KING-TV

KING-TV, virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 25), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States and also serving Tacoma. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., as part of a duopoly with Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). The two stations share studios at the Home Plate Center in the SoDo district of Seattle; KING-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Queen Anne neighborhood.

KING-TV
Seattle–Tacoma, Washington
United States
CitySeattle, Washington
ChannelsDigital: 25 (UHF)
Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
BrandingKING 5 (general)
KING 5 News (newscasts)
SloganStand for Truth
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerTegna Inc.
(King Broadcasting Company)
Sister stationsKONG
History
First air dateNovember 25, 1948 (1948-11-25)
Former call signsKRSC-TV (1948–1949)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 5 (VHF, 1948–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 48 (UHF, 1999–2019)
Former affiliations
  • Primary:
  • CBS (1948–1953)
  • ABC (1953–1959)
  • Secondary:
  • DuMont (1948–1953)
Call sign meaningThe word king, King County, or King Broadcasting Company (former owner)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID34847
ERP715 kW
HAAT232.1 m (761 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°37′54″N 122°21′3″W
Translator(s)13 K13ER Cashmere/Leavenworth
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewww.king5.com

History

Channel 5 first took to the air as KRSC-TV on November 25, 1948, becoming the first television station in the Pacific Northwest. The station was originally owned by Palmer K. Leberman's Radio Sales Corporation, which also operated KRSC radio (1150 AM, now KKNW, and FM 98.1, now KING-FM).[2] The first broadcast on channel 5 was a live remote of a Thanksgiving Day high school football game – the telecast was plagued with technical difficulties, but local viewers reported being impressed nonetheless.[3][4] Channel 5 was originally a primary CBS affiliate,[5] and carried secondary affiliations with NBC, ABC and DuMont.[6]

Eight months after the television station debuted, KRSC-TV and KRSC-FM were purchased by King Broadcasting Company, owners of KING radio (1090 AM, now KFNQ) and the original KING-FM (94.9, frequency now occupied by KUOW-FM), for $375,000 in May 1949.[7] The station changed its callsign to KING-TV to match its radio sisters[8] (according to legend, King Broadcasting president Dorothy Bullitt purchased the KING call letters while on a fishing boat). For many years, the stations' logo was "King Mike", an anthropomorphized microphone in ermine robes and a crown, drawn by cartoonist Walt Disney[9][10][11] (Portland, Oregon sister stations KGW-AM-FM-TV used a similar logo, called "Pioneer Mike"; the King Mike logo was later brought back for KING's 50th anniversary in 1998 and still appears in promotional announcements to this day).

Once the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-imposed freeze on television station license awards ended in 1952, KING-TV lost its monopoly in the market. During 1953, the Seattle–Tacoma area received three new stations: KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW) debuted in March as the market's CBS outlet; while NBC went to KMO-TV (channel 13, now KCPQ), which signed on in August. NBC moved a few months later to KOMO-TV (channel 4), which went on the air in December. By the end of the year, KING-TV was left with poor-performing ABC and DuMont, the latter of which ceased operations in 1956. Subsequently, Bullitt lobbied NBC for a group affiliation for her stations, and in October 1958, KING-TV and KGW-TV in Portland began carrying NBC programming.[12] In Seattle, channel 5 shared NBC and ABC with KOMO-TV for most of the 1958–59 television season. On September 27, 1959, KING-TV became an exclusive NBC station and KOMO-TV affiliated with ABC full-time. KING-TV is one of a few handful of stations in the country to have held a primary affiliation with all of the "Big Three" networks.[13][14][15]

Dissatisfied with Stimson Bullitt's management style, Dorothy Bullitt, and Mr. Bullitt's sisters, arranged for his voluntary resignation from King Broadcasting in 1972. Stimson sold his company shares to his sisters, Harriet and Patsy. He then received control of the family's real estate interests. Ancil Payne, who had served as general manager of the company's Portland stations since 1965, became president and CEO. By the 1970s and 1980s, KING-TV was the flagship of a growing regional media empire which at various times included ventures in publishing, the film industry, cable television systems (under the name of King Videocable, the assets of which have by now been absorbed into Comcast) and even various timber assets in the Far East.

