KXRM-TV
|
 | |
| Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colorado United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Branding |
Fox 21 (general) Fox 21 News Right Now (newscasts) SOCO CW (on DT2) |
| Slogan |
Southern Colorado's Nine O'Clock News Hour Telling It Like It Is |
| Channels |
Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 21 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels |
21.1 Fox 21.2 The CW 21.3 Ion Television 21.4 Escape |
| Affiliations | Fox (1986–present) |
| Owner |
Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | January 22, 1985 |
| Call letters' meaning | Extreme (X) Rocky Mountain |
| Sister station(s) | KXTU-LD |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 21 (UHF, 1985–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Primary: Independent (1985–1986) Secondary: UPN (1995–1999) DT2: The Tube (until 2007) RTV (2007–2008) |
| Transmitter power | 51 kW |
| Height | 641 m (2,103 ft) |
| Facility ID | 35991 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°44′42.9″N 104°51′41.9″W / 38.745250°N 104.861639°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website |
www |
KXRM-TV, virtual channel 21 (UHF digital channel 22), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States and also serving Pueblo. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is a sister station to low-powered CW affiliate KXTU-LD, channel 57 (which is simulcast on KXRM's second digital subchannel). The two stations share studios on Wooten Road in Colorado Springs; KXRM's transmitter is located on Cheyenne Mountain.
History
KXRM-TV first signed on the air as an independent television station on January 22, 1985. Its call letters were chosen in part to reflect the region in which it operates; the last two letters stand for "Rocky Mountains." The station tried to sign-on Christmas Eve 1984, but technical glitches prevented that from happening. KXRM was Southern Colorado's first new independent station in 31 years. It became a charter Fox affiliate on October 6, 1986. The station was locally owned until 2000 when it was bought by Raycom Media. After Raycom merged with the Liberty Corporation, KXRM was one of several stations that were spun off to Barrington Broadcasting.
On October 11, 2007, the station began airing programming from the Retro Television Network (RTV) on its second digital subchannel.[1] Previously, this aired The Tube (a 24-hour music channel) until the network suspended operations October 1. On September 15, 2008, KXRM replaced RTV programming on 21.2 with a simulcast of KXTU.[2] This signal increases KXTU's broadcasting radius; KXTU did not convert to digital until 2010, and even in digital, its coverage area is effectively limited to El Paso and Pueblo counties.
On February 28, 2013, Barrington Broadcasting announced the sale of its entire group, including KXRM-TV, to Sinclair Broadcast Group.[3] The sale was completed on November 25.[4] On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would sell KXRM-TV and KXTU-LD, along with WTTA in Tampa Bay, to Media General in a swap for WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, WLUK-TV and WCWF in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and WTGS in Savannah, Georgia. The swap is part of Media General's merger with LIN Media.[5][6] The sale was completed on December 19.[7] On January 27, 2016, it was announced that the Nexstar Broadcasting Group would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. KXRM will become part of "Nexstar Media Group" and would be Nexstar's second station in Colorado, joining Grand Junction's CBS affiliate KREX-TV.[8]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KXRM-DT | Main KXRM-TV programming / Fox |
| 21.2 | 480i | CW57 | Simulcast of KXTU-LD / The CW | |
| 21.3 | ION | Ion Television | ||
| 21.4 | 4:3 | Escape | Escape | |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KXRM-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 22.[10] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 21.
News operation
The station began airing a prime time newscast at 9 p.m. on March 11, 2001. KXRM established its own in-house news department in 2006 after previously having aired newscasts produced by KKTV. KXRM-TV became one of the initial group of independent television stations to agree to affiliate in 1987. The station hosts a four-hour morning show from 5–9 a.m. that has been recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association as one of the best morning shows in the market. Its weeknight prime time broadcast starts at 9:00 p.m. On January 20, 2016, a 10:00 p.m. newscast was added, and on the same day, Alison Mastrangelo (who was a reported with KXRM since June 2014) was promoted as Sports Anchor. Mastrangelo later joined KMGH in Denver as a sports reporter. Currently the Sports Director/Anchor is Ashley Giovanna.
In late September 2010, KXRM became the fourth station in Colorado Springs–Pueblo to start broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen.
In 2013, the Radio Television Digital News Association recognized KXRM with a National Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage of the Waldo Canyon Fire.[11]
References
- ↑ Three Markets Go Retro with Retro Television Network. Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
- ↑ KXRM takes KXTU under its digital wing. Springstvtalk.blogspot.com (2008-09-17). Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
- ↑ Malone, Michael (February 28, 2013). "Sinclair's Chesapeake TV Acquires Barrington Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ↑ "Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets". TVNewsCheck. August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Malone, Michael (August 20, 2014). "Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes on Certain Station Acquisitions and Divestitures with Media General Archived 2014-12-19 at the Wayback Machine., Press Release, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Retrieved 19 December 2014
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KXRM
- ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ↑ 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners. RTDNA. Retrieved on 2013-07-22.
