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Posted on July 23, 2020 By Robert Payne

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This article is about the television station in Oregon. For other uses, see Katu.
Not to be confused with KTUU-TV, KTWO-TV, or K2.

KATU
CityPortland, Oregon
Channels
BrandingKATU (pronounced "K-2")
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KUNP
History
First air date
March 15, 1962
(62 years ago) (1962-03-15)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 2 (VHF, 1962–2009)
  • Digital: 43 (UHF, 1998–2019)
Independent (1962–1964)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID21649
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT524 m (1,719 ft)
Transmitter coordinates45°30′57.8″N 122°44′3.1″W / 45.516056°N 122.734194°W / 45.516056; -122.734194
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitekatu.com

KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group[2] alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP (channel 16). The two stations share studios on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; KATU's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.

KATU went on the air as the fourth commercial station in Portland in 1962. It was built and signed on by Fisher Broadcasting Company, later Fisher Communications, and originally served as an independent station before joining ABC in 1964. The station expanded its local programming in the early 1970s and became a contender in Portland-area local news ratings. Fisher continued to own KATU until the entire company was sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2013.

History

Channel 2 comes to Portland

Entrance to the KATU studios
KATU has operated from the same site, a former laundry on Sandy Boulevard, since its launch.

Channel 2 was not initially assigned to Portland, being allocated in 1957. That action spurred activity on the valuable frequency. Four applications were initially received, from The Oregon Journal, owner of KPOJ (1330 AM); Fisher Broadcasting Company, which owned KOMO radio and television in Seattle; Tribune Publishing Company, publisher of The News Tribune and owner of KTNT-TV in Tacoma, Washington; and KPTV (channel 12), which wanted to move to channel 2.[3] KPTV later withdrew, and KPOJ dropped its application in March,[4] but it was not until the end of 1959 that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing examiner recommended Fisher over the Tribune Publishing Company for the channel 2 construction permit.[5] The full commission began drafting paperwork in support of this decision in December 1960,[6] and Fisher received the permit on February 23, 1961.[7]

Work began to build facilities in the former Crystal Laundry on NE Sandy Boulevard in June;[8] the two-story building was refitted to contain two production studios.[9] The station originally was assigned the call letters KOXO but switched to the call sign KATU within months.[7]

KATU began broadcasting on March 15, 1962, originally operating as an independent station; Portland native and actress Jane Powell was the master of ceremonies.[10] The station's transmitter was originally located atop Livingston Mountain, about 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Camas, Washington; this northerly site had been required to maintain minimum spacing to the unbuilt channel 3 (the future KVDO-TV) at Salem.[11]

While it was the 25th independent in the United States, from the moment it went on air, speculation swirled that KATU might look to poach a network affiliation from one of the three other commercial stations in Portland.[12] Rumors intensified in June 1963 as KATU began construction of a transmitter in Portland's West Hills, which would improve its signal coverage and co-site channel 2 with the other major stations.[13] The news came in early December when ABC announced it would drop KPTV, Oregon's oldest television station, and move to KATU on March 1, 1964.[14] The news led to speculation that the ABC switch to KATU, in spite of KPTV performance comparable to that of other ABC affiliates, was a countermove by the network to avoid losing Seattle's KOMO-TV, one of the network's few top-rated stations at the time, to a possible overture by CBS.[15] KPTV—which had been ABC's Portland affiliate since 1959—sued, alleging that Fisher coerced ABC into affiliating with KATU by threatening to defect in Seattle.[16] (It was the second time KPTV had lost an affiliation to a group owner in five years; King Broadcasting Company's KGW-TV [channel 8] displaced KPTV as the NBC television affiliate in Portland in 1959, and its KING-TV in Seattle replaced KOMO-TV in the network lineup.[17])

After a decade in which the station struggled to build an identity in the market, KATU began to find its way in the early 1970s after expanding its local programming. New shows such as public affairs program Town Hall, weekend children's program Bumpity, and talk show AM Northwest proved critical to the station's success.[18] AM Northwest continues to air, while other shows, such as Faces & Places and Two at Four, ended in the 1980s.[19]

In 1975, KATU-TV became sister stations with Hokkaido Television Broadcasting in Sapporo, Japan, a sister city of Portland. The stations exchanged documentary footage of events in their areas.[20]

