KIII

KIII, virtual channel 3 (VHF digital channel 8), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. KIII's studios are located on South Padre Island Drive (SH 358) in Corpus Christi, and its transmitter is located near Robstown, Texas.

KIII
Corpus Christi, Texas
United States
ChannelsDigital: 8 (VHF)
Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
BrandingKIII-TV 3 (general)
3 News (newscasts)
(pronounced "K-Triple I")
SloganPeople You Know and Trust (primary)
The South Texas News Leader (secondary)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerTegna Inc.
(LSB Broadcasting, Inc.)
Sister stationsWFAA, KHOU, KVUE, KENS, KCEN-TV, KAGS-LD, KYTX, KBMT, KIDY, KXVA, KWES-TV
History
First air dateMay 4, 1964 (1964-05-04)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
3 (VHF, 1964–2009)
Call sign meaningIII = Roman numeral 3
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID10188
ERP160 kW
HAAT269 m (883 ft)
Transmitter coordinates27°39′32.3″N 97°36′3.7″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewww.kiiitv.com

On cable, KIII is available on Charter Spectrum and Grande Communications channel 5.

History

KVDO

The station was originally launched in 1954 as KVDO-TV, broadcasting on channel 22 as the Corpus Christi market's first television station. KVDO was a primary affiliate of the DuMont network,[1] but carried secondary affiliations with NBC until KRIS-TV took the air in 1956, CBS until KZTV signed on in October 1956,[2] and ABC.[3] It was one of several television stations across the United States that took part in a 1956 lawsuit to prevent VHF stations from being added in their markets, on the grounds that UHF stations in that era typically suffered financially or even went out of business entirely if they had any VHF competition.[4] The lawsuit was unsuccessful, however, and KRIS and KZTV were both on air as VHF stations by fall 1956.[1] Around the same time as the VHF stations were launched, as well, the DuMont network collapsed.

KVDO carried on as an independent station, and was sold to H. J. Schmidt's South Texas Telecasting Company in April 1957.[5] It temporarily suspended broadcast operations in August pending what was announced at the time as a reorganization of its studio layout,[6] but a federal tax lien was filed against the station by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in September.[7] In October the station received FCC approval to stay off the air until January 1958,[8] but by November 1957, the former KVDO studio had been sold to KRIS-TV,[9] and the station did not relaunch.

Dormancy and relaunch as KIII

Following the demise of the original KVDO, South Texas Telecasting petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add a third VHF allocation on Channel 3 at Corpus Christi due to KVDO's failure as a UHF station. Other cities also wanted the Channel 3 allocation; however, following a lot of struggle, channel 3 was ultimately allocated to Corpus Christi, and hearings to award a license began in 1961.[10] South Texas Telecasting was one of three applicants for the license, alongside Nueces Telecasting and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times,[11] but the Caller-Times withdrew its application in 1962 after its owner, Harte-Hanks Newspapers, acquired the San Antonio Express-News.[12]

South Texas Telecasting was awarded the license in December 1962,[13] but Nueces Telecasting then filed a protest alleging that awarding the license to South Texas Telecasting would violate the FCC's regulations on concentration of media ownership.[14] Nueces withdrew its petition in June 1963 after South Texas Telecasting agreed to pay the company $40,000.[15]

KIII

The station relaunched on May 4, 1964 as a full ABC affiliate,[16] and retains that network affiliation today. It was originally planned to retain the original KVDO call sign, but its call sign was changed to KIII by the time it launched.[16]

South Texas Telecasting, which had by this time added Clinton D. McKinnon as its major stockholder and executive vice president but still retained most of its original board of directors, later evolved into McKinnon Broadcasting, who remained the station's owners until 2010.

In 1969, KIII started a satellite in Victoria, Texas, KXIX (channel 19), to bring ABC programming to that area. In 1976, KXIX was sold to local ownership. It now operates as Fox affiliate KVCT.

On April 29, 2010 it was announced that KIII would be acquired by London Broadcasting Company.[17] which the sale was closed on August 31.[18] On September 18, 2011, KIII began broadcasting newscasts in high definition.

