KCDO-TV

KCDO-TV, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 23), is an independent television station serving Denver, Colorado, United States that is licensed to Sterling. The station is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, as part of a duopoly with Denver-licensed ABC affiliate KMGH-TV (channel 7). KCDO-TV's studios are located on South Jamaica Court in Aurora, and its transmitter is located in rural southwestern Morgan County, east of Frederick. Master control and most internal operations are based at KMGH-TV's studios on East Speer Boulevard in Denver's Congress Park neighborhood. There is no separate website for KCDO-TV; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station KMGH-TV.

"KTVS" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Television South, the former ITV franchisee for South East England.
For the television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico that formerly used this callsign, see KTVS-LD. For other uses, see TVS. For the television station in North Macedonia with similar branding, see K3 Television.
"KUPN" redirects here. For the television station in Las Vegas, Nevada that used the KUPN callsign from 1995 to 1998, see KSNV.
KCDO-TV
Sterling/Denver, Colorado
United States
CitySterling, Colorado
ChannelsDigital: 23 (UHF)
Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
BrandingLocal 3 (general)
Denver 7 News (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerE. W. Scripps Company
(Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC)
KMGH-TV, KZCO-LD, KOAA-TV
History
First air date
December 28, 1963 (1963-12-28)
Former call signs
KTVS (1963–2002)
KUPN (2002–2008)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
3 (VHF, 1963–2009)
  • Analog/DT1:
  • CBS (1963–1999)
  • UPN (1999–2006)
  • America One
  • (2006–2009)
  • RTV (2009–2010)
  • Independent (2010–2020)
  • Grit (2020–2021)
  • DT2:
  • HSN (until 2018)
  • 10.1:
  • Light TV (until 2021)[2]
Call sign meaning
ColoraDO
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID63158
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT402 m (1,319 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°2′1.2″N 103°56′18.9″W
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS

On cable, KCDO-TV is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 3 in the Denver market and is carried on cable providers in other cities across Northern Colorado.[3] The station also operates two digital fill-in translator stations on UHF channel 23 in Kimball, Nebraska and on UHF channel 34 in Sidney, Nebraska; its signal is also relayed on three other translator stations, K39KL-D (channel 39) in Akron, K22JL-D (channel 22) in Peetz and KSBS-CD (channel 10.1) in Denver.

History

The McCracken family, owners of CBS affiliate KFBC-TV (channel 5, now KGWN-TV) in Cheyenne, Wyoming, applied for a construction permit in February 1962 to build a television station on channel 3 in Sterling. The permit was granted a year later, and channel 3 came to air on December 28, 1963[4] as KTVS, operating it as a satellite station of KFBC.

In September 1999, Newsweb Corporation, operating under the licensee Channel 20 TV Company (CTTC), acquired KTVS from Benedek Broadcasting, then-owners of KGWN, with the intent of making KTVS a satellite of Newsweb's Denver UPN affiliate KTVD (channel 20, after which the Channel 20 TV Company received its name). It became one of very few satellite stations in the United States that predated the existence of the television station that its signal relayed, as KTVD had signed on in April 1988. On January 8, 2002, Channel 20 TV Company changed the station's call letters to KUPN, to reflect the UPN affiliation held by its parent station at the time.[5] CTTC sold KTVD to the Gannett Company in June 2006, but retained ownership of KUPN, converting it into an affiliate of America One.

On July 21, 2008, Channel 20 TV Company changed the station's call letters to KCDO.[5] To increase its signal coverage to reach a wider range of viewers, the station applied to build a new transmitter facility located southwest of Fort Morgan. The new location and increased transmitter power added most of the Denver metro area as well as Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland to the station's service area.[6] Construction on the new tower was completed in January 2010.[7] On December 31, 2008, satellite provider Dish Network began carrying KCDO on its lineup for subscribers in the Denver market. DirecTV also added the channel on January 28, 2009.

KCDO affiliated with the Retro Television Network in 2009.[8] The network was previously seen in Denver on KQDK-CA, before RTV severed its ties with Equity Media Holdings. For a time, the station also simulcast KGWN-TV's newscasts for the Colorado side of the Cheyenne market (carried by that station's second digital subchannel), branded as Northern Colorado 5 News, which was co-produced by KGWN and the Independent News Network.[7]

On November 1, 2010, KCDO dropped its affiliation with the Retro Television Network, in favor of converting into an independent station with a focus on locally produced programming.[9]

Sale to Scripps

On September 22, 2020, the E. W. Scripps Company announced it was buying KCDO-TV and KSBS-CD for an undisclosed price, pending approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); this would make them sister stations to ABC affiliate KMGH-TV (channel 7).[10] The sale was completed on November 20.[11]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
3.1720p16:9Local3Main KCDO-TV programming
3.2480iGrit SDGrit
7.1720pKMGH HDSimulcast of KMGH-TV / ABC
10.1480iLIGHTTheGrio TV
10.2THIS TVThis TV
10.34:3JTVJewelry Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

KCDO-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, 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 23.[12] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3.

Programming

Syndicated programs that were earlier broadcast by KCDO include Family Feud, Cheaters, The Jerry Springer Show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Impractical Jokers, among others, prior to Grit occupying KCDO's 3.1 virtual channel.

In early August 2020, KCDO replaced BUZZR programming with NewsNet. The PSIP Short Name continues to refer to BUZZR as does its programming guide.

KCDO-TV may air ABC network programming should it be preempted by KMGH-TV for long-form breaking news or severe weather coverage or other special programming.[13]

References
  1. RabbitEars TV Query for KCDO
  2. "KCDO Channel 3". Station Index. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  3. "Tiny Station Gets Major Carriage". Broadcasting & Cable. May 3, 2010.
  4. FCC History Cards for KCDO-TV
  5. "Call Sign History". FCC CDBS database. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  6. "Public Interest Statement". FCC CDBS database. 2008-06-02. pp. (Attachment 1). Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  7. La Porte, John (January 21, 2010). "TV station puts up new tower". Fort Morgan Times. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  8. "KCDO Denver Adding Retro TV Network". TVnewsday. May 7, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
  9. Ostrow, Joanne (October 19, 2010). "Channel 3 expands its local lineup with "Top Teens TV"". denverpost.com.
  10. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  11. "Consummation Notice", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, 23 November 2020, Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  13. "How to watch the Broncos-Bills and Notre Dame-Clemson games Saturday on Denver7". TheDenverChannel.com. KMGH-TV. December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
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