KIDY, virtual channel 6 (UHF digital channel 19), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to San Angelo, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. KIDY's studios are located on South Chadbourne Street in San Angelo, and its transmitter is located in rural northwestern Tom Green County (east of Grape Creek). The station also handles master control and some internal operations for sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KXVA in Abilene.
History[]
The station first signed on the air on May 12, 1984, originally operating as an independent station which also carried business news programming from the Financial News Network until 1985. KIDY became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company on October 9, 1986, back then, Fox only carried a late night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. It wasn't until April 5, 1987 when the network expanded its programming to prime time. In the late 1990s, KIDY began branding as "Fox 10," in reference to the station's channel position in the area cable providers (including Suddenlink Communications); the station's branding was changed to "KIDY Fox San Angelo" in 2007. In 2008, KIDY was purchased by Bayou City Broadcasting in a group deal for approximately $3 million.
On September 27, 2012, Bayou City Broadcasting announced an agreement to sell KXVA and its seven other television stations to Dallas-based London Broadcasting Company (the sale price initially was not disclosed). The sale marked a temporary exit from the broadcasting industry for the company's owner DuJuan McCoy, who planned on refocusing his company to acquire major network affiliates in mid-sized markets larger than San Angelo and Abilene. The FCC granted its approval of the sale on November 14. The sale was completed on December 31.
On May 14, 2014, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire KIDY and five other London Broadcasting stations for $215 million. Gannett CEO Gracia Martore touted that the acquisition would give the company a presence in several fast-growing markets, and opportunities for local advertisers to leverage its digital marketing platform. Both KIDY and Abilene sister station KXVA will be the first Fox affiliates to be owned by Gannett outright; the company had acquired KMSB in Tucson from Belo (as part of a group deal that also included stations in four other Texas markets, Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio) in 2013—however, KMSB is operated by Gray Television (owner of that market's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV) under a shared services agreement that was established in 2012 between Belo and KOLD's then-owner Raycom Media, and Gannett could not directly own the station's license due to newspaper cross-ownership restrictions. The sale was completed on July 8. 13 months later, on June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KIDY was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.