KPNX (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, United States, serving the Phoenix area as an affiliate of NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios at the Republic Media building on Van Buren Street in downtown Phoenix (which also houses formerly co-owned newspaper The Arizona Republic); its transmitter is located atop South Mountain on the city's south side.
KPNX is also broadcast on KNAZ-TV (channel 2) in Flagstaff, which formerly was a separate NBC affiliate, and a network of low-power translators across northern and central Arizona.
Channel 12 was the second TV station on the air in the Phoenix area, starting in 1953. Originally established in Mesa itself, it was acquired by Phoenix radio station KTAR (620 AM) in 1954 in a maneuver that ended a contest over channel 3 in Phoenix and was co-owned with that outlet for 25 years. It has been owned by Tegna and its predecessor, Gannett, since 1979, when it became KPNX.
History[]
The station first signed on the air on April 23, 1953, as KTYL-TV; it was originally owned by the Harkins Theatre Group, which also owned KTYL radio (1490 AM, now KIHP on 1310, and 104.7 FM, now KZZP). The station's original studios were located in the then-small town of Mesa. The station has been Phoenix's NBC affiliate since its sign-on. Previously, all four networks of the day were shoehorned on CBS primary affiliate KPHO-TV (channel 5). Channel 12 carried some programming from the DuMont Television Network (an affiliation that was shared with KPHO) until that network's demise in 1956.
John J. Louis, owner of KTAR radio (620 AM and 98.7 FM, now KMVP-FM), bought channel 12 in 1955 and changed its call letters to KVAR. It would have been KTAR-TV, but at the time Federal Communications Commission regulations did not allow a television station to have the same call letters as a sister radio station if they were licensed in different cities. When regulations were loosened in 1959, channel 12 changed its callsign again to KTAR-TV. Soon afterward, the station moved to a new studio on Central Avenue in Phoenix, after the FCC began permitting television stations to operate their studio facilities outside of their city of license. For much of the next half-century, the station identified as "Phoenix/Mesa," even though under FCC regulations it should have identified as "Mesa/Phoenix."
Over the years, the Louis family bought several other broadcasting outlets, including WQXI-TV (now WXIA-TV) in Atlanta and WPTA-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Eventually, the Louis family's broadcasting interests became known as Pacific & Southern Broadcasting, headquartered in Phoenix with KTAR-AM-FM-TV as the company's flagship stations.
Phoenix advertising mogul Karl Eller bought Pacific & Southern Broadcasting in 1968 and combined it with his existing business to form Combined Communications. Eller was also one of the original founding owners of the city's first major professional sports team, the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns. Channel 12 carried Suns games from the team's 1968 inception until the 1980s, when the game telecasts moved to then-independent station KNXV-TV (channel 15).
KTAR-TV was the Phoenix pioneer of the so-called "happy talk" news format when it reformatted its newscasts under the Action News format in late 1973, with longtime anchor Ray Thompson paired alongside Bob Hughes, weatherman Dewey Hopper (most recently with Air America Radio affiliate KPHX, and a longtime weather forecaster in Sacramento) and sportscaster Ted Brown.
Combined Communications merged with Gannett in 1979, in what was at that time the largest media merger in United States history. Combined's ownership of the KTAR stations had been grandfathered earlier in the decade, when the FCC forbade common ownership of television and radio stations in the same market. However, with the Gannett merger, the KTAR cluster lost its grandfathered protection. Gannett opted to keep channel 12 and sell off the radio stations. The station then changed its callsign to KPNX on June 4, 1979 since the radio properties had held the KTAR call letters first (the change was due to an FCC rule in effect then that prohibited TV and stations in the same city, but with different owners from sharing the same call letters).
