KJZZ-TV

KJZZ-TV, virtual channel 14 (UHF digital channel 19), is an independent television station licensed to Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as part of a de facto triopoly with CBS affiliate KUTV (channel 2) and St. George-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU (channel 12/2.2). The three stations share studios on South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City; KJZZ's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. The station has an extensive network of more than 80 broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah, southwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, southern and eastern Nevada, southwestern Colorado and northern Arizona.

For the FM radio station in Phoenix, see KJZZ (FM).
KJZZ-TV
Salt Lake City, Utah
United States
ChannelsDigital: 19 (UHF)
Virtual: 14 (PSIP)
BrandingKJZZ 14 (general)
2 News on KJZZ 14 (newscasts)
SloganEscape, Unwind.
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerSinclair Broadcast Group
(KJZZ Licensee, LLC)
Sister stationsKUTV, KMYU
History
FoundedNovember 6, 1986 (1986-11-06) (33 years ago) as KGBS
First air dateApril 14, 1989 (1989-04-14) (31 years ago)
Former call signsKXIV (1989–1993)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
14 (UHF, 1989–2009)
Digital:
46 (UHF, 2003–2018)
Former affiliationsUPN (1995–2000)
MyNetworkTV (2006–2008)
Call sign meaningUtah Jazz (former owner of station, Larry H. Miller, owned the team)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID36607
ERP312 kW
HAAT1,256 m (4,121 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°39′33″N 112°12′10″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitekjzz.com

History

Early history

An original construction permit was granted on December 6, 1984 for a full-power television station on UHF channel 14 to serve Salt Lake City and the surrounding area. The station was originally intended as an over-the-air subscription television service per its original permits, filed in 1979, but by the time the construction permit was granted, over-the-air subscription television had largely become obsolete and the subscription television application had already been dismissed. For nearly two years, the station did not even have call letters, but used its application ID, 790822KE as its callsign. On November 6, 1986, the station took the call letters KGBS, then changed to KXIV (for the Roman numeral form of 14) on February 29, 1988.

After four replacement construction permits, KXIV was finally licensed on March 24, 1989 and began operations on April 14. Initially, the station offered a general entertainment format with cartoons, classic sitcoms, drama series, classic movies and religious shows. It was also Utah's home of The Disney Afternoon syndicated cartoon programming block. The station was originally owned by American Stores.

In February 1993, Larry H. Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz NBA franchise, purchased the station; the station later changed its call letters to KJZZ-TV to reflect both his ownership of the Utah Jazz and the station's status as the broadcast television outlet for Jazz games. The format remained the same initially but by the mid to late 1990s, talk and reality shows were mixed into the schedule.

UPN affiliation, then independence, and MyNetworkTV affiliation

On January 16, 1995, KJZZ became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (UPN). However, in October 2000, KJZZ made national headlines when it warned it would assert its contractual right to back out of its affiliation contract with UPN if the network increased its "urban/ethnic programming" to more than two hours per week. From KJZZ's perspective, its designated market area has about the lowest percentage of African Americans for any media market in the United States. UPN officials were outraged at this demand and considering the network's national programming strategy, the two sides parted ways when UPN transferred the Salt Lake City affiliation to KAZG (channel 24, now KPNZ), a smaller station based in Ogden in January 2001, leaving KJZZ as an independent once again.

In the fall of 2005, KJZZ entered into a local marketing agreement with CBS owned-and-operated station KUTV (channel 2). As a result, second runs of shows like Dr. Phil, Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy! were added to the schedule (the latter two shows had aired on KTVX, channel 4 for about two decades prior to moving to KJZZ) as well as newscasts from KUTV.

On February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced the launch of a new network called MyNetworkTV, which would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created to compete against another upstart network that would launch at the same time that September, The CW (an amalgamated network that originally consisted primarily of UPN and The WB's higher-rated programs) as well as to give UPN and WB stations that were not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates another option besides converting to independent stations.[1][2] The station affiliated with MyNetworkTV when it launched on September 5, 2006. However, KJZZ ran the network's programming on tape delay at 11 p.m. initially (instead of the recommended 7 p.m. timeslot for the Mountain Time Zone), before later moving it to midnight.[3] Possible reasons included the Jazz telecasts and the LMA with KUTV, though more likely the network's unsuccessful telenovela strategy did even worse in a market like Salt Lake City, which caused the move to a late-night slot to mute possible damage to the station's ratings, along with the racy content of the telenovelas which clashed with the views of KJZZ's management (a more diverse original programming strategy was abandoned after most of the network's stations signed charter affiliation agreements). KJZZ was also one of the few stations which never branded with any of MyNetworkTV's imaging.

