 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | Denver 7 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KCDO-TV,KSBS-CD,KOAA-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | November 1, 1953 (72 years ago) (1953-11-01) |
Former call signs | KLZ-TV (1953–1972) |
Former channel numbers |
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| CBS (1953–1995) | |
Call sign meaning | "McGraw-Hill" (former owner of station) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 40875 |
| ERP | 54kW |
| HAAT | 359 m (1,178 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°43′50.6″N105°13′55.6″W / 39.730722°N 105.232111°W /39.730722; -105.232111 |
| Translator(s) | see§ Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KMGH-TV (channel 7) is atelevision station inDenver, Colorado, United States, affiliated withABC. It is owned by theE. W. Scripps Company alongsideSterling-licensedindependent stationKCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-basedtranslatorKSBS-CD, channel 10). The two stations share studios on Delgany Street in Denver's River North Art District; KMGH-TV's transmitter is located atopLookout Mountain, nearGolden.
KMGH-TV operates digital translator KZFC-LD (channel 26) inWindsor, and its main channel is relayed on adigital subchannel of KSBS-CD, allowing homes with issues receiving KMGH's VHF signal or only aUHF antenna to receive KMGH-TV in some form; KCDO-TV also carries a 7.1 subchannel to extend KMGH-TV's over-the-air reach throughout northeast Colorado and western Nebraska. The station's second and third subchannels, which carry Scripps-owneddiginetsIon Mystery andLaff, are relayed on translatorsKZCO-LD (channel 30) in Denver andKZCS-LD (channel 18) inColorado Springs.
Channel 7 first signed on the air on November 1, 1953, as KLZ-TV.[2] It was founded by theOklahoma City-basedOklahoma Publishing Company (operated byEdward K. Gaylord), which also owned KLZ radio (560 AM and 106.7 FM, nowKWBL).
KLZ-TV immediately took theCBS affiliation from KBTV (channel 9, nowKUSA), owing to KLZ radio's longtime affiliation with theCBS Radio Network.
In 1954, Gaylord sold the KLZ television and radio stations toTime Inc.,[3] who later subordinated their acquisition under its in 1961 established subsidiaryTime-Life, Inc. as Time–Life Broadcasting, Inc.
The station's original studio facilities were housed in a renovated former auto dealership on the east side of the block at East 6th Avenue and Sherman Street. Channel 7 moved to an eight-sided, five-story building called "The Communications Center", on the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Lincoln Street in 1969.
Time-Life sold the station on channel 7 toMcGraw-Hill in late October 1970, in a group deal that also involved the company's other radio and television combinations inIndianapolis,San Diego, andGrand Rapids; andKERO-TV (channel 23) inBakersfield, California.[4] In order to comply with theFederal Communications Commission's new restrictions onconcentration of media ownership that went into effect shortly afterward, McGraw-Hill was required to sell the KLZ radio stations as well as their sister radio properties in Indianapolis, San Diego, and Grand Rapids to other companies. Time-Life would later purchase WOTV (channel 8, nowWOOD-TV) in Grand Rapids in the final deal. By the time the sale was finalized in June 1972, the purchase price for the entire group was just over $57 million. WFBM-TV (channel 6, nowWRTV) in Indianapolis, KERO-TV in Bakersfield, and KOGO-TV (channel 10, nowKGTV) in San Diego were retained by McGraw-Hill, along with KLZ-TV, which subsequently changed its call letters to KMGH-TV on the 1st (with the calls reflecting the new ownership), in order to comply with a now-repealed FCC rule in place then that forbade TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different ownership from sharing the same callsigns.[5][6]
The 1990s did not begin well for KMGH; the station saw significant overall financial losses in 1990 and 1991, as well as a decrease in viewership for its local newscasts. A new management team introduced in 1991 turned things around at KMGH; net profit soared 105.5% in 1992 as a result.[7]
Although KMGH had been one of CBS' stronger affiliates, the station would end up disaffiliating from the network due to aseries of events that were set in motion as a result of CBS' partnership with theWestinghouse Electric Corporation in July 1994 (and the network's eventual merger with that company in August 1995).[8][9] As part of the deal, the network moved its programming from itsowned-and-operated station inPhiladelphia,WCAU-TV (channel 10), to Westinghouse'sKYW-TV (channel 3). In a complex ownership deal that was announced in November 1994, CBS traded WCAU to NBC in exchange for two of that network's O&Os (then longtime affiliates)—Denver'sKCNC-TV (channel 4) (which had been an O&O since the station's then-ownerGeneral Electric purchased NBC in 1986) andSalt Lake City'sKUTV (channel 2) (which the network had acquired less than one month earlier). CBS then formed a joint venture with Westinghouse that assumed ownership of KYW-TV, KCNC and KUTV, with Westinghouse serving as majority owner. Group W/CBS and NBC also swapped the transmitter facilities—and by association, channel frequencies—of their respective stations in Miami, WCIX (nowWFOR-TV) andWTVJ.[10]
At the same time, McGraw-Hill had struck an affiliation agreement with ABC, due partly to the fact that its stations in San Diego and Indianapolis had already been aligned with the network (Bakersfield sister station KERO-TV was also involved in the deal between McGraw-Hill and ABC; however, that station had to wait for its affiliation contract with CBS to expire in March 1996, before it could finally switch to ABC). In keeping with all of this, each of thethree major broadcast networks relocated their programming to different stations in the Denver market on September 10, 1995; ABC moved its programming to KMGH from KUSA, with KMGH's outgoing CBS affiliation going to KCNC and NBC moving from KCNC to KUSA. The final CBS program to air on KMGH-TV was a repeat ofWalker, Texas Ranger, which began at 9 p.m. the previous day.
