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KATU
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed independent station KUNP, channel 16 (which KATU simulcasts on its second digital subchannel). The two stations share studios on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; KATU's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.
In 1962, KATU went on the air as Portland's fourth commercial television station. Built by Fisher Broadcasting Company (later Fisher Communications), KATU remained an independent station until 1964, when it began an affiliation with ABC. In the early 1970s, KATU expanded its local programming and became a contender in Portland-area local news ratings. In 2013, Fisher Communications and KATU was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Channel 2 was not initially assigned to Portland, being allocated in 1957. That action spurred activity on the valuable frequency. Four applications were initially received, from The Oregon Journal, owner of KPOJ (1330 AM); Fisher Broadcasting Company, which owned KOMO radio and television in Seattle; Tribune Publishing Company, publisher of The News Tribune and owner of KTNT-TV in Tacoma, Washington; and KPTV (channel 12), which wanted to move to channel 2. KPTV later withdrew, and KPOJ dropped its application in March, but it was not until the end of 1959 that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing examiner recommended Fisher over the Tribune Publishing Company for the channel 2 construction permit. The full commission began drafting paperwork in support of this decision in December 1960, and Fisher received the permit on February 23, 1961.
Work began to build facilities in the former Crystal Laundry on NE Sandy Boulevard in June; the two-story building was refitted to contain two production studios. The station originally was assigned the call letters KOXO but switched to the call sign KATU within months.
KATU began broadcasting on March 15, 1962, originally operating as an independent station; Portland native and film actress Jane Powell hosted the opening ceremonies. The station's transmitter was originally located atop Livingston Mountain, about 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Camas, Washington; this northerly site had been required to maintain minimum spacing to the unbuilt channel 3 (the future KVDO-TV) at Salem.
While it was the 25th independent in the United States, from the moment it went on air, speculation swirled that KATU might look to poach a network affiliation from one of the three other commercial stations in Portland. Rumors intensified in June, 1963 as KATU began construction of a transmitter in Portland's West Hills, which would improve its signal coverage and co-site channel 2 with the other major stations. The news came in early December when ABC announced it would drop KPTV, Oregon's oldest television station, and move to KATU on March 1, 1964. The news led to speculation that the ABC switch to KATU, in spite of KPTV's performance being comparable to that of other ABC affiliates, was a countermove by the network to avoid losing Seattle's KOMO-TV, one of the network's few top-rated stations at the time, to a possible overture by CBS. KPTV—which had been ABC's Portland affiliate since 1959—sued, alleging that Fisher coerced ABC into affiliating with KATU by threatening to defect in Seattle. (It was the second time KPTV had lost an affiliation to a group owner in five years; King Broadcasting Company's KGW-TV [channel 8] displaced KPTV as the NBC television affiliate in Portland in 1959, and its KING-TV in Seattle replaced KOMO-TV in the network lineup.)
After a decade in which the station struggled to build an identity in the market, KATU began to find its way in the early 1970s after expanding its local programming. New shows such as public affairs program Town Hall, weekend children's program Bumpity, and morning talk show AM Northwest proved critical to the station's success. KATU continues to broadcast AM Northwest, while other shows, such as Faces & Places and Two at Four, ended in the 1980s.
In 1975, KATU-TV became sister stations with Hokkaido Television Broadcasting in Sapporo, Japan, a sister city of Portland. The stations exchanged documentary footage of events in their areas.
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KATU
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed independent station KUNP, channel 16 (which KATU simulcasts on its second digital subchannel). The two stations share studios on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; KATU's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.
In 1962, KATU went on the air as Portland's fourth commercial television station. Built by Fisher Broadcasting Company (later Fisher Communications), KATU remained an independent station until 1964, when it began an affiliation with ABC. In the early 1970s, KATU expanded its local programming and became a contender in Portland-area local news ratings. In 2013, Fisher Communications and KATU was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Channel 2 was not initially assigned to Portland, being allocated in 1957. That action spurred activity on the valuable frequency. Four applications were initially received, from The Oregon Journal, owner of KPOJ (1330 AM); Fisher Broadcasting Company, which owned KOMO radio and television in Seattle; Tribune Publishing Company, publisher of The News Tribune and owner of KTNT-TV in Tacoma, Washington; and KPTV (channel 12), which wanted to move to channel 2. KPTV later withdrew, and KPOJ dropped its application in March, but it was not until the end of 1959 that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing examiner recommended Fisher over the Tribune Publishing Company for the channel 2 construction permit. The full commission began drafting paperwork in support of this decision in December 1960, and Fisher received the permit on February 23, 1961.
Work began to build facilities in the former Crystal Laundry on NE Sandy Boulevard in June; the two-story building was refitted to contain two production studios. The station originally was assigned the call letters KOXO but switched to the call sign KATU within months.
KATU began broadcasting on March 15, 1962, originally operating as an independent station; Portland native and film actress Jane Powell hosted the opening ceremonies. The station's transmitter was originally located atop Livingston Mountain, about 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Camas, Washington; this northerly site had been required to maintain minimum spacing to the unbuilt channel 3 (the future KVDO-TV) at Salem.
While it was the 25th independent in the United States, from the moment it went on air, speculation swirled that KATU might look to poach a network affiliation from one of the three other commercial stations in Portland. Rumors intensified in June, 1963 as KATU began construction of a transmitter in Portland's West Hills, which would improve its signal coverage and co-site channel 2 with the other major stations. The news came in early December when ABC announced it would drop KPTV, Oregon's oldest television station, and move to KATU on March 1, 1964. The news led to speculation that the ABC switch to KATU, in spite of KPTV's performance being comparable to that of other ABC affiliates, was a countermove by the network to avoid losing Seattle's KOMO-TV, one of the network's few top-rated stations at the time, to a possible overture by CBS. KPTV—which had been ABC's Portland affiliate since 1959—sued, alleging that Fisher coerced ABC into affiliating with KATU by threatening to defect in Seattle. (It was the second time KPTV had lost an affiliation to a group owner in five years; King Broadcasting Company's KGW-TV [channel 8] displaced KPTV as the NBC television affiliate in Portland in 1959, and its KING-TV in Seattle replaced KOMO-TV in the network lineup.)
After a decade in which the station struggled to build an identity in the market, KATU began to find its way in the early 1970s after expanding its local programming. New shows such as public affairs program Town Hall, weekend children's program Bumpity, and morning talk show AM Northwest proved critical to the station's success. KATU continues to broadcast AM Northwest, while other shows, such as Faces & Places and Two at Four, ended in the 1980s.
In 1975, KATU-TV became sister stations with Hokkaido Television Broadcasting in Sapporo, Japan, a sister city of Portland. The stations exchanged documentary footage of events in their areas.