KATU was Portland's first commercial station to broadcast in digital, doing so in 1998 alongside Oregon Public Broadcasting.[21] KATU shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 43, using virtual channel 2.[22]

Sinclair Broadcast Group ownership

On April 10, 2013, KATU and Fisher Communications's other holdings were acquired by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.[23][24] The FCC granted its approval of the deal on August 7,[25] and the sale was completed the following day.[2]

On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media—owner of CW affiliate KRCW-TV (channel 32)—for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. Sinclair would have been required to sell one of KUNP or KRCW-TV if the deal were to be approved.[26] However, in 2018, the FCC designated the deal for hearing by an administrative law judge;[27] the deal was then terminated by Tribune.[28]

Local programming

News operation

A white panel van with a microwave attachment on top and KATU logos on the side
A KATU news van in 2007
Refer to caption
Debra Knapp of KATU on set interviewing Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson

From the station's first day on air, KATU produced local newscasts. As an independent, its late-night local news aired at 10 p.m.[12] This changed after the station switched to ABC in 1964, but KATU remained mired in third place in local news coverage behind KOIN-TV and KGW-TV, which were said to have a "stranglehold" on Portland viewers.[29]

One Oregon news event covered by KATU cameras in the station's first decade on air acquired lasting notoriety. In November 1970, reporter Paul Linnman, who worked at KATU from 1967 to 1972 before returning to the station in 1984[30] and retiring from TV news in 2004,[31] traveled to Florence, Oregon, where a sperm whale washed ashore; its carcass was exploded unsuccessfully. The station continued to receive requests for footage years after the event and has since commemorated anniversaries of the exploding whale, including a news special in 1995[32] and a remaster of the original newsfilm in 2020.[33] The 4K remaster was conducted by the Oregon Historical Society, which has held the original film in its collection since the 1980s.[34]

In 1975, Richard Ross left KGW-TV after 19 years to become the news director at channel 2.[35] That same year, former Oregon governor Tom McCall joined KATU as commentator; prior to becoming governor, he had also worked at KGW.[36] Under Ross, the station produced such efforts as Kidwitness News, a monthly newscast for kids anchored by puppets;[37] the station's documentary unit won a Peabody Award in 1981.[38] McCall's commentaries continued appearing despite his battle with cancer leading up to his death in January 1983.[39]

News hires at KATU in the 1980s included Jeff Gianola, who initially joined as a weekend weather presenter in 1983[40] and became evening anchor before defecting to KOIN in 1998,[41] and Bill O'Reilly, the future Fox News Channel anchor whose tenure in Portland lasted less than a year due to family reasons.[42] O'Reilly's time with the station was marked by remarks about Portland being a "vacation" compared to his previous job in Boston, which displeased management, and an incident in which he left his paycheck in a copy machine, unwittingly divulging a six-figure salary that irked underpaid colleagues.[43] By 1985, what had once been a five-person staff in the early days had become a 60-person news department.[44]

KATU had worked its way up to having the top-rated newscasts in Portland by 1997,[45] but ratings were starting to decline before Gianola's departure for KOIN, which was responsible for leading a resurgence at that station. In 1997, the station's general manager concocted a promotional strategy, known as the "Power of 2", by which the station acquired two news helicopters, in an attempt to increase falling ratings, even though the news director had previously said helicopters were primarily a marketing tool.[46] The campaign was produced with such secrecy that its first airing took newsroom employees by surprise.[47] Within a month of the highly publicized debut of the second helicopter, the leased helicopter, "JetRanger II", crashed and burned in November while harvesting Christmas trees.[48][49]

By 2021, KATU had returned to first place in early and late evening news in total viewership, though Fox affiliate KPTV beat it out in morning news.[50] That year, the station attracted industry attention for suspending an entire day of newscasts so the station staff could take stress management training in light of increasing burnout in television news.[51]

Sports

On September 23, 2024, the Portland Trail Blazers announced a new television deal with Sinclair to create the Rip City Television Network, with Sinclair stations and subchannels to air the team's games in the Portland, Seattle, Medford, Eugene, and Yakima/Tri-Cities markets. In Portland, KATU will air six games on its ABC subchannel, with additional games to be aired by KATU's 2.2 subchannel and—beginning January 1, 2025—KUNP.[52][53]