On June 14, 2011, McGraw-Hill announced that it would exit from the broadcasting industry and put its entire television station group up for sale;[11] on October 3 of that year, the company announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell the eight-station broadcasting division to theE. W. Scripps Company.[12] The FCC approved the sale on November 29, 2011, and the deal was officially completed on December 30, 2011, resulting in McGraw-Hill's exit from broadcasting after 39 years.[13] The deal marked a re-entry into the Denver market for Scripps; prior to its acquisition of KMGH, the company had owned theRocky Mountain News from 1926 until the afternoon newspaper ceased publishing in 2009. On May 7, 2019, KMGH droppedAzteca América and replaced it with the Escape network (nowIon Mystery), which moved over fromKTFD-TV.
In July 2024, KMGH left its longtime home at The Communications Center on Speer Boulevard for a state-of-the-art facility located nearCoors Field.[14]
KMGH-TV clears the entire ABC network schedule; however, it is one of the few ABC stations that air the Saturday and Sunday editions ofABC World News Tonight a half-hour to one hour earlier than most affiliates due to its hour-long 5 p.m. newscast, and also airs the weekend editions ofGood Morning America andThis Week one hour earlier (aligning those programs with their recommended airtimes of both programs in theCentral Time Zone).
During the 1950s, channel 7's staff included newscaster (later sports anchor andDialing for Dollars host)Starr Yelland, who came to the station from KOA-TV (channel 4, now KCNC-TV); weatherman Warren Chandler, and Ed Scott, who hosted a children's program on the station as "Sheriff Scotty".[15] In 1956, KLZ-TV presented the first remote television broadcast from a courtroom after general manager Hugh Terry won a court battle to allow cameras into the courtroom.
In 1957, the station's weeklypublic affairs seriesPanorama Seven (which was written and hosted by Gene Amole), became the first locally produced program in the Denver market to earn aPeabody Award (channel 7 has since won three more Peabody Awards for the investigative report "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at theAir Force Academy" in 2003, reported byJohn Ferrugia and produced by Kurt Silver and currentnews director Jeff Harris,[16] 2008's "Failing the Children: Deadly Mistakes", reported by Ferrugia and produced by Tom Burke and Arthur Kane,[17] and 2012's "Investigating the Fire"[18]) Starting in 1968 and running through 1983, KLZ-TV aired one of the most popular children's programs in the Denver market, theNoell and Andy Show, which aired weekdays at 8 a.m. The program's coloring contest drew hundreds of entries each week.[15]
In 2012, KMGH acquired the broadcast rights toDenver Broncos head coachJohn Fox's weekly analysis show,The John Fox Show; the station aired the program until the team's2013 season, losing the rights to KDVR (which renamed the program asFox on Fox) on August 7, 2014.[19]
The station has also been the recording location for sportswriterWoody Paige's appearances onESPN'sAround the Horn since his 2016 departure fromThe Denver Post, and the station is credited as such in Paige'schroma key background.
Unlike many ABC affiliates which preempted the network's presentation ofSaving Private Ryan, KMGH, along with the other McGraw-Hill stations, aired the film in 2004.[20] KMGH currently airs anyDenver Nuggets basketball games selected for broadcast through theNBA on ABC, which included the team's first NBA championship win in their inauguralNBA Finals appearance in2023.
The station also broadcasts selectColorado Avalanche hockey games through theNHL on ABC and on KJCT News 8 beginning in 2021; this included the team's victory in the2022 Stanley Cup Finals (The network's previous contract, which ran from 1999 to 2004, also included the Avalanche's2001 Stanley Cup Finals victory).
As a CBS affiliate, the station aired the Denver Broncos' appearances on KMGH-TV, in Super BowlsXII,XXI andXXIV.
KMGH-TV presently broadcasts 35 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with5+1⁄2 hours on weekdays,3+1⁄2 hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays). Unlike most stations affiliated with ABC or its competitors, KMGH did not broadcast a local newscast in the 6 p.m. timeslot on weeknights for eight years, opting to fill the hour with episodes ofJeopardy! andWheel of Fortune (the station's previous 6 p.m. news program was canceled after the May 26, 2006, broadcast). In addition, the station produces the sports highlight programSports Xtra, which airs Saturdays during the final 15 minutes of the 10 p.m. newscast. As mentioned above, the 6 p.m. newscast was restored on September 8, 2014, due to the move ofJeopardy! andWheel of Fortune to KDVR; it features an 'express' format with more stories and weather coverage.
