KDBC-TV
Encyclopedia
KDBC-TV is the CBS
affiliate in El Paso, Texas
. The station is owned by the Titan TV Broadcast Group. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF
channel 18. Its new digital subchannel carries My Network TV. Syndicated programming on KDBC includes: Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Maury
, and Judge Judy
.
KDBC airs on Time Warner Cable
channel 3 and HD channel 865 in the El Paso area.
The station is located at 2201 E. Wyoming Avenue in El Paso (ZIP code 79903). Its transmitter is also located in El Paso.
radio and the El Paso Times
. Early programs on the station included children's shows Red Brown and Anna Lee and Bozo's Big Top, and wrestling show Mitchell's Mat Time. The station was affiliated with three networks (CBS
, ABC
, and DuMont
) as late as 1955. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
The station changed its call letters to KDBC-TV in 1973 to reflect the change in station ownership, Doubleday Broadcasting Company.
The first transmitter site was south of Comanche Peak in El Paso. A road was built to the site, and a 288 feet (87.8 m) tower was constructed. A building was assembled from native rock chipped from the site. The station went on with a temporary transmitter (small RCA) and eventually added a 10 kW RCA TT-10AL transmitter and developed an effective radiated power of 61 kilowatts at 1150 feet (350.5 m). The site is now used as a backup, and many FM stations transmit from this building.
In 1984 the station moved farther up the hill to Comanche Peak. A 440 feet (134.1 m) tower was built and a new transmitter was installed (one of the last of the RCA TT-25GLs). The station increased to 100 kW and a height of 1540 feet (469.4 m). BTSC
stereo also commenced with this new site.
By the mid-1980s, the station was owned by United Broadcasting, who at the time also owned KARK-TV
in Little Rock, Arkansas
and WTOK-TV
in Meridian, Mississippi
. Columbus, Mississippi
-based Imes Broadcasting, owners of stations such as WCBI-TV
and WMUR-TV
, bought KDBC in 1988 after United Broadcasting was taken over by the investment firm Merrill Lynch
. Imes Broadcasting exited the television business in the late 1990s, and put up all of its stations for sale. In 1999 Pappas Telecasting Companies
acquired the station, with the intent to have the station join the new Azteca America
network, a Spanish-language
network co-owned at the time by TV Azteca
and Pappas. Plans for the affiliation were canceled following outcry from viewers and the station's employees, and the station renewed its affiliation with CBS. Azteca America and Pappas ended their affiliation relationship in mid-2007. Since early December 2010, Azteca América
has been available on KVIA-DT4
.
In May 2004, KDBC launched a new set design, logo and graphics. On September 5, 2006 KDBC's new subchannel commenced operations, which includes programming from My Network TV. http://www.pappastv.com/pressdetail.php?id=80&prYr=2006
On January 16, 2009, it was announced that several Pappas stations, including KDBC, would be sold to New World TV Group (now the Titan TV Broadcast Group), after the sale received United States bankruptcy court
approval.
On October 19, 2009 ComCorp, the parent company of KTSM-TV
, announced that that station will provide sales and other services for KDBC under a new agreement. ComCorp will provide advertising, sales, administrative services and some news programming for KDBC, while Titan will continue to manage KDBC and both stations will retain separate newscasts for now.
On December 15, 2009, KDBC began broadcasting its news in high-definition
, becoming the Third TV station in El Paso to do so.
In January 2010, Comcorp announced that it would close the news department of its sister station, KVEO-TV in Brownsville, Texas
, other than a few reporters. The locally-produced newscast would originate from KDBC, using KDBC's staff (including Nichole Ayoub as anchor and Robert Bettes as meteorologist), with the remaining reporters in Brownsville filing reports. The new newscast, which debuted on KVEO on January 18, 2010, will be pre-recorded in advance.
, digital television receivers will display KDBC-TV's virtual channel
as 4.
during the 1960s and 1970s. Eurich committed suicide in 1982 following a divorce from his wife and fellow KDBC weather anchor Gail Gordon.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. The station is owned by the Titan TV Broadcast Group. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
channel 18. Its new digital subchannel carries My Network TV. Syndicated programming on KDBC includes: Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, 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 Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
.
KDBC airs on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 3 and HD channel 865 in the El Paso area.