Returning to independence again
Logo, 2008–2016

KJZZ dropped MyNetworkTV and became an independent station again on August 18, 2008. The MyNetworkTV affiliation then moved to St. George-based KCSG (also on channel 14), which covers the Salt Lake City area via coverage on local cable television providers[4] (the programming service has since moved to KMYU, channel 12, which serves the Wasatch Front via KUTV's digital subchannel). In January 2009, DirecTV dropped KJZZ from its lineup of stations available to local viewers when the station's owner and the satellite provider could not come to an agreement on retransmission terms.[5] KJZZ was returned to the DirecTV lineup on February 11, 2009.

Larry H. Miller died on February 20, 2009. His son, Greg Miller, took over as CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies several months earlier.[6][6] FCC records show a transfer of 48% ownership of the station to a trust to which Larry Miller's widow, Gail, was trustee, in April 2009. Thus, Gail Miller directly owned 48% of the station, with Larry Miller's sons holding the remainder.[7] After the LMA between KJZZ and KUTV concluded in 2010, KSL-TV owner Bonneville International began managing KJZZ under a new LMA.[8]

On April 4, 2016, Larry H. Miller Communications Corporation agreed to sell KJZZ-TV and eight translators to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $6.5 million.[9][10] The sale was completed on June 17, 2016;[11] concurrently, the station's relationship with Bonneville and KSL-TV ended, as KJZZ had become a sister station to KUTV.[12]

Aborted merger with Tribune Media

On May 8, 2017, Sinclair entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media—owner of Fox affiliate KSTU (channel 13)—for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune, pending regulatory approval by the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. While KJZZ-TV and KMYU (despite the fact that the latter's city of license, St. George, is technically a sub-market within the statewide Salt Lake City market) are not in conflict with existing FCC in-market ownership rules and would be retained by Sinclair in any event, the group was precluded from acquiring KSTU directly as broadcasters are not currently allowed to legally own more than two full-power television stations in a single market and both KUTV and KSTU rank among the four highest-rated stations in the Salt Lake City market in total day viewership (Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley cited Salt Lake City as one of three markets, out of fourteen where ownership conflicts exist between the two groups, where the proposed acquisition would most likely result in divestitures). As such, the companies would have been required to sell either KUTV or KSTU to another station group in order to comply with FCC ownership rules and alleviate potential antitrust issues preceding approval of the acquisition; however, a sale of either duopoly to an independent buyer was dependent on later decisions by the FCC regarding local ownership of broadcast television stations and future acts by Congress.[13][14][15][16][17]

On July 18, 2018, the FCC voted to have the Sinclair–Tribune acquisition reviewed by an administrative law judge amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties.[18][19][20][21][22][23] Three weeks later on August 9, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[30]
14.11080i16:9KJZZMain KJZZ-TV programming
14.2480iCometComet
14.3TBDTBD
14.4ChargeCharge!
14.5DablDabl

Analog-to-digital conversion

KJZZ-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 14, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[31] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 46,[32] using PSIP to display KJZZ-TV's virtual channel as 14 on digital television receivers.

On August 8, 2016, KJZZ-TV switched from 720p to 1080i, as KUTV and KMYU also broadcast in that same format.

On February 16, 2017, KJZZ-TV added Comet on digital subchannel 14.2, TBD on digital subchannel 14.3, and Charge! on digital subchannel 14.4.

Effective September 17, 2018, the station moved its digital signal from channel 46 to channel 19, as part of the repacking of the broadcast spectrum.

On October 29, 2019, KJZZ-TV added Dabl on digital subchannel 14.5.

Programming

Syndicated programming seen on KJZZ-TV includes Judge Mathis, The People's Court, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Divorce Court, Access Daily, Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show.

