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| City | Pasco, Washington |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KIMA-TV,KLEW-TV,KVVK-CA/KORX-CA | |
| History | |
First air date | December 30, 1954 (70 years ago) (1954-12-30) |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 19 (UHF, 1954–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Kennewick, Pasco, Richland |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 56029 |
| ERP | 83kW |
| HAAT | 367 m (1,204 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 46°5′50″N119°11′33″W / 46.09722°N 119.19250°W /46.09722; -119.19250 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | keprtv |
KEPR-TV (channel 19) is atelevision station licensed toPasco, Washington, United States, serving theTri-Cities area as an affiliate ofCBS andThe CW Plus. Owned bySinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on West Lewis Street (US 395) in Pasco and a transmitter on Johnson Butte nearKennewick.
Although identifying as a station in its own right, KEPR is considered asemi-satellite ofKIMA-TV (channel 29) inYakima, which operates another semi-satellite,KLEW-TV (channel 3) inLewiston, Idaho. KEPR and KLEWsimulcast all network andsyndicated programming as provided through KIMA, but air separate commercial inserts,legal identifications and early evening newscasts, and have their own websites. KEPR is alsosister tolow-poweredClass AUnivision affiliateKVVK-CD (channel 15).Master control and some internal operations for the four stations are based atKOMO Plaza (formerly Fisher Plaza) inSeattle.
Onsatellite,Dish Network andDirecTV carry both KEPR-TV and KIMA-TV.
KEPR-TV went on the air for the first time December 30, 1954, as a satellite of KIMA-TV.[2] It was owned by Cascade Broadcasting Company, which also owned 40 percent ofKWIE (610 AM) in Kennewick. Cascade bought the remaining 60 percent of KWIE in November 1956[3] and changed its call letters to KEPR, matching the television station, the following year.[4]
A few years earlier, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) collapsed all of central Washington into one giant television market. However, this market was designated a "UHF island" due to being sandwiched between Seattle to the west,Spokane to the east andPortland to the south. It soon became apparent that one full-power UHF station would not nearly be enough for adequate coverage of this vast and mountainous area. KEPR-TV thus signed on as the first station in the United States to be a satellite of another.
Original plans called for it to be a straight repeater of KIMA-TV, apart from station identifications. However, it soon became apparent that Tri-Cities residents wanted a more local station. Monte Strohl, who until then had been a radio salesman at KIMA, was installed as the first manager-salesman of KEPR-TV. The station also added a separate news department.
Like its parent station, KEPR-TV carried programming from all three networks, but was a primary CBS affiliate. It lostNBC in 1965 whenKNDU (channel 25) followed the lead of parent stationKNDO (channel 23) and became a full-time NBC affiliate, and lostABC whenKVEW (channel 42) signed on along with parentKAPP (channel 35) in 1970. During the 1970s, the two stations co-branded as "Cascade TV."
KEPR producesCommunity Health Journal with Jim Hall, a former anchorman for the station who is now with Kadlec Medical Center inRichland. The program has aired for 15 years, making it one of the longest-running magazine programs in the market.
Filmways agreed to purchase Cascade Broadcasting for $3 million in 1968;[5] the sale was approved the following year.[6] Cascade's previous owners retained the company's radio stations, which by this point also included KEPR-FM (105.3 FM), under the name Yakima Valley Communications; the KEPR radio stations then changed their call letters toKONA andKONA-FM.[5][6] Filmways sold KEPR-TV, KIMA-TV, and KLEW-TV to NWG Broadcasting for $1 million in 1972.[7]Retlaw Enterprises acquired the NWG stations for $17 million in 1986;[8] the stations were operated as part of the Retlaw Broadcasting division.[9]Fisher Communications purchased KEPR-TV along with the other Retlaw owned stations in 1999.[10]
In 2000, KEPR became the first station in the Tri-Cities to broadcast a digital signal with the activation of a low-power,standard-definition signal on channel 18; this was upgraded to a full-power,high-definition signal in 2007. The digital signal remained on channel 18 following theend of analog broadcasting in 2009, usingvirtual channel 19.
On March 30, 2009, KEPR launched adigital subchannel affiliated withThe CW, filling the void left byKCWK (channel 9) going dark at the end of May 2008 due to thePappas Telecasting bankruptcy.[11] The subchannel subsequently took KCWK's former channel 9 position on local cable systems. As had been the case with KCWK, programming is primarily sourced from the network'sCW+ feed, along with a local 10 p.m. newscast.
On April 11, 2013, Fisher announced that it would sell its properties, including KEPR-TV, to theSinclair Broadcast Group.[12] The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.[13]
KEPR's morning, 10 p.m. (on CW), 11 p.m. and weekend newscasts are shared with KIMA-TV. Branded asKIMA/KEPR Action News, they cover both theColumbia Basin and theYakima Valley. KEPR continues to produce its own 5 and 6 p.m. weekday newscasts. There are no noon newscasts unlike most CBS affiliates.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KEPR-HD | CBS |
| 19.2 | 720p | KEPR-CW | The CW Plus | |
| 19.3 | 480i | TBD | Roar /Rip City Television Network |
On September 23, 2024, thePortland Trail Blazers announced an agreement with Sinclair to launch Rip City Television Network, which will syndicate gamesover-the-air. Games in Pasco will air on KEPR's third subchannel.[15]
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofWashington | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Washington | ||
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| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
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| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofOregon | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Oregon | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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** Owned by third parties and operated by Sinclair through various operating agreements. *** Owned by Sinclair and operated byMarquee Broadcasting. JV Joint venture. | ||||||||||||||||||
