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KSHB-TV (channel 41) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Lawrence, Kansas–licensed independent station KMCI-TV (channel 38). The two stations share studios on Oak Street in southern Kansas City, Missouri; KSHB-TV's transmitter is located along the Blue River Greenway in the city's Hillcrest neighborhood.

Key Information

Channel 41 in Kansas City began broadcasting after years of delays as KBMA-TV on September 28, 1970. Owned by and named for the Business Men's Assurance Company, it was the second independent station for Kansas City to sign on the air within twelve months. However, it outlasted competitor KCIT-TV thanks to its superior financial backing and was the primary independent in the market in the 1970s and 1980s, airing syndicated reruns, movies, and local sports with occasional forays into local news programming. Scripps acquired majority control of the station in 1977 and renamed the station KSHB-TV four years later upon its relocation into its present studio facilities. It joined the Fox network at its inception in 1986 and debuted its first full-length news program in 1993.

An affiliation switch in 1994 converted KSHB-TV into the market's NBC affiliate as WDAF-TV (channel 4) became the new Fox affiliate. The station quadrupled its news staff, expanded its facilities, and modified its news format as a result of the change. However, it took years for the station to have much traction in the local news ratings, and it experienced turnover in personnel, management, and strategy.

History

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KBMA-TV: Early years

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In 1964 and 1965, the Federal Communications Commission received a series of applications proposing new television stations on channel 25 in Kansas City, a channel that had lay fallow since the 1954 closure of KCTY. The first came from Hawthorn Television of Chicago,[2] which was soon joined by Westport Television—led by William D. Grant, the president of the Business Men's Assurance Company (BMA)—as well as Midway Television of Rockford, Illinois,[3] a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Springfield Television,[4] and another local group, Allied Television.[5]

The rapidly shifting field was also affected by two national overhauls of the UHF table of allocations in the span of a year. The channel 25 field was essentially split to two new channel assignments, 30 and 36. In October 1965, Westport got the construction permit for channel 30.[6] It was revised again in early 1966 to specify channel 41.[7] KBMA-TV, named for Business Men's Assurance,[8] continued to exist only on paper for another four and a half years after being assigned to channel 41. By the time Allied's station—which was reassigned channel 50 and began as KCIT-TV in October 1969—began broadcasting and gave Kansas City its first independent station, the station was still unbuilt and needed yet more time due to a local construction strike. It had not been able to find land for a studio site in Kansas City, Missouri, and had tentatively agreed to construct facilities in Fairway, Kansas, requiring FCC approval.[9]

A 19-story modern office building
Under BMA ownership, station offices were located in the BMA Tower.

The picture finally came into focus in 1970. The transmitter facility was built on WDAF-TV's tower, while station offices were located on the 18th floor of the BMA Tower. The station was automated, an innovation for that period, with a computer preparing station logs and switching video inputs.[10] The first telecast was made on the afternoon of September 28, 1970: after a welcome message from general manager Bob Wormington, the first program was the live cartoon show 41 Treehouse Lane, featuring host Ed Muscare.[11] Within a year, Kansas City had gone from being the largest U.S. market without an independent station to having two of them run by twin brothers. It almost did not turn out this way. In late 1969 and early 1970, negotiations had taken place between Allied and Westport Television. Shortly before KCIT began broadcasting, Grant proposed to buy a controlling stake in KCIT-TV, donate the studio equipment purchased for KBMA-TV and the channel 50 physical plant to local public television station KCSD-TV to become a two-channel operation, and move KCIT-TV to channel 41. He then later proposed merging the two stations on channel 50 and donating channel 41 to the University of Missouri. Stockholders in KCIT-TV rebuffed both overtures.[10] Within a year, however, KCIT-TV was out of business. It left the air on July 8, 1971,[12] citing a poor economy as its reason to shut down. The move bolstered channel 41, now the only independent in the market, which moved to pick up the preempted network programs channel 50 had carried in the Kansas City area and some of its syndicated programming inventory.[13]

Benno C. Schmidt of New York acquired controlling interest in the station in 1971, with BMA remaining a major creditor.[14] The insurer then repurchased a minority stake in Westport Television in 1975.[15] The station continued to be a technical innovator. In 1974, it engaged in a plan to feed Kansas City Royals home telecasts to cable systems in 12 states.[16] This business grew into a separate company, known as Target Network Television, by 1975.[17] In 1976, it filed the first application by any TV station for a satellite earth station,[18] becoming the second station in the United States to use one.[19]

During the 1970s, channel 41 offered a wide variety of programming. When the Royals brought their television and radio operation in-house in 1972, KBMA-TV was selected as the originating station for the television network.[20] By 1975, it was the broadcast home of Royals baseball, Kansas City Kings basketball, and Kansas City Scouts hockey;[17] the Royals remained on channel 41 through 1979, moving to WDAF-TV.[21] Muscare continued as a host of horror and daytime movies before leaving in 1977.[22]

Schmidt and BMA sold Westport Television in 1977 to Scripps-Howard Broadcasting, the radio and television division of the E. W. Scripps Company, for $7.5 million.[23] Its first order of business was to construct a proper studio facility; KBMA-TV had been producing programs in facilities located near the BMA Tower, which only contained its offices. In May 1978, the company obtained approval to construct studios at Brush Creek and Oak on a site of land where neighbors had previously rejected a proposed post office; Scripps-Howard had considered and rejected sites at Crown Center and in Overland Park, Kansas.[24]

