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 ...
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 ...
affiliate for
Southeast Minnesota
Southeast Minnesota comprises the corner of the U.S. state of Minnesota south of the Twin Cities metropolitan area extending east, and part of the multi-state area known as the Driftless Area. Rochester is the largest city in the area; other majo ...
and Northern
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. The station is owned by
Hubbard Broadcasting
Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard.
The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, ...
shopping center
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
on Salem Road in
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic.
Acco ...
, with a secondary studio on 10th Place Northeast in Austin. Its transmitter is located in Grand Meadow Township.
In addition to its main signal, KAAL operates a low-power
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
licensed to Mason City, Iowa. This airs a digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in
Garner, Iowa
Garner is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,065 in the 2020 census, an increase from 2,922 in 2000.
HistoryUS 18.
History
The station signed on the air on August 17, 1953 as KMMT and aired an analog signal on
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 6. Its first owners were local businessmen Martin Busted, Harry Smith, and Palmer Ulland, who also owned KAUS radio (
AM 1480
AM or Am may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* A minor, a minor scale in music
* ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album)
* ''A.M.'' (Wilco album)
* ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album)
* ''AM'' (Arctic Monkeys album)
* AM (musician), American musicia ...
and FM 99.9). Originally, the station was a primary CBS affiliate with secondary ABC and DuMont relations. After KGLO-TV (channel 3, now
KIMT
KIMT (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Mason City, Iowa, United States, serving North Central Iowa and Southeast Minnesota as an affiliate of CBS and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on ...
) launched from Mason City in late 1954, KMMT switched its primary affiliation to ABC. DuMont would eventually be dropped in 1956 after that network shut down operations. This station is the longest-tenured ABC affiliate in the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
.
During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. It shared studios with KAUS radio on MN 105 in Austin where the two
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
s continue to operate today. The television station produced a few local programs most notably ''The Family Hour'' hosted by
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
Joe Matt. The program aired until April 2001 and was one of the longest-running, locally produced religious shows in the United States.
KMMT and KAUS radio were purchased by
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...
-based Blackhawk Broadcasting in 1958. The station would add
color television
Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...
in 1967. Its call letters became KAUS-TV (for Austin) on June 1 of the same year to match its radio sisters. The outlet would begin carrying the yearly ''
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
MDA Labor Day Telethon
The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded i ...
'' in 1973 and remained the area's affiliate until the event ended its run in 2015. KAUS-AM-FM-TV separated operations in 1974 after the television station moved to its current location on 10th Place Northeast along
I-90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
. The building previously housed a
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
dealership and showroom. The call letters were changed to the current KAAL-TV on November 19, 1974 referring to Austin and
Albert Lea Albert Lea may refer to:
*Albert Lea, Minnesota, U.S.
*Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota, U.S.
*Albert Miller Lea
Albert Miller Lea (July 23, 1808 – January 16, 1891) was an American engineer, soldier, and topographer with the ...
. Blackhawk sold KAAL to the
News-Press & Gazette Company
The News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) is a media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley (retired), Eric Bradley and Kit Bra ...
of
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
in 1980.
In December 1985, Dix Communications acquired the station and the new company added
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
programming in November 1990. Another ownership change occurred in 1997 after Grapevine Communications of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
purchased KAAL. It would eventually drop the use of the "-TV" suffix on September 23, 1998. Grapevine, in turn, divested the station to GOCOM on
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
, 2000. Exactly a year later, current owner Hubbard Broadcasting assumed control. The year 2001 also saw the launch of KAAL's digital signal on UHF channel 33. KAAL's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.
Its previous digital allotment would eventually be used to sign-on a fill-in translator to cover Mason City. During the analog era, its signal used an FM audio
carrier
Carrier may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos
* ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game
* ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...
which could be heard at 87.75 in areas where the video signal could be received (and some where it could not). The same practice was true of all analog channel 6 television stations in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. However, this analog FM carrier no longer exists for full-powered stations after the conversion to digital-only transmission.
At 8 p.m. on June 17, 2009, Austin was struck by an EF2
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
in the city's north side. It passed one half mile to the north of KAAL's studios. This tornado was powerful enough to take out power for the entire city including this station. However, it continued to cover the severe weather event with a backup generator only able to power a few lights, computers, and camera set up in the weather center. The station would remain without electricity until 2 p.m. the next day. Normal operations resumed with the 5 p.m. newscast on June 18. The EF2 tornado caused structural damage to buildings on the north side of the city from US 218 near 4th Street Northwest to the golf country club.
The Kelly Clarkson Show
''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and segm ...
The Rachael Ray Show
''The Rachael Ray Show'' is an American television talk show hosted by Rachael Ray that debuted in Broadcast syndication, syndication in the United States and Canada on September 18, 2006 and also airs in other countries. It is taped at Chelsea St ...
'' among others.
News operation
Local news, weather, and sports have been provided on the station since its first day of broadcasting in 1953. Under News-Press & Gazette Company control in the early-1980s, its news department was significantly expanded complete with new equipment for live reporting from the field. Since KIMT is licensed to the Iowa side of the
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
, it has traditionally focused coverage on that state compared with the area's other stations (KAAL and KTTC, channel 10) which are based in Minnesota.
Most of KAAL's technical operations are currently based at its studios in Austin. However, it also operates a full facility on Salem Road in Rochester that allows the station to have a solid presence in that area as opposed to a smaller bureau. For several years during its weeknight newscasts, KAAL maintained special technology to offer the unique practice of producing live newscasts from its Rochester studios while also featuring live
weather forecasts
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
and sports highlights originating from the Austin studios. As of February 2015, KAAL has moved all of its studio operations to their building on Salem Road in Rochester, and feed it back to their main broadcast operation in Austin where it is sent to their broadcast transmitters. As of February 2022, KAAL's master control has been hubbed at sister station KSTP-TV in St. Paul, completing the departure of the station from Austin.
Notable former on-air staff
*
Ross Becker
Ross Becker is a journalist who primarily works in television, radio, and digital. He is the president and CEO of TvNewsmentor.com, dedicated to growing and mentoring talent. He is also the founding partner of Top News Talent, LLC, a coaching, tra ...
– morning anchor; now CEO of TVnewsmentor.com
*
Butch Stearns
Butch Stearns is an American television and radio personality. He is a former sports anchor for WFXT and radio host for WEEI-FM, both located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Television
Stearns' first job in television was as a producer for Bob Gamere ...
– sports anchor; now with
WFXT
WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpike) in Dedham, and its t ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
*
Bill Weir
William Francis Weir (born December 19, 1967) is an American television journalist based in Manhattan. Weir is a correspondent and anchor for CNN, and the creator and host of the global documentary serie"The Wonder List with Bill Weir."He is the ...
– reporter; now with
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
Garner, Iowa
Garner is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,065 in the 2020 census, an increase from 2,922 in 2000.
HistoryKAAL history