KNDO

KNDO, virtual channel 23 (UHF digital channel 16), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Yakima, Washington, United States. The station is owned by the Spokane-based Cowles Company as part of the KHQ Television Group. KNDO's studios are located on West Yakima Avenue in downtown Yakima, and its transmitter is located on Ahtanum Ridge.

KNDO
Yakima, Washington
United States
ChannelsDigital: 16 (UHF)
Virtual: 23 (PSIP)
BrandingNBC Right Now
SloganExpect more!
Programming
Affiliations23.1: NBC
23.3: SWX Right Now
Ownership
OwnerCowles Company
(KHQ, Incorporated)
KNDU
History
First air date
October 15, 1959 (1959-10-15)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
23 (UHF, 1959–2009)
ABC (1959–1970, secondary from 1965)
CBS (secondary, 1959–1965)
Call sign meaning
Sounds like "Can-Do"
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID12395
ERP150 kW
HAAT266 m (873 ft)
Transmitter coordinates46°31′58″N 120°30′30″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.nbcrightnow.com

KNDU (channel 25) in Richland operates as a semi-satellite of KNDO, serving the Tri-Cities area; this station maintains its own studios on West Kennewick Avenue in Kennewick. As a KNDO semi-satellite, it simulcasts all network and syndicated programming as provided through its parent, and the two stations share a website. However, KNDU airs separate commercial inserts and legal identifications. Local newscasts, produced by KNDU, are simulcast on both stations. KNDO serves the western half of the Yakima/Tri-Cities market while KNDU serves the eastern portion. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. Master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister station, fellow NBC affiliate and company flagship KHQ-TV on West Sprague Avenue in downtown Spokane.[1][2]

On satellite, KNDO is only available on DirecTV, while Dish Network carries KNDU instead.

History

KNDO debuted on the air on October 15, 1959. It was owned by Hugh Davis and his Columbia Empire Broadcasting Corporation. Previously, all three networks had been shoehorned on primary CBS affiliate KIMA-TV (channel 29). Although conventional wisdom suggested that KNDO should have signed on as an NBC affiliate, it debuted as an ABC affiliate. This was very unusual for a two-station market, especially one as small as Yakima. During this time, it carried a secondary affiliation with NBC, and also aired a few CBS programs turned down by KIMA-TV, including The Andy Griffith Show. KNDU was added as a semi-satellite in 1961.

In 1965, KNDO became a primary NBC affiliate, but shared ABC with KIMA-TV until KAPP (channel 35) debuted in 1970 to take the ABC affiliation; since then, the station has been an exclusive NBC affiliate.

Davis sold the two stations to Farragut Communications in 1988. Federal Enterprises acquired KNDO and KNDU in 1995. Federal was bought out by Raycom Media in 1997. Current owner Cowles Company purchased the two stations from Raycom in July 1999.

On October 15, 2009, KNDO celebrated 50 years of broadcasting to the Yakima Valley. Leading up to that date, KNDO aired stories of local businesses and organizations that have also been around for 50 years or longer.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [3]
23.11080i16:9KNDO-HDMain KNDO programming / NBC
23.3KNDO-SWSWX Right Now - Sports and Weather

KNDO and KNDU have been digital-only since February 17, 2009.[4][5] NBC Weather+ had been carried on digital subchannel 23.3; the originating national network ceased operation on December 1, 2008. On September 1, 2010, KNDO dropped Universal Sports (channel 23.2) from their subchannel line-up.

Programming

In addition to the NBC network schedule, syndicated programming on KNDO includes Hot Bench, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune, among others.

In the past, as in many stations not owned and operated by the network, KNDO preempted select NBC shows. For example, the station did not carry Friday Night Videos after it moved to the 1:30 a.m. (ET/PT) slot in summer 1987 until 1996 (by that time, the program had undergone a format change and a name change to Friday Night), opting to sign off until later in the morning. The station also preempted the entire Bob Costas incarnation and the pre-1996 broadcasts of Greg Kinnear's incarnation of Later from the show's premiere in 1988 until they picked up the show in 1996. From 1991 to 1996, the station preempted NBC Nightside due to the station signing off for the night as a result; Nightside was cleared on the station starting in 1996 until the show's end in 1998, when the station cleared the NBC All Night block that succeeded the program. NBC was far less tolerant of program preemptions during the entire timeframe where the station preempted programming from that network.

Notable former on-air staff

Translator

KNDO is rebroadcast on K32IG-D (channel 32), a low-powered digital translator in Ellensburg, Washington, owned and operated by the Kittitas County TV Improvement District.[6]

References
  1. "KHQ Launches Centralcasting With ABS". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  2. "Retrans Deal Drives Cowles Centralcasting". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  3. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KNDO#station
  4. FCC list of full-service US TV stations, February 16, 2009
  5. NBC News
  6. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=286
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