KAZT-TV
Encyclopedia
KAZT-TV is an independent television station in Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....

, broadcasting locally in digital
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....

 on VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...

 channel 7 from its transmitter located atop Mingus Mountain northeast of Prescott. Its analog signal is simulcast across central and northern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 through a translator system, and its digital signal under the calls KAZT-CD is simulcast in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 on channel 36. It can be seen on cable systems throughout the state (excluding the Tucson and Yuma markets), as well as on the local channel packages from DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...

 and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...

. The station has business offices and studios in Prescott and Phoenix.

KAZT-TV

The station was known as KNAZ from January 1980, when the original construction permit was granted, until September, at which time they took call letters KUSK, while the original KNAZ call letters ended up at a Flagstaff NBC station
KNAZ-TV
KNAZ-TV is a full-power television station serving Flagstaff, Arizona and surrounding areas. It is a satellite station of NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix, and is owned by Gannett. KNAZ-TV broadcasts over-the-air in digital on UHF channel 22, and is carried on the local cable TV system...

. KUSK signed on in 1982 and by the 1990s, was running low-budget programming that mainly targeted Prescott (the main station's city of license) and northern Arizona in general, through its main station transmitting from Mingus Mountain and a network of translators from Yuma
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

 to Payson
Payson, Arizona
- History :Payson considers its founding year as 1882, at which time it was known as Green Valley or Union Park. On March 3, 1884, the town officially established a post office. Postmaster Frank C. Hise recommended that the town be named after a man named Levi Joseph Payson. Senator Payson was very...

, and from Casa Grande
Casa Grande, Arizona
Casa Grande is a city in Pinal County, approximately halfway between Phoenix and Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona. According to 2010 Census, the population of the city is 48,571...

 to Bullhead City
Bullhead City, Arizona
Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, USA, roughly south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the employment for Bullhead City...

. The station broadcast old movies in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

 and 1950s TV shows (some of it provided by America One
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...

 and American Independent Network
American Independent Network
The American Independent Network was one of the first major attempts at building a television network, consisting of low-powered television stations. Started by Don Shelton, Randy Moseley, and Lynn Synder, it was similar to the older Channel America , and was the foundation for Urban America TV...

), syndicated programming larger Phoenix stations didn't want, local talk shows, and America's Store
America's Store
America's Store was a US shopping television network. It was the spin-off channel to the Home Shopping Network . On April 3, 2007, America's Store ceased broadcasting permanently....

 home shopping. Before the Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...

 began operation in 1998, KUSK thrived on Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

, and aired San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...

, Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

, and San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 games.

On December 5, 1997, following a lengthy dispute over the shares of a former shareholder, KUSK, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...

 to protect them from creditors while the company reorganized. KUSK emerged from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in May 2000, having taken over two years to resolve what was supposed to have required two months. Almost immediately, the station was put up for sale, and on September 5, 2000, Harry Pappas agreed to buy the station under the name of Azteca Phoenix, with the intent of making the station an affiliate of Azteca America
Azteca América
Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...

, a network in the process of organizing. Although the sale was approved by the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

, it was never consummated, and KUSK was forced to seek another buyer. KUSK reached an agreement on November 30, 2001 to sell the station to the Londen Family Trust. The Phoenix-based Londen family were owners of a life insurance company and active in local politics, and officially took control of KUSK and its translator network on April 1, 2002.
The day after the Londen Group closed on its purchase, it relaunched the station with new call letters, KAZT-TV. It also adopted a new moniker, "AZ-TV", and a new slogan, "Arizona's Own." They also gave the station a significant technical facelift, including a studio in Phoenix, and a programming overhaul. The station transformed from a low-budget operation focused on Northern Arizona into a high-quality independent station more focused on Phoenix and a serious competitor to the Valley's long-successful independent station, KTVK
KTVK
KTVK is a full-service, independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, and can be seen across northern Arizona on a network of nearly two dozen translator stations...

. To help ensure that KAZT would be a high-quality station that would "do some good for Arizona", the Londen family put together an advisory board of notable Arizonans, including Governor Jane Dee Hull
Jane Dee Hull
Jane Dee Hull was the second woman to serve as Governor of Arizona, the first female Republican governor of the state, and the first woman to be elected to the position.-Biography:...

