KTEN

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KTEN
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = K-TEN
analog = 10 (VHF)
digital = 26 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = NBC (secondary until 1998)
The CW (DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate = June 1, 1954
location = Ada, Oklahoma/Sherman, Texas
callsign_meaning = Channel TEN
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Lockwood Broadcast Group
licensee = Channel 49 Acquisition Corporation
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ABC (1954-1998)
Fox (1994-1998)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 445 m (analog)
426 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 35666
coordinates = coord|34|21|32.8|N|96|33|32.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kten.com/ www.kten.com]

KTEN (also referred to as "K-TEN" or "KTEN News") is the NBC affiliate for the Sherman, Texas/Ada, Oklahoma television market. The station also carries the CW on its digital subchannel 10.2.

KTEN is licensed to Ada, but its main studio is in Denison, Texas. The station also has a bureau in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The station's television tower is located near the town of Wapanucka in Johnston County, Oklahoma.

History

KTEN signed on the air in 1954 as the first local television station to serve Texomaland. Channel 10, which in recent years has been the area's exclusive NBC affiliate, served as the area's ABC affiliate. This was very unusual for such a small market, as ABC was not on par with NBC and CBS at the time. It also carried a secondary NBC affiliation.

By the mid-1970s as arch-rival KXII, which operated from studios in Ardmore and Sherman, was switching its primary network affiliation from NBC to CBS, KTEN began adding a larger proportion of NBC programming to its schedule both daytime and primetime, even to the point of broadcasting both network's evening newscasts (ABC's at 5 p.m. and NBC's at 5:30 p.m.) in the hour preceding the local newscast at 6 p.m. for a number of years. KTEN even got national attention in 1983 when on NBC's Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Doc Severinsen (sitting in for Carson's sidekick Ed McMahon) welcomed KTEN as the newest station to broadcast the Tonight Show. This move was made after KXII, by this time down to just two NBC programs in its schedule, had switched to CBS's late night schedule in a move that eventually led that station toward an exclusive CBS affiliation in 1985.

By that time, KTEN was on its way to becoming a primary NBC affiliate but still carried a large proportion of ABC's schedule. Although KTEN's program schedule appeared to be headed toward an exclusive NBC affiliation by the early-to-mid 1990s, another network move was made along the way. In 1994, KTEN added the Fox network as another secondary affiliation just after that network had won the rights to broadcast NFL football previously seen on CBS for many years. The station was in bankruptcy at the time and gained additional network compensation (cash payments) from Fox. It also allowed KTEN the unique ability to show every single Dallas Cowboys game that was not on cable. The downside was that KTEN was becoming even more of a hybrid station with three network affiliations (NBC, ABC, and Fox) and even more confusing to viewers. By 1998, KTEN was out of bankruptcy and the new owners dropped the secondary affiliations with ABC and FOX to make Channel 10 Texomaland's exclusive NBC affiliate.

KTEN was originally based in Ada, and is still licensed to that city though the main studio has been located in Denison since 1986. Although KTEN and arch-rival KXII had theoretically been direct competitors for many years, the 75-mile difference in location between the two stations' transmitters (KTEN's at Ada and KXII's at Madill) created unequal over-the-air reception conditions with Channel 10's picture fair to poor in locations close to Channel 12's transmitter such as Ardmore, Madill and Durant and almost non-existent in some adjoining areas of Texas, while KXII-TV's over-the-air reception in Ada and surrounding areas was poor due to the northern fringe location of KXII's coverage. To become more equally competitive receptionwise, KTEN moved its transmitter from Ada to Bromide, Oklahoma in 1984 to provide better over-the-air reception to far Southern Oklahoma near the Red River and to reach across the river to the Sherman-Denison area and adjoining areas of North Texas including Gainesville, Bonham and Paris.

At some point in the mid-80s, KTEN took advantage of new FCC rules about translators providing localized content. KTEN opened a small bureau and studio for its Paris translator K08KK and began producing a brief news and weather program that would air during the 10pm news. This was discontinued after a few years due to a lack of advertiser support.

In 1985, KTEN added a second studio facility in Ardmore and the following year, opened a third studio in the Katy Depot in downtown Denison, that would also become the station's main studio complex. In 2002, KTEN moved its main studio from the Katy Depot to a new location on Highway 75 in Denison. The station's operations also include the secondary studio in Ardmore and a sales office in the station's former home city of Ada. In the Fall of 2006, its DT2 subcarrier began airing programming from the CW. The subchannel is known as Texoma CW. KTEN began producing a half-hour 9pm newscast for its CW channel on October 25, 2006.

KTEN also carries a DT3 which it broadcasts audio from the National Weather Service/NOAA while displaying various maps of parts of Oklahoma and Texas, using 4 of its nearest radars. These radars overlap the Sherman-Ada/Lake Texoma area which KTEN meteorologists use in their weather forecast presentations. (KTEN does not have access to any radars that are nearer to the location of their studios.)

Although KTEN broadcasts The CW on its digital subchannel and KXII broadcasts FOX and MyNetworkTV on both of its digital subchannels, the Ada-Sherman television market is the only market in the country with affiliates of NBC, CBS, FOX, The CW and MyNetworkTV, with the setback of not having a local ABC affiliate. ABC programming for the Sherman-Ada market is sourced from WFAA, in Dallas-Ft. Worth.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast titles

*"Area 10 News" (1974-1979)
*"The News on 10" (1979-1984)
*"News 10" (1984-1985)
*"Newscenter 10" (1985-1990)
*"KTEN News" (1990-present)

tation slogans

Current On-Air Talent

*NEWS ANCHORS

*SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS

Former On-Air Talent

External links

* [http://www.kten.com/ KTEN Homepage]
* [http://www.texomacw.com/ Texoma CW Website]
*TVQ|KTEN
*BIA|KTEN|TV|TV