KUAM-TV (channel 8) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Hagåtña (Agana), Guam, serving the
U.S. territory
In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...
as an affiliate of
NBC and
CBS. Owned by Pacific Telestations,
LLC
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...
, it is
sister to the local
public access cable channel Local 2. KUAM-TV's studios are located at 600 Harmon Loop in
Dededo
Dededo ( ch, Dedidu; formerly in Spanish: , in Japanese: , ''Dededo'') is the most populated village in the United States territory of Guam. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dededo's population was just under 45,000 in 2020. The village is loca ...
, and its transmitter is located east-northeast of
Agat.
History
KUAM was Guam's first television station, signing on August 5, 1956 on
analog channel 8. It carried programming from
all three networks, but has always been a primary NBC affiliate. KUAM began its first broadcast in
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
in 1970. When
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
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) to make up the difference.
KUAM-TV, together with KUAM radio, were originally owned by Harry S. Engel, a former owner-manager of radio station
KVEN in
Ventura, California
Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...
, 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.
Between 1969 and 1980, a sister station,
WSZE-TV
WSZE-TV was a television station broadcasting on channel 10 on Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. The first station to be constructed on the island, it was owned by the Micronesian Broadcasting Corporation alongside WSZE AM and F ...
(channel 10) served the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
from Saipan.
KUAM would lose
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
to
KTGM 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
KUAM-LP, UHF analog channel 20, was a low-power CBS- affiliated television station serving the U.S. territory of Guam that was licensed to Tamuning. The station was owned by Pacific Telestations, Inc.
History
KUAM-LP began telecasting on Nov ...
; 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 the
continental 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 of
NBC'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's
RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award
The Radio Television Digital News Association (formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association) has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Among the most prestigious ...
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.
"List of TV stations to end analog on Tuesday" From Google (February 13, 2009)
/ref>
Notable alumni
*Madeleine Bordallo
Madeleine Mary Zeien Bordallo (; born May 31, 1933) is an American-Guamanian politician who served as the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2019.
She is the first woman ever to serve as Guam's ...
– Former TV host; served as the territory's Delegate
Delegate or delegates may refer to:
* Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia
* Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique
* Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations
* Delegate (United ...
to the U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
See also
*Channel 8 digital TV stations in the United States The following television stations broadcast on digital channel 8 in the United States:
* K08AK-D in Port Orford, etc., Oregon
* K08AP-D in Pateros/Mansfield, Washington
* K08AY-D in Winthrop-Twisp, Washington
* K08BO-D in Virgin, Utah
* K08CB-D ...
*Channel 8 virtual TV stations in the United States The following television stations operate on virtual channel 8 in the United States:
* K02JG-D in Prospect, Oregon
* K02JJ-D in Williams, Oregon
* K03DP-D in Scobey, Montana
* K03DS-D in Ruth, Nevada
* K03FB-D in Snowflake, etc., Arizona
* K03 ...
*Channel 11 branded TV stations in the United States The following television stations in the United States brand as channel 11 (though neither using virtual channel 11 nor broadcasting on physical RF channel 11):
* KDFX-CD in Indio/Palm Springs, California
* KKFX-CD in San Luis Obispo, California
* ...
References
External links
*
{{CBS US Territories
UAM-TV
NBC network affiliates
CBS network affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1956
1956 establishments in Guam