KRCR-TV

KRCR-TV, branded as NewsChannel 7, formerly known as Channel 7R, is a television station serving the towns of Redding and Chico and surrounding area in Northern California. Currently an affiliate of ABC and MeTV, the studios are located on Auditorium Drive in Redding, and the transmitter is on top of Shasta Bally, the tallest mountain in the Whiskeytown unit of the Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area.

KRCR also operates a satellite, KAEF-TV, which serves the cities of Eureka, Arcata, and surrounding area on California's North Coast.

History

The station was founded in 1956 as KVIP-TV by William B. Smullin of California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. (COBI), owners of KOBI in Medford, Oregon and KOTI Klamath Falls, Oregon as a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. By 1963, network emphasis had shifted towards ABC, as only the Saturday morning and Sunday night primetime schedules, a few daytime game shows and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson were carried in NBC's schedule pattern. The full ABC schedule was available by way of translators of Stockton's KOVR in Chico and Redding. Channel 7 became KRCR in 1963.