KRHD-CD
Semi-satellite of KXXV, Waco, Texas
A blue 15 with a star punched out of the lower counter of the 5. The ABC logo appears to the lower right, overlapping the 5. Beneath are the letters K R H D.
CityBryan, Texas
Channels
Branding15ABC
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
December 10, 1992; 31 years ago (1992-12-10)
Former call signs
  • K22DP (1990–1997)
  • KRHD-LP (1997–2010)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 22 (UHF, 1992–1999), 34 (UHF, 1999–2003), 40 (UHF, 2003–2010)
  • Digital: 40 (UHF, 2010–2020)
  • Virtual: 40 (2010–2023)
The WB (secondary, January–July 2002)
Call sign meaning
Ransom H. Drewry, founder of Drewry Communications
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID68538
ClassCD
ERP12 kW
HAAT142.7 m (468 ft)
Transmitter coordinates30°45′26.8″N 96°28′4.6″W / 30.757444°N 96.467944°W / 30.757444; -96.467944
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.kxxv.com/brazos/

KRHD-CD (channel 15) is a low-power, Class A television station in Bryan, Texas, United States, serving the Brazos Valley as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains a news bureau and advertising sales office on Briarcrest Road in Bryan;[2] its transmitter is located on US 190 northwest of the city in unincorporated Robertson County. KRHD-CD is a semi-satellite of KXXV (channel 25) in Waco; the stations share network and syndicated programming but have partially split local newscasts and separate local advertising.

The station began as K22DP in 1992 and aired programming from the Video Jukebox Network and American Independent Network. It was acquired by KXXV owner Drewry Communications in 1998 and was relaunched as KRHD-LP, a separate ABC affiliate for the Brazos Valley with the ability to add local programming. In 2001, KXXV began producing a Bryan and College Station–specific newscast for KRHD.

Drewry sold its stations to Raycom Media in 2015; when Raycom merged with Gray Television, KXXV and KRHD were divested and sold to Scripps. Scripps relaunched the Bryan newsroom in 2020 and today produces 22+1⁄2 hours of weekday newscasts for the Brazos Valley.

History

K22DP began broadcasting on channel 22 on December 10, 1992. The station was owned by Shelley Media of Fort Worth; it was the second low-power TV station in the Bryan–College Station area and broadcast the Video Jukebox Network.[3] The outlet was described by 1996 as airing programming from the American Independent Network, with "sporadic" hours of operation.[4] Meanwhile, KXXV's hold on the eastern part of the market had at times been tenuous. In 1991, TCA Cable, which at the time operated the main cable system serving the area, threatened to drop the station from its lineup altogether; it reversed course when KXXV threatened to take away the system's ability to air any ABC programming from the other affiliate it carried, Houston's KTRK-TV.[5][6]

Centex Television Limited Partnership, the subsidiary of Drewry Communications that owned KXXV, purchased K22DP from TV Channel 22, Inc.[7] In February 1998, the station became KRHD-LP. Initially, it rebroadcast KXXV with local commercials and later localized weather reports.[8] It moved to channel 34 during the course of 1999 as part of a signal upgrade.[9] [10][11]

KXXV/KRHD added a secondary affiliation with The WB on January 11, 2002, following the sale of the market's previous WB affiliate, KAKW (channel 62), to Univision. KXXV/KRHD aired The WB's prime time lineup after ABC's late night programming, as well as two hours of Kids' WB programming on Sunday mornings.[12][13] In July 2002, KXXV/KRHD ceded the secondary WB affiliation to Fox affiliate KWKT (channel 44) and its Brazos Valley satellite KYLE (channel 28), which would air the network's prime time programming in an earlier time slot but did not pick up Kids' WB.[14]

In December 2002, Cox Communications, which owned the cable system in Bryan and College Station, announced its intent to drop KRHD from its lineup and replace it with KXXV from Waco at year's end. Drewry Broadcasting vigorously objected to this maneuver and denied it retransmission consent approval to carry KXXV directly, having invested $2.5 million since 1999 to station three news reporters, a sports reporter, and two advertising sales representatives in Bryan.[15] Cox never dropped KRHD, continuing to carry the station in its lineup on a series of short-term extensions;[16] a long-term agreement was reached in April 2003, under which Cox also began broadcasting Telemundo on its system.[17] In 2003, KRHD moved from channel 34 to channel 40.[18]

Drewry had planned to sell its stations to London Broadcasting in 2008;[19] however, by January 2009, the deal fell through,[20] and London instead bought KCEN-TV. It was another six years before Drewry sold its broadcasting portfolio to Raycom Media for $160 million in 2015.[21] The sale was completed on December 1.[22]

Raycom announced a $3.6 billion merger[23] into Atlanta-based Gray Television on June 25, 2018.[24][25] Gray opted to retain KBTX-TV and KWTX-TV in Waco[26] and sold KXXV–KRHD, as well as WTXL-TV in Tallahassee, Florida, to the E. W. Scripps Company for $55 million.[27] The sale was completed on January 2, 2019.[28] One consequence of the sale was that KRHD lost the Telemundo affiliation to KBTX.[29]

On April 3, 2023, the station changed brands to 15ABC and began using virtual channel 15.[30]

News operation

Further information: KXXV § News operation

On May 30, 2001, KXXV began producing Nightbeat, a local newscast for the Brazos Valley area, for air on KRHD-CA. The newscast had three Bryan-area local reporters, though it was presented from Waco. It was the first competition to KBTX-TV in the Bryan–College Station area.[31] Nightbeat ceased airing on January 5, 2015.

