KAMR-TV


KAMR-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Amarillo, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also operates Fox affiliate KCIT and low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate KCPN-LP under joint sales and shared services agreements with owner Mission Broadcasting. The three stations share studios on Southeast 11th Avenue and South Fillmore Street in downtown Amarillo ; KAMR and KCIT share transmitter facilities on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.
On cable, KAMR is available on Suddenlink Communications channel 5 in Amarillo, and on channel 4 on other cable systems in outlying areas of the market.

History

On September 5, 1951, the Plains Radio Broadcasting Company – a subsidiary of Globe News Publishing Co., then-publisher of the Amarillo Globe-News and owner of radio station KGNC – filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to obtain a license and construction permit to operate a commercial television station on VHF channel 4. The FCC awarded the license and permit for channel 4 to Plains Radio Broadcasting on October 8, 1953; the group subsequently requested and received approval to assign KGNC-TV as the television station's call letters.
The station first signed on the air on March 18, 1953. KGNC-TV was the first television station to sign on in the Amarillo market, debuting two weeks before KFDA-TV signed on as the market's CBS affiliate on April 4. Channel 4 has been an NBC television affiliate since its debut, inheriting those rights through KGNC radio's longtime relationship with the progenitor NBC Red Network, which had been affiliated with that station since January 1937; it also maintained a secondary affiliations with the DuMont Television Network. The operations of KGNC-TV were originally located at a facility on North Polk Street and Northeast 24th Avenue in northeastern Amarillo, which it shared with KGNC radio. DuMont shut down in 1955, amid various issues that arose from its relations with Paramount that hamstrung it from expansion; that year, the station joined the NTA Film Network until that network closed in 1961.
On October 8, 1966, the Globe News Publishing Company announced that it would sell KGNC-TV and its sister radio properties to Topeka, Kansas-based Stauffer Communications for $5.6 million ; the sale was approved by the FCC on January 12, 1966. The Whittenburg family retained ownership of the Globe-News.
In October 1973, Stauffer announced it would sell KGNC-TV to Cannan Communications – a locally based company managed under the direction of Darrell A. Cannan, Sr. and Darrell A. Cannan, Jr. – for $2.5 million; the sale received FCC approval, along with the renewal of the KGNC-TV license, on July 31, 1974. In order to comply with an FCC rule in effect at the time that prohibited separately owned radio and television stations in the same market from sharing the same base call letters, as Stauffer was allowed to keep the KGNC call letters for its new radio properties, the station's call letters were changed to KAMR-TV on November 5 of that year.
During the late 1980s, KAMR-TV had experienced a gradual ratings downturn in both local news and, to a lesser extent, in total-day viewership. Especially troubling for KAMR was the fact that its ratings decline occurred at a timeframe when NBC's ratings were otherwise strong, thanks to its prime time programming. Not helping matters was that NBC also held partial broadcast rights to the NFL's American Football Conference, which included rights to Super Bowls following the 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1997 seasons. Each of these telecasts featured an NFC or AFC team of interest to significant cohorts of KAMR's viewing area. Meanwhile, KFDA's ratings continued to improve despite CBS losing its NFL telecast rights after the 1993 season.
On January 5, 1999, Boston-based Quorum Broadcasting announced that it would purchase KAMR-TV from Cannan Communications as part of a $64-million, three-station deal. The following day, Westlake, Ohio-based Mission Broadcasting announced that it would acquire KCIT and KCPN-LP from Wichita Falls-based Wicks Broadcast Group for $13 million; the sale to Quorum received FCC approval on February 23, 1999. Quorum took over the operations of KCIT and KCPN on June 1, 1999, under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission, under which KAMR would handle news production, engineering, security and certain other services as well as handling advertising sales for the two stations. Although KAMR was the senior partner in the deal, it subsequently vacated its longtime studio facility on North Polk Street, and relocated its operations south to KCIT/KCPN's facility on South Fillmore Street.
On September 8, 2003, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would acquire Quorum Broadcasting's ten television stations, including KAMR-TV and the JSA/SSAs involving KCIT and KCPN-LP, for $230 million; the sale of KAMR to Quorum and the transfer of the joint sales and shared services agreements to Nexstar was completed on December 31, 2003. On February 25, 2013, the over-the-air signals of KAMR, KCIT and KCPN were knocked off the air for more than 18 hours as a result of electricity fluctuations that shut off cooling pumps on the stations' transmitter tower off of U.S. 287 during a major blizzard that crippled much of the Texas Panhandle. Snow drifts of up to prevented station employees from accessing the site until the morning of February 26, in order to restore power to the transmitters. All three stations remained available to Suddenlink Communications systems in the area through a direct fiber feed.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
4.11080iKAMR-HDMain KAMR-TV programming / NBC
4.21080iKCPN-SDSimulcast of KCPN-LP / MyNetworkTV
4.3480iLaffLaff
4.4480iCoziCozi TV

