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Posted on July 23, 2020 By Robert Payne

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KOSA-TV
CityOdessa, Texas
Channels
Branding
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KCWO-TV, KWWT, KMDF-LD, KTLE-LD
History
First air date
January 1, 1956 (68 years ago) (1956-01-01)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 7 (VHF, 1956–2009)
  • Digital: 31 (UHF, until 2009)
Call sign meaning
Odessa
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID6865
ERP
HAAT
  • 226 m (741 ft)
  • 225.5 m (740 ft) (CP)[1]
Transmitter coordinates31°51′50.8″N 102°34′42.5″W / 31.864111°N 102.578472°W / 31.864111; -102.578472
Translator(s)K31KJ-D 31 (UHF) Big Spring
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.firstalert7.com

KOSA-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Odessa, Texas, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Permian Basin area. It is owned by Gray Television alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KWWT (channel 30, also licensed to Odessa), Big Spring–licensed CW+ affiliate KCWO-TV (channel 4), Telemundo affiliate KTLE-LD (channel 7.5) and The365 affiliate KMDF-LD (channel 22). The five stations share studios inside the Music City Mall on East 42nd Street in Odessa, with a secondary studio and news bureau in downtown Midland; KOSA-TV's transmitter is located on FM 866 west of Odessa. The station is relayed on low-power translator K31KJ-D in Big Spring.

History

KOSA-TV signed on the air on January 1, 1956, and has been a CBS affiliate since its debut. Licensed to the corporate entity Odessa Television Co., the station was part of the Trigg-Vaughn Stations group, owned and operated by Cecil L. Trigg and Jack Vaughn, along with KOSA radio.[4] KOSA-TV originally operated from studios located on North Whitaker Street in Odessa. KOSA-TV is the only Big Three station in the Permian Basin to have never changed affiliation. In 1967, Trigg-Vaughn sold both KOSA-TV and KROD-TV in El Paso, Texas, to Doubleday Broadcasting, a subsidiary of book publisher Doubleday and Company.

On November 26, 1983, a chartered twin-engine Beechcraft B100 King Air turboprop was flying from Fort Worth back to Odessa[5] when it fell nose first, crashed and burned on impact. It killed all eight on board, instantly, some burned beyond recognition. Six of the victims were KOSA-TV station employees who had been away filming high school football playoffs. The plane burned for about four hours before firemen could extinguish the blaze. A charred and twisted heap of metal was all that remained.

The victims were eventually identified as assistant news director Gary Hopper, 32, of Midland; sports director Jeff Shull, 25, of Odessa; chief engineer Bobby Stephens, 47, of Odessa; assistant chief engineer Edward Monette, 26, of Odessa; production assistants Bruce Dyer, 26, of Midland and Brent Roach, 24, of Odessa; pilot Keith Elkin, 29, of Midland; and Jay Alva Price, 37, of Midland, a helper for the station at football games and Hopper's brother-in-law.

Local real estate company Investment Corporation of America (ICA) purchased the station from Benedek Broadcasting in 2000. On May 20, 2015, Gray Television announced that it would acquire KOSA-TV from ICA for $33.6 million;[6] the sale was completed on July 1.[7] The deal reunited KOSA-TV with several of its former Benedek sister stations, as Gray acquired most of Benedek's stations following the latter's bankruptcy in 2002.

By fall 2017, the over-the-air digital signal of KOSA-DT2 had been upgraded into 720p 16:9 high definition, thus giving viewers in the Odessa–Midland market over-the-air access to MyNetworkTV's high definition feed for the first time.[8]

On June 25, 2018, Gray announced it had reached an agreement with Montgomery, Alabama-based Raycom Media to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including competing NBC affiliate KWES-TV (channel 9) and its satellite KWAB-TV (channel 4), and Gray's 93 television stations) under Gray's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—required divestment of either KOSA-TV or KWES-TV due to FCC ownership regulations prohibiting common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market (as well as more than two stations in any market). Gray announced it would retain KOSA-TV, and sell KWES-TV to an unrelated third party.[9][10][11][12] On August 20, it was announced that Tegna Inc. would buy KWES and sister station WTOL in Toledo, Ohio for $105 million.[13] However, Gray retained KWAB and converted it to a CW+ affiliate under the callsign KCWO,[14] with a simulcast on KOSA's second digital subchannel.[15][16] The sale was completed on January 2, 2019.[17]

On July 24, 2020, it was announced that Gray would purchase MeTV affiliate KWWT, and sister low-power station, KMDF-LD for $1.84 million, pending FCC approval.[18] Gray sought a failing station waiver as the Odessa–Midland market would not have at least eight independent voices after the transaction (KCWO-TV is licensed as a satellite of KOSA-TV despite airing different programming).[19] In addition, Gray also announced that after the sale, KWWT would move its operations to the shared KOSA/KCWO facility in Odessa. The FCC granted the waiver on September 14.[20] The sale was completed on September 30.[21][22][23]

Making News: Texas Style

Main article: Making News: Texas Style

KOSA-TV was the setting for a TV Guide Network reality series called Making News: Texas Style, which revolved around the inner workings, staff, and personalities of the station's news department.[24][25][26] The show aired Mondays from June 11, 2007, to September 23, 2007.

Sports programming

KOSA-TV became an affiliate for Big 12 Network basketball in 2008. That same year they entered into a contract with KTXA in Dallas–Fort Worth to carry select Dallas Mavericks basketball games. The Mavericks games aired in Odessa–Midland on MyTV 16 in 2008–2009 and 2010–2011. In 2009, KOSA-TV entered into a contract to air the locally televised Texas Rangers baseball games. The games took place on various nights in 2009 as they were programmed by KDFI. From 2010 to the present the Rangers games aired on Friday nights as part of the Friday Night Baseball on TXA 21 package. In 2012, KOSA-TV entered into a contract to air SEC Network football games. In all these cases, the sports contracts placed the games on MyTV 16 (now MyTV 30) as CBS prime time and sports programming usually airs during this time on KOSA. All these contracts expired. In 2016, KOSA-TV became the television home of UTPB Falcons football. All home games aired on Tuesday nights via tape delay on MyTV up until 2021.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KOSA-TV[27][16]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
7.1 1080i 16:9 KOSA-HD CBS
7.2 720p THE CW CW+ (KCWO-TV)
7.3 480i TELEMUN Telemundo (KTLE-LD)
7.4 480i H & I Heroes & Icons
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

KOSA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 31 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Channel Substitution/Community of License Change". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "Report & Order", Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, March 1, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KOSA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ "1956-57 Telecasting Yearbook" (PDF). WorldRadioHistory.com. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  5. ^ NTSB accident synopsis for B100 N1910L retrieved November 27, 2009
  6. ^ "Gray Buying KOSA Odessa For $33.6 Million". TVNewsCheck. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  7. ^ "Gray In 4 New Deals, Closes 3 Earlier Ones". TVNewsCheck. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  8. ^ "KOSA-TV ODESSA, TX". rabbitears.info.
  9. ^ "GRAY AND RAYCOM TO COMBINE IN A $3.6 BILLION TRANSACTION". Raycom Media (Press release). June 25, 2018. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  10. ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  11. ^ John Eggerton (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
  12. ^ Dade Hayes (June 25, 2018). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline Hollywood.
  13. ^ "TEGNA to Acquire the Leading Television Stations WTOL in Toledo, OH, and KWES in Odessa-Midland, TX". Tegna Inc. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  14. ^ "Call Sign History", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  15. ^ "FCC Filing: Gray Purchase of Raycom Comprehensive Exhibit".
  16. ^ a b "RESCAN: New channels coming to CBS7 lineup". CBS7.com. Gray Television. December 31, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  17. ^ "Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions", Gray Television, January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  19. ^ Request for Failing Station Waiver
  20. ^ "Letter", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  21. ^ "CBS7 Media Group continues to grow", KOSA-TV, September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  22. ^ "Consummation Notice", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  23. ^ "Consummation Notice" (KMDF-LD), CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  24. ^ "TV Guide channels 'News' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety".
  25. ^ http://www.oaoa.com/news/nw020807b.htm [dead link]
  26. ^ "dBusinessNews :: Daily Business News Delivered to Your Desktop". Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  27. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
  28. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOSA-TV

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