On May 14, 2014, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire KIII and five other LBC stations for $215 million. Gannett's CEO Gracia Martore touted that the acquisition would give the company a presence in several fast-growing markets, and opportunities for local advertisers to leverage its digital marketing platform.[19] The company also owns fellow Texas ABC affiliates WFAA and KVUE, which it had acquired in its purchase of Belo Corporation. The sale was completed on July 8.[20] 13 months later, on June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KIII was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.[21]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[22]
3.1720p16:9KIII-HDMain KIII programming / ABC
3.2480i4:3KIII-SDMeTV[23]
3.3KIII-DT3Ion TV[24]
3.4KIII-DT4Cozi TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

KIII shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, the official date in 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 VHF channel 8.[25] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3.

Programming

KIII carries the entire ABC schedule, with a half-hour delay on Friday late-night programming during the UIL/TAPPS high school football season for an extended newscast with Friday night highlights. Syndicated programming on KIII includes The Big Bang Theory, Live with Kelly and Ryan, Wheel of Fortune, and Modern Family. Corpus Christi is one of the few television markets to carry both Wheel and Jeopardy! on separate stations; Jeopardy! airs on NBC affiliate KRIS-TV.

News operation

KIII currently airs 21½ hours of local news programming each week (with 3½ hours each weekday and two hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station also produces its own high school football highlight show when in season; the program airs on Fridays immediately after the 10 p.m. newscast. The station has been rated #1 consistently, beating its nearest competitor, KRIS by a significant margin.

gollark: Maybe we could implement sort-of-pins with a bot to get around pin limits.
gollark: Prions are especially worrying.
gollark: Tons of environmental things are mildly bad for people's brains (lead not so mildly) and it scares me a bit.
gollark: Unrelatedly, it is *very* annoyingly warm here.
gollark: Which you can do. There are plenty of spare children you can ~~steal~~ have.

References
  1. "Around the Dial with Dorothy Stanich". Corpus Christi Times, May 3, 1964.
  2. "KVDO gets CBS Cable Service". Corpus Christi Times, July 15, 1956.
  3. "ABC 'Racket Squad' Sold in Two Languages". Billboard, January 19, 1957.
  4. "Court Is Asked to Keep TV Stations Off Air". Elwood Call-Leader, April 19, 1956.
  5. "TV Sale Okayed". Austin American-Statesman, April 5, 1957.
  6. "KCCT Has New Link Transmitter". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, August 24, 1957.
  7. "Federal Tax Lien Filed Against KVDO". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, September 26, 1957.
  8. "KVDO-TV Gets Extension of Time Off Air". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, October 16, 1957.
  9. "KRIS-TV Starts Operating In New Studio Tomorrow". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, November 14, 1957.
  10. "FCC To Begin Oral Hearings Monday on Channel Three". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, November 12, 1961.
  11. "Oilman Is Principal In TV Application". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, July 28, 1960.
  12. "Caller-Times Will Drop TV Station Application". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, April 16, 1962.
  13. "FCC Examiner Recommends that KVDO Get Channel 3". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, December 4, 1962.
  14. "Channel 3 Deadline For Reply Extended". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, February 11, 1963.
  15. "Channel 3 TV Competitor Withdraws Its Application". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, June 28, 1963.
  16. "Open House Slated Today At New Station, KIII-TV". Corpus Christi Caller-Times, May 10, 1964.
  17. http://www.caller.com/news/2010/apr/29/dallas-based-company-to-buy-kiii-tv/
  18. http://www.caller.com/news/2010/aug/31/dallas-company-buys-kiii-tv/?partner=newsletter_headlines
  19. "Gannett Buys 6 London Broadcasting Stations". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  20. Gannett Completes London Broadcasting Buy, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  21. "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  22. RabbitEars TV Query for KIII
  23. Where to Watch Me-TV: KIII
  24. Find out what's on KIII ION tonight
  25. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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