KBSH-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KBSH-TV
(satellite of KWCH-TV, Wichita, Kansas)
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = KBSH 7
analog = 7 (VHF)
digital = 20 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
Weather (on DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate = September 1958 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says September 1, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says September 2.]
location = Hays/Great Bend/Salina, Kansas
callsign_meaning = Kansas
Broadcasting
System
Hays
former_callsigns = KAYS-TV (1958-1989)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Schurz Communications, Inc.
licensee = Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc.
sister_stations = KWCH
KSCW
former_affiliations = ABC (secondary)
effective_radiated_power = 112 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 216 m (both)
class =
facility_id = 66415
coordinates = coord|38|53|0.9|N|99|20|15.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kwch.com/ www.kwch.com]

KBSH channel 7 is a CBS affiliate based in Hays, Kansas and serves the Central Kansas portion of the Wichita TV market. It is owned by Schurz Communications.

KBSH is part of the Kansas Broadcasting System (KBS) network of CBS affiliates, repeating the signal of KWCH-TV in Wichita, Kansas, with local advertising and news inserts.

Early in its history, KBSH (as KAYS) and its sister, KBSL (as KLOE), Goodland, were also secondary ABC affiliates. Most of the ABC programming late in that agreement tended to be news and sports programming. ABC is now brought to the area via KAKE-TV through either low-power translators or cable TV.

KBSH is the youngest of the Kansas Broadcast System stations, signing on for the first time on September 2, 1959 as KAYS-TV. The station faced stiff opposition from the already established KCKT-TV in Great Bend, which was carrying the NBC lineup in consort with its sister station KGLD at Garden City (later, these stations would become KSNC and KSNG, part of the rival Kansas State Network). KAYS was co-located with KAYS Radio and, under Beach/Schmidt ownership, KAYS-AM/TV became a dominant force in West Central Kansas broadcasting.

KAYS provided daily news coverage from its Hall Street studios, and also served as the Master Control center for sister KLOE-TV in Goodland through much of the late 80's and 1990s. The full daily newscast continued until the late 1990s when new ownership brought consolidation to the Kansas Broadcasting System: KBSH's evening newscasts were reduced to a short insert in the main newscast from KWCH at Wichita.

In 2001, the news insert came to an end. The two reporter/photographers stationed at KBSH began sending their stories to Wichita to be incorporated into the "Eyewitness News" programs seen simultaneously in Wichita, Hays, Goodland and Dodge City/Ensign. The local broadcast operation was reduced even further in 2005 when KBS inaugurated a new digital automation system in Wichita, providing commercial scheduling and Master Control operations to all four KBS stations.

Today, KBSH-TV maintains a news bureau and sales office in the same Hall Street location in Hays that it has occupied almost since the beginning. And, even though they've not shared common ownership for almost two decades, KAYS-AM still shares its home with Channel 7 (along with a cluster now known as Eagle Radio of Hays.

On April 6, 2006, previous owner Media General announced that, in addition to acquiring four NBC owned-and-operated stations, Media General will be selling four of its TV stations. KWCH (including its satellites, which all count as one station) was one of them [http://www.media-general.com/press/2006/april6_06.htm] ; a deal has been made for them to be sold to Schurz, who completed the acquisition on September 25 2006. [http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6357398.html?display=Breaking+News] [http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2006/sep25_06.html]

External links

* [http://www.kwch.com/ KWCH Homepage (follow links for KBSH 7)]
*TVQ|KBSH
*BIA|KBSH|TV|TV

References