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| City | Redding, California |
| Channels | |
| Branding | KRCR ABC 7;The Northstate's News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KAEF-TV, KCVU,KXVU-LD,KRVU-LD/KZVU-LD,KUCO-LD,KKTF-LD,KTVL | |
| History | |
First air date | August 1, 1956 (68 years ago) (1956-08-01) |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Redding, Chico,Red Bluff |
| Technical information[5] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 8291 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW (CP)[1] |
| HAAT | 1,095 m (3,593 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°36′9.5″N122°39′4″W / 40.602639°N 122.65111°W /40.602639; -122.65111 |
| Translator(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | krcrtv |
KRCR-TV (channel 7) is atelevision station licensed toRedding, California, United States, serving as theABC affiliate for theChico–Reddingmarket. It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group alongside fivelow-power stations:Antenna TV affiliateKXVU-LD (channel 17);MyNetworkTV affiliatesKRVU-LD (channel 21) and KZVU-LD (channel 22);Univision affiliateKUCO-LD (channel 27); andUniMás affiliateKKTF-LD (channel 30). Sinclair also provides certain services toFox affiliateKCVU (channel 20) under alocal marketing agreement (LMA) withCunningham Broadcasting; however, Sinclair effectively owns KCVU as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The stations share studios on Auditorium Drive east of downtown Redding and maintain a news bureau and sales office at the formerSainte Television Group facilities on Main Street in downtown Chico. KRCR's transmitter is located atop Shasta Bally, west of Redding.
KAEF-TV (channel 23) inArcata operates as asemi-satellite of KRCR, serving theEureka market. As such, it clears all network programming as provided through KRCR but airs a separate offering ofsyndicated programming; there are also separate local newscasts, commercial inserts and legalstation identifications. Although KAEF maintains its own studios (shared with LMA partnerKBVU) on Sixth Street in downtown Eureka,master control and some internal operations are based at KRCR's facilities.
The station was founded in 1956 as KVIP (adding the "-TV" suffix to its callsign on August 15, 1957) by William B. Smullin ofCalifornia Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. (COBI), owners ofKOBI inMedford, Oregon, andsatellite stationKOTI inKlamath Falls, as a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. By 1963, network emphasis had shifted towards ABC, as only the Saturday morning and Sunday night prime time schedules, a few daytimegame shows andThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson were carried in NBC's schedule pattern.[6] The full ABC schedule was available by way of translators ofStockton'sKOVR in Chico and Redding. Channel 7 became KRCR in 1963.
It dropped NBC and took on a full-time ABC affiliation in 1978, which in turn started the seven-year process for building KCPM (channel 24, nowKNVN). This was an unusual arrangement for a two-station market especially one of the size of Chico–Redding, but after 15 years of unsuccessful attempts the area was served by a local ABC affiliate.
Under COBI ownership, KRCR used a logo consisting of anInterstate shield sign like its sister stations, placing "7R" where the number would be. 7R was adapted as branding for the station at that time, as the Northern CaliforniaTV Guide edition identified it with a "7R" 'channel bullet' to differentiate it from ABCowned-and-operated stationKGO-TV inSan Francisco and its similar network schedule.
KRCR, KAEF, and KFWU inFort Bragg (nowKQSL inCloverdale, part of the San Francisco TV market), airedFox full-time on off-network hours from the network's launch in 1986 until 1994 when now-sister stationKCVU switched to Fox andKBVU signed on.
KRCR was purchased by Lamco Communications of Texas in 1995 and was rebrandedNews Channel 7, which remains the branding for the newscasts. The station was operated by California Broadcasting, Inc., and run by general manager Bob Wise (now ofKOBI) until 2004 when the station was sold toBluestone Television. In December 2006, the station was sold (along with 12 other Bluestone stations) toDiamond Castle Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm, which later becameBonten Media Group.
The station also operates a semi-satellite inEureka, KAEF-TV (channel 23). It operated a local cable-onlyWB affiliateKIWB, but that station was sold toCatamount Broadcasting following the merger between the WB andUPN to form the newCW Network.KRVU-LD was previously a UPN affiliate but is now aMyNetworkTV affiliate.
KRCR was one of a select few ABC affiliates that broadcast on channel 7, but chose not to license the network'sCircle 7 logo, until April 11, 2006, when the station rebranded and introduced its new set, along with the digital age allowing clear differentiation of both KRCR and KGO's signals viavirtual channel data if a viewer was in position to receive both stations.