Locally produced programs that debuted on the station during the 1970s and 1980s included Seattle Today/Good Company, a mid-morning talk show hosted by Cliff Lenz and Shirley Hudson and later by Susan Michaels and Colby Chester; Seattle Tonight, Tonite!, hosted by Ross McGowan and later Dick Klinger; Almost Live!, originally a Sunday night talk and comedy show hosted by Ross Shafer, that later became an ensemble sketch comedy show (that eventually moved to Saturday nights) after Shafer left to become host of The Late Show on Fox; and a local Evening Magazine franchise, first hosted by Penny LeGate and Brian Tracey. Of these, only Evening Magazine (now entitled simply Evening) exists today. How Come?, a half-hour early Sunday evening family television program hosted by Al Wallace, won several awards during its run during the 1970s and early 1980s. The show covered topics on how things were made or done in the world. Dick Klinger hosted the show after Al Wallace died.

King Broadcasting's stations included KGW radio and television in Portland, KREM-TV in Spokane, KTVB-TV in Boise, KHNL-TV and KFVE in Honolulu and KYA/KOIT radio in San Francisco. Long-time station-owner Dorothy Bullitt died in June 1989. Dorothy Bullitt's daughters Harriet Bullitt and Priscilla "Patsy" Bullitt Collins decided to sell the King assets in 1992—eventually selling King Broadcasting (including KING, KREM, KGW, KTVB, KHNL/KFVE and the cable provider assets) to The Providence Journal Company. KING-TV and other King Broadcasting stations later became Belo properties as a result of that company's merger with The Providence Journal Company in 1997.[16] As a result, Belo was forced to divest KIRO-TV to Cox Enterprises in order to keep the higher rated KING-TV.

Bonneville International Corporation purchased KING-AM in 1994. During the 1990s, Almost Live!, as it became a pure comedy show, launched the careers of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Joel McHale (of The Soup fame) nationally and locally, Pat Cashman and John Keister (who replaced Ross Shafer as host of that show in 1988). KING-TV was also the home for Watch This!, a fast-paced Emmy Award-winning show aimed at children and teenagers; the show lasted five years and was hosted by local anchors, Jim Dever and Mimi Gan. On December 18, 1995, King Broadcasting launched Northwest Cable News (NWCN), which was a 24-hour regional cable news channel available primarily to cable providers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho with lesser cable coverage in Alaska, Montana and California. Almost Live! ended after 15 years in 1999.

Gannett/Tegna, move to SoDo
Home Plate Center, the station's studio since 2016

On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo.[17] The sale was completed on December 23.[18] On June 29, 2015, Gannett's newspaper business was spun out, with KING-TV and Gannett's former TV properties renamed Tegna[19][20]

In April 2014, KING-TV announced plans to sell its South Lake Union headquarters and re-locate, taking advantage of a booming real estate market in the South Union Lake area. In September 2014, it was reported that the station was planning to lease multiple floors at the Home Plate Center, a complex in the SoDo area of Seattle, and located across the street from T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field). In March 2015, Gannett confirmed that KING, KONG, and NWCN would move to the lower three floors of the Home Plate Center, and announced plans for KING-TV to utilize the lower floor for the market's first street-side studio.[16][21] The former facilities were sold to Kilroy Realty for nearly $50 million, and were demolished during the summer of 2016, and will be replaced by mixed-use developments.[22][23]

The choice of a smaller location was in response to concerns that the large size of its previous facility inhibited collaboration. The ground floor contains two studios: a street-side studio for KING-TV's news programming, and the other for local productions such as New Day Northwest. The newsroom is located on the second floor, and contained NWCN's main set. The new facility was equipped with new Grass Valley master control, graphics, and playout hardware, and Sony automation equipment.[24] After broadcasting its final newscast from the North Dexter Avenue studio on February 12, 2016, KING quietly transitioned its master control to Home Plate Center during that night's broadcast of Late Night with Seth Meyers, and began broadcasting newscasts from the new facility the following morning.[24][25]

On January 6, 2017, NWCN was shut down due to declining viewership, the free online streaming of KING and KONG's newscasts, and the reluctance of local cable systems to pay more for the channel to keep it operating.[26]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[27]
5.11080i16:9KING-HDMain KING-TV programming / NBC
5.2480iCrimeTrue Crime Network
5.3QuestQuest

On December 6, 2011, Belo signed an agreement with the Live Well Network to affiliate with digital subchannels of KING-TV and Spokane sister station KSKN; Live Well Network replaced Universal Sports on digital subchannel 5.2 on January 1, 2012, as Universal Sports transitioned into a cable and satellite channel during the first quarter of 2012.[28] Justice Network replaced Live Well Network on 5.2 in January 2015.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KING-TV shut down its regular program over analog, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[29] As the "analog nightlight" station for the Seattle–Tacoma market, it aired a loop reminding viewers to get a digital converter box on analog channel 5 until June 26, 2009.[30] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48,[31][32] using PSIP to display KING-TV's virtual channel as 5 on digital television receivers.

