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| KZTV,K22JA-D | |
| History | |
First air date | May 23, 1956 (69 years ago) (1956-05-23) |
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Call sign meaning | Corpus K(C)hristi |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 25559 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW[1] |
| HAAT | 295 m (968 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°45′32.9″N97°36′27.3″W / 27.759139°N 97.607583°W /27.759139; -97.607583 |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KRIS-TV (channel 6) is atelevision station inCorpus Christi, Texas, United States, affiliated withNBC. It is owned by theE. W. Scripps Company alongsidelow-power dualTelemundo affiliate/independent stationK22JA-D; Scripps also provides certain services toCBS affiliateKZTV (channel 10) under ashared services agreement (SSA) withSagamoreHill Broadcasting. The three stations share studios on Artesian Street in downtown Corpus Christi; KRIS-TV's transmitter is located inRobstown, Texas.
KRIS-TV began broadcasting on May 23, 1956,[4] as the first VHF television station in the area beating former rival KZTV by four months. It aired ananalog signal on VHF channel 6 and originally had studios on South Staples Street in Downtown Corpus Christi. The channel has always been an NBC affiliate but shared secondaryABC status with KZTV untilKIII launched on May 4, 1964. In 1989, it was a secondary Fox affiliate carrying a few shows during syndicated hours on the weekends. This ended in 1991 due to other affiliates becoming available on cable viaFoxnet. KRIS-TV was the first television station in the United States to airhard liquor ads after a self-imposed 1948 industry ban was lifted. A commercial forCrown Royalwhiskey aired on the station in 1996 featuring apuppy with adiploma and another carrying a Crown Royal bag in its mouth. Cordillera Communications bought the station in 1998.
On July 23, 2008, Eagle Creek Broadcasting announced that it had sold KZTV toCordillera Communications. The transaction was opposed byMcKinnon Broadcasting who at the time owned rival KIII. This objection held up the deal until August 24, 2009, when Eagle Creek announced a shared services agreement (SSA) had been established with KRIS. Cordillera acquired all KZTV assets with Eagle Creek owning thebroadcast license.
On August 24, 2017, KRIS and KZTV began simulcasting together to provide full coverage ofHurricane Harvey with both news teams.
Cordillera announced on October 29, 2018, that it would sell most of its stations, including KRIS and the SSA with KZTV, to theE. W. Scripps Company.[5] The sale was completed on May 1, 2019.[6] Combined with an unrelated side deal resulting from an acquisition involvingRaycom Media andGray Television ongoing at the time of the purchase, it made KRIS asister station to ABC affiliateKXXV inWaco. It also marked Scripps' return to Corpus Christi, as the company owned theCaller-Times from 1997 to 2015.
What is now KRIS-DT2 began on September 21, 1998, after KRIS entered into a partnership withThe WB 100+, a national programming service operated byThe WB for televisionmarkets ranked greater than 100, andcable systems in the Corpus Christi area. Prior to 1998, The WB's programming was available in Corpus Christi viaK22BH,WGN-TV'ssuperstation feed, and/or out-of-market WB affiliates. It was a cable-exclusive station, and as a result, used thecall sign "KWDB" in a fictional manner for identification purposes. KRIS provided local advertising opportunities and performed promotional duties for the outlet.
On January 24, 2006,CBS Corporation (which became separate fromViacom after 2005; the companies wouldremerge in 2019) andWarner Bros. Television (the company which owned The WB) announced they then would cease operating The WB andUPN networks and combine their resources to create a programming service calledThe CW. The letters would represent the first initial of the new network's respective corporate parents.
On September 18 of that year, The CW officially launched nationwide at which point KRIS added a new second digital subchannel to simulcast "KWDB" and allowing non-cable subscribers access to the new network. With its over-their-air launch, "KWDB" began using KRIS-DT2 as its official calls and became part ofThe CW Plus, a successor to The WB 100+.