Subchannels

KAMR-DT2

As the low-power station does not maintain a digital signal of its own, KAMR carries a simulcast of MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station KCPN-LP on virtual channel 4.2 in order to relay channel 33's programming throughout the entire Amarillo market. On cable, the KAMR-DT2 simulcast of KCPN-LP is carried on Suddenlink Communications channel 7 in Amarillo.
KAMR-TV first launched a digital subchannel on virtual channel 4.2 in September 2005, which was originally served as a charter affiliate of NBC Weather Plus under the brand "KAMR NBC 4 Weather Plus"; it was the only Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate to have carried the Weather Plus service. KAMR-DT2 converted into a KCPN simulcast after Weather Plus ceased operations on December 31, 2008.
In September 2017, the KAMR-DT2 simulcast of KCPN-LP was upgraded to 1080i high definition.

KAMR-DT3

KAMR-DT3 is the Laff-affiliated third digital subchannel of KAMR-TV, broadcasting in standard definition on UHF digital channel 19.3. The subchannel is not currently carried on Suddenlink Communications or on other cable providers within the Amarillo market.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it had entered into an agreement with Katz Broadcasting to affiliate 81 stations owned and/or operated by the group — including KAMR-TV and KCIT — with one or more of Katz's four digital multicast networks, Escape, Laff, Grit and Bounce TV. As part of the agreement, on September 1 of that year, KAMR launched a digital subchannel on virtual channel 3.3 to serve as an affiliate of Laff.

KAMR-DT4

KAMR-DT4 is the Cozi TV-affiliated fourth digital subchannel of KAMR-TV, broadcasting in standard definition on UHF digital channel 19.4. The subchannel is not currently carried on Suddenlink Communications or on other cable providers within the Amarillo market.
The Cozi TV subchannel was added in August 2018 a couple months after KAUO-LD's fourth subchannel dropped the network to become an affiliate of Justice Network.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KAMR-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital television under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 19. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 4.
The main channel was converted to 720p high definition on May 22, 2017. As of September 2017, the NBC feed was restored to its native 1080i resolution.

Translators

KAMR-TV covers a large portion of northern Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and northeastern New Mexico through many translators that distribute its programming beyond the range of its broadcast signal. All translators transmit on virtual channel 4, and are owned by local translator cooperatives:
StationCity of licenseChannels
'		OwnerFirst air date
Former
callsigns		Former
channel
number		ERP
'		HAAT
'		Facility IDTransmitter
coordinates
K29BR-DCanadian, Texas29 C. L. & O. Translator System, Inc.K29BR N/A0.483 kW8010
K42CH-DCapulin, New Mexico42 Sierra Grande TV Cooperative, Inc.K42CH N/A0.31 kW60319
K14QV-DChildress, Texas14 Red River Valley Translator TV Assn.K70DA
K46CN
K46CN-D 		Analog:
70
46
Digital:
46 		0.25 kW55389
K47BQ-DClarendon, Texas47 Donley County UHF TV, Inc.K47BQ N/A0.51 kW17263
K45BFClovis, New Mexico45 Nexstar Media Group
N/AN/A8.68 kW8530
K49BB-DFollett, Texas49 C. L. & O. Translator System, Inc.K49BB N/A0.25 kW8072
K38BU-DGruver, Texas38 Hansford County Translator SystemK38BU N/A0.42 kW25984
K28GI-DGuymon, Oklahoma28 Guymon TV Translator, Inc.K63DM Analog:
63 		2.46 kW25697
K24NK-DMemphis, Texas24 Caprock Translator Systems, Inc.K38AP
K38AP-D 		Analog:
38
Digital:
38 		0.46 kW8720
K41BW-DNew Mobeetie, Texas41 Wheeler County Translator System, Inc.K41BW N/A0.48 kW72163
K39LV-DPerryton, Texas39 C. L. & O. Translator System, Inc.N/AN/A0.25 kW8069
K50CX-DTucumcari, New Mexico50 UHF TV AssociationK50CX N/A0.61 kW68702
K25CP-DTulia, Texas25 Nexstar Media Group
K25CP N/A0.478 kW8522
K22JR-DTurkey, Texas22 Arnold Cruze TR/AS Valley TVK54AW Analog:
54 		0.47 kW2833
K33CF-D'''Wellington, Texas29 Greenbelt TV Translator System, Inc.K29BH N/A0.216 kW25187