Programming

As of September 2014, KING broadcasts only two syndicated programs during its weekday schedule, Dr. Phil and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. This, as part of the station's reliance on NBC's daytime programming and the station's newscast and local programming, makes KING one of several stations in the U.S. to share a similar strategy; other stations relying on this strategy include WTMJ in Milwaukee, WFRV in Green Bay, KSNV and KTNV in Las Vegas, and KPNX in Phoenix (the latter is also owned by Tegna). Despite this, KING was airing 3½ hours of syndicated programming prior to September 2013, consisting of the two aforementioned programs, as well as Katie and Inside Edition. However, Katie was cancelled by the end of the 2013–2014 TV season and Inside Edition moved to KONG,[33] as newscasts were used to replace the void.

On New Year's Eve, KING broadcasts coverage of the fireworks show on the Space Needle.[34]

Sports programming

KING opted not to carry NBC's telecasts of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2013, when the games began at 5 p.m. Pacific time, choosing to instead air its regular lineup of local newscasts and syndicated shows. KONG picked up the NBC telecasts of the games, and CBC Television's broadcasts of the games were available to most cable providers in the region through the network's Vancouver owned-and-operated station CBUT. For the 2007 and 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, however, KING aired NBC's Saturday night telecasts, while KONG aired the other NBC telecasts. As for the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, KING aired games 1, 2 and 5 while KONG aired games 6 and 7.

KING was the official broadcast home of Seattle Seahawks preseason games, with the exception of those shown on national television, from 1981 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2011 (sister station KONG carried Seahawks preseason games in 2003 and 2004). The station also airs Seahawks games through NBC's broadcast contract with the NFL (via Sunday Night Football; it has also served as the team's unofficial home station, carrying most games from 1977 to 1997 when the team played in the AFC, which NBC held the broadcast rights to in those years). Both KING and KONG served as official television broadcasters of the city's Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC from 2009 to 2013, in which KONG aired a weekly magazine program on Sunday nights during the season called Sounders FC Weekly, and was rebroadcast Mondays on sister cable channel Northwest Cable News.

KING also broadcast all Seattle SuperSonics games covered through NBC's NBA broadcast contract from 1990 to 2002; it also aired select Seattle Mariners games via NBC's MLB broadcast contract from 1977 to 1989, and for the postseason only from 1995 to 2000.

News operation
A morning news interview with the Secretary of the United States Navy Ray Mabus.

KING-TV presently broadcasts 46 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday, six hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays).

In 1999, to compete against KOMO-TV, KING-TV began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition; at the time it only had one studio camera that was HD-capable. In April 2007, KING-TV upgraded all of its studio cameras, graphics and weather system to high definition, and began broadcasting its public affairs programming in the format as well.[35] Field reports continue to be broadcast in standard definition (480i converted to 1080i HD for telecast) but are taped in a 16:9 aspect ratio, giving the appearance of high-definition. According to KING-TV, it is "Seattle's First HD Newscast".[36]

Following its sale to the company, KING-TV adopted Gannett's standardized newscast presentation (which used a color coding system modeled upon co-owned newspaper USA Today.[37][38]

On-air staff

Notable former on-air staff

Canadian and out-of-market coverage

KING-TV is one of five Seattle television stations that are available in Canada on satellite providers Bell Satellite TV and Shaw Direct, and is available to most cable subscribers in the Vancouver/Victoria, British Columbia area as the NBC affiliate. The station is also carried on several cable providers in southeastern Alaska and northwestern Oregon, as well as in the Yakima DMA cities of Cle Elum[50] and Ellensburg,[51] with NBC programming and some syndicated shows blacked out due to FCC regulations.