The station is located at 2201 E. Wyoming Avenue in El Paso (ZIP code 79903). Its transmitter is also located in El Paso.
History
The station went on air on December 14, 1952 as KROD-TV, the first television station in El Paso. The station was owned by Dorrance Roderick, along with KRODKROD
KROD is a sports radio station in El Paso, Texas, USA. The station's license is held by Townsquare Media.The station is an affiliate of the Dallas Cowboys radio network. The station broadcasts Major League Baseball games as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network...
radio and the El Paso Times
El Paso Times
The El Paso Times is the English-language newspaper for the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The paper was founded in 1881 by Marcellus Washington Carrico. It originally started out as a weekly but within a year's time, it became the daily newspaper for the frontier town.The newspaper has a daily...
. Early programs on the station included children's shows Red Brown and Anna Lee and Bozo's Big Top, and wrestling show Mitchell's Mat Time. The station was affiliated with three networks (CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
) as late as 1955. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
The station changed its call letters to KDBC-TV in 1973 to reflect the change in station ownership, Doubleday Broadcasting Company.
The first transmitter site was south of Comanche Peak in El Paso. A road was built to the site, and a 288 feet (87.8 m) tower was constructed. A building was assembled from native rock chipped from the site. The station went on with a temporary transmitter (small RCA) and eventually added a 10 kW RCA TT-10AL transmitter and developed an effective radiated power of 61 kilowatts at 1150 feet (350.5 m). The site is now used as a backup, and many FM stations transmit from this building.
In 1984 the station moved farther up the hill to Comanche Peak. A 440 feet (134.1 m) tower was built and a new transmitter was installed (one of the last of the RCA TT-25GLs). The station increased to 100 kW and a height of 1540 feet (469.4 m). BTSC
Multichannel television sound
Multichannel television sound, better known as MTS , is the method of encoding three additional channels of audio into an NTSC-format audio carrier.- History :...
stereo also commenced with this new site.
By the mid-1980s, the station was owned by United Broadcasting, who at the time also owned KARK-TV
KARK-TV
KARK, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Arkansas that is licensed to Little Rock. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV and the two share studios on West Capitol Avenue in Downtown Little Rock one block...
in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
and WTOK-TV
WTOK-TV
WTOK-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of the city along MS 145 . The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 431. Owned by...
in Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
-based Imes Broadcasting, owners of stations such as WCBI-TV
WCBI-TV
WCBI-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Northern Mississippi and Northwestern Alabama licensed to Columbus. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter in Northwestern Clay County. The station can also be seen on Cable One channel 7 and Comcast...
and WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...
, bought KDBC in 1988 after United Broadcasting was taken over by the investment firm Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
. Imes Broadcasting exited the television business in the late 1990s, and put up all of its stations for sale. In 1999 Pappas Telecasting Companies
Pappas Telecasting Companies
Pappas Telecasting Companies was a diversely organized broadcasting company headquartered in Visalia, California, United States. Founded in 1971, it was one of the largest privately held broadcasting companies in the country, with its stations reaching over 15% of all U.S. households and over 32%...
acquired the station, with the intent to have the station join the new 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...
network, a Spanish-language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
network co-owned at the time by TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...
and Pappas. Plans for the affiliation were canceled following outcry from viewers and the station's employees, and the station renewed its affiliation with CBS. Azteca America and Pappas ended their affiliation relationship in mid-2007. Since early December 2010, Azteca América
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...
has been available on KVIA-DT4
KVIA-TV
KVIA-TV is an ABC affiliate television station in El Paso, Texas. It broadcasts its digital signal on channel 7 and channel 17. It is owned by and was the flagship television station of the News-Press & Gazette Company of St. Joseph, Missouri before the company acquired KRDO-TV. Its transmitter is...
.
On January 16, 2009, it was announced that several Pappas stations, including KDBC, would be sold to New World TV Group (now the Titan TV Broadcast Group), after the sale received United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the district courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising...
approval.
On October 19, 2009 ComCorp, the parent company of KTSM-TV
KTSM-TV
KTSM-TV, also known as NewsChannel 9, is an NBC affiliated television station based in El Paso, Texas. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 9...