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KATU[66]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
2.1 720p 16:9 KATU ABC
2.2 1080i Charge! Charge! / Rip City Television Network
2.3 480i Comet Comet
32.1 1080i 16:9 KRCW The CW (KRCW-TV)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

The 32.1 subchannel for KRCW-TV is broadcast by KATU as part of Portland's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) deployment plan; in exchange, KRCW-TV broadcasts KATU in that format.[67]

Translators

KATU is additionally rebroadcast over a network of sixteen low-power digital translator stations:[66]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KATU". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b "Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes On Fisher Communications Acquisition". All Access. August 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  3. ^ "KPOJ Asks License On Channel 2". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. Associated Press. January 28, 1958. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 6, 1959. p. 106. ProQuest 963324961. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  5. ^ "Seattle Company Given TV Edge". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. UPI. December 31, 1959. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Fisher favored by FCC for Portland ch. 2" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 19, 1960. p. 10. ProQuest 962820865. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "FCC History Cards for KATU". Federal Communications Commission.
  8. ^ "Channel 2 TV Quarters Prepared: Work Starts On New Television Facilities". The Oregon Journal. June 24, 1961. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  9. ^ Marks, Arnold (November 22, 1961). "TV-Radio Highlights: KATU Studio Nearly Ready; February Telecast Target". The Oregon Journal. p. 2:3. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  10. ^ Murphy, Francis (March 17, 1962). "Behind the Mike". The Oregonian. p. 2:3. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via GenealogyBank. KATU went on air smoothly Thursday night as guests who had gathered in new studio sat before monitors to watch opening show.
  11. ^ Murphy, Francis (September 30, 1961). "Behind the Mike". The Oregonian. p. 3:3. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Swing, Willian (March 11, 1963). "Channel 2 Will Make Debut; New TV Channel Offers Broad Choice of Programs". The Oregonian. p. TV 7. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Murphy, Francis (June 28, 1963). "Behind the Mike". The Oregonian. p. 2:7. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  14. ^ "ABC-TV to switch Portland, Ore., outlets" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 9, 1963. p. 63. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "Those Group Ownership Dollars". Variety. December 11, 1963. p. 27. ProQuest 962708797 – via ProQuest.
  16. ^ "Dropped by ABC, Ore. TVer Sues For $12,750,000". Variety. March 4, 1964. p. 34. ProQuest 1014824946 – via ProQuest.
  17. ^ "NBC Shuffle Big Surprise to KOMO Chief". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. Associated Press. October 17, 1958. p. 31. Archived from the original on August 21, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Carlin, Ames (September 22, 2002). "Portland TV turns 50: The irresistible glow". The Oregonian. p. A1.
  19. ^ Farrell, Peter (November 13, 1991). "Putting the squeeze on TV news". The Oregonian. p. D1.
  20. ^ Murphy, Francis (June 10, 1975). "TV leader questions Fairness Doctrine". The Oregonian. p. B7.
  21. ^ Yim, Su-jin (November 9, 1998). "High-definition television preparing for prime time". The Oregonian. p. B9.
  22. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  23. ^ "Sinclair acquiring Fisher Communications". katu.com. April 11, 2013. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  24. ^ Colman, Price (April 10, 2013). "Sinclair poised to buy Fisher stations". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  25. ^ "Consent to Transfer" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  26. ^ Jessell, Harry A.; Miller, Mark K. (May 8, 2017). "The New Sinclair: 72% Coverage + WGNA". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  27. ^
  28. ^
  29. ^ Baker, Doug (December 28, 1976). "Baker's Dozen: Shake-Up At Ch. 2". Oregon Journal. p. 11. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  30. ^ "Linnman to join Channel 2". The Oregonian. December 20, 1983. p. C6. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  31. ^ Romans, Phil (April 8, 2004). "Looking back on a whale of a career". The Oregonian. p. Southwest 2.
  32. ^ Martin, Zack (July 10, 1995). "Endless blubber: In 1970, Oregon had a whale of a story". Electronic Media. pp. 3, 31.