The station had placed third in the Nielsen ratings for many years behind ABC affiliate KTVK (channel 3) and CBS affiliate KTSP (channel 10, now Fox owned-and-operated station KSAZ-TV). That soon changed in December 1994, when four of the major English-language commercial stations in Phoenix all changed their network affiliations. Coupled with a resurgent NBC, KPNX surged past KTVK to the top of the ratings, where it has remained ever since, only wavering as NBC experienced its own ratings troubles from 2004 to 2014. As it retained its NBC affiliation while KPHO, KTVK, KSAZ-TV and KNXV all swapped affiliations (ABC from KTVK to KNXV, CBS from KSAZ to KPHO and Fox from KNXV to KSAZ with KTVK becoming an independent station after a nominal affiliation with The WB), KPNX is the only major English-language commercial television station in Phoenix to have never changed its primary network affiliation.
In 2000, Gannett merged with Central Newspapers, owner of The Arizona Republic. As the FCC forbids the common ownership of newspapers and television stations in the same market, Gannett would have been forced to sell off either KPNX or the Republic, however the FCC granted Gannett a "permanent" waiver to keep both media properties. Gannett's ownership of KPNX and the Republic was a factor in their acquisition of the Belo Corporation, owner of KTVK and KASW, in 2013; Belo's Phoenix properties had to be divested to the Meredith Corporation and SagamoreHill Broadcasting (KASW has since been sold to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group). With Gannett splitting its publishing and broadcasting interests, this will not be an issue in the future.
In January 2011, KPNX left its longtime home on Central Avenue and consolidated its operations with the Republic at the Republic Media Building on East Van Buren Street in downtown Phoenix, with the station's local newscasts broadcasting from a streetside studio. The Central Avenue facility was then significantly renovated and became the Parsons Center for Health and Wellness (in part via a major grant from local business entrepreneur Bob Parsons), the headquarters complex for the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS.
Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered a dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper DVRs. Gannett ordered that Dish discontinue AutoHop on the account that it is affecting local advertising revenues for KPNX (and, to a lesser extent, the Republic). Gannett threatened to pull all of its stations (including KPNX) should the skirmish continue beyond October 7 and Dish and Gannett fail to reach an agreement. The two parties eventually reached an agreement after extending the deadline for a few hours.
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. KPNX was retained by the broadcasting company, which took the name Tegna.
Early years[]
On November 1, 1952, Harkins Broadcasting, Inc. filed an application to build a new television station on channel 12 in Mesa, Arizona. Harkins Broadcasting was a joint venture of two movie theater operators, Harkins Theatres and Harry Nace, and owned Mesa radio stations KTYL (1310 AM) and KTYL-FM 104.7. The Federal Communications Commission granted the construction permit on February 18, 1953. At the end of March 1953, the city of Phoenix's parks board approved a South Mountain transmitter, reversing an earlier decision that would have denied television stations not licensed to Phoenix the use of the site and which was protested by television set owners who wanted to be assured reception of all stations from one site.
With the site approved by the FCC and the city of Phoenix, construction began nearly immediately. Much of the studio equipment, installed at an expansion to the KTYL facilities on Main Street in Mesa, was already on hand. The station began broadcasting on May 2, with its introductory program being a 19-hour telethon to benefit United Cerebral Palsy. An NBC affiliate from the outset, the station briefly maintained a Phoenix office which closed just two months after launch.
Lurking under the embryonic Phoenix television landscape was the absence of one of the state's pioneer radio stations. In 1948, KTAR (620 AM) had filed for Phoenix's channel 3, only to see the FCC plunge television applications into a four-year-long freeze. As early as 1945, KTAR had arranged for exclusive rights to the South Mountain space that would later be used by all of the Phoenix TV stations as a transmitter site—a concession that was overturned in the run-up to KTYL-TV's launch. When the freeze was lifted in 1952, KTAR declared it would be on the air within three months of a construction permit grant, having already selected a site for and broken ground on a proposed television and radio studio at Central Avenue and Portland Street and contracted for equipment to furnish it. It was speculated that KPHO-TV owner Meredith Corporation—whose station was the only pre-freeze outlet in the state—might have decided to let KTYL-TV have NBC because of the sense that, as soon as KTAR won a television station, it would sign up with NBC, mirroring the radio station.
However, KTAR's channel 3 picture became cloudy in February 1953, just as the FCC was about to hand down a decision. A new applicant, the Arizona Television Company, filed for the channel. This applicant added a major power broker to its ranks months later: Ernest McFarland, former senator and soon to be governor. In February 1954, hearings were held on the channel 3 assignment.