Programming

KAMR-TV currently broadcasts the majority of the NBC schedule, although the station currently does not clear most of NBC's overnight programming, preferring to carry infomercials and some syndicated programming in the designated time period. Syndicated programs broadcast by KAMR include The Dr. Oz Show, The 700 Club, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Rachael Ray, AgDay and Entertainment Tonight. KAMR broadcast Dr. Red Duke's syndicated medical reports to viewers in the Texas Panhandle throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s.
The station also produces the news/talk/lifestyle program Studio 4, which airs weekdays at 4:00 p.m.; the hour-long program, which debuted on October 4, 2010, is currently hosted by Meaghan Collier and Andy Justus.

News operation

, KAMR-TV presently broadcasts 16 hours of locally produced newscasts each week. Unlike most NBC-affiliated stations in the Central Time Zone, it does not carry a midday newscast or a full-length morning newscast of two to 2½ hours on weekdays, nor does it produce an early evening newscast on Saturdays and Sundays.
In addition, KAMR produces 3½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week for Fox-affiliated sister station KCIT. Through the shared services agreement with KCIT, the station may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage on channel 18 in the event that a tornado warning is issued for any county in its viewing area within the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles as well as Eastern New Mexico.

News department history

Concurrent to Cannan Communications's purchase of KAMR, in 1974, the station adopted the Action News format, which allowed it to feature more stories within its newscasts than those seen on KVII and KFDA due to strict time limits on story packages. In October 1990, as part of a major re-imaging of the station, KAMR retitled its newscasts from Action News 4 to News 4. However, these changes — as well as the adoption of "Straight Facts, Straight to You" as its news slogan — did little to improve the station's mediocre local news ratings, which had slid from second place during 1989 to an ever-more-distant third by the November 1990 sweeps period; KFDA, which had long rated at third place in local news, overtook KAMR for the #2 spot.
Following their respective sales to Quorum and Mission Broadcasting and the formation of the SSA between the two stations, on March 11, 2001, KAMR began producing a half-hour newscast at 9:00 p.m. through a news share agreement with Fox affiliate KCIT. The program, titled Fox 14 News at 9:00, was KCIT's second attempt at a local newscast and originated from a secondary set at KAMR/KCIT/KCPN's South Fillmore Street studios. The program competes against an existing 9:00 newscast on CW affiliate KVII-DT2, which parent station KVII-TV premiered in September 2012. Originally co-anchored by Kelly James and Paige Smith on Sundays through Friday nights and Mel Hernandez on Saturdays, the newscast was structured to mix a conventional news format with the so-called "Fox attitude" in an effort to both court younger and appeal to traditional news viewers.
Following the completion of Nexstar's purchase of KAMR in 2003, the news department saw the departures of several high-profile anchors. Weeknight anchors Jay Ricci and Paige Cook both quit after Nexstar management asked them to accept a reduction in their salaries in contract renewal negotiations. Mary Allison-Parker also resigned after she refused to shift from anchoring the KCIT 9:00 p.m. newscast to KAMR's weeknight broadcasts, citing that she was on a part-time contract that precluded her from working such an expanded shift.

Notable on-air staff

Notable former on-air staff