KWES-TV
Encyclopedia
KWES-TV, channel 9, commonly referred to as NewsWest 9, is the NBC
affiliated television station in the Midland
/Odessa
area. The station is owned by the Drewry Communications Group. It also operates a satellite station, KWAB-TV (virtual channel 4), in Big Spring, Texas
.
, an ABC
affiliate. It was originally co-owned with KVKM radio (1340 AM; now KCKM
1330). Initially broadcasting from a 777 ft (236.8 m) tower between Kermit
and Monahans (shared with the radio station), KVKM-TV moved to a 1080 ft (329.2 m) tower at the edge of the Caprock around 1962.
Grayson Enterprises (named for Sidney Grayson but after 1964 not owned) assumed ownership of KVKM-TV in 1969 and renamed it KMOM-TV, for Monahans-Odessa-Midland. Grayson added other stations to his operation during the late 1960s and 1970s, including KCCN (now KKEA
) in Honolulu, Hawaii
, KLBK-TV
in Lubbock, Texas
, and KTXS-TV
in Abilene
/Sweetwater, Texas
, among others.
Under Grayson's ownership, KVKM added two satellite stations: KWAB, and KAVE-TV (channel 6) in Carlsbad, New Mexico
. The latter station served as a KVKM/KMOM satellite from 1966 until 1969, when KVKM was sold to Grayson, and KAVE became a satellite of KELP-TV El Paso. KAVE later sold to Stanley Marsh 3
and continued as a satellite of KVIA-TV
in El Paso, Texas
. (KAVE is now KOCT, a satellite of KOAT-TV
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
.)
However, Grayson Enterprises ran into license renewal trouble in 1968, 1971, 1974, and 1977 for some of its stations. These stations were accused of fraudulent billing, program and transmitter log fabrication, main studio violations, failure to make required technical tests, and other issues. The stations had their renewals deferred and hearings ordered as a result.
The case was settled in what was then described as a "distress sale", in which Grayson's stations were broken up and sold to minority-controlled groups (nowadays known as historically-underutilized groups) at a reduced price. The parameters of such a sale were defined by this sell-off. As a result, KMOM and KWAB were transferred to a Hispanic-controlled group, while KLBK and KTXS went to Prima, Inc. (whose principals were African American).
The station swapped affiliations with KMID-TV
(channel 2) in 1981 and joined NBC. Simultaneous with the affiliation swap, channel 9 changed its call letters to KTPX-TV and moved its studio operations from Monahans to Midland, at a location near Midland International Airport
. It became KWES-TV in 1993. (KTPX-TV is now assigned to the Ion Television affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma
.)
Current owner Drewry Communications Group had planned to sell its stations to London Broadcasting in 2008; however, by January 2009, the deal fell through.
In addition to NBC Programming, KWES became the home of Dallas Cowboys
preseason television broadcasts in 2011, gaining the rights from Fox West Texas
. The rights give the KWES ownership all Dallas Cowboys preseason rights in West Texas as they have held the Spanish rights since 2006 and have aired them on KTLE 9.3. KWES held Houston Texans preseason TV rights in 2002 and 2003, but low ratings were produced due to tape delaying the broadcasts until Sunday afternoon. KWES chose to let go of the Texans preseason rights, and they weren't picked up again until 2010 when KPEJ picked them up.
(1490 AM). The station carried programming from all three networks; however, it was hampered by the presence of KMID-TV in Midland, which carried NBC and some ABC programming, and KOSA-TV
(channel 7) in Odessa, which carried CBS, which limited KBST's network programming. Consequently, the station had little success. The radio station was eventually sold to the Snyder Corporation (co-owned by Ted Snyder, who later acquired KARN in Little Rock, Arkansas
, and B. Winston Wrinkle), while a half interest in KBST-TV was transferred to Dub Rogers' Texas Telecasting, owner of KDUB-TV in Lubbock (now KLBK-TV) and part-owner of KVER-TV in Clovis, New Mexico
(now KVIH-TV
). Rogers then changed the call letters of the station to KEDY-TV.
The studios and tower were located at the edge of Howard College
campus at 2500 Kentucky Way. Local shows were produced on and off until the late 1960s. Otherwise, KEDY largely became a semi-satellite of KDUB. In 1961, Rogers sold his stations to Grayson Enterprises. Soon afterward, the station took its current KWAB callsign (for Webb Air Force Base
), and switched from simulcasting KDUB to KPAR-TV (now KTXS-TV) in Sweetwater. However, both KDUB and KPAR were primarily affiliated with CBS (though KPAR also had a secondary ABC affiliation), resulting at times in KWAB duplicating KOSA. Soon after Grayson's acquisition of KVKM-TV, KWAB began to simulcast that station, alleviating the duplication.