, announced that that station will provide sales and other services for KDBC under a new agreement. ComCorp will provide advertising, sales, administrative services and some news programming for KDBC, while Titan will continue to manage KDBC and both stations will retain separate newscasts for now.
On December 15, 2009, KDBC began broadcasting its news in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, becoming the Third TV station in El Paso to do so.
In January 2010, Comcorp announced that it would close the news department of its sister station, KVEO-TV in Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, other than a few reporters. The locally-produced newscast would originate from KDBC, using KDBC's staff (including Nichole Ayoub as anchor and Robert Bettes as meteorologist), with the remaining reporters in Brownsville filing reports. The new newscast, which debuted on KVEO on January 18, 2010, will be pre-recorded in advance.
Digital programming
The station's digital channel is UHF 18, multiplexed:| Subchannel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 4.1 | main KDBC-TV programming / CBS |
| 4.2 | My Network TV/This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.... Secondary |
Analog-to-digital conversion
On June 2, 2009, KDBC announced it has terminated its analog signal because of technical difficulties ten days before the scheduled analog television shutdown and digital conversion on June 12, thus becoming the first television station in the El Paso area to transmit solely in digital. KDBC-TV remains on its transition period channel number, 18. However, through the use of PSIPProgram and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers will display KDBC-TV's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 4.
Personalities
Among the station's most famous broadcasters was weatherman Howell Eurich, who also worked as El Paso's version of Bozo the ClownBozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...
during the 1960s and 1970s. Eurich committed suicide in 1982 following a divorce from his wife and fellow KDBC weather anchor Gail Gordon.
Newscast titles
- KROD-TV News (1952–1961)
- The News with Tom Hanson (1961–1967)
- Newsnight (1967–1970)
- Channel 4 News Report (1970–1974)
- Big 4 News (1974–1985)
- Channel 4 News (1985–1988, 2001)
- News 4 El Paso (1988–1993)
- News 4 (1993–1997)
- CBS 4 Action NewsAction NewsAction News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
(1997–2001) - CBS 4 News (2001–2004)
- KDBC 4 News (2004–2010)
- Local 4 News (2010–Present)
Station slogans
- This is the Big 4 (1974–1982)
- Great Moments on Channel 4 (1982; local version of CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
campaign) - We're El Paso's Very Own Channel 4 (1982–1987)
- The Spirit of El Paso (1987-19??)
- It's Happening on Channel 4 (1987–1992)
- The Look of El Paso Is Channel 4 (1991–1992, local version of CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
campaign) - 4 Means News (1992–1995)
- Your Eye on El Paso (1995–2002)
- People You Can Count On (2002–2004)
- We're YOUR Station (2004–present)
KDBC Music
- CBS Affiliate News Packages By Unknown Composer (1989–1997)
- Wall To Wall News By Stephen Arnold Music (1997–1999)
- KDBC 1999 News Theme By Unknown Composer (1999–2001)
- KDBC 2001 News Theme By Unknown Composer (2001)
- News Matrix By Stephen Arnold Music (2001–2004, 2010-Pres.)
- Pinnacle By Stephen Arnold Music (2004–2008)
- Connection By 360 Music (2008–2010)
Miscellaneous
- On December 7, 2005, KDBC 4 anchor Nichole Ayoub's boyfriend of several years, Travis Hughes, proposed to her live on the air during the six o'clock newscast. After saying "yes," the anchorwoman hugged her new fiance. The event caught the attention of ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Inside EditionInside EditionInside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, and various local TV stations around the country.
- Weatherman Howell Eurich was also known for his Wink, TexasWink, TexasWink is a city in Winkler County, Texas, United States. The population was 919 at the 2000 census. By 2009, the population had reportedly crept up to 926.Wink was the hometown of singer and songwriter Roy Orbison, although he was born in Vernon, Texas....
jokes, jokes about how small the town was. He eventually came out with a book of such jokes that was sold locally. Eurich acted in local stage productions, as well as hosted movie shows and Bozo the Clown on the station (1968–1972). Many photos of Eurich adorn the walls of "Jaxons" restaurant in El Paso. Eurich later became despondent after divorcing his wife and committed suicide in 1982.
- Howell Eurich and Gail Gordon introduced "Puffy" the weather dog, who became a feature of the weather forecast.