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| City | Odessa, Texas |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KCWO-TV,KWWT,KMDF-LD,KTLE-LD | |
| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1956 (69 years ago) (1956-01-01) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Odessa |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 6865 |
| ERP | |
| HAAT |
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| Transmitter coordinates | 31°51′50.8″N102°34′42.5″W / 31.864111°N 102.578472°W /31.864111; -102.578472 |
| Translator(s) | K31KJ-DBig Spring |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KOSA-TV (channel 7) is atelevision station licensed toOdessa, Texas, United States, serving as theCBS affiliate for thePermian Basin area. It is owned byGray Media alongsideMyNetworkTV affiliateKWWT (channel 30),CW+ affiliateKCWO-TV (channel 4),Telemundo affiliateKTLE-LD (channel 20), and365BLK affiliateKMDF-LD (channel 22). The five stations share studios inside theMusic City Mall on East 42nd Street in Odessa, with a secondary studio and news bureau in downtownMidland; KOSA-TV's transmitter is located onFM 866 west of Odessa. The station is relayed on low-powertranslatorK31KJ-D inBig Spring.
KOSA-TV signed on the air onJanuary 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 withKOSA radio.[4] KOSA-TV originally operated from studios located on North Whitaker Street in Odessa. KOSA-TV is the onlyBig Three station in the Permian Basin to have never changed affiliation. In 1967, Trigg-Vaughn sold both KOSA-TV andKROD-TV inEl Paso, Texas, toDoubleday Broadcasting Co., a subsidiary of publisherDoubleday and Company.
On November 26, 1983, achartered twin-engineBeechcraft B100 King Air turboprop was flying from Fort Worth 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 filminghigh 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 fromBenedek 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 into720p16:9high definition, thus giving viewers in the Odessa–Midland market over-the-air access toMyNetworkTV's high definition feed for the first time.[8]
On June 25, 2018, Gray announced it had reached an agreement withMontgomery, Alabama-basedRaycom Media to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including competingNBC affiliateKWES-TV (channel 9) and itssatellite 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 thatTegna Inc. would buy KWES and sister stationWTOL inToledo, Ohio for $105 million.[13] However, Gray retained KWAB and converted it to aCW+ affiliate under the callsignKCWO,[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 asatellite 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]
KOSA-TV was the setting for aTV Guide Networkreality series calledMaking 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.
KOSA-TV became an affiliate forBig 12 Network basketball in 2008. That same year they entered into a contract withKTXA inDallas–Fort Worth to carry selectDallas Mavericks basketball games. The Mavericks games aired in Odessa–Midland on MyTV 16 in2008–2009 and2010–2011. In2009, KOSA-TV entered into a contract to air the locally televisedTexas Rangers baseball games. The games took place on various nights in 2009 as they were programmed byKDFI. From2010 to the present the Rangers games aired on Friday nights as part of theFriday Night Baseball on TXA 21 package. In 2012, KOSA-TV entered into a contract to airSEC Networkfootball games. In all these cases, the sports contracts placed the games on MyTV 16 (now MyTV 30) as CBS prime time andsports programming usually airs during this time on KOSA. All these contracts expired. In 2016, KOSA-TV became the television home ofUTPB Falcons football. All home games aired on Tuesday nights viatape delay on MyTV up until 2021.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| 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 | H & I | Heroes & Icons |
KOSA-TV shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transitionUHF channel 31 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.[28]
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Includes Spanish-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| Telemundo | ||
| Estrella TV | ||
| UniMás | ||
| Univision | ||
| Latino-related | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
