KPNX

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KPNX
Mesa/Phoenix, Arizona
Branding	Channel 12 (branding) 12News (news)
Slogan	12 Stands for Local News
Channels	12 (VHF) analog, 36 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC NBC Weather Plus (digital subchannel 12.2)
Owner	Gannett
Founded	1953
Call letters meaning	PhoeNiX
Former callsigns	KTYL-TV (1953-55) KVAR-TV (1955-59) KTAR-TV (1959-79)
Former affiliations	None
Transmitter Power	316 kW
Height	555 m
Website	http://azcentral.com/12news

KPNX is the NBC television affiliate for Phoenix, Arizona. It is licensed to Mesa. Its transmitter and tower are located on South Mountain in Phoenix; the station broadcasts on analog channel 12. Owned by Gannett, it operates a full-power satellite, KNAZ channel 2 in Flagstaff (which is up for sale), and numerous other translators throughout northern Arizona.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 3 Slogans 4 Logos 5 Translators 6 External links

[edit] History

KPNX is the only station in Phoenix to never change its affiliation. The station was founded in 1953 as KTYL-TV, owned by the Harkins Theatre Group. Its appearance brought NBC into Phoenix: the other three networks were jammed into KPHO-TV, with CBS primary and ABC and DuMont secondary. The original studio was located in Mesa. The station changed its call letters to KVAR-TV in 1955 after its sale to John J. Louis, owner of KTAR-AM 620, and then became KTAR-TV four years later. It moved into its current facility in Phoenix in 1959, but is still officially licensed to Mesa, identifying as "Mesa-Phoenix" on the air.

Over the years, the Louis family bought several other broadcasting outlets, including WQXI-TV in Atlanta (now WXIA-TV) and WPTA-TV in Fort Wayne. Eventually, the Louis family's broadcasting interests became known as Pacific & Southern Broadcasting, headquartered in Phoenix with KTAR-AM-TV as the flagship stations.

Pacific & Southern was bought by advertising mogul Karl Eller in 1968, who then combined it with his existing business to form Combined Communications. Combined merged with Gannett in 1979, in what was at that time the biggest media merger in U.S. history. The FCC did not allow the newly merged company to keep both KTAR-TV and KTAR-AM, so it opted to sell the radio station. KTAR-TV then renamed itself KPNX.

Eller was also one of the original founding owners of the city's first major professional sports team, the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Channel 12 carried Suns games for years, from the team's 1968 inception until the 1980s, when Suns telecasts moved to KNXV (Channel 15).

The station had ranked third in the ratings for many years behind KTVK and KSAZ until a massive shift in network affiliations in Phoenix occurred in 1994. All of the market's major English-language commercial stations traded affiliations except KPNX. At that point, the station finally reached the number-one position, knocking former leader KTVK down to second place in the ratings. Gannett merged with Central Newspapers, owner of the Arizona Republic, in 2001. This resulted in KPNX being reunited with the original parent of KTAR radio (whose call letters mean "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic").

While KSAZ and KTVK produce more individually separate local newscasts, KPNX airs the largest amount of news (local and national) in the market, running about 30 hours a week of local news, along with 25 hours a week of national news from NBC (Today Show, NBC News, etc). It also runs syndicated first-run talk and reality shows along with the entire NBC schedule.

On 29 December 2005, the station began carrying NBC Weather Plus+ on subchannel 12.2 (digital channel 36). The subchannel is carried by Cox Communications on digital cable channel 763.

MSNBC and Weekend Today WEATHER PLUS+ Chief Meteorologist Sean McLaughlin worked at this station before going national. He now works at rival KPHO, Phoenix's CBS affliate, with his fellow partner from KPNX, Kent Dana.

On 2 November 2006, KPNX became the first station in Arizona to begin broadcasting local news programming in high definition, like its 6 Gannett sister stations, e.g. KARE, KUSA, KSDK, WKYC, and WUSA. The graphics and set were also redesigned by Giant Octopus and Production Design Group, respectively. The switch to high definition news, however, had drawn some laughter and derision from some media professionals in Phoenix, due to its unceasing emphasis on being the first broadcaster to broadcast news in high-definition (including the addition of the phrase "The leader in HD" before the opening of every newscast).

[edit] Newscasts

Weekdays

• 12News Today - 5:00 - 7:00AM
• Arizona Midday (Talk/information show) - 11:00AM - Noon
• 12News at Noon - 12:00 - 12:30PM
• 12News UpFront (counts down the top 12 stories of the day) - 4:30 - 5:00PM
• 12News at 5:00 - 5:00 - 5:30PM
• Arizona Nightly News (formerly 12News at 6:00) - 6:00 - 6:30PM
• 12News at 10:00 - 10:00 - 10:35PM
• 12News at 10:00-(Rebroadcast)- 1:05AM-1:40AM

Weekend

• 12News Weekend Today - 8:00 - 10:00AM
• 12News at 6:00 - 6:00 - 6:30PM (Saturdays)
• Arizona Highways - 6:30 - 7:00PM (Saturdays)
• 12News at 5:30 - 5:30 - 6:00PM (Sundays)
• 12News at 10:00 - 10:00 - 10:30PM (Saturdays); 10:00 - 10:35PM (Sundays)
• Sports Tonight - 10:35 - 11:00PM (Sundays)

[edit] Slogans

• "Come Home to the Best, Only on Channel 12" (1988-1990 using NBC's Come Home to the Best, Only on NBC campaign)
• "The 1-2 (pronounced like one-to) watch for NBC" (Used in radio promos for primetime shows, used infrequently for TV promos)
• "12 Stands for Local News" (Current)
• "The Leader in HD, Local Television Redefined"

[edit] Logos

KPNX logo from the early 1990's to 2006 (Immediately after the September 11th Terrorist Attacks, a red, white, and blue ribbon was placed on the upper right part of the logo.)

[edit] Translators

• K24FA Blythe, California
• K09KG Bullhead City
• K13XA Carrizo
• K13XB Cedar Creek
• K42CQ Chloride
• K13XE Cibecue
• K35EI Dolan Springs
• K56FT Fort Apache
• K61FB Globe/Miami
• K50CY Kingman
• K46GI Lake Havasu City
• K23DK Meadview
• K30BQ Needles, California / Bullhead City
• KPSN-LP 22 Payson
• K26GF Peach Springs
• K06AE Prescott
• K57DC Verde Valley/Camp Verde
• K13XC Whiteriver

[edit] External links

• KPNX Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KPNX