KTTU (TV)

KTTU is a full-service television station in Tucson, Arizona, broadcasting digitally on UHF channel 19 (18.1) as a MyNetworkTV affiliate. Founded March 21, 1983, the station is owned by Tucker Operating Co., LLC, and is operated under a shared services agreement by Raycom Media. KTTU carries MyNetworkTV programming during its prime time hours, and may carry Fox network programs when preempted by KMSB in the event of a local special or an emergency such as a breaking news story.

History

KTTU was granted a construction permit on March 21, 1983 and went on the air on December 31, 1984 as KDTU, a family-friendly independent station under the ownership of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. Its call letters meant K Diocese of TUcson, its first owner. Its programming consisted of the typical independent station fare: cartoons, old sitcoms and dramas, old movies, and sports. KDTU was home for Notre Dame, Marquette and DePaul college basketball broadcasts, a reflection of their ownership by the Roman Catholic Diocese. It was one of two UHF independent stations that signed on the air around the same time in the Tucson market (the other was KPOL Channel 40, now Telemundo O&O KHRR). KDTU offered only half an hour a day of religious programming except on Sunday, when they offered several hours. In spite of being owned by a religious organization, KDTU offered the second least amount of religious programming of all the commercial stations in the market.