CBS affiliate in Springfield, Missouri
KOLR (channel 10) is a television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of MyNetworkTV affiliate KOZL-TV (channel 27) and Osage Beach–licensed Fox affiliate KRBK (channel 49), for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios on East Division Street in Springfield, while KOLR's transmitter is located on Switchgrass Road, north of Fordland.
KOLR is the third-oldest television station in Missouri and the oldest in the southwest portion of the state. It began broadcasting on March 15, 1953, as KTTS-TV, the television extension of KTTS radio and a CBS affiliate. The station changed its call sign from KTTS-TV to KOLR in 1971, in preparation for a sale of the radio portion of the business. Independent Broadcasting Company, the original and local owners, sold KOLR in 1999 to VHR Broadcasting, which entered into an agreement with channel 27 to combine facilities and sales staffs, among other resources. Nexstar became the operator in 2003 when it bought channel 27's owner, Quorum Broadcasting; simultaneously, Mission acquired KOLR. The station has long been a distant second-place finisher to KYTV in local news ratings in the market.
History
Early years
On July 25, 1952, the Independent Broadcasting Company, owners of Springfield radio stations KTTS (1400 AM) and KTTS-FM 94.7, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking permission to build a station on channel 10 in the city.[2] No other group sought channel 10, and the FCC granted the construction permit to Independent Broadcasting on October 9; ownership promised that KTTS-TV would be on air within six to eight months.[3] The application was approved with such speed that The Spectator column in the Springfield News & Leader claimed KTTS was almost "caught with its video down", but plans quickly emerged. KTTS expanded its existing quarters in the Chamber of Commerce Building downtown, moving radio operations into the first floor while devoting the second floor to television.[4] It signed affiliation agreements with CBS and the DuMont Television Network.[5] The initial antenna setup was temporary, intended to be relocated to a higher tower at a later date.[6]
KTTS-TV began broadcasting on March 15, 1953, as the third television station in Missouri after WDAF-TV in Kansas City and KSD-TV in St. Louis.[7] All of its programs were filmed network shows until March 29, when news editor Don Meyer delivered the station's first local newscast.[8] Shortly after going on the air, Independent Broadcasting announced it had purchased land on Division Street for a new building and 700-foot (210 m) tower to serve its television operation.[9] In 1956, the new tower on the site was completed and activated, boosting the station's power to the high-VHF maximum of 316,000 watts.[10] Plans for the new facility progressed after the Chamber of Commerce Building was sold to the Guaranty Savings and Loan Company,[11] but work did not begin until May 1958,[12] and the new studio was occupied in 1959.[13]
Call sign change to KOLR
In 1971, Independent Broadcasting agreed to sell the KTTS radio stations, which retained rights to the call sign, to Springfield Great Empire Broadcasting, an affiliate of KFDI in Wichita, Kansas.[14] It retained channel 10, which it renamed KOLR (for "color") on November 29, 1971.[15][16] In 1972, the station applied to build a new, 2,000-foot (610 m) tower near Fordland, Missouri, which it anticipated would more than double KOLR's coverage.[17] The new mast went into service on October 10, 1973.[18] However, it did little to improve KOLR's ratings in the market; in 1976, its newscasts had less than half as many viewers as their competition on KYTV.[19]
In 1993, KOLR beat KYTV head-to-head in the Springfield metro area for the first time ever, having cut KYTV's 60 percent audience share in half while doubling its own; KYTV continued to lead in the full 33-county designated market area; the news made the front page of the Springfield News-Leader.[20] KYTV soon regained its customary commanding ratings lead.[21]
VHR and Mission ownership
The majority stakeholders in Independent Broadcasting, the Cooper family that had put KTTS radio on the air in 1940, opted not to transfer the station to the next generation of their family because of the tax burden involved. In 1998, the Coopers agreed to sell to U.S. Broadcasting, one of four Midwestern companies that had sought to buy channel 10.[22] U.S. Broadcasting changed its name to VHR Broadcasting; Victor Rumore became a member of the buying consortium, and the purchase price was reduced to $55.9 million.[23] On February 18, 1999, the station assumed operational control for KDEB-TV (channel 27), then the area's Fox affiliate owned by Quorum Broadcasting, under paired joint sales and shared services agreements that united the two stations' sales, production, and promotion units in KOLR's studio building.[24] Coming into the agreement, KOLR was recognized as stronger in programming and KDEB in sales.[25] In 2003, VHR Broadcasting sold KOLR to Mission Broadcasting;[26] at the same time, Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired KDEB.[27] KOLR has been digital-only since April 2009.[28]
By 2009, KOLR and KYTV were much closer in total revenue, though KOLR continued to heavily lag KYTV in ratings for its newscasts.[29] The situation had not significantly changed by 2014.[30]
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