KOLN/KGIN

KOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials. The station also serves as the default CBS affiliate for North Platte; it airs its programming on two translators in that city. Combined, the two stations serve one of the largest coverage areas in the nation, stretching across 42 counties—almost two-thirds of the state's land mass—and an additional four counties in Kansas. The stations, branded together on-air as 10/11 (pronounced ten-eleven), are owned by Gray Television.

The station is officially part of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney television market, but this market has little basis in television reality. KOLN/KGIN and Fox affiliate KFXL-TV are the only full-power stations shared by the entire market, though there is a cable-only CW affiliate. Via broadcast and cable, Lincoln and the far eastern portions of the market receive NBC from WOWT-TV inOmaha, ABC from KLKN in Lincoln (as well as KETV in Omaha) and The CW from KXVO in Omaha. The rest of the market receives ABC from KHGI-TV in Kearney and NBC from KHAS-TV in Hastings. The Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market is only fully realized on the local satellite feeds. Four counties in north central Kansas which border Nebraska (Jewell, Phillips, Republicand Smith) are also part of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market and receive programming from the Hastings/Kearney side of the market as well as satellites of Wichita stations.

KOLN/KGIN also operated a UPN affiliate on its digital subchannels. Beginning on September 5, 2006, those digital subchannels switched to MyNetworkTV programming.

Station history
KOLN signed on for the first time on February 18, 1953 as Nebraska's third television station and the first outside Omaha. It was owned by broadcasting pioneer John Fetzer along with KOLN-AM 1400 (now KLIN). Originally broadcasting on channel 12, it moved to channel 10 in 1954 after donating the channel 12 facilities to the University of Nebraska for its educational station, KUON-TV.

The station was originally the DuMont Television Network affiliate for the Omaha/Lincoln market. Later in 1953, it became a primary ABC affiliate. However, after a year on the air, Fetzer persuaded the Federal Communications Commission to merge Lincoln with the Hastings/Kearney market in central Nebraska. Lincoln has long been the cultural center for central Nebraska, and Fetzer felt that Lincoln had more in common with this area than Omaha. He also wanted an affiliation with a stronger network. Although Fetzer had a very good relationship with CBS, there was little prospect of taking the affiliation from Omaha's KMTV.

Soon after the FCC made Lincoln the center of the new Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market, KOLN became a primary CBS affiliate. Omaha wouldn't have a primary ABC affiliate again until KETVsigned on in 1957. DuMont shut down in 1956, and KOLN dropped the remaining ABC shows from the schedule in 1957. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1]

Over the next few years, KOLN signed on translator after translator across its huge and mostly rural coverage area, cementing a dominance that continues to this day.

KGIN debuted on October 1, 1961 as a satellite of KOLN; since then, the two stations have been known on-air as "10/11."

Fetzer began selling off his stations in the 1980s. KOLN/KGIN was among the last to be sold, going to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_N._Gillett_Jr. Gillett Communications] in 1984. Gillett sold the pair to Busse Broadcasting in 1987 to make room for Gillett's acquisition of the Storer Broadcasting stations. Busse was bought out by current owner Gray Television in 1998.

Until KLKN signed on in 1996, KOLN was the only commercial station in Lincoln, making it one of the largest cities in the country with only one full-power commercial station. However, KOLN had no need to air other networks' programming. Most of the Omaha stations provide at least secondary coverage of Lincoln, and all of them are available on cable.

Well into the 1980s, when nearly every other local television news broadcast began with the latest news, KOLN began its newscasts with the weather report as a service to its mostly rural audience. According to A. James Ebel, KOLN's general manager from 1954 to 1985, "The first thing I learned when I arrived here in 1954 is that the weather is the No. 1 story in Nebraska." [1]

For a time in January 2009, the KOLN/KGIN website included a section about a Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel (currently used for MyNetworkTV, which was to have moved to the DT3 subcarrier). However, the station has stated that it does not intend to launch such a station; KHGI-DT2 continues to serve as the Fox affiliate for the Grand Island part of the market (as did KSNB/KTVG at the time), while KPTM from Omaha and KFXL-TV serve the Lincoln part.[2]

UPN Nebraska / My Network TV
UPN was broadcast on a DT2 subchannel of KOLN and KGIN under the banner UPN Nebraska; the service switched to MyNetworkTV in September 2006 and is locally branded as "MyTV". It not only airs syndicated programs and the entire network schedule, it offers rebroadcasts of KOLN/KGIN news and The Oprah Winfrey Show in primetime.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">10/11 also produces a nightly newscast called "NCN at 9", targeting Grand Island and Central Nebraska, which airs at 9 PM on MyTV. It is produced in high definition but aired in letterboxed standard definition. MyTV also airs weather programming during the overnight hours.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">KOLN/KGIN broadcasts have been digital-only since midnight February 16, 2009; both stations returned to their analog channels for their digital broadcasts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[4]

From Widescreen to High Definition Newscasts
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">On June 15, 2009, KOLN/KGIN became the first commercial station in Nebraska to broadcast local news in a widescreen format. Then on August 10, 2009, KOLN/KGIN took it one step further to become the first station in Nebraska to launch local news in high definition. With the change came new graphics and a new website www.1011now.com [2].