, U.S. Representative Bob Stump
Bob Stump
Robert Lee "Bob" Stump was a U.S. Congressman from Arizona.-Early life and career:Stump was born in Phoenix, and was a U.S. Navy World War II combat veteran, where he served on the USS Tulagi from 1943 to 1946. He graduated from Tolleson High School in 1947, and Arizona State University in 1951...

, prominent local auto dealer Lou Grubb, Jerry Colangelo
Jerry Colangelo
Jerry Colangelo , is an American businessman and sports executive.He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major...

 of the Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

 and Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...

, and Michael Bidwill
Michael Bidwill
Michael Bidwill is a National Football League executive with the Arizona Cardinals. He is the son of franchise owner Bill Bidwill and the current President of the club.-Biography:...

 of the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. Company patriarch Jack Londen later said that he'd bought the station as a 50th anniversary gift for his wife, Dodie.
On February 22, 2001, the station was granted a construction permit to build its digital companion channel on UHF channel 25, and in October 2002, after receiving a grant of Special Temporary Authority (STA) to operate at roughly the same service level as its analog station, KAZT-DT came on the air. The station made its temporary operations permanent in August 2006, and on October 17, 2006, it was licensed. On May 15, 2009, the station surrendered its channel 25 license to the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

, and the digital station started operating on channel 7.

KAZT-CD

KAZT's Phoenix repeater was founded January 22, 1985, as a construction permit for station K27AN, granted to the Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...

, owners of KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV, channel 5, is a CBS-affiliate television station located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. KPHO-TV is owned by the Meredith Corporation, and has its studios located on Black Canyon Highway in the Alhambra Village section of Phoenix, with its transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix...

. In August 1985, before the station was ever built, Meredith sold the permit to Arizona Metro Television Ltd., who constructed the station, then sold it to KUSK, Inc. in April 1986. The same month, the station came on the air under Program Test Authority, but was not licensed until June 30, 1987. By 1993, it was an affiliate of Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...

 (HSN). William H. Sauro, KUSK's president, became the licensee of the station in May 1994, and in December 1994, it changed its callsign to KHSK-LP.

As part of KUSK's network of stations, KHSK-LP was included in the proposed sale to Harry Pappas for his Azteca Phoenix enterprise, and then was included in the sale to the Londen Group after the Pappas purchase failed to materialize. KHSK-LP initially kept its HSN affiliation, but on July 5, 2002, the Londen Group changed the station's callsign to KAZT-CA and relaunched the station as a part of AZ-TV.

After KUTP
KUTP
KUTP, channel 45, is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox outlet KSAZ-TV . The two stations share studio facilities in Phoenix, and KUTP's transmitter is located on South...

 began full-power digital operations on adjacent channel 26, their permanent allocation, KAZT-CA began to experience interference to its signal. The station requested Special Temporary Authority (STA) to shut off analog transmission and begin digital transmission on the same channel (called a "flash cut"). The Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) granted the STA on August 16, 2007, and KAZT-CA began broadcasting in digital on January 15, 2008. On August 4, 2008, KAZT-CA applied to move its signal to channel 36, citing displacement due to continuing interference from KUTP. The FCC granted the displacement application on September 10, 2009, and on December 7, KAZT-CA ended broadcasts on channel 27, commencing operations on channel 36 five days later.

Programming

On weekdays, KAZT-TV airs daytime talk including The Morning Scramble (local), The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...

, The Steve Wilkos Show
The Steve Wilkos Show
The Steve Wilkos Show is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos. The show debuted on September 10, 2007, two months after Wilkos' departure as director of security on The Jerry Springer Show.-History:...

, Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...

, and The Jeremy Kyle Show
The Jeremy Kyle Show (U.S. TV series)
The Jeremy Kyle Show is an American daytime television tabloid talk show presented by Jeremy Kyle that debuted in the United States and Canada on September 19, 2011. The series is based on Kyle's successful British talk series of the same name, which has been broadcasting on the UK's ITV since July...

. Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray (TV series)
Rachael Ray, also known as The Rachael Ray Show, is a talk show starring Rachael Ray that debuted in syndication in the United States and Canada on September 18, 2006....

, a new addition in 2011 airs at 5pm followed by game shows, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...

 and Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...

