Oklahoma City, Oklahoma United States |
|
---|---|
City | Oklahoma City |
Branding |
News 9 (newscasts) News 9 Weather (weather) |
Slogan |
Oklahoma's Own (general statewide corporate) On the Scene, On the Story (newscasts) Oklahoma City's Own (local) |
Channels |
Digital: 39 (UHF) Virtual: 9 () |
Translators | K21JN-D Erick K23IY-D Weatherford K34JJ-D Hollis K39JH-D Strong City K46JL-D Altus K47LR-D Elk City |
Affiliations |
.1: CBS .2: News 9 Now |
Owner |
Griffin Communications, LLC (Griffin Licensing, LLC) |
First air date | December 20, 1953 |
Call letters' meaning |
World's Tallest Video (The station once had the world record for the world's tallest transmission tower; the tower was no longer used after 2009, then deconstructed in 2013) |
Sister station(s) |
KSBI KOTV KQCW |
Former channel number(s) |
|
Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
Height | 478 m (1,568 ft) |
Facility ID | 25382 |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°35′52.16″N 97°29′23.07″W / 35.5978222°N 97.4897417°WCoordinates: 35°35′52.16″N 97°29′23.07″W / 35.5978222°N 97.4897417°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | www.news9.com |
KWTV-DT, virtual channel 9 (UHF digital channel 39), is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It is the flagship television station of locally based Griffin Communications as part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KSBI (channel 52). The two stations share studio facilities located on Kelley Avenue (adjacent to the studios and main offices of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority PBS member network), and its transmitter is located near the John Kilpatrick Turnpike/Interstate 44, both on the city's northeast side.
On cable, the station is carried on channel 9 on most cable systems in the market (channel 10 on Cox Communications' Oklahoma City system).
John Toole Griffin, a local grocery magnate and founder of Griffin Foods, decided to apply for a broadcast license with the Federal Communications Commission after noticing while driving around Oklahoma City that many homes in the area had outdoor television antennas installed to receive WKY-TV (channel 4, now KFOR-TV), which debuted in June 1949 as the first television station in Oklahoma. KWTV first signed on the air on December 20, 1953; it was founded by Griffin and his brother-in-law James C. Leake, co-owners of radio station KOMA (1520 AM, now KOKC). Channel 9 initially transmitted its signal from a shorter temporary tower near its Kelley Avenue studios as its permanent transmitter tower, for which the Griffins chose the KWTV callsign (standing for "World's Tallest Video") for the station over using the KOMA calls, was still under construction; when it was activated in 1954, the 1,577 feet (481 m) structure became the tallest free-standing broadcast tower in the world at the time. As of October 2014, the tower is currently being removed and sold for scrap. KWTV's first broadcast was a roll call of station employees introducing themselves and the departments they were employed with.