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| City | Conroe, Texas |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | Quest 55 Texas |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KHOU | |
| History | |
First air date | July 15, 1998 (1998-07-15) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Cathode-ray tube ("The Tube" was former branding) transposed |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 28324 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 597 m (1,959 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°33′45.2″N95°30′35.9″W / 29.562556°N 95.509972°W /29.562556; -95.509972 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
KTBU (channel 55) is atelevision station licensed toConroe, Texas, United States, serving as theHouston area outlet for thedigital multicast networkQuest.[3] It isowned and operated byTegna Inc. alongsideCBS affiliateKHOU (channel 11). The two stations share studios onWestheimer Road nearUptown Houston; KTBU's transmitter is located nearMissouri City, in unincorporated northeasternFort Bend County. Previously, KTBU maintained separate facilities on Old Katy Road in the northwest side of Houston, while the KHOU studios only housed KTBU'smaster control and some internal operations.
The station first signed on the air on July 15, 1998, from facilities located on Old Katy Road nearMemorial Park in northwest Houston. It was established as a for-profit corporation jointly owned by Charles Dowen Johnson's Humanity Interested Media, Inc. (later Shepherds for the Savior) andJohn Osteen'sLakewood Church.[4][5] Lakewood Church bought a 49% share in the station for $2 million.Joel Osteen ran the station until his father's death in 1999, when Joel began preaching at their church.[6]
KTBU launched as anindependent station with a general entertainment format including classic and syndicated television series, movies and sports, plus a slate of locally produced shows focusing on sports, history and other topics of interest to Houstonians.[7] However, Shepherds for the Savior later stated,[8]
The idea behind the acquisition of the TV license was to have a local Christian-based TV station that would generate enough income to support his ministry of spreading the message of Jesus by supporting ministries worldwide.
The station started its first broadcast with a religious devotional. Lakewood Church, which previously broadcast their church services on the local CBS affiliateKHOU, began broadcasting them on KTBU, and KTBU added religious programming from 6 a.m. to noon and 10 p.m. to midnight on Sundays, and from 6 to 7 a.m. every weekday fromJoyce Meyer and Walter Hallam's megachurch in Texas.[9]
When interviewed in 1998, the Vice President of Marketing (and Joel Osteen's brother-in-law) Don Iloff said they would "reluctantly" broadcast sports shows with beer ads.[9] In 1999, they added a local news program withThe News of Texas[10] and began broadcasting live telecasts ofUniversity of Houston football, basketball, and baseball games and weekly shows featuring University of Houston coaches.[11]
In 2000, KTBU added more local programming and briefly broadcastHouston Rockets andHouston Comets games.[12][13] The station was not able to successfully broadcast the Houston Rockets and Comets games, and the sports teams ended their contracts early. The same year, KTBU also decided to end most local programming and layoff between 12 and 16 people. At that time, the General Manager was (laterTexas Lt. Governor)Dan Patrick, who was simultaneously the General Manager atKSEV AM radio station; he stepped down from the KTBU in 2001 after the programming problems and scaling back.[14][15]
In 2004, Lakewood Church bought the remaining stake in the station for $6 million.
In 2006, they sold KTBU toUSFR Media Group for $30.5 million to pay down debts associated with their purchase of the former Compaq Center sports arena (now theLakewood Church Central Campus).[6]
Under the new ownership withUSFR Media Group, the station moved from its original studios on Old Katy Road to a purpose-built facility on Equity Drive in northwest Houston previously built for the ill-fatedNews 24 Houston cable news channel, and changed its on-air moniker to "Houston's 55".
In May 2011, the station was sold to theSpanish Broadcasting System for $16 million. Upon the completion of the sale, KTBU dropped all local and national syndicated programs and joined SBS'Mega TV network.[16][17]
On January 21, 2020,Tegna Inc. agreed to acquire KTBU for $15 million.[18] The sale was completed on March 24, 2020, making KTBU a sister station to Tegna'sCBS affiliateKHOU.[19] Three days later, KTBU's main channel flipped to the Tegna-ownedQuest multicast network,[3] and eventually KTBU's operations were moved into KHOU's studios nearUptown Houston.
Upon becoming a Tegna property, it was announced that KTBU would take over as the official local television partner ofMajor League Soccer'sHouston Dynamo.[20] KTBU may air CBS network programming should it be preempted by KHOU for long-form breaking news or severe weather coverage or other special programming. Its main role however, is serving as a UHF rebroadcaster for KHOU via its DT11 subchannel, allowing full-market access to the station for viewers who only have a UHF antenna.
On February 22, 2022, Tegna announced that it would be acquired byStandard General andApollo Global Management for $5.4 billion. As a part of the deal, KTBU and KHOU, along with theirAustin sister stationKVUE andDallas sister stationsWFAA andKMPX, would be resold toCox Media Group.[21][22] The sale was canceled on May 22, 2023.[23]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Quest | Quest |
| 55.2 | 480p | CRIME | True Crime Network | |
| 55.3 | Nacion | Nación TV(in Spanish) | ||
| 11.11 | 1080i | KHOU-HD | CBS (KHOU) |
KTBU ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 55, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[25] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 42,[26][27] usingvirtual channel 55.
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
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| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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