For many years, the stations did some Big Spring production, most of which aired on a delayed basis. Today in Big Spring was recorded in Big Spring and fed back to the Midland studios over the company microwave system. This microwave link proved pivotal for KWES during the February 2008 Alon USA
refinery explosion, allowing the station to provide live skycam images and live pictures in the hours immediately after the blast.
Reporters
Weather
Sports
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliated television station in the Midland
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
/Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
area. The station is owned by the Drewry Communications Group. It also operates a satellite station, KWAB-TV (virtual channel 4), in Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
.
History
KWES began broadcasting in 1958 as KVKM-TV in Monahans, TexasMonahans, Texas
Monahans is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, Texas, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Winkler County. The population was 6,821 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, an 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...
affiliate. It was originally co-owned with KVKM radio (1340 AM; now KCKM
KCKM
KCKM is a radio station broadcasting a classic country music format. Licensed to Monahans, Texas, USA. The station is currently owned by Kickin' Country Broadcasting, L.L.C...
1330). Initially broadcasting from a 777 ft (236.8 m) tower between Kermit
Kermit, Texas
Kermit is a city in and the county seat of Winkler County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,708 at the 2010 census. The city was named for Kermit Roosevelt after a visit by his father Theodore Roosevelt to the county.-History: -Establishment:...
and Monahans (shared with the radio station), KVKM-TV moved to a 1080 ft (329.2 m) tower at the edge of the Caprock around 1962.
Grayson Enterprises (named for Sidney Grayson but after 1964 not owned) assumed ownership of KVKM-TV in 1969 and renamed it KMOM-TV, for Monahans-Odessa-Midland. Grayson added other stations to his operation during the late 1960s and 1970s, including KCCN (now KKEA
KKEA
KKEA is a radio station located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The station was formerly owned by Cox Radio and offers the ESPN Radio sports talk format, broadcasting at 1420 kHz with ERP of 5 kW. The station is currently owned and operated by the Blow Up LLC and is being marketed as ESPN 1420...
) in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, KLBK-TV
KLBK-TV
KLBK is the CBS network affiliated television station, serving the Lubbock, Texas metropolitan area. KLBK is owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group and through a local sales agreement the station also provides services to ABC affiliate KAMC 28 , owned by Mission Broadcasting.The station...
in Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, and KTXS-TV
KTXS-TV
KTXS-TV is the ABC television affiliate for the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood market. The station is licensed to Sweetwater, and broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a broadcasting tower near Trent, Texas....
in Abilene
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
/Sweetwater, Texas
Sweetwater, Texas
Sweetwater is the county seat of Nolan County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,415 at the 2000 census.-History:Sweetwater received a U.S. post office in 1879. The Texas and Pacific Railway started service in 1881, with the first train arriving on March 12 of that year, beginning...
, among others.
Under Grayson's ownership, KVKM added two satellite stations: KWAB, and KAVE-TV (channel 6) in Carlsbad, New Mexico
Carlsbad, New Mexico
Carlsbad is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 26,138. Carlsbad is the center of the designated micropolitan area of Carlsbad-Artesia, which has a total population of 55,435...
. The latter station served as a KVKM/KMOM satellite from 1966 until 1969, when KVKM was sold to Grayson, and KAVE became a satellite of KELP-TV El Paso. KAVE later sold to Stanley Marsh 3
Stanley Marsh 3
Stanley Marsh 3 is an artist, philanthropist, and prankster from Amarillo, Texas, USA. He is perhaps best known as the sponsor of the Cadillac Ranch, an unusual public art exhibit west of Amarillo.-Art projects and pranks:...
and continued as a satellite of KVIA-TV
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...
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...
. (KAVE is now KOCT, a satellite of KOAT-TV
KOAT-TV
KOAT-TV, channel 7, is an ABC network affiliated television station serving Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, northeast of Albuquerque. Syndicated programming on KOAT includes: Entertainment Tonight, Ellen, The Dr...
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
.)
However, Grayson Enterprises ran into license renewal trouble in 1968, 1971, 1974, and 1977 for some of its stations. These stations were accused of fraudulent billing, program and transmitter log fabrication, main studio violations, failure to make required technical tests, and other issues. The stations had their renewals deferred and hearings ordered as a result.
The case was settled in what was then described as a "distress sale", in which Grayson's stations were broken up and sold to minority-controlled groups (nowadays known as historically-underutilized groups) at a reduced price. The parameters of such a sale were defined by this sell-off. As a result, KMOM and KWAB were transferred to a Hispanic-controlled group, while KLBK and KTXS went to Prima, Inc. (whose principals were African American).
The station swapped affiliations with KMID-TV
KMID
KMID is the ABC affiliated television station in Midland-Odessa, Texas, owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, which is headquartered in Irving, Texas. KMID ABC2 was acquired by Nexstar in 2000...
(channel 2) in 1981 and joined NBC. Simultaneous with the affiliation swap, channel 9 changed its call letters to KTPX-TV and moved its studio operations from Monahans to Midland, at a location near Midland International Airport
Midland International Airport
-Top Destinations:-See also:* Texas World War II Army Airfields-References:* Shaw, Frederick J. , Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004....
