KWES-TV, channel 9, commonly referred to as NewsWest 9, is the NBC affiliated television station in the Midland/Odessa area. The station is owned by Raycom Media. It also operates a satellite station, KWAB-TV (virtual channel 4), in Big Spring, Texas.
| |
| KWES: Midland/Odessa, Texas
KWAB: Big Spring, Texas | |
|---|---|
| Branding | NewsWest 9 |
| Slogan | The Star of West Texas
More News. More Often. |
| Channels | Digital: |
| Subchannels | 9.2 LATV
9.3 KTLD-LP/KTLE-LP (Telemundo) |
| Affiliations | NBC (9.1) |
| Owner | Raycom Media
(KWES License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | KWES: December 1, 1958
KWAB: January 15, 1956 |
| Call letters' meaning | KWES: WESt Texas
KWAB: Webb Air ForceBase |
| Former callsigns | KWES:
KVKM-TV (1958-1969?) KMOM-TV (1969?-1981) KTPX-TV (1981-1993) KWAB: KBST-TV (1956-1957) KEDY-TV (1957-1962?) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog:
KWES: 9 (VHF, 1958-2009) KWAB: 4 (VHF, 1956-2009) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (1958-1981) |
| Transmitter power | KWES: 25.7 kW
KWAB: 174 kW |
| Height | KWES: 391 m
KWAB: 83.3 m |
| Facility ID | KWES: 42007
KWAB: 42008 |
| Transmitter coordinates | KWES: |
| Website | www.newswest9.com |
History
KWES began broadcasting in 1958 as KVKM-TV in Monahans, Texas, an ABC affiliate. It was originally co-owned with KVKM radio (1340 AM; now KCKM 1330). Initially broadcasting from a 777 ft (237 m) tower between Kermit and Monahans (shared with the radio station), KVKM-TV moved to a 1,080 ft (330 m) tower at the edge of the Caprock around 1962.
Grayson Enterprises (named for Sidney Grayson but after 1964 not owned) assumed ownership of KVKM-TV in 1969 and renamed it KMOM-TV, for Monahans-Odessa-Midland. Grayson added other stations to his operation during the late 1960s and 1970s, including KCCN (nowKKEA) in Honolulu, Hawaii, KLBK-TV in Lubbock, Texas, and KTXS-TV in Abilene/Sweetwater, Texas, among others.
Under Grayson's ownership, KVKM added two satellite stations: KWAB, and KAVE-TV (channel 6) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The latter station served as a KVKM/KMOM satellite from 1966 until 1976, when it was sold to Stanley Marsh 3 and converted to a satellite of KVIA-TVin El Paso, Texas. (KAVE is now KOCT, a satellite of KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico.)
However, Grayson Enterprises ran into license renewal trouble in 1968, 1971, 1974, and 1977 for some of its stations. These stations were accused of fraudulent billing, program and transmitter log fabrication, main studio violations, failure to make required technical tests, and other issues. The stations had their renewals deferred and hearings ordered as a result.
The case was settled in what was then described as a "distress sale", in which Grayson's stations were broken up and sold to minority-controlled groups (nowadays known as historically-underutilized groups) at a reduced price. The parameters of such a sale were defined by this sell-off. As a result, KMOM and KWAB were transferred to a Hispanic-controlled group, while KLBK and KTXS went to Prima, Inc. (whose principals were African American).
The station swapped affiliations with KMID-TV (channel 2) in 1981 and joined NBC. Simultaneous with the affiliation swap, channel 9 changed its call letters to KTPX-TV and moved its studio operations from Monahans to Midland, at a location near Midland International Airport. It became KWES-TV in 1993. (KTPX-TV is now assigned to the Ion Television affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma.)
Former owner Drewry Communications Group had planned to sell its stations to London Broadcasting in 2008[1]; however, by January 2009, the deal fell through.[2]
On August 10, 2015, Raycom Media announced they would be purchasing Drewry Communications for $160 million. The sale was completed on December 1, 2015.
KWAB
KWAB began operations in 1956 as KBST-TV, owned by the Big Spring Herald along with KBST radio (1490 AM). The station carried programming from all three networks; however, it was hampered by the presence of KMID-TV in Midland, which carried NBC and some ABC programming, and KOSA-TV (channel 7) in Odessa, which carried CBS, which limited KBST's network programming. Consequently, the station had little success. The radio station was eventually sold to the Snyder Corporation (co-owned by Ted Snyder, who later acquiredKARN in Little Rock, Arkansas, and B. Winston Wrinkle), while a half interest in KBST-TV was transferred to Dub Rogers' Texas Telecasting, owner of KDUB-TV in Lubbock (now KLBK-TV) and part-owner of KVER-TV in Clovis, New Mexico (now KVIH-TV). Rogers then changed the call letters of the station to KEDY-TV.
