KREM (channel 2) 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 ea ...
in
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...
, United States, affiliated with
CBS. It is owned by
Tegna Inc. alongside
CW affiliate
KSKN (channel 22). Both stations share studios on South Regal Street in the
Southgate neighborhood of Spokane, while KREM's transmitter is on
Krell Hill to the southeast.
The station is carried on cable systems in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
and
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, both of which are double the size of KREM's American coverage area. One result of this is that stations in Calgary and Edmonton air American shows on
Pacific Time, even though Calgary and Edmonton are both on
Mountain Time. It is one of five local Spokane area television stations seen in Canada on the
Shaw Direct satellite service. It can also been seen on local cable systems in southeastern
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
.
KREM is one of two CBS affiliates based in the Spokane television market; KREM is typically considered the primary CBS affiliate for the market. However,
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
-owned
KLEW-TV (channel 3), based in
Lewiston, Idaho
Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's north central region. It is the second-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Coeur d'Alene, and ninth-largest in the state. Lewiston is ...
, focuses on the southern portion of the market including the
Lewis–Clark Valley and the
Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...
. Both KREM and KLEW are available on
Dish Network and
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. I ...
throughout the Spokane market.
History
KREM-TV signed on October 31, 1954, with an "inaugural program" at 6:30 p.m.,
["New TV Station Plans Inaugural on Sunday Night"](_blank)
''Spokane Daily Chronicle'', October 29, 1954. Retrieved: May 19, 2012. followed by the 1933
movie ''
The Private Life of Henry VIII''. It initially had a dual affiliation with
ABC and the
DuMont Network, the latter shared with cross-town competitor
KXLY-TV because of its then-CBS affiliation at the time. After DuMont dissolved, KREM continued as an ABC affiliate. In the late 1950s, the station was briefly affiliated with the
NTA Film Network.
KREM-TV was affiliated with ABC until August 8, 1976, when it swapped affiliations with KXLY-TV, whom CBS immediately dropped for constantly pre-empting or delaying its network shows. KREM thus became a full member of the CBS network. Initially, CBS had approached KHQ-TV, while KREM was considered for a possible NBC affiliation because of the
King Broadcasting Company's sister stations in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
and
Portland being NBC affiliates, but KREM decided to sign with CBS instead. It was the only non-NBC affiliated station in the King Broadcasting portfolio.
KREM-TV was originally owned by Cole Wylie alongside KREM radio (AM 970, now
KTTO
KTTO (970 kHz) is an AM radio station in Spokane, Washington, serving the Spokane metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Sacred Heart Radio, Inc. It airs a Catholic radio format with most programming provided by the EWTN Radio ...
; and FM 92.9, now
KZZU-FM
KZZU-FM (92.9 MHz 92.9 ZZU) is a commercial FM radio station in Spokane, Washington. The station airs an Adult Top 40 radio format which the station describes as "Today's Modern Hit Music". KZZU-FM is owned by Morgan Murphy Media, with the l ...
). The King Broadcasting Company, run by Seattle businesswoman
Dorothy Bullitt, bought the KREM stations from Wylie in 1957; the radio stations were sold off in 1984. (Coincidentally, the former KREM-FM is now a sister station to KXLY-TV.) However, channel 2 retained the -TV suffix in its callsign until 2009.
King Broadcasting was sold in 1992 to the Providence Journal Company, which merged with
Belo Corporation
Belo Corporation was a Dallas-based media company that owned 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and three regional 24-hour cable news television channels. The company was previously known as A. H. Belo Corporation after one of the ...
five years later. On June 13, 2013, the
Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo.
The sale was completed on December 23.
On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KREM and KSKN were retained by the latter company, named
Tegna.
KREM and KSKN are a part of a cluster of television stations in the
Northwestern United States owned by Tegna, which includes
KING-TV and its sister station
KONG in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
;
KGW
KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city' ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
; and
KTVB in
Boise. All four stations had provided material to co-owned
Northwest Cable News, a regional
24-hour cable news service based in Seattle that served much of the region. KREM was the only non-
NBC affiliate to be a primary contributor to NWCN, with the exception of KSKN and Seattle
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, marke ...
KONG. The channel shut down on January 6, 2017.
Programming
As of September 13, 2021, KREM currently features CBS programming, as well as local news,
public affairs and
syndicated entertainment programming including ''
The 700 Club'', ''
Dr. Phil
Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...
'', and ''
You Bet Your Life.''
KREM aired the
Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team's NCAA tournament championship game appearances in
2017 and
2021.
News operation
KREM airs 28½ hours of newscasts with a two-hour morning broadcast, a noon telecast, and evening telecast at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 p.m., along with weekend telecasts every Saturday and Sunday at 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 p.m. KREM is still the only station in Spokane to hold a monopoly on midday newscasts for the Spokane area as of 2021.
In 1997, KREM, with its reporter Tom Grant, won an
Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award
The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...
"for Investigative Reporting on the
Wenatchee Child Sex Ring."
In April 2010, KREM and KSKN began broadcasting its local newscasts in
16:9 enhanced definition widescreen, and KREM became the third station in Spokane to switch in either HD or widescreen.
From September 15, 2014, to January 2, 2015, KREM was the only station to air their newscasts from 7:00-9:00 a.m. on its sister station KSKN.
KREM switched to Gannett's "This is Home" music and graphics package on October 25, 2014, at the 5:00 newscast.
KREM became the last station in the Spokane market to switch their newscasts to HD.
On October 17, 2021, the station had to apologize for showing a moving image from a pornographic video on a weather center monitor during that evening's 6 p.m. newscast, and the origin of the video's appearance on an internal station monitor, be it internally or from another source, is under police and corporate investigation.
Notable former on-air staff
*
Paul Deanno – anchor/meteorologist (1997–1999); now chief meteorologist for
WMAQ-TV in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
*
Eric Johnson – sports director (1987–1989); now weeknight news anchor for
KOMO-TV
KOMO-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Bellevue-licensed Univision affiliate KUNS-TV (channel 51). Both stations share studios wi ...
in Seattle.
*
Tim Lewis – sports anchor, then sports director (September 2006–March 2012)
*
Maureen O'Boyle
Maureen Jeralyn O'Boyle (born July 14, 1963) is an American television reporter and news anchor. She was the lead anchor for WBTV News 3 in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina and used to anchor the weekly "Stretching Your Dollar" report. O ...
– anchor (1986–1990); now weeknight news anchor at
WBTV in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...
.
*
Nadine Woodward – anchor (1990-2009); Mayor of Spokane.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KREM discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
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 2, 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 remained on its pre-transition
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 20.
[CDBS Print](_blank)
/ref> Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former VHF analog channel 2.
Translators
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krem (Tv)
Tegna Inc.
CBS network affiliates
True Crime Network affiliates
Court TV affiliates
Twist (TV network) affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1954
1954 establishments in Washington (state)
REM (TV)
Former Gannett subsidiaries