. It became KWES-TV in 1993. (KTPX-TV is now assigned to the Ion Television affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
.)
Current owner Drewry Communications Group had planned to sell its stations to London Broadcasting in 2008; however, by January 2009, the deal fell through.
In addition to NBC Programming, KWES became the home of Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
preseason television broadcasts in 2011, gaining the rights from Fox West Texas
KPEJ
KPEJ-TV digital channel 23 is a Fox affiliate serving the Midland / Odessa, Texas area.-History:KPEJ began in 1986 as an independent station before becoming a Fox affiliate in 1990...
. The rights give the KWES ownership all Dallas Cowboys preseason rights in West Texas as they have held the Spanish rights since 2006 and have aired them on KTLE 9.3. KWES held Houston Texans preseason TV rights in 2002 and 2003, but low ratings were produced due to tape delaying the broadcasts until Sunday afternoon. KWES chose to let go of the Texans preseason rights, and they weren't picked up again until 2010 when KPEJ picked them up.
KWAB
KWAB began operations in 1956 as KBST-TV, owned by the Big Spring Herald along with KBST radioKBST (AM)
KBST is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Big Spring, Texas, USA, the station serves the Big Spring-Snyder area. The station is currently owned by Rhattigan Broadcasting , LP, and includes programming from Fox Sports Radio and Premiere Radio Networks.KBST...
(1490 AM). The station carried programming from all three networks; however, it was hampered by the presence of KMID-TV in Midland, which carried NBC and some ABC programming, and KOSA-TV
KOSA-TV
KOSA Channel 7 in the Odessa/Midland television market is the CBS affiliate for the Permian Basin area of West Texas. KOSA and its transmitter are both located in Odessa with the station being housed inside the Music City Mall. A secondary studio and bureau are located in downtown Midland. ICA...
(channel 7) in Odessa, which carried CBS, which limited KBST's network programming. Consequently, the station had little success. The radio station was eventually sold to the Snyder Corporation (co-owned by Ted Snyder, who later acquired KARN 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 B. Winston Wrinkle), while a half interest in KBST-TV was transferred to Dub Rogers' Texas Telecasting, owner of KDUB-TV in Lubbock (now KLBK-TV) and part-owner of KVER-TV in Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis is the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 32,667 at the 2000 census; according to 2010 Census Bureau estimates, the population had risen to 37,775....
(now KVIH-TV
KVII-TV
-External links:** — live pictures of downtown Amarillo and surroundings from KVII's Sky Cam...
). Rogers then changed the call letters of the station to KEDY-TV.
The studios and tower were located at the edge of Howard College
Howard College
Howard College is a community college with its main campus in Big Spring, Texas and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa....
campus at 2500 Kentucky Way. Local shows were produced on and off until the late 1960s. Otherwise, KEDY largely became a semi-satellite of KDUB. In 1961, Rogers sold his stations to Grayson Enterprises. Soon afterward, the station took its current KWAB callsign (for Webb Air Force Base
Webb Air Force Base
Webb Air Force Base , previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in west Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring. It was a major training facility, and by 1969 almost 9,000 pilots had...
), and switched from simulcasting KDUB to KPAR-TV (now KTXS-TV) in Sweetwater. However, both KDUB and KPAR were primarily affiliated with CBS (though KPAR also had a secondary ABC affiliation), resulting at times in KWAB duplicating KOSA. Soon after Grayson's acquisition of KVKM-TV, KWAB began to simulcast that station, alleviating the duplication.
For many years, the stations did some Big Spring production, most of which aired on a delayed basis. Today in Big Spring was recorded in Big Spring and fed back to the Midland studios over the company microwave system. This microwave link proved pivotal for KWES during the February 2008 Alon USA
Alon USA
Alon USA Energy Inc. or Alon USA . Alon USA Energy, Inc. is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and engages in refining and marketing petroleum products primarily in the southwestern and south central regions of the United States. Alon USA was formed after Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd, the largest...
refinery explosion, allowing the station to provide live skycam images and live pictures in the hours immediately after the blast.
Current
Anchors- Crystal Crews: NewsWest 9 at 4, 6 and 10PM Anchor
- David Marino: NewsWest 9 at 5, 6 and 10PM Anchor
- Kristen Lowe: NewsWest 9 Sunrise Anchor (5:30 to 7AM)
- Victor Lopez: NewsWest 9 Sunrise Anchor (5:30 to 7AM)
Reporters
- Geena Martinez: Reporter
- Nick Lawton: Reporter
Weather
- Tom Tefertiller: Chief Meteorologist
- Emily Borchard: Meteorologist
- Ben Cathey: Weekend Meteorologist
- Carl Rippe: Web Forecaster
Sports
- Trevor Tankersley: Sports Director
- Lee Small: Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter