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KRQE
KRQE (channel 13) is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to de facto CW owned-and-operated station KWBQ (channel 19) and MyNetworkTV affiliate KASY-TV (channel 50), both owned by Mission Broadcasting with certain services provided by Nexstar through shared services agreements. The three stations share studios on Broadcast Plaza in Albuquerque; KRQE's transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, east of Albuquerque.
KRQE went on the air as KGGM-TV on October 4, 1953. It was owned by the Hebenstreit family alongside KGGM radio and the first Albuquerque TV station to transmit from Sandia Crest. While it was remembered for non-local programs such as Captain Billy, a popular children's show that ended when the host was murdered in 1972, it was a laggard in the area of local news, with low ratings and poor quality. General manager Bruce Hebenstreit produced several made-for-TV movies at the station in an attempt to create a market for its own programming; the movies exacerbated strife within the family, which only ended when Bruce died in 1987. The station made its most credible effort at news to that time when it hired veteran Albuquerque anchor Dick Knipfing; it became a more competitive third-place outlet but lost viewers after Knipfing departed in 1989.
Though KGGM-TV had been at a disadvantage in its coverage of outstate New Mexico, this changed in 1989 when the company acquired KBIM-TV in Roswell, giving it parity with its competitors in southeastern New Mexico and folding Roswell into the Albuquerque television market. The acquisition strained the Hebenstreits' finances and was a major factor in their decision to sell the station to Lee Enterprises in 1991. Seeking a fresh start, Lee changed the call sign from KGGM-TV to KRQE in 1992. Lee added a second full-power satellite by purchasing KREZ-TV in Durango, Colorado, in 1994, and helped build KASY-TV in 1995. In the early 2000s, after Knipfing returned, KRQE experienced a surge in news ratings and began competing for first place under the ownership of Emmis Communications.
LIN TV acquired KRQE and four other Emmis stations in 2005. It acquired KASA-TV, then Albuquerque's Fox affiliate, the next year and brought its operations and newscast under KRQE's control. In the mid-2010s LIN was acquired by Media General and Media General by Nexstar; the latter deal required KASA-TV to be divested, resulting in the Fox affiliation moving to a subchannel of KRQE. The station produces local newscasts for the CBS and Fox subchannels.
When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its multi-year freeze on TV stations, Albuquerque had been assigned two additional VHF television channels: 7 and 13. The New Mexico Broadcasting Company, owner of Albuquerque radio station KGGM, had begun feasibility studies into a TV station in late 1951 and were investigating the suitability of Sandia Crest, a mountain more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high, as a transmission site. It elected to apply for channel 13 and build a tower on the mountain. The construction permit was granted on March 12, 1953, putting into action plans that already existed to combine KGGM's ownership with that of KVSF in Santa Fe and build out the Sandia Crest site. In May, KGGM and Albuquerque's existing TV station, KOB-TV (channel 4), announced work would begin on the facility, which promised to provide television to previously unserved areas of New Mexico. While they were competitors, KGGM and KOB also joined in the construction of studios. The stations purchased an entire city block at Fourteenth Street and Coal Avenue SW, divided it, and put up studios across the street from each other.
KGGM-TV began broadcasting on October 4, 1953. It was Albuquerque's third television station; channel 7 had signed on as KOAT-TV two days prior. KGGM-TV was a CBS affiliate, though at the time of its launch, all programs were on film; live network programming was not available in Albuquerque until 1954. KGGM-TV was first to use the Sandia Crest site, as KOB-TV's facility was still under construction when channel 13 began. It boasted New Mexico's first video tape recorder, installed in 1959, and was the first station in the state to originate a local color program, in 1966.
In its early years, KGGM-TV produced local non-news programming including Women's Club of the Air, Club 13, and Los Tres Caballeros (The Three Knights), which station management claimed in 1979 to be the first Spanish-language television program in the United States. In 1956, Robert Ernest "Stretch" Scherer joined the staff of KGGM-TV after short stints at KTBC-TV in Austin, Texas, and KOB-TV. He became the new host of channel 13's children's show, originally titled Captain Seafoam, which became Captain Billy and the USS Seafoam and later Captain Billy. The actor French Stewart, an Albuquerque native, made his first-ever TV appearance as a five-year-old on Captain Billy. In addition to the children's show, Scherer hosted an interview program and KGGM-TV's annual telethon supporting muscular dystrophy organizations. On October 27, 1972, Scherer was shot in the KGGM-TV lobby, dying of his wounds two months later. The lead suspect in the case was believed to suffer from mental illness. Even a year after getting shot, Captain Billy was not replaced.
Though the station had various minority owners in its history, including U.S. senator Clinton P. Anderson and Harriscope Broadcasting, KGGM-TV was mostly owned by the Hebenstreit family of Albuquerque. Anton R. Hebenstreit had started the family in broadcasting in 1928 by buying KGGM radio, then a portable station running out of cash, and permanently locating it in the city.
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KRQE
KRQE (channel 13) is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to de facto CW owned-and-operated station KWBQ (channel 19) and MyNetworkTV affiliate KASY-TV (channel 50), both owned by Mission Broadcasting with certain services provided by Nexstar through shared services agreements. The three stations share studios on Broadcast Plaza in Albuquerque; KRQE's transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, east of Albuquerque.
KRQE went on the air as KGGM-TV on October 4, 1953. It was owned by the Hebenstreit family alongside KGGM radio and the first Albuquerque TV station to transmit from Sandia Crest. While it was remembered for non-local programs such as Captain Billy, a popular children's show that ended when the host was murdered in 1972, it was a laggard in the area of local news, with low ratings and poor quality. General manager Bruce Hebenstreit produced several made-for-TV movies at the station in an attempt to create a market for its own programming; the movies exacerbated strife within the family, which only ended when Bruce died in 1987. The station made its most credible effort at news to that time when it hired veteran Albuquerque anchor Dick Knipfing; it became a more competitive third-place outlet but lost viewers after Knipfing departed in 1989.
Though KGGM-TV had been at a disadvantage in its coverage of outstate New Mexico, this changed in 1989 when the company acquired KBIM-TV in Roswell, giving it parity with its competitors in southeastern New Mexico and folding Roswell into the Albuquerque television market. The acquisition strained the Hebenstreits' finances and was a major factor in their decision to sell the station to Lee Enterprises in 1991. Seeking a fresh start, Lee changed the call sign from KGGM-TV to KRQE in 1992. Lee added a second full-power satellite by purchasing KREZ-TV in Durango, Colorado, in 1994, and helped build KASY-TV in 1995. In the early 2000s, after Knipfing returned, KRQE experienced a surge in news ratings and began competing for first place under the ownership of Emmis Communications.
LIN TV acquired KRQE and four other Emmis stations in 2005. It acquired KASA-TV, then Albuquerque's Fox affiliate, the next year and brought its operations and newscast under KRQE's control. In the mid-2010s LIN was acquired by Media General and Media General by Nexstar; the latter deal required KASA-TV to be divested, resulting in the Fox affiliation moving to a subchannel of KRQE. The station produces local newscasts for the CBS and Fox subchannels.
When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its multi-year freeze on TV stations, Albuquerque had been assigned two additional VHF television channels: 7 and 13. The New Mexico Broadcasting Company, owner of Albuquerque radio station KGGM, had begun feasibility studies into a TV station in late 1951 and were investigating the suitability of Sandia Crest, a mountain more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high, as a transmission site. It elected to apply for channel 13 and build a tower on the mountain. The construction permit was granted on March 12, 1953, putting into action plans that already existed to combine KGGM's ownership with that of KVSF in Santa Fe and build out the Sandia Crest site. In May, KGGM and Albuquerque's existing TV station, KOB-TV (channel 4), announced work would begin on the facility, which promised to provide television to previously unserved areas of New Mexico. While they were competitors, KGGM and KOB also joined in the construction of studios. The stations purchased an entire city block at Fourteenth Street and Coal Avenue SW, divided it, and put up studios across the street from each other.
KGGM-TV began broadcasting on October 4, 1953. It was Albuquerque's third television station; channel 7 had signed on as KOAT-TV two days prior. KGGM-TV was a CBS affiliate, though at the time of its launch, all programs were on film; live network programming was not available in Albuquerque until 1954. KGGM-TV was first to use the Sandia Crest site, as KOB-TV's facility was still under construction when channel 13 began. It boasted New Mexico's first video tape recorder, installed in 1959, and was the first station in the state to originate a local color program, in 1966.
In its early years, KGGM-TV produced local non-news programming including Women's Club of the Air, Club 13, and Los Tres Caballeros (The Three Knights), which station management claimed in 1979 to be the first Spanish-language television program in the United States. In 1956, Robert Ernest "Stretch" Scherer joined the staff of KGGM-TV after short stints at KTBC-TV in Austin, Texas, and KOB-TV. He became the new host of channel 13's children's show, originally titled Captain Seafoam, which became Captain Billy and the USS Seafoam and later Captain Billy. The actor French Stewart, an Albuquerque native, made his first-ever TV appearance as a five-year-old on Captain Billy. In addition to the children's show, Scherer hosted an interview program and KGGM-TV's annual telethon supporting muscular dystrophy organizations. On October 27, 1972, Scherer was shot in the KGGM-TV lobby, dying of his wounds two months later. The lead suspect in the case was believed to suffer from mental illness. Even a year after getting shot, Captain Billy was not replaced.
Though the station had various minority owners in its history, including U.S. senator Clinton P. Anderson and Harriscope Broadcasting, KGGM-TV was mostly owned by the Hebenstreit family of Albuquerque. Anton R. Hebenstreit had started the family in broadcasting in 1928 by buying KGGM radio, then a portable station running out of cash, and permanently locating it in the city.
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