page_title: KOBI
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: KOBI / History
caption_attribution_description: English: KOBI NBC 5 studios on South Fir Street in Downtown Medford
context_page_description: KOBI, virtual and VHF digital channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Medford, Oregon, United States. The station's owner, California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc., is the longest continuously independent broadcast group in the Western United States and one of the three oldest in the country. KOBI's studios are located on South Fir Street in downtown Medford, and its transmitter is located atop King Mountain, 28 miles northwest of the city.
  KOBI also operates a satellite station in Klamath Falls, KOTI, as well as a large network of translators. Together, the two stations serve 12 mostly rural counties in southern Oregon and northern California.
context_section_description: It was founded on August 1, 1953 by Bill Smullin, a 20-year veteran of the television industry. The station's call letters were originally KBES-TV (BESt TV), and it carried programming from all four major networks. However, for its first 25 years, it was primarily a CBS affiliate. It was the second television station in Oregon, following KPTV in Portland by eleven months, and the first on the VHF band.
  Smullin soon realized that KBES' signal was not strong enough to cover all of southern Oregon, which the FCC had ruled was part of the Medford market, so he bought the license for channel 2 in Klamath Falls, and KOTI debuted on August 12, 1956.
  In 1962, Smullin changed the call letters to KTVM. When channel 10 was allocated to Medford, Smullin helped the owners of KMED-AM get the license, as well as space on his transmitter on Blackwell Hill. Partly because of his help, KMED-TV (channel 10, now KTVL) signed on in 1961. In 1968, KTVM moved to a powerful transmitter on King Mountain and changed its calls to the current KOBI.
  By 1978, KOBI had become a primary ABC affiliate, which by then had become the top network. However, they continued to carry some CBS programs (such as the CBS Evening News and several daytime shows). In 1983, KOBI picked up NBC from KTVL, which switched to CBS. It carried a few ABC programs for another year until KDRV (channel 12) signed on.
  For many years, KOBI branded itself as "Channel 5M," with a logo showing a "5" on an interstate highway sign, reflecting the interstate that goes through the Medford area, Interstate 5. The interstate sign motif was later extended to KOTI and KRCR. KOBI rebranded itself as "The News Channel" in 1998 and as "NBC 5" in 2004, but the highway sign remains today.
  The station has a UHF translator, K32DY-D, to serve non-antenna-rotator-equipped households between Medford and Ashland. It is located on Mt. Baldy, east of Phoenix.
  KOBI has brought many firsts to Southern Oregon and Northern California. It was the first station in Medford to offer local color programming, the first station to operate in stereo, the first Medford station to employ electronic news-gathering technology, and was the first Medford station with statewide microwave news coverage.
  Bill Smullin retired in 1985 and was succeeded by his daughter, Patricia C. "Patsy" Smullin, who serves as owner and president today.
  KOBI added a DT2 channel for AccuWeather's local and national weather digital channel to KOBI's digital signal were instituted in early 2008. It was replaced by This TV in January 2014, then Cozi TV in December 2019.
caption: KOBI studios on South Fir Street in Downtown Medford
exif: {}