Univision affiliates KVVK-CA and KORX-CA.
KEPR's morning and weekend newscasts are shared with KIMA-TV. Branded as "KIMA/KEPR Action News", they cover both the Columbia Basin and the Yakima Valley. KEPR continues to air its own 5, 6 & 11 p.m. newscasts.
Contents
History
KEPR-TV went on the air for the first time December 28, 1954 as a satellite of KIMA-TV. It was owned by Cascade Broadcasting Company along with KEPR radio (AM 610, now KONA). A few years earlier, the Federal Communications Commission collapsed all of central Washington into one giant television market. However, this market was designated a "UHF island" due to being sandwiched between Seattle to the west, Spokane to the east and Portland to the south. It soon became apparent that one full-power UHF station would not be nearly enough to adequately cover this vast and mountainous area. KEPR-TV thus signed on as the first station in the United States to be a satellite of another.
Original plans called for it to be a straight repeater of KIMA-TV, apart from station identifications. However, it soon became apparent that Tri-Cities residents wanted a more local station. Monte Strohl, who until then had been a radio salesman at KIMA, was installed as the first manager-salesman of KEPR-TV. The station also added a separate news department.
Like its parent station, KEPR-TV carried programming from all three networks, but was a primary CBS affiliate. It lost NBC in 1965 when KNDU followed the lead of parent station KNDO and became a full-time NBC affiliate, and lost ABC when KVEW signed on along with parent KAPP in 1970 and as of right now KEPR-TV 19 became the official sole affiliate of The CBS Television Netwotk. During the 1970s, the two stations co-branded as "Cascade TV."
KEPR produces Community Health Journal with Jim Hall, a former anchorman for the station who is now with Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. The program has aired for 15 years, making it one of the longest-running magazine programs in the market.
By 1988, the station was purchased by Retlaw Broadcasting.[1] Fisher Communications purchased KLEW-TV along with the other Retlaw owned stations in 1999.[2]
In 2000, KEPR became the first station in the Tri-Cities to broadcast a digital signal with the activation of a low-power, standard definition signal on channel 18; this was upgraded to a full-power, high definition signal in 2007. The digital signal remained on channel 18 following the end of analog broadcasting in 2009; using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 19.
On March 30, 2009, KEPR launched a digital subchannel affiliated with The CW, filling the void left by KCWK (channel 9) going dark at the end of May 2008 due to the Pappas Telecasting bankruptcy.[3] The subchannel subsequently took KCWK's former channel 9 position on local cable systems. As had been the case with KCWK, programming is primarily sourced from the network's CW Plus feed, though there is a 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights.
On April 11, 2013, Fisher announced that it would sell its properties, including KEPR-TV, to the Sinclair Broadcast Group.[4] The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.[5]
See also
- Channel 9 branded TV stations in the United States
- Channel 18 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 19 virtual TV stations in the United States
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broadband/e3i9ab6ed8bb35772134ff7659f760d4db1
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