In December 2012, KRCR/KAEF took over sales operations of KCVU in Chico, as well asKVIQ and KBVU in Eureka. They still maintain separate operations.
In August 2012, Bonten Media announced that KCVU and KBVU would be sold to Esteem Broadcasting, effectively merging both the ABC and Fox affiliates' operations to create a media powerhouse north of Sacramento and south of the Oregon border.
On April 21, 2017,Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations (including KRCR) for $240 million.[7] Sinclair's sidecarCunningham Broadcasting acquired the Esteem stations (including KCVU).[8] The sale was completed September 1.[9]
In the fall of 1995,Continental Cablevision of Mt. Shasta (now part of Vyve Broadband) filmed, produced and broadcast a 30-minute documentary special calledWhat Makes News Channel 7? as part of its newsmagazine seriesIn Focus: Siskiyou Magazine. It took a look behind the scenes at what went on at the station and focused mainly on the news team featuring a behind-the-scenes look at how a newscast is produced as well as interviews with key personalities such as Mike Mangas,Rich Eisen, Sandra Geist, Warren Wright, Gary Gunter and Katy Brown. The program aired on Mt. Shasta cable channel 3 in the winter and spring of 1996 and starting showing on YouTube and MySpace in February 2010.[10] It was rebroadcast over Mt. Shasta cable airwaves again on MCTV 15 in 2010 leading to that program's relaunch.
The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KRCR-TV | ABC |
| 7.2 | 480i | METV | TBD | |
| 7.3 | MOVIES | Comet | ||
| 20.1 | 720p | KCVU-DT | Fox (KCVU) |
On August 23, 2011,Disney-ABC Television Group announced that KRCR would carryLive Well Network as part of an affiliation agreement with Bonten Media Group; the network was added to a new third subchannel.[12] Live Well Network was replaced byMovies! on November 18, 2013,[13] only for it to be replaced byComet on September 1, 2022.
KRCR-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overVHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date when full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[14] The station's digital signal relocated fromUHF channel 34 to VHF channel 7. The station's pre-transition channel position on channel 34 was later converted to a translator.
In the early 1990s, KRCR operated a satellite, KFWU (channel 8), in Fort Bragg; originally serving as an ABC affiliate for theMendocino County portion of theSan Francisco Bay Area television market; the station would be sold in 1996. It is currentlyindependent stationKQSL.
KRCR was formerly broadcast on translators channel 2 inLakehead; channel 3 inLewiston andMountain Gate; channel 4 inBig Bend, etc.,Hayfork andCovelo; channel 5 inMineral andTrinity Center; channel 20 inYuba City, part of theSacramento television market (KRCR no longer broadcasts at all in Yuba City) and channel 21 inSusanville, part of theReno market.
Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the Mt. Shasta cable system owned by Northland Communications (now Vyve Broadband) had carried KRCR on its cable channel 7. However, in January 2012, Northland dropped KRCR from its cable lineup after the station's current ownership and the cable company failed to come to a mutual agreement to continue the station's coverage on the system and severed ties after a near-30-year working relationship between the two. As a result, Northland replaced KRCR on cable channel 7 with Medford, Oregon's ABC affiliate,KDRV (channel 12).[15][16]
Despite being in California,Siskiyou County is part of the Medford market according to the FCC. Both KRCR and Northland made several attempts to get the DMA changed but were unsuccessful each time.KHSL-TV,KNVN-TV andKIXE-TV were theonly Chico–Redding market stations airing on the Northland system in Mt. Shasta; however, certain programs on KHSL and KNVN are subject toblackout due to the FCC's network non-duplication andsyndication exclusivity rules.
In 2021, KRCR returned to the Vyve Broadband cable line-up on channel 12 (replacing KHSL-TV) and its sister station KRVU returned to cable channel 2. (KIXE-TV remains on channel 9.)
Under its former Bonten ownership, the company andDish Network had tworetransmission consent issues that led to Bonten stations (including KRCR) to be removed from the provider. As a result, on December 8, 2013, Dish stopped carrying KRCR on their system before a later restoration. On January 17, 2017, KRCR and KCVU were once again removed from Dish's lineup as part of a new dispute, returning on February 13.[17][18]
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