KTUU-TV

KTUU-TV is an NBC affiliated television station serving Anchorage, Alaska. The station is owned by Schurz Communications of South Bend, Indiana. The station is broadcast over the air on digital channel 10; on the local cable TV system, GCI on standard cable channel 2 and high-definition cable channel 652. KTUU is also available on DIRECTV and DISH Network for the Anchorage television market. Its over-the-air transmitter is located in Knik, Alaska, while its studios are located near the intersection of East Tudor Road and Old Seward Highway in Anchorage.

History

KTUU is one of Alaska's first two TV stations to sign on in the state (KTVA is the other), signing on October 16, 1953 as KFIA. It became KENI-TV in 1955, and then KTUU on June 10, 1981.

On September 19, 1966, channel 2 became the first station in Alaska to transmit in color (NTSC) when it aired the premiere episode of the ABC situation comedy That Girl (entitled "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"). The station had joint primary affiliation with NBC and ABC (with KTVA picking up some of the slack) until October 1, 1967 when it switched to ABC primary and NBC secondary, primarily because ABC had more programs on film. Channel 2 became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1970 when KHAR (now KYUR) took the NBC affiliation. The two stations switched networks in October 1971, at which time KHAR became KIMO. Channel 2 also carried a few PBS programs (particularly The Electric Company) until KAKM signed on in 1975. Until KTVF in Fairbanks switched networks from CBS to NBC in April 1996, KTUU was the only full-time NBC affiliate in Alaska, clearing every network program.