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| Channels | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Pacific Telestations,LLC |
| KUAM-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | August 5, 1956 (68 years ago) (1956-08-05) |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Guam |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 51233 |
| ERP | 3.5kW |
| HAAT | 304 m (997 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 13°25′58″N144°42′45″E / 13.43278°N 144.71250°E /13.43278; 144.71250 |
| Translator(s) | |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KUAM-TV (channel 8) is atelevision station inHagåtña (Agana), Guam, serving theU.S. territory as an affiliate ofNBC andCBS. Owned by Pacific Telestations,LLC, it issister to the localpublic accesscable channel Local 2. KUAM-TV's studios are located at 600 Harmon Loop inDededo, and its transmitter is located east-northeast ofAgat.
KUAM was Guam's first television station, signing on August 5, 1956 (initially intended to open on July 15[2]), onanalog channel 8. It carried programming fromall three networks, but has always been a primary NBC affiliate. As of 1967, Guam had 30,000 television sets.[3] KUAM began its first broadcast incolor in 1970. WhenFox debuted in 1986, they carried its lineup as well. For a time, this made KUAM one of the few stations to be affiliated with all four major networks.
Despite being affiliated with all four networks, KUAM was hindered by the fact that Guam was a day ahead of the U.S. mainland and that most shows, especially those from the network, were sent via air and/or mail, which meant that viewers would have to wait from a period of two weeks to a month to see any of the offerings. When it was not showing any network fare it featured local in-house programming,syndicated shows and films (mostly travel or cultural)[citation needed] to make up the difference.
KUAM-TV and KUAM radio were originally owned by Harry S. Engel, a former owner-manager of radio stationKVEN inVentura, California, with Adam Young International as the stations' representative. Two enterprising mainlanders, H. Scott Kilgore and Sam Rubin, formed the Pacific Broadcasting Corporation and bought the KUAM stations in 1964; the company changed its name to Pacific Telestations, Inc. in the 1970s.[4]
Between 1969 and 1980, a sister station,WSZE-TV (channel 10) served theNorthern Mariana Islands from Saipan.
KUAM would loseABC toKTGM when it began operations in 1987, and lost Fox to the same station in 1990. CBS programming was dropped in 1995 with the launch of KUAM-LP; that station, in turn, would be added as KUAM's digital subchannel, broadcasting on channel 8.2, in 2009.
As satellite technology started to take off and expand, KUAM began to gradually catch up with the rest of thecontinental United States. The station now follows the complete NBC schedule, but on a Tuesday–Monday pattern rather than the traditional Monday–Sunday pattern, with the exception ofNBC's sports lineup, which is live in the early morning hours of Sunday (for all Saturday games and events) and Monday (for all Sunday games and events).
In 2006 KUAM's website, kuam.com, received honors at that year'sRTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for having the best small market web site.
On February 18, 2009, KUAM signed off its analog signal on channel 8 and switched on its digital signal also on channel 8.[5]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Programming[6] |
|---|---|
| 8.1 | NBC |
| 8.2 | CBS |