Sports programming

From 1993 to 2009, KJZZ was the over-the-air broadcaster of Utah Jazz regular season NBA games. The Utah Jazz signed a new exclusive 12-year agreement with regional sports network FSN Utah (now AT&T SportsNet Utah) on October 20, 2009, ending the team's broadcasts on KJZZ-TV, and making the team's telecasts cable-exclusive.[33]

KJZZ-TV began a partnership with the Utah Utes athletic department in 1995, broadcasting Utes men's and women's basketball games, as well as football games and gymnastics.

For the 2011 season, KJZZ aired select Utah Utes football games not televised by ESPN, Versus (now known as the NBC Sports Network), or Fox Sports; this ended upon Utah's acceptance into the Pac-12 Conference and all sports rights outside of those picked up by ESPN and Fox Sports being a part of the Pac-12 Network.

Awards

KJZZ aired a tribute to Larry H. Miller on February 21, 2009. This tribute won an Emmy in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.[34]

Newscasts

The first local newscasts on channel 14 were produced under agreement with KSL-TV, in the form of a local 9 p.m. newscast that aired from October 21, 1991, to September 18, 1992. This was Salt Lake's first newscast in the timeslot, beating KSTU's news to air by more than two months, and the first news share of its kind in the Mountain Time Zone; it was canceled due to low ratings.[35]

In September 2005, KUTV began producing weekday morning 9 a.m. and nightly 9 p.m. newscasts for KJZZ-TV. The newscasts were canceled after nearly five years on May 31, 2010.[36] No official explanation was given for the discontinuance, although it is likely that it was due to the end of the LMA between KUTV and KJZZ.

On January 9, 2017, KUTV launched the 8 a.m. hour of its morning newscast for KJZZ. The latter also added a simulcast of KMYU's 7 p.m. newscast and a revival of the 9 p.m. newscast, marking the return of the partnership between KUTV and KJZZ for the first time in nearly 7 years when the LMA broke off in 2010.

Translators

KJZZ-TV extends its coverage throughout the entire state of Utah, plus parts of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming, using a network of more than 80 community-owned translator television stations listed below.

CityCallsignCityCallsignCityCallsign
Alton, UtahK34FO-D Henrieville, UtahK21NC-D Panguitch, UtahK21NE-D
Antimony, UtahK44JU-D Holbrook, IdahoK31PJ-D Parowan, Utah, etc.K44DR-D
Battle Mountain, NevadaK42DZ-D Huntsville, UtahK45JC Preston, IdahoK19EW-D
Beaver, UtahK42EX-D Huntsville, Utah, etc.K19LR-D Price, UtahK21EZ-D
K27HU
Beowawe, NevadaK30HF Juab, UtahK18GX-D
K22EC-D
Bicknell & Teasdale, UtahK21NA-D Kanab, UtahK28IT Randolph & Woodruff, UtahK24EC-D
Blanding & Monticello, UtahK45GM-D Koosharem, UtahK45FV-D Richfield, Utah, etc.K21MY-D
K58IR-D
Bluff & area, UtahK33JO-D Laketown & Garden City, UtahK50GA-D
Boulder, UtahK35NL-D Logan, UtahK18DL-D
Caineville, UtahK35NM-D Long Valley Junction, UtahK42IW-D Roosevelt, UtahK38GO
Cedar City, UtahK39FQ Malad City, Idaho, etc.K25IP-D Rural Duchesne County, UtahK17DM-D
Cedar City, Utah, etc.K33EB-D Manti & Ephraim, UtahK25GS-D Rural Wayne County, UtahK43IJ
Circleville, UtahK20NB-D Marysvale, UtahK26NW-D Salina & Redmond, UtahK06QS-D
Cortez, Colorado, etc.K07UY-D Mayfield, UtahK21ND-D Santa Clara, Utah, etc.K42EZ
Delta & Oak City, Utah, etc.K51GG Milford, Utah, etc.K26EA-D Scofield, UtahK27HV
Elko, NevadaK05JU-D
K31LB		 Modena & Beryl, Utah, etc.K23DV-D Shoshoni, Wyoming, etc.K38EK
Fountain Green, UtahK31NX-D Montpelier, IdahoK25CK-D Soda Springs, Idaho, etc.K32LX-D
Freedom & Etna, WyomingK33DS Mount Pleasant, UtahK20MT-D Saint George, UtahK24CY
Fremont, UtahK36OH-D Nephi, UtahK41LL-D Summit County, UtahK19DU-D
Garfield County, UtahK22MM-D
K30GA-D		 New Harmony, Utah, etc.K49GA Tropic & Cannonville, UtahK33HX-D
Garrison, etc., UtahK45JT-D Vernal, UtahK15DI
Hanksville, UtahK35NC-D Orangeville, UtahK16EW Washington, etc., UtahK47OA-D
Hatch, UtahK20NA-D Orderville, UtahK18ET-D Wells, NevadaK22GW-D
Heber City, UtahK21DY-D Ouray, UtahK44EL Woodland, UtahK35EJ-D
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See also
  • List of Salt Lake City media