The channel 3 contest ended in April 1954, when KTAR announced it would buy KTYL-TV for $250,000, a decision that cleared the way for the Arizona Television Company to build KTVK. In announcing the purchase, KTAR owner John J. Louis explained that he wanted to bring KTAR television to the Phoenix area without going through hearings.
When the sale closed in July 1954, KTYL-TV became KVAR; immediately, KTAR-purchased equipment was added to the studios, which were then moved to Phoenix in 1956 over KTVK's objection; the station was also allowed to identify as "Phoenix/Mesa" in 1958. In 1960, a new tower and maximum-power transmitter were commissioned; the prior facility was then sold to Arizona State University and used to launch educational station KAET on channel 8 in 1961. In April 1961, the call sign was changed to KTAR-TV, which had not been previously available to the television station because it was licensed to a different location from the radio station.
Growth[]
In 1968, the Louis family's KTAR and Eller Outdoor Advertising, owned by Karl Eller, merged into Combined Communications Corporation. Combined then grew into owning other television and radio stations and owned a full complement of seven by 1974, when it merged with Pacific & Southern Broadcasting Company.
In 1978, Combined Communications agreed to merge with the Gannett Company. The merged company opted to retain channel 12 and divest the Phoenix radio stations; Combined's ownership of the KTAR stations had been grandfathered earlier in the decade when the FCC forbade common ownership of television and radio stations in top-50 markets, but with the Gannett merger, the KTAR cluster lost its grandfathered protection. The radio stations were traded to Pulitzer Broadcasting in 1979 for KSD radio in St. Louis and $2 million. KTAR-TV then changed its call sign to KPNX on June 4, 1979, since the radio properties had held the KTAR call letters first; at the time, broadcast stations with different owners could not share the same call letters.
From 1977 to 1995, KPNX was run by general manager C.E. "Pep" Cooney, who also did on-air editorials; he then became a senior vice president of Gannett for several years prior to his retirement in 1998. In 1985, it was the first Phoenix TV station to broadcast in stereo.
The fact that KPNX was the only Phoenix station unaffected by a major realignment of network affiliations in 1994 and 1995 fueled a run of success for KPNX and its news department that lasted more than a decade. In 2005, the station had the highest revenue of any in Phoenix: $75 million, representing almost 20 percent of the market.
Newspaper co-ownership[]
In 2000, Gannett merged with Central Newspapers, owner of The Arizona Republic, in the second-largest newspaper deal ever at the time. While the FCC barred the common ownership of newspapers and television stations in the same market, Gannett successfully banked on a potential rule change; even as written at the time before being relaxed in 2003, the issue would not have been pressed until KPNX's license came up for renewal in 2006. With Gannett owning the then-number one station in Phoenix and the state's largest newspaper, the two merged their websites in 2001.
In January 2011, KPNX left its longtime home on Central Avenue and consolidated its operations with The Republic at the Republic Media Building on East Van Buren Street in downtown Phoenix, with the station's local newscasts broadcasting from a streetside studio. The Central Avenue facility was then significantly renovated and became the Parsons Center for Health and Wellness, the headquarters complex for the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS.
Tegna ownership[]
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. KPNX was retained by the broadcasting company, which took the name Tegna. KPNX and The Republic continue to operate in the same building as separate entities; as a consequence of the split, KPNX regained a separate website, having shared azcentral.com with the newspaper.
Local programming[]
News operation[]
KPNX presently broadcasts 29 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 4½ hours each weekday, 3½ hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays). For nearly four decades, the station had placed third in the Nielsen ratings for many years behind ABC affiliate KTVK (channel 3) and CBS affiliate KTSP (channel 10, now Fox owned-and-operated station KSAZ-TV). That soon changed in December 1994, when four of the major English-language commercial stations in Phoenix all changed their network affiliations. Coupled with a resurgent NBC, KPNX surged past KTVK to the top of the ratings, where it has remained ever since, only wavering as NBC experienced its own ratings troubles from 2004 to 2014. KPNX's newscasts are among the highest-rated local newscasts in Arizona during evening timeslots,[citation needed] with newscasts during that time period having dominated ratings for several years, particularly since the 1994 affiliation switches.