Personalities/Programming
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">10/11 News has been the dominant newscast in the Lincoln market for as long as records have been kept, often beating KHAS by a 2-to-1 margin.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Mel Mains served as KOLN's main news anchor for 34 years, from 1961 to 1995.[3]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">On September 15, 2007, KOLN/KGIN started airing a Saturday and Sunday newscast from 7am-8am. It now competes with WOWT's "Channel 6 News Weekend Daybreak" (8am-9am) and KETV's "First News Saturday and Sunday" (5am-6am, 7am-8:30am) in Omaha. On September 13, 2010, KOLN/KGIN will start airing the market's first 4 p.m. newscast with "10/11 First at Four" will be on Lincoln's Time Warner Cable Channels 11 and 111, and be streamed live on www.1011now.com, and now on 10/11.

Morning Show/Midday Personnel

 * Erika Tallan
 * Chad Silber
 * Jon Vanderford (midday anchor)
 * Brad Anderson (meteorologist)

First at Four

 * Taryn Vanderford (anchor)
 * Jon Vanderford (anchor)
 * Ken Siemek (chief meteorologist)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Note: Jon Vanderford and Taryn Vanderford are married to each other.

5,6 & 10 Personnel

 * John Fortney (anchor)
 * Serese Cole (anchor)
 * Keller Russell (anchor for Fridays)
 * Ken Siemek (chief meteorologist)
 * Kevin Sjuts (sports director)

Saturday & Sunday Morning Personnel

 * Stephanie Ortmann (meteorologist)

Weekend Evening Personnel

 * Keller Russell (anchor for Saturdays)
 * Serese Cole (anchor for Sundays)
 * John Fortney (anchor for Sundays)
 * Dan Hedman (sports)
 * Brandon Rector (weekend meteorologist)

Reporters

 * Keller Russell (also Friday and Saturday evening anchor)
 * Alicia Myers (member of 10/11's Special In-Depth Reporting Team) (former morning anchor)
 * David Jespersen (leads 10/11's Special In-Depth Reporting Team) (former morning anchor)
 * Nate Kelly (video journalist)
 * Lance Schwartz (occasionally the sports anchor)
 * Thor Tripp (sports reporter)
 * Sara Geake (does her reporting from the Grand Island bureau)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> Former on-air staff

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Mel Mains served as KOLN's main news anchor for 34 years, from 1961 to 1995.[4]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Leta Powell Drake portrayed Kalamity Kate for KOLN TV's Calamity Kate. She also hosted a morning show.

Newscast titles

 * Lincolnland News (1950's)
 * 10/11 News (1980s-present)

Station slogans

 * The Best is Right Here on 10-11/10-11 is Easy on the Eyes (1973-1974; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * See the Best... 10/11 (1974-1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Catch the Brightest Stars on 10/11 (1975-1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 10/11... The Hot Ones (1976-1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * There's Something in the Air... 10/11 (1977-1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The 32 Days of Fabulous February! (January 30th-March 2nd, 1978; Localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 10/11... Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978-1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We're Coming On! (February 1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * You're Looking Good on 10/11 (1979-1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Hello Nebraska, 10/11 Loves You (1980s; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
 * Looking Good Together on 10/11 (1980-1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Reach for the Stars on 10/11 (1981-1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Great Moments on 10/11 (1982-1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * February Looks Great on 10/11 (January 30th-March 2nd, 1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We've Got The Touch, You and 10/11 (1983-1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * You and 10/11, We've Got The Touch (1984-1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We've Got The Touch on 10/11 (1985-1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share the Spirit of 10/11 (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 10/11 Spirit, oh yes! (1987-1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 10/11, Nebraska Strong! (1988-1998; general slogan)
 * You can feel it on 10/11 (1988-1989; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Hey Nebraska, Get Ready for 10/11 (1989-1990; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Get Ready for 10/11! (1990-1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Look of Nebraska is 10/11 (1991-1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Nebraska's Look in February is 10/11 (late January-early March 1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Address is 10/11...Welcome Home (1997-1999; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Address is 10/11 (1999-2000; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 10/11, It's All Here (2000-2005; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Every day ... (2005-2007)
 * We Are 10/11 (2006-2009; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Anytime. Anywhere. Every Day. (2007-present)
 * Only 10/11, Only CBS (2009-present; localized version of CBS ad campaign)

Translators
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">KOLN/KGIN serves its large coverage area with 13 translators. Repeaters in bold are owned by Gray Television; all others are owned by local municipalities or organizations. All owned-and-operated repeaters broadcast a multiplexed digital signal including high-definition programming. The remainder broadcast an analog signal.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Six of the translators directly repeat the KOLN signal, while seven directly repeat the KGIN signal.

KOLN translators

 * Ainsworth: K11KW, channel 11 (defunct)
 * Neligh: K53GC, channel 53
 * Newport: K25GM, channel 25
 * O'Neill: K43FX, channel 43
 * North Platte: K25KA, channel 25
 * Valentine: K69AL, channel 69 (defunct)

KGIN translators

 * Broken Bow: K04CV, channel 4
 * Cambridge: K30FV, channel 30
 * Cozad: K55AF, channel 55
 * Gothenburg: K28GC, channel 28
 * North Platte: K04ED, channel 4
 * Ord: K04HL, channel 4
 * Wallace: K33FF, channel 33