On April 19, 2024,Nexstar Media Group, majority owner of The CW, announced that the network would not renew its affiliations with Scripps-owned stations, including KRIS-DT2.[7] On July 31,Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it had reached a deal with the network in which it would affiliate withKSCC (channel 38).[8]
KRIS-TV currently broadcasts 31 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours each weekday,2+1⁄2 hours on Saturdays, and3+1⁄2 hours on Sundays). A half-hour newscast airs seven days a week on CW South Texas (channel 6.2), as well as sister station KDF-TV asKRIS 6 News at Nine.
After Evening Post bought KZTV, The company merged operations at KZTV's studios. The move took place in September 2010. Due to technical issues with the move, it was not able to air newscasts from September 26 until September 28.
At the new location, KRIS-TV unveiled a new, high-definition-ready set and graphics package on September 29, 2010. The station has now become the area's first to air newscasts in16:9enhanced definitionwidescreen. As of October 16, KZTV began simulcasting KRIS-TV's weekday morning, noon, and weekend broadcasts after dropping its own shows in those time periods. For the weekend newscasts, however, there are occasionally preemptions on one channel due to network obligations.
On August 7, 2011, KRIS began broadcasting news in "true" HD, where the newscasts are known asKRIS 6 News in HD. KRIS-TV is the second television station in Corpus Christi to broadcast in HD, behind sister station KZTV, who began broadcasting in HD on August 1, 2011.
In early 2014, KRIS-TV rebranded its newscasts asKRIS 6 News. With the rebranding came a new logo and a new opening to the newscasts.
In late 2014, KRIS expanded their 9 p.m. newscasts on KDF and The CW South Texas to Saturdays and Sundays.
In April 2015, KRIS have expanded their newscasts to Sundays at 5 p.m. and expanded6 News at Sunrise to Saturdays and Sundays at 6 a.m.
In July 2018, KRIS expanded their noon newscast to one hour; only the first half hour continues to be simulcast on sister station KZTV.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KRIS-HD | NBC |
| 6.2 | 720p | LAFF | Laff | |
| 6.3 | 480i | GRIT | Grit | |
| 6.4 | CourtTV | Court TV | ||
| 6.5 | ION | Ion Television | ||
| 6.6 | Busted | Busted | ||
| 6.7 | Home | HSN |
KRIS-TV shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 6, at noon 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 remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 13, usingvirtual channel 6.[10] The station's analog signal transmitted on a frequency of 87.75MHz (+10 kHz shift), and as a result, could be picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios at 87.7. This was true of all other analog channel 6 stations inNorth America. This is no longer possible for full-power stations after the conversion to digital broadcasting.
On the morning of April 29, 2020, the KRIS broadcast tower collapsed due to aguy-wire failure during a high wind event; further inspection revealed the failed guy-wire to have been heavily corroded. No personnel were on site at the time of the collapse, and collateral damage was limited to minor damage to the transmitter building.[11] The tower was shared with low-power sister stationK22JA-D, as well as radio stationsKPLV (88.7 FM),KLUX (89.5 FM), andKFTX (97.5 FM). Both television stations were temporarily multiplexed onKZTV's VHF channel 10 frequency and mapped to their respective virtual channel positions.[12]
The tower, built in 1988, had a history of poor maintenance. The FCC had already been investigating Cordillera Communications' management of their broadcast towers, including those of KRIS and its low-power sisters. In the spring of 2019, as a condition of the sale of Cordillera's station portfolio to Scripps, Scripps agreed to accept liability for the results of the investigation; the FCC later fined Scripps $1.13 million.[13] The fine resulted from Cordillera's "failing to conduct required daily inspections of the lighting systems of 10 antenna structures", "failing to completely log 12 lighting failures at seven antenna structures", and "failing to timely notify the Commission of its acquisition of two antenna structures". The KRIS tower was noted as not having had daily inspections of its lighting system and lighting failures that were not logged.[14]
KRIS activated their replacement transmission facility on VHF channel 13 in March 2021.[15] The station changed to their current UHF channel 26 a year later in February 2022. Both antennas were installed at an existingAmerican Tower Corporation site approximately 1.1 miles (1.8 km) northwest of the old KRIS facilities.[16]
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