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References

Specific citations:

  1. "RabbitEars.Info".
  2. "KRSC-TV; Seattle station planning new program formula." Broadcasting – Telecasting, November 22, 1948, pg. 36.
  3. "KRSC-TV goes on the air with fanfare." Broadcasting – Telecasting, December 6, 1948, pg. 44.
  4. Corr, O. Casey (October 6, 1996). "The day Seattle got TV–'It's cute, but I don't think it'll ever amount to much,' a radio broadcaster concluded". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  5. "KRSC-TV joins CBS television network." Broadcasting – Telecasting, October 25, 1948, pg. 28.
  6. "KRSC-TV will sign three TV networks." Broadcasting – Telecasting, November 8, 1948, pg. 68.
  7. "KRSC-FM-TV sold to KING for $375,000; subject to FCC okay." Broadcasting – Telecasting, May 16, 1949, pg. 30.
  8. "Seattle change; TV start, FM switch set by KING." Broadcasting – Telecasting, August 22, 1949, pg. 38.
  9. https://archive.today/VWrye/bff5b69de2c4fc9d60dc9c553a3b618f2fa54e15.png
  10. "Redirect URL".
  11. https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1445426282/KING_Mike.png%5B%5D
  12. "KGW, KING stations affiliate with NBC." Broadcasting, October 20, 1958, pg. 74.
  13. "Seattle partner-change in '59: KOMO-TV to ABC; KING-TV to NBC." Broadcasting, October 27, 1958, pg. 68.
  14. "KOMO-TV joins ABC." Broadcasting, April 13, 1959, pg. 99.
  15. "'Operation Switchover.'" Broadcasting, October 5, 1959, pg. 100.
  16. "KING 5 puts building up for sale as South Lake Union booms". Seattle Times. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  17. Ortutay, Barbara; Fowler, Bree (June 13, 2013). "Gannett to buy TV station owner Belo for $1.5B". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  18. Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 23 December 2013
  19. "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  20. Roger Yu (April 21, 2015). "Gannett to change name to TEGNA amid print unit spinoff". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  21. "KING 5 moving to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood". KING5.com. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  22. "What's next for 333 Dexter Avenue". KING5.com. Tegna. Archived from the original on 2016-02-14. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  23. "333 Dexter Ave. demolition". KING5.com.
  24. "KING Hits A Grand Slam At Home Plate Center". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  25. "KING 5 News pre-emptions this week". KING5.com. Tegna. Archived from the original on 2016-02-15. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  26. Connelly, Joel; SeattlePI (Oct 28, 2016). "Tegna pulls the plug on Northwest Cable News". seattlepi.com.
  27. "RabbitEars.Info".
  28. Live Well Net Adds Two More Belo Stations, TVNewsCheck, December 6, 2011.
  29. Congress postpones DTV transition, Seattle may not Archived 2009-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, KING/AP, February 5, 2009
  30. http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_061209DTV-switchover-complete-JM.72d85dd1.html KING, KONG now all-digital Archived June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  31. "CDBS Print". FCC. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  32. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  33. "Inside Edition's local girl Megan Alexander". KING5.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  34. "TV Picks for Monday: 'New Year's at The Needle' on KING". The Seattle Times. 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  35. "HDTV". KING-TV. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007.
  36. "KING 5 News switches to HD format". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  37. "New graphic look coming to KING 5 on Wednesday". KING5.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  38. "Gannett Stations Clean Up Their Graphics". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  39. "Dennis Bounds, Jeff Renner among KING 5 staffers taking retirement offers". Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  40. "Aaron Brown: Curriculum Vitae". Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  41. Porterfield, Elaine (28 October 2003). "Ex-journalist says he asks tough questions". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  42. "Shot Fired Into Former Seattle News Anchor's Home". Sky Valley Chronicle. 31 October 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  43. Boss, Kit (13 August 1992). "KING Anchor Rejoins KIRO". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  44. Wiley, Suzie. ""People are amazing", KING 5's Margaret Larson looks back on a 35 year career in journalism". KING5.com. Tegna Inc. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  45. Staff, KING. "Margaret Larson Bio". KING5.com. Tegna Inc. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  46. "Mark Mullen Biography". KNSD. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  47. "Sharon O'Donnell bio". KOMO-TV. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  48. Clarridge, Christine (10 May 2009). ""Funniest guy in the room" told whimsical TV stories". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  49. Moore, Jim (24 January 2005). "Don Poier, 1951–2005: Voice of Grizzlies honed his skills in NW". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  50. "Channel Line-Up & Packages" (PDF). Inland Networks. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  51. "Spectrum TV Packages – Ellensburg, WA". Charter Communications. Retrieved October 16, 2019.

General references:

  • Dorothy Stimson Bullitt: An Uncommon Life by Delphine Haley, from Sasquatch Press; ISBN 1-57061-327-3
  • King: The Bullitts of Seattle and Their Communications Empire by O. Casey Corr, from University of Washington Press; ISBN 0-295-97584-9
  • On the Air: The King Broadcasting Story by Daniel Jack Chasan, from Island Publishers; ISBN 0-9615580-6-7


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