KQTV, virtual channel 2, is an ABC-affiliated television station, licensed to St. Joseph, Missouri. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter located at its studios near the intersection of Faraon St. and Woodbine Rd. in eastern St. Joseph. It is the only local commercial television station serving the St. Joseph market.

Current syndicated programming broadcast on KQTV includes Live with Kelly, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Friends. KQTV clears most ABC programs, with the exception of World News Now; it is one of the few remaining U.S. television stations that continues to sign off during the overnight hours, it does so nightly from 1:35 to 5 a.m.

On cable, KQTV is carried on Suddenlink channel 10 in standard definition and digital channel 610 in high definition (Kansas City ABC affiliate KMBC-TV is carried on Suddenlink as an alternate ABC affiliate on channel 9 in standard definition and digital channel 609 in high definition); the station is also carried on channel 2 on Dish Network and DirecTV.

Digital television [link]

KQTV began broadcasting its digital signal at 1000 kW on channel 53. However, since the high UHF band was located on a band of UHF which was due to be removed from the broadcast spectrum, it seemed likely that KQTV would return its digital signal to channel 2. However, low-band VHF signals are more prone to interference from atmospheric conditions than higher channel numbers. For this reason, KQTV switched to channel 7 that was vacated by KMBC-TV on February 18, 2009.

History [link]

This section requires expansion with: further information on the history of KQTV.

KQTV was founded in 1953 as KFEQ-TV. It was owned by local businessman Barton Pitts along with KFEQ radio. The station began as a primary CBS affiliate, and also carried programming from the DuMont Television Network. Shortly after DuMont shut down, the station picked up a secondary affiliation with ABC. It became a sole ABC affiliate in 1967. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[2]

Its landmark lattice steel transmission tower which also opened in 1953 is 750 feet (228.6 m) high and is often compared to the 1,042 foot (317.6 m) KCTV tower in Kansas City. Both towers were built at the same time and both stations began broadcasting on September 27, 1953. In the conversion to digital, its tower was truncated to 587 feet (179 m) on January 19, 2009.

Pitts sold KFEQ-AM-TV to a group headed by Bing Crosby in 1955. The Bradley family bought the stations in 1957. Panax Corporation bought the stations in 1963. The calls were changed to KQTV in 1969, after the two stations were sold off to separate owners.

Since 1990, the station has periodically used the marketing slogan "KQ2: That's My Station!" Nexstar acquired the station in April 1997.

Market status [link]

St. Joseph ranks 201st out of 210 media markets ranked by Nielsen Media Research; it serves several rural parts of northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri. However during the analog era, KQTV provided at least grade B coverage to much of Kansas City and Topeka. The channel 2 signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions; however its digital signal still has considerable penetration in Kansas City and Topeka.

The only other station licensed to St. Joseph is TBN partner station KTAJ-TV (channel 16), which primarily serves as the de facto TBN station for the Kansas City market. St. Joseph will receive a third station in the form of Fox affiliate KNPN-LD on June 2, 2012, created as the television flagship of St. Joseph News-Press owner News-Press & Gazette Company; it will also carry CW and Telemundo programming on two separate digital subchannels. A second license is also assigned to NPG, under the callsign K16KF-D, though its launch date and network affiliation is unknown.^[3][4][5]

Stations from Kansas City, Topeka and Omaha serve portions of the St. Joseph market over-the-air and are also available on some cable and satellite providers: Suddenlink, DirecTV and Dish Network carry Kansas City's WDAF-TV, KCTV and KSHB-TV as the area's respective default affiliates of Fox, CBS and NBC; The CW is covered by Suddenlink-operated CW Plus affiliate "WBJO", while Omaha's KXVO is the default CW affiliate for area DirecTV subscribers.

News operation [link]

KQTV broadcasts a total of 16 hours of local news per week (with three hours on weekdays, and 30 minutes each on Saturdays and Sundays); unlike most ABC affiliates in the Central time zone, it does not carry a midday newscast or a full two-hour long morning newscast on weekdays, or an early evening newscast on weekends. The station has a high turnover of broadcaster personnel, with most going on to bigger markets. Gordie Hershiser, brother of former Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser, was a sportscaster at this station; he followed longtime sports director John Baccala.

On August 24, 2007 KQTV marked long-time meteorologist Mike Bracciano's twentieth anniversary with the station. Current and former station personnel paid tribute to Bracciano during an hour-long broadcast originating from East Hills Mall. Among those appearing in person or via taped message were former news anchors John Bassford and Nancy Lewis and former sports director John Baccala. Lewis and Bracciano were the original hosts of the station's "Live at Five" which premiered in the early 1990s.

News/station presentation [link]

Newscast titles [link]

• KFEQ-TV News (1953–1962)
• The Midland Empire Report (6 p.m. newscast)/News Final (10 p.m. newscast; 1963–1972)
• KQ2 Newswatch (1972–1988)
• NewsTeam 2 (1988–1994)
• KQ2 News (1994–2000 and 2009–present)
• KQ2, Your Hometown News (2000–2009)

Station slogans [link]

• "Your Hometown News" (2000–2009; news slogan)
• "That's My Station" (2008–present; general slogan)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

On-air staff [link]

[edit] Current on-air staff^[6]

Anchors

• Bridget Blevins - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
• Nathan Byrne - weeknights at 5 p.m.
• Robert Lowrey - weekends at 10 p.m.; also reporter
• Kyle Martin - weekday mornings Hometown This Morning

Weather team

• Mike Bracciano - chief mteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• William Seay - meteorologist; weekday mornings Hometown This Morning
• Alan Van Zandt - weather anchor; weekends at 10 p.m.

Sports team

• Lance Snow - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Nathan Thomas - sports anchor; weekends at 10 p.m.

Reporters

• Alex Hassel - multimedia journalist
• Lourin Sprenger - general assignment reporter

References [link]

TV Guide 1970-1972

External links [link]

• StJoeChannel.com (Official Website)
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KQTV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KQTV-TV