The studios and tower were located at the edge of Howard College campus at 2500 Kentucky Way. Local shows were produced on and off until the late 1960s. Otherwise, KEDY largely became a semi-satellite of KDUB. In 1961, Rogers sold his stations to Grayson Enterprises. Soon afterward, the station took its current KWAB callsign (for Webb Air Force Base), and switched from simulcasting KDUB to KPAR-TV (now KTXS-TV) in Sweetwater. However, both KDUB and KPAR were primarily affiliated with CBS (though KPAR also had a secondary ABC affiliation), resulting at times in KWAB duplicating KOSA. Soon after Grayson's acquisition of KVKM-TV, KWAB began to simulcast that station, alleviating the duplication.
For many years, the stations did some Big Spring production, most of which aired on a delayed basis. Today in Big Spring was recorded in Big Spring and fed back to the Midland studios over the company microwave system. This microwave link proved pivotal for KWES during the February 2008 Alon USA refinery explosion, allowing the station to provide live skycam images and live pictures in the hours immediately after the blast.
On-air staff
Current
Anchors
- Crystal Crews: 4, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor
- David Marino : 5, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor
- Pamela Hamm: 5 and 6 p.m. anchor
Reporters
- Victor Lopez: reporter
- Abby Reed: reporter
- Sarah Snyder: reporter
- Anayeli Ruiz: reporter
- Cierra Putman: reporter
- Geena Martinez: reporter
- Nick Lawton: reporter
- Alisha Leavelle: reporter
Meteorologists
- Tom Tefertiller: chief meteorologist
- Jessica Ryan: morning meteorologist
Sports
- Trevor Tankersley: sports director
- Lee Small: weekend sports anchor
Former on-air staff
- Antoinette Antonio: morning anchor/reporter (2003-2005; now at KOB-TV Albuquerque)
- Billy Churchwell: weekend anchor/reporter (2003-2005; now at KIII-TV Corpus Christi)
- Ty Fernandes: weekend anchor/reporter (2003-2006; now at WFTX-TV Ft. Myers)
- Jessica Garate: morning anchor/reporter (2002-2004; now at KRQE-TV Albuquerque)
- Jay Hendricks: sports anchor, evening anchor/reporter (1983-2006; now at KOSA-TV)
- Melissa Hendrix: evening anchor/reporter (199?-2002)
- Sara Holland: weekend meteorologist (2004-2006)
- Kurt Johnson: reporter (2005-2006)
- Toan Lam: reporter (2002-2003; now at KRON-TV San Francisco)
- Jeff Maher: weekend anchor/reporter (2004-2006; now at KOB-TV Albuquerque)
- Kurt Mueller: sunrise meteorologist (200?-2009)
- Hema Mullur: sunrise anchor/reporter (200?-2008; now at KFOX-TV El Paso)
- Stephanie Rivas: morning & evening anchor/reporter (199?-2005; now at KOSA-TV)
- Jacqueline Sit: reporter (2005-2007; now at KWTV-TV Oklahoma City)
- Shawndrea Thomas: reporter (2005-2006; now at WSYX/WTTE Columbus)
- Jordan Williams: morning & evening anchor/reporter (2003-2006; now at KRGV-TV Rio Grande Valley, TX)
- Camaron Abundes: weekend anchor/reporter (2007-2009; now at KRGV-TV Rio Grande Valley, TX)
News/station presentation
Newscast titles
- Eyewitness News (1980s-1993)
- NewsWest 9 (1993-present)
Station slogans
- We're Still The One, on TV-9 (1977-1978 and 1979-1980; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- We're The One You Can Turn To, TV-9 (1978-1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- You and Me and TV-9 (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- TV-9, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- We're TV-9, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- TV-9 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- TV-9, Let's All Be There! (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home to TV-9 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come on Home to TV-9 (1987-1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home To The Best, Only on TV-9 (1988-1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Covering News for All of West Texas (1990-1995)
- TV-9, The Place To Be! (1990-1992; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- It`s A Whole New TV-9 (1992-93; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- The Stars Are Back on KWES (1993-94; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- The Star of West Texas (1995-2005; general slogan)
- More News. More Often. (2005-2010; news slogan)
- More West Texas News. More Often. (2010-present; news slogan)
References
- ^ "London Broadcasting Acquires KWES-TV". KWES NewsWest 9. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ "London adds a market, leaves a crater". Television Business Report. January 16, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.