KLTV (channel 7) 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 ...
licensed to
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
, United States, serving
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...
as an affiliate of
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 ...
and
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
. K31PR-D (channel 31) is a digital
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 ...
, also licensed to Tyler, in full simulcast with the primary KLTV digital feed. Owned by
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
, the stations maintain studios on West Ferguson Street in downtown Tyler (between the
Smith County and United States courthouses), and the transmitter site is located in rural northern Smith County (near the
Wood County line).
KTRE (channel 9) in
Lufkin
Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019.
Lufkin was founded ...
operates as a
semi-satellite
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
of KLTV. As such, it
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
s all network and
syndicated programming as provided through KLTV but airs separate commercial inserts,
legal identifications, weeknight newscasts and Sunday morning
religious programs, and has its own website. KLTV serves the northern half of the Tyler–
Longview–Lufkin–
Nacogdoches 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 ...
while KTRE serves the southern portion. The two stations are counted as a single unit for
ratings purposes. Although KTRE maintains its own studios on TV Road (near
US 69) in the
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
of
Pollok
Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...
,
master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as switc ...
and some internal operations are based at KLTV's facilities.
History
The station first signed on the air on October 14, 1954;
it was founded by the locally-based company Buford Television, which was owned by Lucille Buford. KLTV has been an ABC affiliate since its debut; however, it initially carried the network as a secondary service, while it shared primary affiliation with both
CBS and
NBC; the station also aired programming from the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
on a secondary basis until 1955. The station originally operated from studio facilities on
Texas Loop 323 on the east side of Tyler. In 1964, the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) collapsed Lufkin and Nacogdoches into the Tyler market. Soon afterward, the Buford family bought KTRE and converted it into a semi-satellite of KLTV.
KLTV lost the CBS affiliation in September 1984, when
Longview-based KLMG-TV (channel 51, now
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 ...
affiliate
KFXK-TV) signed on. It retained a secondary affiliation with NBC until
KETK-TV (channel 56) signed on in March 1987, resulting in channel 7 becoming an exclusive ABC affiliate. Buford Television owned KLTV and KTRE until 1989, when it sold the stations to
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
-based Civic Communications. In 1996, KLTV relocated its operations from its longtime studios on Texas Loop 323 in eastern Tyler to a new facility downtown, located in a former savings & loan branch and office complex near the
Smith County courthouse; the former studio facility was demolished in November 2007. Civic merged with Cosmos Broadcasting, a division of the
Liberty Corporation
The Liberty Corporation was a media corporation originally based in Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, Liberty owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Cable advertising ...
in 2000. That same year, Liberty sold its insurance businesses to the
Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...
, resulting in the retirement of the "Cosmos Broadcasting" banner. Liberty sold itself to
Raycom Media in 2006.
In October 2004, KLTV celebrated its 50th anniversary.
At approximately 7:30a.m. on February 3, 2006 (one day after Raycom officially took ownership of the station), KLTV's broadcast transmitter in Red Springs collapsed taking both its over-the-air analog and digital signals as well as radio station
KVNE (89.5 FM) off the air; no one was reported injured as a result.
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
(which sold its East Texas systems to Suddenlink Communications in 2007) continued to carry KLTV's
standard and high definition feeds via a
fiber optic connection; however,
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
and
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
customers were not able to receive the station. KLTV re-established an analog signal at reduced power from its former studio and transmitter location in eastern Tyler within 13 hours of the collapse. No cause for the collapse has been disclosed to date.
A new Harris transmitter—on a tower slightly less than half the height of the one that collapsed—was installed the following day, allowing resumption of full-power broadcasts from the Tyler site, allowing over-the-air viewers to watch
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 ...
's broadcast of
Super Bowl XL over its analog signal; the digital signal was restored several days later. KLTV restored its analog over-the-air signal from its original tower while also being restored on DirecTV, Dish Network and other area cable providers. Its analog transmitter equipment was not damaged and was supplemented at the original tower site with a newer transmitter. However, its over-the-air high definition and digital television transmission equipment was a total loss. In March and April 2007, KLTV ran a "Flip the Switch" promotion to promote the completion of the new Red Springs tower. Viewers were urged to submit 30-second videos to show why they should be selected to turn on the tower, with the winner being selected by popular vote on the station's website. On April 17, 2007 at approximately 6:58p.m., contest winner Jeff Heimer officially flipped the switch to turn on the new transmitter and tower.
In January 2011, KLTV started "KLTV in Your Community," a section of its website serving as a branch for citizen journalism, or community blogging; the blog sites are separated into fifteen East Texas communities with Tyler divided into four quadrants by city section. It has since been shut down.
On June 25, 2018, Gray Television announced that it was merging with Raycom, under the Gray name. When the merger was approved by the FCC and the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
, it made KLTV (and KTRE) a
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
to adjacent market stations
KXII in
Sherman
Sherman most commonly refers to:
*Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name)
** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General
*M4 Sherman, a tank
Sherman may also refer to:
Places United St ...
,
KBTX
KBTX-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed in Bryan, Texas, United States, serving the Brazos Valley as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on East 29th Street in Bryan, and its transmitter is ...
in
Bryan
Bryan may refer to:
Places United States
* Bryan, Arkansas
* Bryan, Kentucky
* Bryan, Ohio
* Bryan, Texas
* Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming
* Bryan Township (disambiguation)
Facilities and structur ...
and
KWTX in
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
in addition to the current Raycom sister stations, while separating it from
KXXV. The sale was approved on December 20 and was completed on January 2, 2019.
On July 27, 2021, Gray Television signed K31PR on the air as a full simulcast partner of the main KLTV signal. Both stations air an identical subchannel line-up, with K31PR's coverage area encompassed entirely by the larger KLTV signal.
