Annex
Register
Advertisement

KOAT-TV, channel 7, is an ABC network affiliated television station serving Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, northeast of Albuquerque. Syndicated programming on KOAT includes: Entertainment Tonight, Oprah, Ellen, and Live with Regis and Kelly.


KOAT-TV
Koat 2010
Albuquerque/Santa Fe, New Mexico
Branding KOAT 7(general)

Action 7 News(newscasts)

Slogan Coverage You Can Count On
Channels Digital: 7 (VHF)
Affiliations ABC
Owner Hearst Television, Inc.

(KOAT Hearst Television, Inc.)

First air date September 28, 1953
Call letters' meaning C'OAT or KO'AlbuquerqueTelevision
Former channel number(s) Analog:

7 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital: 21 (UHF, 2002–2009)

Former affiliations Secondary:

DuMont (1953–1955)

Transmitter power 26.5 kW
Height 1292 m
Facility ID 53928
Transmitter coordinates 35°12′53.3″N106°27′2.7″W
Website www.koat.com

Digital television

Virtual

channel

Physical

RF channel

Video Aspect Programming
7.1 7.1 720p 16:9 main KOAT-TV programming / ABC HD
7.2 7.2 480i 4:3 Estrella TV

KOAT is one of four ABC-affiliated Hearst stations that do not offer "The Local AccuWeather Channel"

KOAT-TV moved its digital signal to its old analog frequency, channel 7, when the analog to digital transition was completed on 6-12-09.

History

KOAT signed on September 28, 1953, less than a week before KGGM-TV (now KRQE). It was locally owned by AM Caldwell & Walter Stiles. The station signed on as an ABC affiliate. In 1957 KOAT was sold to Alvarado Television (the owner of KVOA in Tucson, Arizona),[1] and in 1962 both stations were sold to Steinman Stations, who owned WGAL in Lancaster and later bought WTEV in New Bedford/Providence.

Steinman sold both KOAT and KVOA to Pulitzer, the then-owner of KSD-TV (now KSDK) in St. Louis, in 1969.[2] This made KOAT Pulitzer's second television station acquisition outside of its home city of St. Louis; the KOAT acquisition was consummated a year after Pulitzer closed on its purchase of KVOA. A decade later, the other two Steinman stations were sold to Pulitzer as well, reuniting them with KOAT (KVOA was spun off in 1972).

In 1999, Pulitzer sold its entire broadcasting division, including KOAT and WGAL, to Hearst-Argyle. In mid-2009 the Hearst Corporation, already majority owner of what was Hearst-Argyle Television, bought out all of the then-publicly traded shares and changed the broadcasting group's name to Hearst Television.

KOAT uses a version of the Circle 7 logo used by many other ABC stations, both owned-and-operated stations and affiliates. The "Circle 7" logo has been used at KOAT since 1971 and the Action News title since 1974.[3]

Satellite stations

These stations rebroadcast KOAT's signal and add local content for other parts of the broadcast market:

Station City of license Channels

(Digital)

Channels

(Virtual)

First air date Former callsigns ERP

(Digital)

HAAT

(Digital)

Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
KOCT Carlsbad 19 (UHF) 6 August 24, 1956 KAVE-TV (1956–1987)

KVIO-TV (1987–1993)

15 kW 333 m 53908 32°47′38″N 104°12′29″W / 32.79389°N 104.20806°W / 32.79389; -104.20806 (KOCT)
KOFT Farmington 8 (VHF) 3 defunct 1 40 kW 165.9 m 53904 36°40′17″N 108°13′52.7″W / 36.67139°N 108.231306°W / 36.67139; -108.231306 (KOFT)
KOVT Silver City 10 (VHF) 10 September 19872 KWNM-TV (1987–1992) 3.2 kW 485 m 53911 32°51′46″N 108°14′28″W / 32.86278°N 108.24111°W / 32.86278; -108.24111 (KOVT)

Notes:

  • 1. No record of analog station on air; digital station was operating via Special Temporary Authorization but has gone silent. KOFT-DT's license was returned to the FCC on November 13, 2007 [4]
  • 2. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KOVT signed on September 9, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on September 10.

