 | |
| City | Sterling, Colorado |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | Local 3 Denver |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KMGH-TV,KZCO-LD,KOAA-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | December 28, 1963 (61 years ago) (1963-12-28) |
Former call signs |
|
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 3 (VHF, 1963–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Colorado |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63158 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 402 m (1,319 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°2′1.2″N103°56′18.9″W / 40.033667°N 103.938583°W /40.033667; -103.938583 (KCDO-TV) |
| Translator(s) | see§ Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KCDO-TV (channel 3) is anindependent television station licensed toSterling, Colorado, United States, serving theDenver area. It is owned by theE. W. Scripps Company alongsideABC affiliateKMGH-TV (channel 7). The two stations share studios on Delgany Street in Denver's River North Art District; KCDO-TV's transmitter is located in rural southwesternMorgan County, east ofFrederick.
The McCracken family, owners ofCBS affiliate KFBC-TV (channel 5, nowKGWN-TV) inCheyenne, Wyoming, applied for aconstruction permit in February 1962 to build a television station on channel 3 in Sterling. The permit was granted a year later, and channel 3 came to air on December 28, 1963,[3] as KTVS, operating it as asatellite station of KFBC.
In September 1999,Newsweb Corporation, operating under the licensee Channel 20 TV Company (CTTC), acquired KTVS fromBenedek Broadcasting, then-owners of KGWN, with the intent of making KTVS a satellite of Newsweb's Denver stationKTVD (channel 20, after which the Channel 20 TV Company received its name). It became one of very few satellite stations in the United States that predated the existence of the television station that its signal relayed, as KTVD had signed on in December 1988. On January 8, 2002, Channel 20 TV Company changed the station's call letters to KUPN, to reflect theUPN affiliation held by its parent station at the time.[4] CTTC sold KTVD to theGannett Company in June 2006, but retained ownership of KUPN, converting it into an affiliate ofAmerica One.
On July 21, 2008, Channel 20 TV Company changed the station's call letters to KCDO.[4] To increase its signal coverage to reach a wider range of viewers, the station applied to build a new transmitter facility located southwest ofFort Morgan. The new location and increased transmitter power added most of the Denver metro area as well asFort Collins,Greeley,Longmont andLoveland to the station's service area.[5] Construction on the new tower was completed in January 2010.[6] On December 31, 2008, satellite providerDish Network began carrying KCDO on its lineup for subscribers in the Denver market.[citation needed]DirecTV also added the channel on January 28, 2009.
KCDO affiliated with theRetro Television Network in 2009.[7] The network was previously seen in Denver onKQDK-CA, before RTV severed its ties withEquity Media Holdings. For a time, the station also simulcast KGWN-TV's newscasts for the Colorado side of the Cheyenne market (carried by that station's seconddigital subchannel), branded asNorthern Colorado 5 News, which was co-produced by KGWN and theIndependent News Network.[6]
On November 1, 2010, KCDO dropped its affiliation with the Retro Television Network, in favor of converting into anindependent station with a focus on locally produced programming.[8]
On September 22, 2020, theE. W. Scripps Company announced it was buying KCDO-TV and KSBS-CD for an undisclosed price, pending approval of theFederal Communications Commission (FCC), making themsister stations toABC affiliateKMGH-TV (channel 7).[9] The sale was completed on November 20.[10]
KCDO-TV may air ABC network programming should it be preempted by KMGH-TV for long-form breaking news or severe weather coverage or other special programming.[11] The station also acts as a full-power relay of KMGH's main channel via its dedicated subchannel, to provide fuller coverage of the station throughout northeastern Colorado and portions of western Nebraska through KCDO's translator network.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Local3 | Main KCDO-TV programming |
| 3.2 | 480i | Grit SD | Grit | |
| 7.1 | 720p | KMGH-TV | ABC (KMGH-TV) | |
| 10.1 | 480i | Laff | Laff | |
| 10.2 | Ion | Ion Television | ||
| 10.3 | QVC | QVC |
KCDO-TV shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 3, 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-transitionUHF channel 23,[13] usingvirtual channel 3.
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofColorado | ||
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| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
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| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS |
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| Telemundo | ||
| Univision | ||
| UniMás | ||
| Other |
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(*) – indicates station is in one of Colorado's primaryTV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Colorado | ||