Programming
KLTV and K31PR carry the majority of the ABC network schedule; however, it preempts the first hour of the network-syndicated ''
Weekend Adventure
Weekend Adventure (originally known as ABC Weekend Adventure and Litton's Weekend Adventure) is an American broadcast syndication, syndicated Block programming, programming block that is produced by Hearst Media Production Group, and airs weekend ...
'' block on Saturday mornings in favor of running
E/I-compliant children's programs from the syndication market.
Syndicated programs broadcast by KLTV and K31PR include ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Art
* ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...
'', ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', and ''
The Jennifer Hudson Show
''The Jennifer Hudson Show'' is an American syndicated daytime talk show. Hosted by singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, the series premiered on September 12, 2022.
Production
In November 2021, ''Deadline'' reported that Warner Bros. Televisio ...
'' among others.
News operation
KLTV and K31PR presently broadcast 31½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5½ hours each weekday and two hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); unlike most ABC affiliates, the stations do not broadcast an early evening newscast on Sundays. Lufkin semi-satellite KTRE simulcasts KLTV's weekday morning, midday, 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and weekend morning and evening newscasts. Channel 7 has been the dominant station in the market for most of its history and its newscasts routinely garner several times the number of viewers of its nearest competitor. KLTV and its staff have received several awards including seven Lone Star
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s.
The station's longtime slogan is "Proud of East Texas", which has been used since 1985. In a June 2006 article, the ''
Longview News-Journal'' reported KLTV continued its dominance in the area with an estimated 70,000 households tuning into its weeknight 10:00 p.m. broadcast. KETK-TV was second with about 12,000 viewers and
KYTX
KYTX (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Nacogdoches, Texas, United States, serving East Texas as an affiliate of CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station has studios near Loop 323 in the southeastern portion of Tyle ...
was watched by an estimated 9,000 viewers. The station was nominated in 2008 for eleven Lone Star Emmy Awards including: best morning and evening newscasts, weather, along with several news/sports specials and reporting. On June 21, 2010, KLTV became the third television station in the Tyler–Longview market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in
high definition
High definition or HD may refer to:
Visual technologies
*HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format
*HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format
*HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape
* HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...
. On September 10, 2012, KLTV debuted an hour-long weekday afternoon newscast at 4:00 p.m.
Notable former on-air staff
*
Sandra Brown – weather anchor (now a best-selling author)
*
Devin Scillian
Devin Scillian ( ; born January 11, 1963) is an American television journalist, musician and children's author.
Broadcast career
While still a student at the University of Kansas, Scillian began his television career at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansa ...
– news anchor (1986–1989); now at
WDIV-TV in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, and also a children's author and country singer
Technical information
Subchannels
The stations' digital signals are
multiplexed:
On digital subchannels 7.2 and 31.2, the station carries
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...
; the subchannel is also carried on
Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink was an American telecommunications subsidiary of Altice USA trading in cable television, broadband, IP telephony, home security, and advertising. Prior to its acquisition by Altice, the company was the seventh largest cable operator wi ...
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
channel 247. The subchannel launched on December 14, 2005 as the "StormTracker 24/7 Weather Channel," a local weather service consisting of temperatures, weather conditions and a live feed of the station's
Doppler radar (branded as the "StormTracker 7 Live Doppler Network") on a rotating schedule; the subchannel affiliated with
This TV in December 2009, it later switched to
Bounce TV
Bounce TV is an American digital multicast television network owned by Katz Broadcasting, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans", the channel fe ...
on January 1, 2012. On January 1, 2020, Circle debuted on 7.2, displacing Bounce TV to 7.4. On digital subchannel 7.3, the station carries
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
; the subchannel is also carried on Suddenlink channel 22.
Analog-to-digital conversion
The station installed its digital transmitter tower on September 23, 2005; on December 14, KLTV became the second television station in East Texas to launch a digital signal, broadcasting 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 10. KLTV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 10 to channel 7 for post-transition operations.
Availability
Cable and satellite
On
cable, KLTV is available on Suddenlink Communications channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 720. Dish, DirecTV and several smaller cable providers also carry the station.
Over-the-air
KLTV is available throughout much of East Texas, such as Tyler,
Athens,
Canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
,
Carthage*,
Gilmer,
Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
*He ...
,
Jacksonville,
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
*,
Kilgore,
Lindale, Longview**,
Marshall*,
Mineola,
Mount Pleasant*,
Mount Vernon,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
,
Pittsburg,
Rusk, and
Sulphur Springs***.
* – This city can receive KLTV over the air despite being in the Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
market.
** – This city can receive KLTV over the air despite parts of the city being in the Shreveport market.
*** – This city can receive KLTV over the air despite being in the Dallas–Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
market.
In other parts of the market, such as
Lufkin
Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019.
Lufkin was founded ...
, Nacogdoches and
Crockett
Crockett may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player
*Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator
*C ...
, KLTV is unavailable over the air, but viewers can receive sister station KTRE.
See also
*
Channel 7 digital TV stations in the United States
*
Channel 7 virtual TV stations in the United States
The following television stations operate on virtual channel 7 in the United States:
* K04RX-D in Preston, Idaho
* K05CF-D in Weaverville, California
* K05DQ-D in Burney, etc., California
* K05EM-D in Paradise, California
* K05FW-D in Girdwood, ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kltv
LTV
LTV may refer to:
Television
* Lagos Television, a TV channel in Nigeria.
* Latvijas Televīzija, Latvian Television
* LRT televizija, formerly LTV, Lithuanian National Television
* LTV Ethiopia, a private satellite TV channel in Ethiopia
* Lumi ...
ABC network affiliates
Circle (TV network) affiliates
Telemundo network affiliates
Bounce TV affiliates
Dabl affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1954
Tyler, Texas
1954 establishments in Texas
Gray Television