KSHB-TV: The independent and Fox years

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On September 28, 1981, coinciding with the station's move into the completed Oak Street facility, the station's call letters were changed from KBMA-TV to KSHB-TV, representing owner Scripps-Howard Broadcasting. The call sign change coincided with a more aggressive programming attitude led by Wormington, which included increased local programming not possible without the larger facilities, which included two studios.[25][26][27] One of these new local programs was All Night Live, wraparound segments around films and classic reruns in the overnight hours; Muscare returned to the station as host.[22] A similar program in the late morning hours, A.M. Live, debuted in September 1982.[28] By this time, the station had grown with the spread of cable television in mid-America; it was seen in 600,000 cable households from Iowa to Arkansas.[26]

The 1980s saw increased competition. For the first time since 1971, the market had two independent stations after the December 1983 launch of KEKR-TV on channel 62.[29] However, that station initially failed to spend adequately on programming and did not attract much attention in the market.[30] KSHB-TV local programs included the Kings, who remained on the station even though they failed to attract significant advertising revenue;[31] they departed KSHB-TV after 10 years for KEKR-TV in the 1984–85 season.[32] At the same time, the station's regional cable coverage was waning. At the end of 1985, the cable systems in Wichita, Kansas, and Lincoln, Nebraska, removed channel 41 from their lineups, citing program duplication to other services; the loss of the Royals, the original reason for their addition in Wichita; copyright fees the systems paid to broadcast the distant station; and poor reception of KSHB-TV by microwave.[33][34]

KSHB became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company when that network launched on October 9, 1986.[35] The station had stronger programming with more first-run shows as a result of the Fox affiliation and a changing syndication market.[36] Wormington retired at the end of 1992, capping a 22-year run at channel 41 in which he had started and led the station, helped found the National Association of Independent Television Stations, and risen to vice chairman of the Fox affiliate board of governors.[37]

Wormington's replacement was Charlotte Moore English, the first woman and first Black person to be a general manager in Kansas City broadcast history.[38] English oversaw the rollout of a full-length local newscast, which debuted on August 1, 1993.[39]

As an NBC affiliate

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See also: 1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment

On May 23, 1994, as a result of Fox outbidding CBS for the rights to partial rights to the National Football League, New World Communications reached an agreement with Fox parent News Corporation in which the latter company purchased a 20 percent equity interest and reached a multi-year affiliation agreement with New World. Under the terms of the deal, New World would affiliate twelve of the television stations that the company had either owned outright or was in the process of acquiring—specifically those affiliated with one of the "Big Three" networks—with the Fox network, once individual affiliation contracts with each of the stations' existing network partners expired.[40] The only NBC affiliate among the twelve stations was WDAF-TV.[41] Earlier in the month, New World had announced the purchase of WDAF-TV from Great American Communications alongside three other major-market stations.[42]

The result was that NBC needed a new affiliate in the Kansas City market and KSHB-TV was left without a network affiliation. Scripps owned three Fox affiliates, all of which lost the network in the New World switches. The other two local stations—CBS affiliate KCTV, owned by Meredith Corporation, and Hearst-owned and ABC-affiliated KMBC-TV—both re-signed with their respective networks.[43] In the case of the former, Meredith stood ready to flip KCTV to NBC if CBS bypassed its Phoenix TV station, KPHO-TV, in a market where CBS was the displaced network.[44]

In late July, Scripps signed an affiliation agreement with NBC.[45] The switch was set for September 12, 1994, kickstarting a frantic month of changes in programming and personnel at KSHB-TV and WDAF-TV.[46] A newsroom that had 18 employees had to grow to more than 70 in order to begin the production of early evening newscasts by the end of 1994.[47] Plans were also floated to construct an addition to the Oak Street studio,[47] which was approved in 1996.[48] Dozens of syndicated programs were displaced in the market, particularly at KSHB-TV, which had to make room for NBC's larger program schedule; Fox Kids programs were not picked up by WDAF-TV and instead went to KSMO-TV.[49] A.M. Live also ended its twelve-year run on the air.[50] On the first day of the switch, Willard Scott broadcast the weather for The Today Show from the front lawn of the studios; later that week, Tom Brokaw anchored the NBC Nightly News from Kansas City.[51][52]

In April 1996, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting took over the operations of KMCI (channel 38) in Lawrence, Kansas, under a local marketing agreement with then-owner Miller Television;[53] that August, the station dropped its home shopping programming and relaunched as "38 Family Greats", in part utilizing programming to which channel 41 had held the rights but had not been able to air since the 1994 affiliation switch.[54] Exercising an option from the 1996 pact with Miller,[53] Scripps bought KMCI outright for $14.6 million in 2000, forming a legal duopoly with KSHB.[55] In July 2003, KSHB and KMCI relocated their transmitter facilities to an 1,164-foot (355 m) tower at the Blue River Greenway in the Hillcrest section of southern Kansas City.[56][57]

A large 41 in white with a red border next to a black box trimmed in red with the words "Action News" on two lines, the NBC peacock atop them, a red accent line, and the letters K S H B-TV in black beneath
Former KSHB-TV logo as an NBC affiliate from 2012 until 2021

KSHB-TV was the primary NBC affiliate for St. Joseph—within range of its transmitter but defined as a separate media market—from 1994 until 2016, when KNPG-LD (channel 21) was relaunched as an NBC affiliate and displaced KSHB-TV from local satellite TV packages.[58] Suddenlink Communications, the primary cable provider in St. Joseph, then removed KSHB-TV from its lineup in 2017.[59]

A jury found in 2019 that KSHB-TV retaliated against former reporter Lisa Benson Cooper, who is Black; she was fired in 2018 after suing Scripps two years prior, alleging she had been passed over for job opportunities because of her race. Scripps alleged that she had not applied for the positions and cited other reasons, including social media posts, for her suspension and termination. Though the jury awarded damages on the retaliation claim stemming from her firing, it found against her claim of racial discrimination.[60] A second discrimination suit was filed by Demetrice "Dee" Jackson, who alleged that he had been passed over twice in favor of White men after applying to be sports director; this was settled out of court in February 2020, after the station released Jackson in late 2019.[60][61]

Local programming

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News operation

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Pre-1993 news

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Beginning at the start of the 1980s, channel 41 dabbled in producing local news programming. In 1980, when Independent Network News debuted, the station began producing five-minute news briefs to air at the beginning and end of the program.[62] After moving into the Oak Street studios, KSHB-TV continually made noise about starting a full-length nightly newscast of its own, beginning with the 1982 hiring of a news director.[63] However, it took quite some time for any newscast to eventuate.[64]

41 Express began airing on June 2, 1985. The 15-minute 10 p.m. newscast had no traditional anchors—stories were read by a rotation of existing reporters and two announcers already heard on local radio—and prompted the station to expand its news staff from six to twelve people.[65][66] Despite the shorter length, the newscast—which used zippy graphics and segment titles—gave almost as much time to news coverage as the full-length newscasts on the local network affiliates (though with a heavier focus on national stories), with abbreviated weather and sports reports.[67] There were, however, drawbacks: news staffers were quick to bolt for openings at the established stations, where reporters were seen on camera and news approaches were more traditional.[68] The format was tweaked by May 1986, with more sightings of on-camera news anchors and reporters and an increased share of local news stories.[69] Ratings were also low,[19] and they failed to improve after 41 Express was moved to 11 p.m., after The Late Show, in late 1986; as a result, the newscast was canceled in January 1987 and replaced with more traditional news breaks.[70]

A return to news

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By early 1993, KSHB-TV's news presence consisted of four prime time news briefs. However, Scripps began planning to launch a nightly 9 p.m. newscast for the station.[71] Mark Olinger was hired as news director; he had last worked at KSTW, an independent station in the Seattle market that produced local newscasts.[72] There, he had come under fire and ultimately quit in the middle of a ratings period, having orchestrated the layoffs or demotions of several veteran on-air personalities.[73] Olinger formulated a conversational style of news writing, with phrases like "cop" instead of "police officer", and derided the appearance of news sets at his network competitors as sterile "airline counters".[74]

On August 1, 1993, Fox 41 News at 9:00 debuted. The original Sunday–Thursday anchors were Pam Davis, a former soap opera actress and reporter in Sacramento, California, and Jim Condelles, who had last worked in Indianapolis.[39] While the newscast made heavy use of video, the format also de-emphasized weather, presented in a forecast running about 40 seconds each night, and lacked sports completely.[75] The anchors signed off each night by telling the viewer, "See ya!"[76]

NBC expansion

[edit]

Concomitant with becoming an NBC affiliate in September 1994, the station moved its 9 p.m. newscast to 10 p.m. and immediately began the process of expanding its newsroom to eventually produce a full suite of local newscasts.[77] This required adding 54 people to an existing staff of 18.[78] It initially did little to change the young-skewing format adopted as a Fox affiliate, though the set was lightened to better match the NBC Nightly News.[79][47]

The news expansion took place over a period of nearly two years. The first new program to debut, in October 1994, was a half-hour early-evening newscast at 5 p.m., which was conceived as primarily containing feature reports geared toward women with segments like "Just for Women" and health feature "Howdaya Feel".[80] On March 13, 1995, a 6 p.m. newscast followed, emphasizing local and breaking news stories.[81] By this time, the newscast was adopting a more mainstream format, and Olinger and executive producer Jeff Burnside departed in December.[82] The news expansions were completed in June 1996 with the addition of a 90-minute weekday morning newscast at 5:30 a.m.[83]

Though the newsroom had successfully grown to the size and output expected of an NBC affiliate, the station's news ratings remained low. Barry Garron of The Kansas City Star cited the profusion of out-of-town news reporters and the general lack of stability; Condelles was demoted to weekends, a decision Garron panned as "a new shipment of razor blades" to an operation he characterized as sabotaging itself.[84] Lynn Heider became news director after Olinger; while she was credited by Aaron Barnhart of The Star with hiring Kansas City-area native Elizabeth Alex—who remained with the station until 2013[85]—and with setting up an investigative reporting unit, the station continued to be stuck in fourth place in the market, even if it was doing slightly better than before at 10 p.m. in retaining NBC prime time viewers who were switching to other stations for local news.[86]

In 1997, the station attempted a radical shakeup of its early evening news programming. It scrapped its separate 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts in favor of a single half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m., where there was no local news offering in the market at the time and where stations rarely programmed their own newscasts.[87][88] The move was not a ratings or business success, and in March 1999, the station reverted to airing 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts. It also extended its morning news to two hours at the request of NBC, which was launching Early Today and wanted stations to program a full two hours of news between that program and The Today Show.[89]

Since Scripps' acquisition of KMCI-TV, at various points, channel 38 has aired newscasts from the KSHB-TV newsroom. The first local newscast at channel 38, at 9 p.m., debuted in 2000;[90] it was scrapped in 2003, a victim of low ratings.[91] News returned to channel 38 in 2015, when a 7 a.m. morning news extension was added.[92]

Action News

[edit]
A helicopter wrapped in blue, red, and black, with the NBC Action News logo and the word Sky Tracker
KSHB-TV's news helicopter, as seen in 2010

In January 2003, the station rebranded as NBC Action News, removing references to the channel number; it also extended its morning newscast even further out to 4 a.m.[93] The brand was tweaked to 41 Action News in 2012, with station management noting that people still called the station "channel 41" despite not having used the channel number in on-air promotion in nearly a decade.[94] Despite the brand having gone mostly unchanged, there had been significant turnover in management: between 1999 and 2014, KSHB-TV had four general managers and five news directors.[95]

For the first time in its history, KSHB-TV experienced ratings momentum in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It had stanched the bleeding of viewers: where 10 p.m. news viewership once represented a 40 percent decline from NBC's prime time lead-ins, by the time general manager Jim Swinehart retired in 2006, the station was actually gaining viewers for its late news compared to the preceding programming.[76] In November 2013, it registered a time slot win at 6 p.m., the first time in station history it had the number-one newscast at that time slot and culminating a steady rise dating back five years; it also eked out its first monthly win in late news during the February 2014 sweeps period, through the strength of having NBC's broadcast of the 2014 Winter Olympics as its lead-in, which helped increase its news ratings in the period by 46 percent. However, the station was still third in early morning news and at 10 p.m. outside of the Olympics.[95] The early 2010s also saw the station expand its morning newscast back to a 4:30 a.m. start,[96] add a 4:30 p.m. newscast in 2011 and expand it to a full hour at 4 in 2013,[97][98] and win the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for breaking news for its coverage of the natural gas explosion that leveled JJ's Restaurant in downtown Kansas City.[95]

The Action News brand was dropped in 2021 in favor of KSHB 41 News under general manager Kathleen Choal.[99]

Sports programming

[edit]

Under a six-year agreement, KSHB and KMCI replaced KCTV as the official broadcast partners of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, giving the stations exclusive rights to team programming, including preseason contests beginning in 2020, plus marketing opportunities.[100][101]

On November 6, 2013, Scripps announced a broadcasting agreement between KSHB/KMCI and Sporting Kansas City, which gave KMCI the local broadcast television rights to the Major League Soccer (MLS) club's regular season matches and its pre-game and post-game shows beginning with the team's 2014 season. The deal also allowed both stations the rights to carry team-focused specials during the regular season.[102] The relationship between the Scripps stations and Sporting Kansas City continued through 2022, after which Apple assumed the rights, local and national, to all MLS teams.[103][104]

Non-news

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In September 2005, KSHB debuted a locally produced mid-morning talk show titled Kansas City Live.[105] This show aired until January 2008[106] and was the first such program on the station since Kansas City Today, which aired between 1998 and 1999; despite making money,[105] it was a casualty of the introduction of Later Today by NBC.[107][89] The introduction of a fourth hour of Today in 2007 and a desire to add more newscast hours were reasons for the cancellation of Kansas City Live.[106][108]

From 2015 to 2018, the station aired Nichols at Night, a locally produced late-night talk show hosted by former KMBC-TV weather anchor Joel Nichols; he had joined the station a year before to present a revived Kansas City Live.[109]

Notable former on-air staff

[edit]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

KSHB-TV's transmitter is located along the Blue River Greenway in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.[1] The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KSHB-TV[113]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
41.1 1080i 16:9 KSHB-TV NBC
41.2 480i Grit Grit
41.3 Laff Laff
41.4 4:3 GetTv Get
38.1 720p 16:9 KMCI-TV KMCI-TV (Independent)
38.2 480i Bounce Bounce TV (KMCI-TV)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

KSHB-TV transmits two subchannels of KMCI-TV, one of Kansas City's two ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) stations; channel 38 began broadcasting a ATSC 3.0 signal in August 2021.[114]

Analog-to-digital transition

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KSHB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 41, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 42, using virtual channel 41.[115] As part of the FCC's repack, KSHB-TV moved to channel 36 on February 11, 2019.[113]

References

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KSHB-TV

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from Grokipedia
KSHB-TV, virtual channel 41, is an -affiliated television station licensed to , United States, serving the . Owned by the , it operates as part of a duopoly with (channel 38), with studios located at 4720 Oak Street in Kansas City and a transmitter near . The station signed on August 10, 1970, as KBMA-TV, an independent outlet launched by the Business Men's Assurance Company of America. Acquired by Scripps Howard Broadcasting in 1977, its call letters changed to KSHB-TV in 1981 to reflect the new ownership. Initially independent, it affiliated with from 1986 until 1994, when it switched to following an affiliation swap with . KSHB-TV pioneered several broadcasting innovations, including becoming the first computer-automated in the United States, the first in its market to air high-definition commercials and promotions, and the first nationally to use satellites for point-to-point program transmission. It also originated Target Network Television, a separate cable network. As the market's fastest-growing source, KSHB-TV emphasizes local coverage of , weather, traffic, and sports, particularly games as an official broadcast partner.

History

Origins as KBMA-TV (1964-1977)

KBMA-TV signed on August 10, 1970, as the first UHF television station in , operating on channel 41 as an independent broadcaster. The station was established by the Business Men's Assurance Company of America, a Kansas City-based firm that provided the initial funding and from which the call letters derived. Studios were located in the company's 19-story tower . Efforts to bring channel 41 to air followed a construction permit process amid regulatory hurdles, with the granting extensions as late as 1968 before the eventual launch after years of delays. These postponements reflected broader challenges in launching UHF stations, including technical limitations and competition from established VHF network affiliates dominating the market—KMB C-TV (channel 9, ), KCTV (channel 5, ABC), and WDAF-TV (channel 4, ). As an independent, KBMA-TV offered a mix of syndicated reruns, classic films, and limited local content, constrained by the weaker propagation of UHF signals and incomplete penetration on household television sets lacking adequate tuners under the 1962 All-Channel Receiver Act. Owned by local interests, the station experienced modest viewership gains but faced ongoing financial difficulties in a saturated market, relying on that proved insufficient for robust expansion. By the mid-1970s, these pressures prompted innovations like distributing programming via to cable systems, yet profitability remained elusive.

Scripps acquisition and early independent operations (1977-1994)

In 1977, Scripps Howard Broadcasting, the broadcast division of the E. W. Scripps Company, acquired KBMA-TV, the Kansas City market's UHF independent station that had launched in 1970. The purchase marked Scripps' entry into independent television ownership, continuing the station's format of general entertainment programming, including off-network syndicated sitcoms and dramas, recent first-run syndication, older feature films, public affairs content, and religious programs. This strategy aimed to compete in the Kansas City designated market area (DMA), where UHF signals faced inherent propagation limitations compared to VHF counterparts, necessitating reliance on content appeal for viewer retention amid limited cable penetration in the late 1970s. On September 28, 1981, the station changed its call sign to KSHB-TV, abbreviating Scripps Howard Broadcasting, coinciding with a move to new studio facilities that supported expanded local production capabilities. Under Scripps management, operations emphasized programming investments, such as acquiring stronger syndicated packages and children's fare, to bolster audience share and establish KSHB as the market's preeminent independent by the mid-1980s. Local content development grew modestly, including public affairs segments, while the station navigated competitive pressures from established network affiliates by targeting underserved demographics through targeted movie packages and off-peak scheduling. These efforts yielded gradual , with KSHB achieving viability as a standalone entity through disciplined rather than network affiliation.

Fox affiliation and programming shifts (1986-1994)

In October 1986, KSHB-TV affiliated with the newly launched Broadcasting Company as one of its charter stations, marking a shift from independent operations to carrying Fox's initial weekend-only lineup, which included programs like The Late Show and . This affiliation supplemented KSHB's existing syndicated fare and local content, but Fox's limited schedule—expanding gradually to include weekday programming by 1987 and hits like starting in December 1989—left significant airtime gaps, prompting the station to air movies at 7:00 p.m. on non-network nights until Fox achieved full-week in September 1993. To compensate for Fox's incomplete offerings in a market dominated by VHF affiliates of ABC (WDAF-TV, later), (KCTV), and (KMBC-TV), KSHB invested in expanded local programming, including syndicated talk shows, game shows, and sports broadcasts such as games when available, alongside children's blocks featuring cartoons like . These efforts yielded moderate ratings for an UHF station, positioning KSHB as a competitive alternative but trailing the Big Three networks' established audiences, with Fox's youth-oriented, edgier content appealing to demographics underserved by traditional broadcasters yet constrained by incomplete national clearance and lower advertising premiums. By early 1994, amid 's aggressive expansion driven by its acquisition of broadcast rights—necessitating stronger VHF affiliates—KSHB ended its Fox partnership on September 11, swapping affiliations with outlet effective the next day. This realignment stemmed from Scripps Howard Broadcasting's strategic negotiations, where retaining affiliation for its Tulsa station hinged on assigning KSHB to , which offered superior revenue potential through a full-week schedule of established news, sports, and programming compared to Fox's still-maturing network, despite the latter's recent full expansion. The switch quadrupled KSHB's audience reach by leveraging 's broader national distribution and higher advertiser demand in Kansas City's three-network-centric market.

Transition to NBC and modern era (1994-present)

KSHB-TV assumed the affiliation on September 12, 1994, exchanging networks with amid the broader 1994–1996 U.S. broadcast realignment spurred by Fox's acquisition of NFL rights and subsequent affiliate poaching from . This shift, negotiated by E.W. Scripps with on August 1, 1994, conditioned on expanding local news output to match WDAF's commitments, elevated KSHB from Fox's emerging lineup to a core Big Three network outlet, thereby extending its primetime and household penetration in the Kansas City designated market area, which encompassed over 1 million TV homes by the late . In the modern era, KSHB solidified operational synergies through its duopoly with , fully acquired by Scripps in 2000 for $14.6 million, facilitating shared studio facilities on Oak Street in , and collaborative content distribution such as preseason broadcasts of games starting in 2019 under a multi-year agreement. The station commemorated its 50th anniversary in August 2020 with on-air retrospectives, logo montages, and social media campaigns recapping key historical moments, including the NBC transition. Post-2020 adaptations emphasized digital integration, with KSHB launching enhanced via its website and mobile app for over-the-air and on-demand access to programming and local inserts. In August 2021, the station adopted (ATSC 3.0) alongside other Kansas City broadcasters, enabling higher-resolution video, interactive features, and improved audio for compatible receivers, as part of a market-wide rollout to over-the-air delivery amid trends. These efforts supported sustained audience engagement, with the duopoly reporting growth in multi-platform reach through 2025 in the 33rd-ranked DMA, where broadcast viewership stabilized against streaming competition.

Ownership and affiliations

Corporate ownership and Scripps integration

KSHB-TV is wholly owned by The , a diversified publicly traded on the under the SSP, which acquired the station in 1977. As part of Scripps' Local Media segment, KSHB operates within a portfolio of 61 television stations spanning 41 markets, enabling centralized management of operational costs, shared technological infrastructure, and national resource allocation for local programming. This structure supports , including unified ad sales strategies and content distribution systems, while maintaining station-specific autonomy in market-facing decisions. Scripps integrates KSHB through its multi-station model, which emphasizes profitability via diversified revenue streams such as local advertising, retransmission fees, and political spending, with the Local Media division generating $524 million in first-quarter 2025 revenue amid a focus on digital and connected TV growth. The company's approach includes leveraging Scripps National resources for , graphics production, and audience analytics, reducing per-station overhead while enhancing competitive positioning in mid-sized markets like Kansas City. has remained stable without significant controversies, overseen by Scripps' board and executive leadership prioritizing long-term financial health over short-term disruptions. Financially, KSHB contributes to Scripps' Local Media profitability, bolstered by duopoly synergies with co-owned KMCI-TV, which facilitates cross-promotion and resource sharing under a unified general structure. Scripps' overall strategy, as reflected in 2025 quarterly reports, highlights resilience through election-cycle political ad exceeding $340 million company-wide in 2024, underscoring the segment's role in offsetting broader media industry pressures like declining linear viewership. This integration model aligns with Scripps' public filings, which disclose no material impairments or disputes tied to KSHB's operations, affirming its status as a core asset in a portfolio designed for sustainable returns.

Network affiliations and duopoly with

KSHB-TV serves as the primary affiliate for the Kansas City market, carrying the network's full schedule of prime-time programming, daytime shows, and national news broadcasts since September 12, 1994. This affiliation resulted from a swap with , which assumed the affiliation amid broader realignments driven by New World Communications' group deals, allowing KSHB to access NBC's extensive content library and improve its competitive positioning against established network outlets. Prior affiliations included from 1986 to 1994 and independent status earlier, reflecting shifts in response to syndication availability and network expansion strategies. The station operates a duopoly with independent (channel 38), licensed to , under common ownership by . Scripps initiated operational control via a in 1996, programming and marketing KMCI alongside KSHB, before acquiring full ownership in March 2000 to establish a formal duopoly compliant with FCC regulations post-1990s . Both stations share production facilities on Oak Street in southern , facilitating integrated operations such as joint sales, shared technical resources, and streamlined content distribution across the Kansas City designated market area, which encompasses St. Joseph. This structure enhances cost efficiencies and market leverage for Scripps, enabling resource pooling without duplicative infrastructure in a mid-sized DMA ranked 31st nationally.

Programming

Syndicated and network content

KSHB-TV carries the complete NBC network schedule, encompassing morning flagship Today from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. weekdays, national evening newscast NBC Nightly News at 5:30 p.m., and primetime blocks featuring serialized dramas such as the Chicago procedural franchise (Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. airing Tuesdays through Thursdays) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Fridays, alongside competition formats like The Voice. Late-night programming includes The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 10:35 p.m. and Late Night with Seth Meyers preceding it, with weekend slots filled by Saturday Night Live and sports events when scheduled. This adherence to NBC's feed ensures comprehensive coverage of network tentpoles, which averaged 3.2 million viewers nationally in the 2024-2025 season across key demos. In syndicated slots, particularly the access period leading into primetime, KSHB broadcasts Wheel of Fortune weekdays at 7:00 p.m. and Jeopardy! immediately following at 7:30 p.m., longstanding staples produced by that have anchored the schedule since the station's 1994 switch to . These game shows consistently rank among the top syndicated performers, with Wheel of Fortune drawing over 5 million daily viewers nationwide in 2024 and providing a reliable lead-in to programming by appealing to family and older audiences in the Kansas City DMA. Fringe-hour reruns, such as off-network sitcoms or talk shows like , fill early evening and post-late-night gaps to optimize non-network inventory. Responding to cord-cutting trends, KSHB integrates with NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service for over-the-air and on-demand access to network content, including live primetime and next-day episodes of shows like The Voice. Starting September 2025, syndicated hits Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! became available on Peacock the day after linear broadcast, enhancing multi-platform reach amid declining traditional viewership, where Peacock reported 36 million subscribers by mid-2025. This hybrid model supports ratings stability by directing linear audiences to authenticated streaming extensions.

Local non-news programming

KSHB-TV airs Kansas City Live, a locally produced and talk program that highlights regional culture, events, businesses, and community trends in the . The show features in-studio discussions, guest interviews, and segments on local attractions, with episodes typically running as an hour-long format during weekday mornings. Hosts including Stephanie Summers and Kelly Nyberg contribute to its focus on everyday Kansas City life, such as home remodeling events and nonprofit initiatives. Within Kansas City Live, KC Spotlight serves as a recurring feature for extended profiles on local organizations and services, often structured as long-form advertorials to promote businesses, products, or events tied to the area's economy and social fabric. These segments emphasize practical topics like health services, community support for disabilities, and entertainment options, airing multiple times weekly to connect viewers with Kansas City-specific opportunities. The station's community affairs efforts include occasional special programming on regional issues, such as public safety initiatives and neighborhood development, though these are integrated into broader lifestyle content rather than standalone public affairs series. No dedicated long-running public affairs show has been consistently produced, with emphasis placed on event-driven segments over regular investigative formats.

Sports broadcasting

KSHB-TV holds local broadcasting rights for preseason games through a partnership with the team, initially announced in 2019 for the 2020–2024 seasons and extended in February 2025 to run through the 2030–2031 season. This agreement includes over-the-air telecasts of all preseason contests on KSHB and its sister station , providing free access to fans in the Kansas City market. For the 2025 , KSHB aired the Chiefs' three games: a Week 1 matchup against the on August 9, a Week 2 game at the on August 15, and a Week 3 finale versus the on August 22. As the NBC affiliate for the Kansas City market, KSHB broadcasts select national games featuring the Chiefs on , including Sunday Night Football telecasts and potential playoff contests when the team qualifies for NBC-covered matchups. The station also carries 's broader sports slate, encompassing from conferences like the Big Ten and events such as the Olympics, leveraging network synergies for regional viewer interest in collegiate athletics involving nearby institutions. Local sports production emphasizes high-definition broadcasts with integrated graphics and commentary, supplemented by multi-platform streaming on the KSHB app and website for extended reach. While KSHB provides nightly news segments, analysis, and highlights for Major League Baseball's , regular-season game telecasts are handled by regional sports networks like Sports Network Kansas City, with the station focusing instead on postseason recaps and team developments to complement its Chiefs-centric live content. This sports programming mix has supported elevated local engagement, particularly during Chiefs playoff runs, where KSHB has aired supplemental local feeds or analysis tied to national broadcasts.

News operations

Early and intermittent news efforts (1970s-1990s)

During its initial years as KBMA-TV, which signed on August 10, 1970, as an independent station owned by the Business Men's Assurance Company of America, the station focused primarily on general entertainment programming with minimal local news content. Early efforts were limited to occasional news updates or brief segments, reflecting resource constraints typical of a startup UHF independent in a market dominated by established VHF affiliates like KCTV, KMBC-TV, and WDAF-TV, which commanded significantly higher viewership shares in news—such as KCTV's 40% share for a 10 p.m. newscast in 1981. Following the E.W. Scripps Company's acquisition of majority control in 1977 and the station's rebranding to KSHB-TV in 1981 upon relocation to new studios, sporadic news initiatives emerged. These included short-form programs like "41 News Update," which aired intermittently from 1981, providing basic headlines without competing directly against rivals' full-length newscasts. A more structured attempt came in 1985 under Bob Wormington, who launched "41 Express," a 15-minute weeknight newscast at 10 p.m. featuring faster pacing and on-screen graphics to differentiate from wire services, alongside a weekend edition. However, these efforts struggled in the competitive landscape, where independent stations like KSHB captured far lower audience shares than network affiliates; the program was discontinued around 1986–1988 to accommodate higher-rated syndicated fare, such as at 10 p.m., prompting the release of the nascent news staff. Subsequent intermittent updates persisted into the early 1990s but yielded negligible ratings, leading Scripps to strategically pause substantive production amid resource limitations and the station's focus on as a Fox affiliate from 1986, prioritizing viability over expansion in a market where news leaders held dominant positions.

Revival and expansion under Action News (1990s-2010s)

Following the affiliation switch to NBC on September 12, 1994, KSHB-TV revitalized its news department by leveraging network resources and expanding local coverage, building on a half-hour newscast launched in 1993 during its Fox era. This shift enabled consistent evening broadcasts at 5, 6, and 10 p.m., emphasizing community stories and weather, which contributed to gradual audience gains in a market dominated by established competitors. In 2003, the station introduced the "NBC Action News" branding, evolving to "41 Action News" by early 2012, to signal a more dynamic, viewer-focused approach with rapid reporting and visual storytelling. This rebrand coincided with programming expansions, including morning shows extended to 7 a.m. and midday slots, alongside a 2008 launch of seven additional weekly news hours covering weekends and early evenings. Such growth positioned KSHB as Kansas City's fastest-rising news operation under E.W. Scripps ownership, with late-2000s ratings surges reflecting investments in staff and production. Technological enhancements bolstered this era's emphasis on weather and , including early deployment for real-time storm tracking and the acquisition of the Skytracker helicopter for aerial coverage of traffic, fires, and pursuits. The station's commitment to yielded regional for reporting and enterprise pieces, such as those by veteran staff, underscoring factual depth over sensationalism in exposés on local and safety issues. By the early , these efforts solidified KSHB's competitive edge, with high-definition studio upgrades in 2008 enhancing broadcast quality amid rising viewership.

Recent developments and market performance (2020s)

In the 2020s, KSHB-TV adapted to shifting viewer habits by enhancing its digital news delivery, including 24/7 via its website, dedicated mobile app, and compatibility with connected TV devices such as , , and . The KSHB 41 Kansas City News app, available on , delivers breaking news alerts, severe weather coverage, and interactive features, earning a 4.1 out of 5 user rating from over 1,200 reviews as of 2025. These expansions reflect broader efforts by local broadcasters to compete with online platforms amid declining linear TV viewership. KSHB's news operations received favorable evaluations for factual integrity from independent media watchdogs. rated it least biased in 2023, citing balanced story selection, minimal editorializing, and high factual reporting based on sourcing practices and failed fact-check reviews. assigned a center bias rating in 2025, determined through blind bias surveys and editorial reviews. Ground News aggregated a high factuality score, combining inputs from and other verifiers. In 2021, the station implemented formal guidelines for suspect descriptions in reporting to mitigate unconscious bias, emphasizing relevance over routine demographic details unless tied to investigative value. Market performance metrics indicate robust digital engagement, with the KSHB website drawing approximately 1.38 million monthly visitors, placing it among the top 10 TV stations in by . No major controversies disrupted operations during the decade; coverage focused on routine local issues such as public safety, property taxes, and infrastructure disputes without documented patterns of or retraction. In August 2021, KSHB joined Kansas City's inaugural NEXTGEN TV rollout, enabling advanced features like interactive program guides and higher-quality streaming over IP alongside traditional over-the-air signals.

Technical information

Broadcast facilities and signal coverage

KSHB-TV's primary broadcast studios are located at 4720 Oak Street in Kansas City, Missouri, a facility shared with sister station . The station's transmitter is positioned along the Blue River Greenway in Kansas City's Hillcrest neighborhood, operating at an effective radiated power of 345 kW from a tower height of approximately 1,036 feet above average terrain. KSHB-TV transmits a digital signal on virtual channel 41 via physical UHF channel 36, serving the Kansas City designated market area (DMA), which encompasses 16 counties across and and ranks 33rd nationally with 1,033,680 television households as of the 2024–2025 season. Over-the-air coverage primarily reaches the Kansas City metropolitan core, including urban centers like , Overland Park, and Lee's Summit, with signal strength enabling reliable reception within about 40–50 miles of the transmitter under optimal conditions per FCC propagation models. The station is widely carried on cable systems such as (channel 41 or equivalent digital tier) and (channel 41), extending reach to fringe areas; in the adjacent St. Joseph market (DMA rank 99), KSHB functions as a supplemental option via cable importation and marginal OTA reception, historically filling affiliation gaps prior to local NBC translator expansions.

Subchannels and digital multicast

KSHB-TV's digital signal operates on virtual channel 41 via PSIP mapping, transmitted over physical RF channel 36 following the FCC spectrum repack. The primary subchannel, 41.1, carries network programming in high definition at a bitrate of approximately 6.9–7.35 Mbps, enabling full HD within the station's 6 MHz bandwidth allocation under ATSC 1.0 standards.
Virtual ChannelProgrammingResolution/Bitrate
41.2Grit (Westerns and action films)480i / ~1.2–1.55 Mbps
41.3Laff (comedy series and films) / ~0.75–0.9 Mbps
41.4GetTV (classic television) / ~0.7–0.95 Mbps
These secondary subchannels target niche audiences with syndicated content from Scripps-owned digital multicast , utilizing lower bitrates for standard-definition feeds to fit within remaining spectrum capacity. In addition, KSHB-TV multicasts two subchannels for co-owned (virtual 38): 38.1 offering independent programming in at ~5.15–6.15 Mbps, and 38.2 carrying in at ~0.75–1.4 Mbps. This shared transmission arrangement optimizes infrastructure efficiency for the duopoly while adhering to FCC obligations for primary channels.

Analog-to-digital transition and spectrum

KSHB-TV broadcast its analog signal on UHF channel 41 from its sign-on in 1969 until the nationwide , ceasing operations at 12:01 a.m. on June 12, 2009, as mandated by the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 and enforced by the (FCC). The station had operated a on UHF channel 42 since receiving its construction permit in 2002, maintaining full-power digital service throughout the transition period with a mapping of 41.1 via (PSIP) to preserve viewer familiarity. Post-transition, KSHB-TV optimized its for improved coverage, serving approximately 1.93 million persons in the Kansas City market with minimal changes in service area, though some over-the-air viewers encountered temporary reception disruptions due to the need for digital converter boxes or updated antennas, particularly in fringe areas. The FCC provided resources for viewer , including a national and subsidies for converter boxes, which mitigated widespread issues but highlighted challenges in rural and transitional zones where analog "rabbit ears" antennas proved inadequate for digital signals. As part of the FCC's 2016-2017 broadcast incentive auction, which repacked the UHF band to free spectrum for , KSHB-TV relocated its digital operations from channel 42 to channel 36 during Phase 4 of the transition on February 11, 2019, without significant coverage loss due to equivalent and antenna height adjustments. The station received FCC reimbursements exceeding $21,000 for repacking expenses, including equipment modifications, ensuring continuity of programming and subchannels. This relocation compressed the TV band, enhancing spectrum efficiency while requiring engineering upgrades to maintain signal robustness across the market. In preparation for next-generation broadcasting, KSHB-TV has invested in (NextGen TV) compatibility, publishing informational resources on its website to inform viewers of enhanced features like , HDR, and interactive services, with deployment aligned to FCC voluntary guidelines and market-wide rollouts in Kansas City by the mid-2020s. These efforts include testing for with ATSC 1.0 receivers, positioning the station for phased adoption amid ongoing FCC rulemaking to ease requirements.

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