KTTU-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KTTU-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = MyTucsonTV
analog = 18 (UHF)
digital = 19 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = MyNetworkTV
4Kids TV
network =
founded =
airdate = December 31, 1984
location = Tucson, Arizona
callsign_meaning = variation on old calls
-or-
Television TUcson
former_callsigns = KDTU (1984-1989)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Belo Corporation
licensee = KTTU-TV, Inc.
sister_stations = KMSB-TV
former_affiliations = independent (1984-1995)
UPN (1995-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 2510 kW (analog)
480 kW (digital)
HAAT = 600 m (analog)
1123 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 11908
coordinates = coord|32|14|55.7|N|111|7|0.3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|32|24|55.8|N|110|42|51.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://www.kttu.com/ www.kttu.com]

KTTU-TV is a full-service television station in Tucson, Arizona, broadcasting locally in analog on UHF channel 18 and in digital on UHF channel 19 (18.1) as a MyNetworkTV affiliate. Founded March 21 1983, the station is owned by Belo Corp.

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.citation |title=New Tucson TV Stations |newspaper=Casa Grande Dispatch |page=p. 13 |date=1984-12-31] 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.

Most markets the size of Tucson only supported one commercial independent while Tucson had three. KDTU was not profitable and the Diocese put the station up for sale in 1988. In 1989, they sold the station to Clear Channel Communications, then a small but growing media owner. Clear Channel changed the call letters to KTTU. The programming only changed slightly while presentation became more modern, In spite of the fact that channel 40 went dark and Tucson was down to two commercial independents (including Fox 11), KTTU continued to be unprofitable. Clear Channel decided to focus on their other markets and in radio so they opted to enter into a local marketing agreement with KMSB-TV channel 11, the affiliate of the then-new Fox Broadcasting Company. KTTU would shut down their broadcast facilities altogether. KMSB would then buy their programming and move KTTU's studios in with KMSB. They continued to program KTTU with separate programming but shows could move from station to station at any time. KMSB's owners would program and operate KTTU and even own their equipment while Clear Channel still held the broadcast license.

1995 brought UPN to KTTU, and two years later, Belo Corporation purchased KMSB from the Providence Journal Company. Belo continued to operate KTTU through a limited marketing agreement until 2002, when federal ownership laws were relaxed, and Belo purchased the license from Clear Channel.

In January 2006, UPN and The WB Television Network announced that they would cease operations and would combine forces to launch a new network, to be called The CW Television Network. Shortly afterward, Fox announced that it would form a new network of its own, to be called My Network TV. KTTU, the UPN affiliate, and KWBA, the WB affiliate in Tucson, were both losing their affiliations, and it was unknown which station would affiliate with which network, if at all. On March 21, 2006, KWBA was announced as the market's CW affiliate, and two days later, Belo announced that KTTU would the MyNetwork affiliate. [cite web |url=http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=383690 |title=MyNetworkTV and Belo Corp. Enter Into Affiliation Agreement for KTTU-TV/Tucson |work=Finanzen.net |date=2006-03-24 |accessdate=2006-03-25]

Programming

KTTU carries MyNetwork TV 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.

Digital television

KTTU was granted a construction permit to build its digital facilities on UHF channel 19 on October 11 2001. Originally to be co-located with its analog facilities on Towers Peak, the station requested to move its facilities to the Mount Bigelow electronics site. The request was granted, and the station's digital facilities began operating in late September 2003, and was licensed January 6 2004. KTTU has elected to remain on channel 19 after the analog shut-off date, February 17 2009.

References

External links

* [http://www.kttu.com/ KTTU Website]
*TVQ|KTTU
*BIA|KTTU|TV|TV
*TitanTV|KTTU