Shreveport, Louisiana/ Texarkana, Texas–Arkansas United States |
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City | Shreveport, Louisiana |
Branding | KTBS 3 (general) KTBS 3 News (newscasts) |
Slogan |
On Your Side (general) News When You Need It; First in News, First in HD (news) Local Lives Here (6 p.m. newscast) The Calm During The Storm (weather) |
Channels |
Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 3 () |
Affiliations | ABC (secondary 1955–1960; primary 1960–present) |
Owner | Wray family (KTBS, LLC) |
First air date | September 3, 1955 |
Call letters' meaning | Tri-State Broadcasting System or Texarkana Bossier Shreveport |
Sister station(s) | KPXJ |
Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 3 (VHF, 1955–2009) |
Former affiliations |
Primary: NBC (1955–1960) |
Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
Height | 563 m (1,847 ft) |
Facility ID | 35652 |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°41′7.6″N 93°56′0.8″W / 32.685444°N 93.933556°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | www.ktbs.com |
KTBS-TV, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 28), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. The station is locally owned by the Wray family (under the licensee KTBS, LLC), as part of a duopoly with Minden-licensed CW affiliate KPXJ (channel 21). The two stations share studio facilities located on East Kings Highway on the eastern side of Shreveport; KTBS' transmitter is located near Mooringsport (southeast of Caddo Lake).
The station began operations on September 3, 1955; it has been owned by the Wray family since its sign-on, and was originally owned alongside KTBS radio (710 AM, now KEEL). The Wrays also owned several other radio stations in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, these stations were known as the Tri-State Broadcasting System, from which the station's call letters are taken. The radio stations were sold off in the late 1950s, but the Wrays (who are also the owners of a car dealership franchise in Shreveport) have retained channel 3 to this day. It can also mean Texarkana, Bossier, Shreveport.
The station originally operated as a primary NBC affiliate, although it shared ABC programming with KSLA-TV (channel 12). In 1960, Shreveport and Texarkana were collapsed into a single television market. Texarkana-based KTAL-TV (channel 6) took over the NBC affiliation for the enlarged market, leaving KTBS as Louisiana's second full-time ABC affiliate (after WVUE-TV in New Orleans, which became a full-time ABC station in 1957; it is now a Fox affiliate). Over the years, KTBS has become one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the country. In an era where most major network stations are owned by large media companies, KTBS is one of the few major network affiliates that remains locally owned to this day.