KXXV relaunched KRHD as an independent news operation in the Brazos Valley on September 1, 2020, and added 10 more hours of news with newscasts airing at 11:30 a.m., 5 and 10 p.m., and a 60-minute program, 25 News at 6, airing at 6 p.m.[32] KRHD launched a local version of Good Morning Texas on January 11, 2021, with morning newscasts airing at 5 and 6 a.m.[33] This brought the news output by September 2023 to 4+1⁄2 hours a day, five days a week.[34]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KRHD-CD[35]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
15.1 720p 16:9 15ABC Main KRHD-CD programming / ABC
15.2 480i 4:3 Telem Ion Mystery
15.3 16:9 Ion Television
15.4 Jewelry Jewelry TV
15.5 HSN HSN

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KRHD-CD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KRHD Contact Us". KXXV. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Riecher, Anton (December 12, 1992). "Pay video network beams into B-CS". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. A9. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Low-powered Television Stations". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 21, 1996. p. TV Magazine 3. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Walley, Teri (March 17, 1991). "TCA Cable plans to drop KXXV on April 1". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. 1C. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Walley, Teri (March 31, 1991). "KXXV puts kink in Ch. 3's cable plans". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. 1A, 6A. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Public Notice". Bryan-College Station Eagle. August 17, 1997. p. E6. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Nelson, Jenny (January 28, 1998). "Bryan-College Station area to get local ABC station". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. A6. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Whitmarsh, Geneva (August 15, 1999). "Local ABC affiliate planning to boost signal". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. E1. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "KRHD-TV to show News of Texas". Bryan-College Station Eagle. January 8, 1999. p. A9. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Workers to begin TV signal repairs". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 25, 2001. p. A7. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "KXXV-25 to air WB's programming". Temple Daily Telegram. January 13, 2002. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  13. ^ Hoover, Carl (January 15, 2002). "KXXV adds WB shows, news briefs in Spanish". Waco Tribune-Herald. p. 6A. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Hoover, Carl (June 27, 2002). "WB to get earlier slot on KWKT". Waco Tribune-Herald. pp. 1B, 3B. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Levey, Kelly (December 11, 2002). "Cox cable to drop KRHD: Firm replacing ABC affiliate with sister station". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A2. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ LeBas, John (December 31, 2002). "Extension buys time in Cox-KRHD rift". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A11. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ LeBas, John (April 9, 2003). "KRHD, Cox reach agreement: Deal would bring Telemundo to B-CS". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A2. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Look Who's Turning 40!". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 17, 2003. p. A11. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "London Broadcasting Acquires KWES-TV". KWES NewsWest 9. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  20. ^ "London adds a market, leaves a crater". Television Business Report. January 16, 2009. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  21. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (August 10, 2015). "Raycom Buying Drewry For $160 Million". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  22. ^ "Raycom Media Completes $160 Million Acquisition of Drewry Communications". Broadcasting & Cable. December 1, 2015. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  23. ^ Hayes, Dade (June 25, 2018). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  24. ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  25. ^ Eggerton, John (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  26. ^ "Gray and Raycom to combine in a $3.6 billion transaction". Raycom Media (Press release). June 25, 2018. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  27. ^ Micheli, Carolyn (August 20, 2018). "Scripps to Buy ABC Affiliates in Tallahassee, Florida, and Waco, Texas". E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  28. ^ Wethington, Kari (January 2, 2019). "Scripps completes acquisition of TV stations in Texas and Florida; names new leadership". E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  29. ^ Hoover, Carl (January 5, 2019). "New year sees shift in some local TV channel positions". Waco Tribune-Herald. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  30. ^ Martinez, Dalhia (April 3, 2023). "KRHD News unveils new look and new name". 15ABC. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  31. ^ Levey, Kelli (May 27, 2001). "TV station to cover B-CS area". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A6. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "KXXV expands resources to bureau in Bryan/College Station". KXXV. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  33. ^ "25 News KRHD expanding commitment to Brazos Valley by launching 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. newscast". www.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  34. ^ "Issues and Programs List, July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023" (PDF). Public Inspection File, KRHD-CD. Federal Communications Commission. October 10, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  35. ^ "TV Query for KRHD-CD". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.

External links

Broadcast television in Central Texas and the Brazos Valley, including Waco, Temple, Killeen, Bryan and College Station
ABC network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Texas
E. W. Scripps Company
Categories