  33. ^ "The Exploding Whale remastered: 50th anniversary of legendary Oregon event". KATU. November 12, 2020. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  34. ^ Gormley, Shannon (November 11, 2020). "Oregon Historical Society Has Released Newly Restored Footage of That Time State Officials Blew Up a Dead Whale". Willamette Week. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  35. ^ "Richard Ross Going To KATU-TV Sept. 1". Oregon Journal. August 8, 1975. p. 5. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  36. ^ "KATU-TV to be joined by McCall". The Oregonian. July 29, 1975. p. B7. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  37. ^ Marks, Arnold (January 2, 1978). "'Kidwitness News' innovation in newscasts". Oregon Journal. p. 16. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  38. ^ "HBO wins Peabody" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 19, 1982. pp. 31–32. ProQuest 962723841. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  39. ^ Beggs, Chuck (January 9, 1983). "McCall unyielding in his commitment to conservation". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. Associated Press. p. 8B. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ Farrell, Peter (September 12, 1983). "KATU revamps late-night news format". The Oregonian. p. C8. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  41. ^ Schulberg, Pete (May 5, 1998). "Gianola hops channels from KATU to KOIN". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  42. ^ Farrell, Peter (July 2, 1985). "KATU's O'Reilly heading east for family reasons, he says". The Oregonian. p. C6. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  43. ^ Schulberg, Pete (April 23, 1998). "Bill O'Reilly isn't shy about speaking his mind". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  44. ^ Henniger, Jean (January 27, 1985). "Wanderlust comes naturally to KATU rover". The Oregonian. p. TV Click 39. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  45. ^ Schulberg, Pete (February 28, 1997). "KATU holds on to top spot in news race". The Oregonian. p. D7.
  46. ^ Schulberg, Pete (October 28, 1998). "'Power of 2'-much marketing and 2-little news". The Oregonian. p. D1.
  47. ^ Schulberg, Pete (October 28, 1997). "Chopper campaign expensive, secretive". The Oregonian. p. B8.
  48. ^ Heinz, Spencer; Bjorhus, Jennifer (November 8, 1997). "KATU helicopter crashes, burns". p. B3.
  49. ^ Schulberg, Pete (November 12, 1997). "Crash of KATU chopper gets powerful play". The Oregonian. p. C7.
  50. ^ Malone, Michael (January 13, 2022). "Local News: Stumptown Gets Over the Hump". Broadcasting & Cable.
  51. ^ Ellefson, Lindsey (September 27, 2021). "Portland TV Station KATU Suspends News Coverage as Staff Attends Trauma Training". The Wrap. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  52. ^ "Portland Trail Blazers Announce Future Of Trail Blazers Broadcasting". www.nba.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  53. ^ "Watch". Portland Trail Blazers. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  54. ^ Harrison, James. "Richard "Dick" Bogle (1930–2010)". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  55. ^ "Coming Soon: That Expert Show with Anna Canzano". OregonLive. September 5, 2019.
  56. ^ Schulberg, Pete (April 28, 1993). "Jack Faust of 'Town Hall': big shoes to fill". The Oregonian. p. B7.
  57. ^ Holston, Noel (July 2, 2000). "Magers' League". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. pp. F1, F5. Retrieved January 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. ^ Schulberg, Pete (February 19, 1997). "Now you see your favorite weatherperson, now you don't". The Oregonian. p. B1.
  59. ^ Nicholas, Jonathan (February 26, 2003). "25 bucking the trend". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  60. ^ Ames Carlin, Peter (February 21, 2004). "KATU finds itself in middle of contract controversy". The Oregonian. p. D1.
  61. ^ Vierria, Dan (September 27, 1997). "Busy retirement ahead for KXTV anchor". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. p. Scene 7. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  62. ^ Eggers, Kerry (May 28, 1983). "Roger Twibell happy with role for ESPN". The Oregonian. p. C4. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  63. ^ "Layoffs at Portland's KATU-TV include Brian Wood, others". OregonLive.com. March 3, 2021. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  64. ^ Murphy, Francis (February 17, 1975). "Behind the mike: Dr. Joe operates better in surgery". The Oregonian. p. B7.
  65. ^ Wong, Ken (January 18, 1978). "Good news from a princess". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. AA-1. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  66. ^ a b "RabbitEars TV Query for KATU". RabbitEars.
  67. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KRCW-TV". RabbitEars.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KATU

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