References
  1. "News Corp. to launch new mini-network for UPN stations". USA Today. February 22, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  2. News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV, Broadcasting & Cable, February 22, 2006.
  3. Scott D. Pierce (2007-03-27). "Scott D. Pierce: MyNetworkTV will try Plan B". Deseret News. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  4. "KCSG Salt Lake City Grabs MNT Affiliation – 2008-07-21 08:18:00 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  5. "DIRECTV Subscribers". KJZZ-TV. Archived from the original on 2009-01-20.
  6. "Larry H. Miller steps down as CEO of his companies". ksl.com. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  7. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101307442&formid=323&fac_num=36607
  8. "KSL-TV Automates with NVerzion – 2012-07-31 21:08:38 | Nverzion". nverzion.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  9. Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License – Federal Communications Commission
  10. Asset Purchase Agreement for the sale of television station KJZZ-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah
  11. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  12. Pierce, Scott (April 28, 2016). "KUTV's parent buys KJZZ from Millers". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  13. Stephen Battaglio (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times. Tronc. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  14. Cynthia Littleton (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media". Variety. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  15. Todd Frankel (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, giving it control over 215 local TV stations". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings, LLC. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  16. Liana Baker; Jessica Toonkel (May 7, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast nears deal for Tribune Media". Reuters. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  17. Harry A. Jessell; Mark K. Miller (May 8, 2017). "The New Sinclair: 72% Coverage + WGNA". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  18. Todd Shields (July 16, 2018). "Sinclair and Tribune Fall as FCC Slams TV Station Sale Plan". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  19. Harper Neidig (July 16, 2018). "FCC chair rejects Sinclair-Tribune merger". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  20. Robert Feder (July 16, 2018). "FCC throws Sinclair/Tribune deal in doubt". RobertFeder.com. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  21. Benjamin Hart (July 16, 2018). "FCC Throws Wrench Into Sinclair Media Megadeal". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  22. Edmund Lee (July 18, 2018). "Sinclair Tries to Appease F.C.C., but Its Tribune Bid Is Challenged". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  23. Lorraine Mirabella (July 18, 2018). "FCC orders hearing even as Sinclair changes plans to sell TV stations to address concerns about Tribune deal". Baltimore Sun. Tronc. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  24. "Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Sinclair Merger, Sues Broadcast Rival". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. August 9, 2018.
  25. Mark K. Miller (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Kills Sinclair Merger, Files Suit". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  26. Christopher Dinsmore (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Media pulls out of Sinclair Broadcast merger". Baltimore Sun. Tronc.
  27. Edmund Lee; Amie Tsang (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.
  28. Jon Lafayette (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal with Sinclair, Files Breach of Contract Suit". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
  29. Brian Fung; Tony Romm (August 9, 2018). "Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, saying it will sue for 'breach of contract'". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC.
  30. RabbitEars TV Query for KJZZ
  31. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  32. "Utah Local News – Salt Lake City News, Sports, Archive – The Salt Lake Tribune". Sltrib.com. 2009-02-09. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  33. "Jazz sign 12-year agreement with FSN Utah". Salt Lake Tribune. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  34. "Utah Jazz notebook: KJZZ-TV wins Emmy for show on Miller's life". Deseret News. December 2, 2009.
  35. Pierce, Scott (1992-08-20). "EYEWITNESS NEWS AT 9 WILL GET DEEP-6". Deseret News. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  36. "KJZZ Scraps Newscasts – 2010-06-01 20:14:16 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
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