KTAR-TV was the Phoenix pioneer of the so-called "happy talk" news format when it reformatted its newscasts under the Action News format in late 1973, with longtime anchor Ray Thompson paired alongside Bob Hughes, weatherman Dewey Hopper (most recently with Air America Radio affiliate KPHX, and a longtime weather forecaster in Sacramento) and sportscaster Ted Brown.
On March 1, 2009, KPNX began to share a news helicopter operated by Helicopters Inc., as part of a Local News Service agreement with KPHO-TV and KTVK; the helicopter is named "News Chopper 20", as a combination of the over-the-air virtual channel numbers of the three stations (3, 5 and 12). In November 2009, KPNX's newscasts were beaten by KPHO in the ratings at 10 p.m., ending 50 consecutive sweeps victories in the timeslot (dating back to 1996) as the latter's ratings increased due to CBS' strong primetime lineup. KPNX, traditionally known as a very news-intensive station, went through a period of transition when nearly all of its tenured reporters left.
Newscasts[]
KTAR-TV was the Phoenix pioneer of the so-called "happy talk" news format when it reformatted its newscasts under the Action News format in late 1973, with longtime anchor Ray Thompson paired alongside Bob Hughes, weatherman Dewey Hopper (last with Air America Radio affiliate KPHX and a longtime weather forecaster in Sacramento) and sportscaster Ted Brown. By 1980, the station had moved into a solid second-place position behind KOOL-TV. The "Action News" moniker was dropped in 1986. KTVK's rise in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a more competitive environment.
In 1994, KPNX was the only station unaffected by a major realignment of network affiliations in the Phoenix market. This status and the strength of NBC in the late 1990s helped to catalyze a decade of ratings success for channel 12, which put together nearly 50 consecutive ratings book wins at 10 p.m. from 1996 to 2007, even while NBC's ratings faltered toward the end of the run. It was the first station in the state to convert its news production to high definition in 2006.
Channel 12 began using a helicopter in 1978; it was the market's second, and it was piloted by Jerry Foster, who was hired from KOOL-TV. "Sky 12" was frequently called upon for search and rescue missions, and Foster received a Harmon Trophy in 1981. He left KPNX in 1988 and later worked at KTVK, his career ending when he was indicted on methamphetamine charges in 1996. On March 1, 2009, KPNX began to share a news helicopter operated by Helicopters Inc., as part of an agreement with KPHO-TV and KTVK; the helicopter was named "News Chopper 20", as a combination of the channel numbers of the three stations (3, 5 and 12). All four Phoenix television newsrooms now share a helicopter.
Sports programming[]
Karl Eller, who owned the company that became Combined Communications, was also one of the original founding owners of the city's first major professional sports team, the NBA's Phoenix Suns. Channel 12 carried Suns games from the team's 1968 inception until 1973; KPHO-TV aired the Suns for six seasons until they returned to KPNX from 1979 to 1985, when the game telecasts moved to then-independent station KNXV-TV.
In 2017, KPNX acquired the rights to preseason games of the Arizona Cardinals and also began airing team-oriented programming.
Newscast titles[]
- News 90 (5 and 6pm newscasts, 1960s-1970s)
- The World Today
- The Ray Thompson News
- News 12 (1971–1973)
- Action News (1973–1986)
- Channel 12 News (1986–1990)
- 12 News (1990–present)
Station slogans[]
- Arizona's Full Color Station (1960s)
- You Get More News on 12 (1970-?)
- Action News is Everywhere (1978-1979)
- Channel 12, Proud as a Peacock! (1979–1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- It's All Right Here (1979–1983)
- Hello Phoenix / Hello Arizona (1980s–1986; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
- Channel 12 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Channel 12, Let's All Be There (198?-198?; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home to Channel 12 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- We're Going Where You're Going (1986–?)
