KJCT

KJCT is a television station in Grand Junction, Colorado that serves the Grand Junction-Montrose market. It is an affiliate of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) owned and operated by the News-Press & Gazette Company. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7 (virtual channel 8.1).

KJCT transmits its signal from the Mesa Point Electronics Site on the Grand Mesa, the world's tallest flat-top mountain. KJCT's primary translator, K28AD Montrose, has been on the air from Storm King Mountain since September, 1982. The KJCT signal is relayed by 13 analog and eight digital translators across central and northwestern Colorado.

History
KJCT signed on the air on October 22, 1979 as the first television station in Western Colorado since KREX-TV in 1954. It was owned by the Pikes Peak Broadcasting Company as a semi-satellite of KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs; as a result, it immediately took ABC away from KREX. The station had full production facilities in Grand Junction; however, much of the programming was fed via hundreds of miles of microwave links from KRDO. In the late 1990s, KJCT chief engineer Roger Hightower modernized KJCT into one of the first true digital facilities in Colorado, and severed the electronic umbilical cord with KRDO.

KJCT was the first Western Colorado television station with modern electronic news gathering technology. "8 Live," the stations' first live microwave newsvan, came into service in 1984.

In 2006, News-Press & Gazette Company announced the purchase of KJCT along with KRDO-TV and KRDO-AM from Pikes Peak Broadcasting.[1]

In late 2008, KJCT's third digital subcarrier became western Colorado's affiliate for The CW. However, despite The CW being available locally, Denver's KWGN-TV, which has been on cable for decades in Grand Junction, is still available through two low-powered repeaters in the area.

On Friday, May 22, 2009, KJCT became the first station in Grand Junction to launch local news in high definition.[2]

Current on-air staff

 * Joel Hillan
 * Megan Terlecky
 * Katie Ryan
 * Tom Coomes
 * Drew Wilkins
 * Eddie Sheerr
 * Aman Chabra
 * Rob Hughes
 * Pierre Noujaim
 * Don Coleman
 * Courtney Jones
 * Karla Shotts
 * Tami Brehse
 * Jeremy Alm
 * Honora Swanson

Notable former staff

 * Tom Hudson: Former sport anchor. Was a sport director for KREM-TV. Currently the play-by-play radio announcer for Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball.
 * Dave Akerly: Former sports/weather anchor. Was Sports Director for WLNS-TV in Lansing, Michigan. Currently Weeknight News Anchor for WLNS-TV.

Newscast titles

 * News 8 (late 1980s-2008)
 * KJCT News 8 (2008-present)

Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.==References==
 * Western Colorado's News Source (1990-2003)
 * Where The News Comes First (2003-present)
 * 1) ^ NPG to buy two broadcast TV affiliates, radio station
 * 2) ^ KJCT now broadcasting in high definition