KXRM-TV

KXRM-TV, virtual channel 21 (UHF digital channel 22), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States and also serving Pueblo. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is a sister station to low-powered CW affiliate KXTU-LD, channel 57 (which is simulcast on KXRM's second digital subchannel). The two stations share studios on Wooten Road in Colorado Springs; KXRM's transmitter is located on Cheyenne Mountain.

KXRM-TV
Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colorado
United States
CityColorado Springs, Colorado
ChannelsDigital: 22 (UHF)
Virtual: 21 (PSIP)
BrandingFox 21 (general)
Fox 21 News Right Now (newscasts)
SOCO CW (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations21.1: Fox (1986–present)
21.2: The CW
21.3: Ion Television
21.4: Court TV Mystery
Ownership
OwnerNexstar Media Group
(Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
Sister stationsKXTU-LD
History
First air dateJanuary 22, 1985 (1985-01-22)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
21 (UHF, 1985–2009)
Former affiliations
Call sign meaningFoX Rocky Mountain (callsign predates network by one year)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID35991
ERP51 kW
HAAT641 m (2,103 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38°44′42.9″N 104°51′41.9″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewww.fox21news.com

History

KXRM-TV first signed on the air as an independent station on January 22, 1985. Its call letters were chosen in part to reflect the region in which it operates; the last two letters stand for "Rocky Mountains." The station tried to sign on Christmas Eve 1984, but technical glitches prevented that from happening. KXRM was Southern Colorado's first independent station, and the region's first new independent station since KRDO-TV signed on 31 years earlier. It became a charter Fox affiliate on October 6, 1986.

The station was locally owned until 2000 when it was bought by Raycom Media. After Raycom merged with the Liberty Corporation, KXRM was one of several stations that were spun off to Barrington Broadcasting.

On October 11, 2007, the station began airing programming from the Retro Television Network (RTV) on its second digital subchannel.[1] Previously, this aired The Tube (a 24-hour music channel) until the network suspended operations October 1. On September 15, 2008, KXRM replaced RTV programming on 21.2 with a simulcast of KXTU.[2] This signal increases KXTU's broadcasting radius; KXTU did not convert to digital until 2010, and even in digital, its coverage area is effectively limited to El Paso and Pueblo counties.

On February 28, 2013, Barrington Broadcasting announced the sale of its entire group, including KXRM-TV, to Sinclair Broadcast Group.[3] The sale was completed on November 25.[4] On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would sell KXRM-TV and KXTU-LD, along with WTTA in Tampa Bay, to Media General in a swap for WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, WLUK-TV and WCWF in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and WTGS in Savannah, Georgia. The swap is part of Media General's merger with LIN Media.[5][6] The sale was completed on December 19.[7] On January 27, 2016, it was announced that the Nexstar Broadcasting Group would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. KXRM became part of "Nexstar Media Group" as Nexstar's second station in Colorado, joining Grand Junction's CBS affiliate KREX-TV.[8] The deal was approved by the FCC on January 11, 2017, and it was completed on January 17.[9]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
21.1720p16:9KXRM-DTMain KXRM-TV programming / Fox
21.21080iSOCO CWSimulcast of KXTU-LD / The CW
21.3480iIONIon Television
21.4MysteryCourt TV Mystery

Analog-to-digital conversion

KXRM-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, 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 UHF channel 22.[11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 21.

News operation

The station began airing a prime time newscast at 9 p.m. on March 11, 2001. KXRM established its own in-house news department in 2006 after previously having aired newscasts produced by KKTV. KXRM-TV became one of the initial group of independent television stations to agree to affiliate in 1987. The station hosts a four-hour morning show from 5–9 a.m. that has been recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association as one of the best morning shows in the market. Its weeknight prime time broadcast starts at 9:00 p.m. On January 20, 2016, a 10:00 p.m. newscast was added.

In late September 2010, KXRM became the fourth station in Colorado Springs–Pueblo to start broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen.

In 2013, the Radio Television Digital News Association recognized KXRM with a National Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage of the Waldo Canyon Fire.[12]

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References
  1. Three Markets Go Retro with Retro Television Network. Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
  2. KXRM takes KXTU under its digital wing. Springstvtalk.blogspot.com (2008-09-17). Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
  3. Malone, Michael (February 28, 2013). "Sinclair's Chesapeake TV Acquires Barrington Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets". TVNewsCheck. August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  6. Malone, Michael (August 20, 2014). "Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  7. Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes on Certain Station Acquisitions and Divestitures with Media General Archived 2014-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, Press Release, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Retrieved 19 December 2014
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-01-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Nexstar Broadcasting Group Completes Acquisition of Media General Creating Nexstar Media Group, The Nation’s Second Largest Television Broadcaster Nexstar Media Group, January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  10. RabbitEars TV Query for KXRM
  11. "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.
  12. 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners. RTDNA. Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
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