- Come on Home to Channel 12 (1987–1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home to the Best, Only on Channel 12 (1988–1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- KPNX, The Place to Be! (1990–1992; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Real Life, Real News (1990–1993)
- It's A Whole New Channel 12 (1992-1993; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Arizona's News Station (1993–1990s)
- The Stars Are Back on Channel 12 (1993-1994; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Arizona's Most Watched Station (1990s–2004)
- 12 Stands for Local News (2000?–2008)
- Arizona's #1 Source for Local News (2004–2008)
- The Leader in HD (2006–2012)
- It's All on 12 News (2008–2012)
- Connecting Arizona (2012–?)
- This is Home (2013–?)
- Everything Arizona (?–present)
Notable former on-air staff[]
- Pat Finn – host of Finn & Friends (1989–1990; later host of The Joker's Wild, Shop 'til You Drop and California Lottery's The Big Spin)
- Jineane Ford – anchor (1991–2007; most recently anchored Arizona Midday, still fills in as Arizona Midday anchor)
- Sean McLaughlin – chief meteorologist (1992–2004; moved at first to MSNBC/NBC Weather Plus, now primary anchor at KPHO-TV)
- Fred Roggin – sports anchor (late 1970s; now at KNBC in Los Angeles)
- Ric Romero – investigative reporter (1980s, later KABC-TV, now retired)
- Mary Kim Titla – reporter (1993–2005; publisher of Native Youth Magazine online; unsuccessfully sought Congressional seat in 2008)
- Rick DeBruhl – Reporter (1978–2009) Formerly a motorsports announcer with ESPN. Currently working for Motor Trend Group.
Technical information[]
Subchannels[]
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KPNX-HD | Main KPNX programming / NBC |
| 12.2 | 480i | ShopLC | Shop LC | |
| 12.3 | Crime | True Crime Network | ||
| 12.4 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 12.5 | Twist | Twist |
On July 8, 2021—the same date that KPNX moved to UHF—the station's ATSC 3.0 signal also moved from the low-power KFPH-CD multiplex to KASW. As part of a simultaneous rebalancing of KASW's subchannels, KASW's subchannel of Grit was moved to the KPNX multiplex.
Former Subchannels[]
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KPNX-HD | Main KPNX programming / NBC |
| 12.2 | 480i | Weather | 12 News Weather | |
| 12.3 | Crime | True Crime Network | ||
| 12.4 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 12.5 | Twist | Twist |
Analog-to-digital conversion[]
In 1997, the FCC allocated UHF channel 36 as KPNX's companion digital channel, construction on the digital transmitter began the following year. KPNX signed on its digital signal in June 2000. KPNX shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, at 10:12 p.m. (during the station's 10 p.m. newscast) 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. At 10:38 p.m. on that date, the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 36 to VHF channel 12.
In 2021, the FCC approved KPNX's move from VHF channel 12 to UHF channel 18, which went into effect on July 8.
External links[]
| TV stations in Arizona |
|---|
| KPNX/KNAZ, Mesa/Flagstaff |
| TV stations in Phoenix metropolitan area |
|---|
| KNAZ 2 (NBC) KTVK 3 (Ind) KPHO 5 (CBS) KMOH 6 (AZA) KAZT 7 (Ind) KAET 8 (PBS) KSAZ 10 (Fox) KDTP 11 (Daystar) KPNX 12 (NBC) KFPH 13 (UMas) KNXV 15 (ABC) K18DD-D 18 (Evine) K19FD 19 (Hope) KPAZ 21 (TBN) KTVP-LD 22 (3ABN/Hope/LLBN) K18JL-D 25 (AFTV) KTVW 33 (UNI) KKAX-LP 36 (Youtoo) K38IZ-D 38 (Ind) KTAZ 39 (TLM) KEJR-LD 40 (AZA) KPDF-CD 41 (Rel) KVPA-LD 42 (ESTRELLA) KPHE-LD 44 (LATV) KUTP 45 (MNTV) KDPH-LP 48 (Daystar) KFPB-LD 50 (Nuestra) KPPX 51 (Ion) KASW 61 (CW) |