While KLZ-TV always had a strong line-up of local and syndicated programs during the station's early years, it was obviously helped by CBS's longtime dominance nationally. The station was the first in Denver to operate a news bureau inWashington, D.C., as well as the first Denver station to receive reports from its own radio and television correspondents in Europe and Asia. Channel 7 televised the first kidney transplant in the mid-1960s. It led the 10 p.m. news ratings from the early 1960s until 1977, when it was displaced from the #1 slot by KBTV, which benefited from ABC's ratings increases in prime time as well as an improved news product that took advantage of liveelectronic news gathering technology. KMGH-TV was actually the first television station in the market to use ENG equipment in 1975, with its "Insta Cam", which was never promoted on-air.[21] In 1970, Channel 7's newscasts had a 40% ratings share. KOA-TV and KBTV battled for second place, each pulling in about a 24 share for their newscasts. By the end of the decade, KBTV had a 54% ratings share at 10 p.m., more than all of the other stations combined.
The 10 p.m. news team during the 1960s was helmed by news anchor Carl Akers, weatherman Warren Chandler and sports anchor Starr Yelland. All three did live commercials during the program. John Rayburn joined the station as co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast in 1964, before departing for KBTV in 1967. In 1966, Akers took a short-lived retirement only to return to Denver television a year later at KBTV as that station's anchor and news director; he was replaced at channel 7 by KOA-TV anchor Bob Palmer. The team of Palmer, Chandler and Yelland continued until 1975, when Terry Phillips was added as a news co-anchor; Phillips was replaced by John Lindsey in 1976. Palmer returned to KOA-TV in 1982. From December 1994 to August 1997, the station operated aweather radar system known as "Doppler Max7", that was heavily promoted during the failed tabloid-formatted "Real Life, Real News" era; this period (from 1996 to 1997) emphasized hard news and investigative reports, but was unable to beat KUSA and KCNC, the former of which had overtaken KMGH for first and the latter for second in most timeslots in the ratings by this point.
On July 15, 2002, KMGH-TV became the first major market television station in the world to broadcast fully automated newscasts. A computer system, known as ParkerVision, combines the work of several technical personnel in a program requiring just a single operator. Ten studio cameras, channels of audio, all art graphics and electronic titling along with tape operations are programmed and played back live by one person instead of seven people.[22] KMGH-TV is the only Denver television station to have won twoAlfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards: the first for the 2003 report, "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Air Force Academy" and the second for the 2010 investigative documentary "33 Minutes to 34 Right".
On August 18, 2008, KMGH became the second television station in the Denver market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts inhigh definition. In 2011, KMGH was named "Station of the Year" by theAssociated Press Television-Radio Association. On May 26, 2011, KMGH moved its hour-long 4 p.m. newscast SevenNews Now to 3 p.m. and reduced the program to a half-hour (The Dr. Oz Show moved into the newscast's former timeslot);[23][24] the program ended after the September 7, 2012, broadcast, in order to accommodate the syndicated talk showKatie.
On June 28, 2013, KMGH entered into a partnership withThe Denver Post to collaborate on investigative reports and weather coverage as well as providing additional Spanish-language news content.[25]
On July 14, 2014, KMGH-TV launched a 4 p.m newscast,The Now, which features a mixture of local and national news segments.[26]
In 2021, the station's local lifestyle show was tricked into promoting a fake sexual wellness product, "invented" by a team working for late-night political commentary showLast Week Tonight, called the "Venus Veil", which was actually just a blanket; the show's team paid KMGH $2,800 to feature the fake product and an interview with its "creator" as a way to illustrate how stations such as KMGH promotesponsored content. The segment aired on the station's lifestyle program, which is not a newscast, and was disclosed as paid for by the 'client'.[27][28]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KMGH-DT | ABC |
| 7.2 | 480i | MYS | Ion Mystery | |
| 7.3 | Laff | Laff | ||
| 7.3 | Shop LC | Shop LC | ||
| 2.3 | 480i | 16:9 | CometTV | Comet (KWGN-TV) |
| 2.4 | HSN2 | HSN2 (KWGN-TV) |
KMGH-TV shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 7, on April 16, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transitionUHF channel 17 to VHF channel 7.[39] Sister stationKZCO-LD signed on a digital signal on KMGH's pre-transition channel position in 2013 to serve as a fill-in translator of KMGH-TV, which has experienced issues with signal reception in portions of the Denver market as VHF channel 7 is prone to signal interference.
The following translators rebroadcast KMGH-TV's signal to further extend its coverage area:[38]
KMGH's main channel is further relayed by sister stationKCDO-TV and its own translator network into northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska.
The following translators relay KMGH-TV's DT2 and DT3 subchannels only:
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