KMID (TV)


KMID, virtual channel 2, is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Midland, Texas, United States and serving the Permian Basin area. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also operates Odessa-licensed Fox affiliate KPEJ-TV under a shared services agreement with owner Marshall Broadcasting Group. The two stations share studios on Windview Street in southwestern Odessa and transmitter facilities on FM 1788 in rural southeastern Andrews County.
On cable, KMID is available on Grande Communications and Reach Broadband channel 3, and on channel 2 on other systems in the market.

History

KMID-TV went on the air on December 18, 1953; making it the longest running station in the Midland–Odessa market. It carried programming from all four networks, but was a primary NBC affiliate. It lost CBS to KOSA-TV in 1956 and lost ABC to KWES-TV in 1958. On June 11, 1981, KMID became an ABC affiliate when it swapped its NBC affiliation with channel 9. Lorimar-Telepictures sold KMID plus two of its sister stations, KSPR in Springfield, Missouri and KCPM-TV in Chico–Redding, California, to Goltrin Communications in 1987. In 1988, Goltrin sold all three stations to Davis Goldfarb Communications. Cottonwood Communications bought the station in 1995. KMID including KSPR and KCPM was purchased by GOCOM Communications in 1997. KMID was acquired by current owner Nexstar Broadcasting in 2000.
Since 1974, KMID was known as "Big 2", but adopted the "ABC2" moniker in early 2004. However, in part because many Permian Basin residents still called the station "Big 2," that nickname was revived in 2009, only to be scrapped once more on December 12, 2015, in favor of "Local 2." The "Big 2" branding returned again in June 2018.
In 2003, KMID dropped weekend evening newscasts, which were the lowest-rated newscasts in the Permian Basin. In late 2006, the Sunday night news broadcasts were reinstated.
On April 24, 2013, Communications Corporation of America announced the sale of its entire group to Nexstar. KPEJ was to be sold to Mission Broadcasting. However on June 6, 2014, Nexstar announced that it would instead sell KPEJ-TV to a new minority-owned company, Marshall Broadcasting Group, for $58.5 million. Nexstar would operate KPEJ under a shared services agreement, forming a virtual duopoly with KMID. The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
2.1720pKMID-DTMain KMID programming / ABC
2.2480iLaff
2.3480iCourt TV Mystery
2.4480iGrit

Analog-to-digital conversion

KMID shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 2.

Programming

programming on KMID includes The Rachael Ray Show, Judge Judy, AgDay, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune, among others.

Notable former on-air staff