KMEY

(channel 12) is a television station in Lockwood City, Iowa, United States, serving northwestern Iowa as an affiliate of CBS, Grant Classics, Dabl, and Ion Mystery. Owned by Grant Media Group, the station has studios on Loveless Boulevard in Lockwood City's Woodrum Hills neighborhood, while its transmitter is along 210th Street in rural Whittemore.
== History ==
The Lockwood City Inquirer filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a TV station license in 1948. However, due to a backlog of more than 200 applications, the FCC decided to pause new submissions until the existing applications had been filled, and the request for "KLCI" (for Lockwood City Inquirer) was ignored.
After the backlog had been cleared, the Inquirer submitted a new application for a television called KMEY (standing for the newspaper's founder, Myron Engalls Yackley. The request was filled and the company was granted a license for the station on channel 12. KMEY signed on the air for the first time as the market's ABC affiliate on February 12, 1961. Its inaugural program was the premiere of The Mountcastle Show, a musical talk show hosted by Alex Williams-Mountcastle.
The Inquirer shut down operations in 1974 and the television station (their only other property) was sold to Cadaver Broadcast Corporation, a local radio and television operator operated by Gilbert Hills and based in New Orleans, Louisiana. KMEY became their fifth television station, and their first in the Midwest. The following year, under Cadaver's ownership, the station launched its in-house local news department, Action News.
KMEY's main television facilities were destroyed during the 1979 Hillarytown, Iowa tornado, which also killed three staffers. While the new building was being constructed, the station operated out of an emergency setup in a former Safeway grocery store in northern Lockwood City. The station's new facility, dedicated to the late employees, opened on August 12, 1980.
The station was sold to Pulitzer in 1984 and became part of their broadcast division. It was sold again, on August 26, 1993, to Grant Television Stations, the broadcasting subsidiary of department store chain Warner Grant, and was the second station to be acquired by the company. Grant then adopted the now-longtime News Channel 12 branding for KMEY's newscasts later that year.
On February 12, 1995, Slaton Television, owner of area CBS affiliate KLWC, announced that they had signed a deal with ABC to carry their network on all of their stations. This left CBS in need of an affiliate for the Lockwood City market. KMEY was approached by the company, since they would be the one swapping with KLWC, and the station accepted their offer. The switch occurred on July 9, 1995.
The station celebrated its 40th anniversary on February 12, 2001, with a special commemorating their history and featuring interviews with past and present staff members. Coinciding with the anniversary was the rebrand of the station from 12Alive to CBS 12 (or, alternatively, KMEY-TV). The newscasts remained News Channel 12. The station launched weekend newscasts on September 8, 2001.
KMEY gained national attention in December 2005 with its Freestyle for a Freestyle contest, held during their morning newscast on December 6. The contest awarded a new 2006 Ford Freestyle SEL to the winner of a freestyle rapping contest. One of the contestants, Loretta Wilson, became an early Internet meme for her humorous rap about vegetables. While she did not win the actual contest, Ford gave her a free car anyway after the clip was brought to their attention. A similar contest, "Rap for a Ranger", was held in 2019.
== Programming ==
Syndicated programs broadcast by KMEY include Sherri, Family Feud, Access Hollywood, and Dr. Phil, among others.
=== News operation ===
KMEY airs 28 hours worth of newscasts per week, with 4 1/2 hours per day on weekdays, 2 hours on Saturday, and 3 hours on Sunday. Unlike many other stations owned by Grant Media Group, which have in-house public affairs shows, the station has no local programming other than newscasts on weekends.
On October 14, 2012, KMEY's newscasts began broadcasting in high definition, with the station converting to widescreen broadcasting in February 2013.
== Technical information ==
=== Subchannels ===
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel	Video	Aspect	Short Name	Programming
12.1 	1080i	16:9 	KMEY-HD 	Main KMEY programming / CBS
12.2 	1080i	4:3 	GRANT 	Grant Classics
12.3 	720p 	4:3 	DABL 	Dabl
12.4 	480i 	4:3 	CRTMY 	Ion Mystery
=== Analog-to-digital conversion ===
KMEY shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 12, at 9:30 a.m. 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.
Category:CBS network affiliates
Category:Grant Classics affiliates
Category:Dabl affiliates
Category:Ion Mystery affiliates
Category:Grant Media Group
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1961
Category:Television stations in Lockwood City, Iowa