. Family comedies Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

, M*A*S*H, and According to Jim
According to Jim
According to Jim is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children. It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001 to June 2, 2009.-Synopsis:Jim is an abrasive but lovable suburban father...

 air between 8pm and Midnight, as well as the new reality dating show, Excused
Excused
Excused is a American dating reality-based competition series that debuted in first-run syndication in the United States and Canada on September 12, 2011...

. Saturday programming also features the popular drama, Brothers & Sisters as well as Dog The Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter is a reality television show on A&E which chronicles Duane "Dog" Chapman's adventures as a fugitive recovery agent, or bounty hunter...

. Sundays are all paid/religious programming on the station.

When they first signed on as AZ-TV, they were sports-intensive, and were the home to Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...

 men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball; Phoenix Mercury
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...

 WNBA basketball, and Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...

 football telecasts. In 2003 and 2004, they televised the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

' pre-season NFL football. AZ-TV has been the broadcast television home of the National Hockey League's
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 Phoenix Coyotes
Phoenix Coyotes
The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....

 since the 2006-2007 season. On Feb 17, 2010 it was announced that the station will broadcast 8 games for the Arizona Rattlers
Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional arena football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League . The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team. They play their home games at US Airways Center...

 of the revived Arena Football League (2010). Currently the station does not broadcast live sports.

On October 13, 2008, KAZT-DT and KAZT-CA launched a subchannel featuring programming from Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...

 (RTV). On June 20, 2011, KAZT added Me-TV to subchannel 7.3. On August 1, 2011, Me-TV was moved to subchannel 7.2 with RTV moving to 7.3. Me-TV also airs locally in Phoenix on COX Digital Cable Channel 93.

Digital channels

Channel Format Programming
7.1 720p Main KAZT programming
7.2 480i Me-TV 
7.3 Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...


Repeaters

KAZT has a network of low-power repeaters throughout Arizona, all of which are in the Phoenix market. Two repeaters, K19CX Yuma and K65BB Wellton
Wellton, Arizona
Wellton is a town in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 1,862. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Wellton is located at ....

, formerly served the Yuma market, but were required to drop KAZT on December 4, 2006, due to syndication exclusivity issues. K19CX is owned by the Londen Group, but is a repeater of KAET
KAET
KAET is a full-service television station in Phoenix, Arizona, owned by the Arizona Board of Regents and operated by Arizona State University as a PBS member station. It broadcasts in digital on VHF channel 8 in the Phoenix metropolitan area from its transmitter on South Mountain...

.
  • K24DK Bullhead City
    Bullhead City, Arizona
    Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, USA, roughly south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the employment for Bullhead City...

  • K30DT Flagstaff
    Flagstaff, Arizona
    Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...

  • K20ID Kingman
    Kingman, Arizona
    Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...

  • K17DA Lake Havasu City
    Lake Havasu City, Arizona
    -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 41,938 people, 17,911 households, and 12,716 families residing in the city. The population density was 974.4 people per square mile . There were 23,018 housing units at an average density of 534.8 per square mile...

  • KAZT-CD 7.1/36.1 Phoenix
    Phoenix, Arizona
    Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

  • K23BY Scottsdale
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...

     (K23BY has an application to flash-cut to digital and move its broadcast facilities from Scottsdale Airport
    Scottsdale Airport
    Scottsdale Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located nine miles north of the central business district of Scottsdale, a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Although most U.S...

     to Usery Mountain in Mesa
    Mesa, Arizona
    According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...

    )
  • K29DK Williams
    Williams, Arizona
    Williams is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States west of Flagstaff. Its population was 2,842 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,094. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak...



KAZT-owned, but does not broadcast KAZT programming:
  • K19CX Yuma
    Yuma, Arizona
    Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

     (KAET 8
    KAET
    KAET is a full-service television station in Phoenix, Arizona, owned by the Arizona Board of Regents and operated by Arizona State University as a PBS member station. It broadcasts in digital on VHF channel 8 in the Phoenix metropolitan area from its transmitter on South Mountain...

    Phoenix)

Station name and slogan over the years

  • KUSK, Your Road to Classic Television (1990s)
  • AZ-TV: Arizona's Own (2002–2008)
  • AZ-TV: Come On Over (2008-2010)
  • AZ-TV: It's Time to Watch (2010-present)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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