KOCT, formerly KAVE-TV and KVIO-TV, became part of the KOAT-TV operation in 1993 after previously serving as a satellite of El Paso ABC affiliate KVIA-TV Channel 7.[5] The Carlsbad station began in 1956 as KAVE-TV, a CBS/NTA Film Network[6] affiliate with studio and transmitter facilities on Church Street in Carlsbad. In 1966, when Roswell, New Mexico station KBIM-TV became the CBS affiliate for southeastern New Mexico, KAVE became a satellite station of then-ABC affiliate KMOM-TV Channel 9 in Monahans, Texas (now NBC affiliate KWES-TV, Midland-Odessa, Texas) and then of KVIA-TV in El Paso in 1976.

In addition, there are several low-powered repeaters that carry KOAT's programming throughout New Mexico, northeastern Arizona and southern Colorado.

News operation

Ordinarily, KOAT produces just over four hours of local news each weekday, and 4½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays. The station's newscasts, known as Action 7 News, have led the ratings in New Mexico for over 30 years. Weather forecaster Howard Morgan worked at KOAT for 28 years before retiring in 1999.

KOAT is also one of four ABC affiliates to have an hour-long 10 p.m. newscasts, along with KRGV-TV in Welsaco, Texas and KOAT's sister station, KITV in Honolulu, and WISN-TV in Milwaukee.

KOAT does not broadcast in high definition; however on June 13, 2010, the station began broadcasting its newscasts in 16:9 standard definition widescreen. The station plans to air its newscasts in high definition, but no date has been confirmed as to when. Rival KRQE (along with sister station KASA) is the only newscast in the Albuquerque market to broadcast in true high definition, while other rival KOB now also airs local news in 16:9 standard definition widescreen.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

  • Your Esso Reporter (1953–1960)
  • Newsroom (1960–1962)
  • TV-7 News (1962–1971)
  • Big 7 News (1971–1974)
  • TV-7 Action News (1974–1976)
  • Action 7 News (1976–present)

Station slogans

  • Action News is Everywhere (1978)
  • Working Hard For You (1978)
  • New Mexico's News Leader (1980s-early 1990s)
  • The Area's #1 News Source (early 1990s)
  • 7 On Your Side (mid 1990s)
  • Coverage You Can Count On (1998–present)

Notable on-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

  • Royale Da - weekend mornings; also weekday reporter
  • Doug Fernandez - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Shelly Ribando - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Melissa Montoya - weekday mornings "More in the Morning" (4:30-7am); also reporter
  • Marisa Maez - weekday mornings "More in the Morning" (4:30-7am)
  • Tayna Mendis- weekend mornings

First Alert Weather Team

  • Joe Diaz (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Eric Green (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) Seal of Approval - Meteorologist; weekday mornings
  • Byron Morton (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.

Sports team

  • John Salazar - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.

Reporters

  • Rod Green - general assignment reporter
  • Ilana Gold - general assignment reporter
  • Alana Greenfogel - general assignment reporter
  • Christie Ileto - general assignment reporter
  • Amber Lee - general assignment reporter
  • Dr. Barry Ramo - health reporter
  • Dave Roberts - Farmington Bureau reporter
  • Drew Rudnick - Southern New Mexico Bureau reporter
  • Natalie Swaby - general assignment reporter

Hearst Television Washington Bureau

  • Sally Kidd - Washington Bureau correspondent
  • Laurie Kinney - Washington Bureau correspondent
  • Traci Mitchell - Washington Bureau correspondent

Former on-air staff

  • Bob Brown - sports director
  • Dominic Garcia - general assignment reporter
  • Cynthia Izaguirre (now with WFAA in Dallas/Ft. Worth)
  • Melissa Vega - "Target 7" consumer reporter

References

  1. ^ KOAT Purchase is for $12,500 Plus Its Debts, Albuquerque Tribune (Albuquerque, NM) Jan. 12, 1957 pg. 1-2
  2. ^ FCC Approves KOAT-TV Sale For $5 million, Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM) May 9, 1969 pg. F8
  3. ^ Advertisement: Albuquerque Tribune (Albuquerque, NM), Aug. 19, 1974 pg. A-9
  4. ^ KOFT-DT request to FCC to cease operation
  5. ^ KOAT to buy Carlsbad station, Roswell Daily Record (Roswell, NM) May 28, 1993 pg. 27
  6. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1

External links

Advertisement