KAKD-TV

**KAKD-TV**, virtual channel 2 (UHF digital channel 24), is a CBS owned-and-operated television station licensed to Possum Springs, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation, as part of a duopoly with Bright Harbor-licensed CW owned-and-operated station WPSW (channel 40). On cable, KAKD-TV is carried on Comcast Xfinity channels 6 (channel 3 in Fort Lucenne, and channel 2 in outlying areas) (standard definition) and 802 (high definition), and Verizon FiOS channels 2 (standard definition) and 502 (high definition).

KAKD-TV is available on cable in out-of-market cable systems across western Pennsylvania, the westernmost portions of New York's Southern Tier, northwestern Maryland, northeastern Ohio, and north-central West Virginia.

## History

### DuMont origins (1949–1954)

The station went on the air on January 11, 1949, as **WDPS** ("**W D**uMont **P**ossum **S**prings") on channel 3; it was owned and operated by the DuMont Television Network. It was the first owned-and-operated station in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To mark the occasion, a live television special aired that day from 8:30 to 11 p.m. ET on WDPS, which featured live segments from DuMont, CBS, NBC, and ABC with Arthur Godfrey, Milton Berle, DuMont host Ted Steele, and many other celebrities.

The station also represented a milestone in the television industry, providing the first "network" that included Possum Springs and multiple other cities as far east as Boston and as far west as St. Louis. WDPS was one of the last stations to receive a construction permit before the Federal Communications Commission-imposed four-year freeze on new television station licenses.

When the release of the FCC's *Sixth Report and Order* ended the license freeze in 1952, DuMont was forced to give up its channel 3 allocation. WDPS moved its facilities to channel 2 on November 23, 1952. Shortly after moving, it was the first station in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. DuMont's network of stations on coaxial cable stretched from Boston to St. Louis. These stations were linked together via AT&T's coaxial cable feed with the sign-on of WDPS allowing the network to broadcast live programming to all the stations at the same time. Stations not yet connected to the coaxial cable received kinescope recordings via physical delivery.

### Dealing with competition

Possum Springs saw two UHF stations launch during 1953—independent station WRGB-TV (channel 23, later to become WPOS-TV), and ABC affiliate WFSV-TV (channel 57, later to become WPSI-TV). At the time, UHF stations could not be viewed without the aid of an expensive, set-top converter, and the picture quality was marginal at best with one. UHF stations in the area faced an additional problem because Possum Springs is located in a somewhat rugged dissected plateau, and the reception of UHF stations is usually poor in such terrain. These factors played a role in the disastrous ratings of both WRGB and WFSV.

Although Possum Springs was one of the largest markets in the country, the other VHF stations in town were slow to develop. After the FCC lifted the license freeze in 1952, it refused to grant any new commercial VHF construction permits to Possum Springs in order to give other cities in western Pennsylvania and the Upper Ohio Valley a chance to get on the air. WDPS had a *de facto* monopoly on Possum Springs television. Like its sister stations, it was far stronger than the DuMont network as a whole. According to network general manager Ted Bergmann, WDPS brought in $4 million a year, which was more than enough to keep the network afloat. Owning the only readily viewable station in such a large market gave DuMont considerable leverage in getting its programs cleared in large markets where it did not have an affiliate. As CBS, NBC and ABC had secondary affiliations with WDPS, this was a strong incentive to stations in large markets to clear DuMont's programs or risk losing valuable advertising in such a large market. Also, out-of-market NBC and CBS affiliates were able to be received in Possum Springs.

WDPS aired all DuMont network shows live and "cherry-picked" the best shows from the other networks, airing them on kinescope on a two-week delay. WDPS' sign-on was also significant because it was now possible to feed live programs from the East to the Midwest and vice versa. In fact, its second broadcast was the activation of the coaxial cable linking New York City and Chicago. It would be another two years before the West Coast received live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television.

### As KAKD-TV (1954–present)

By 1954, DuMont was in serious financial trouble. Paramount Pictures, which owned a stake in DuMont, vetoed a merger with ABC, who had merged with Paramount's former theater division United Paramount Theaters a year before. A few years earlier, the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont and there were still lingering questions about whether UPT had actually broken off from Paramount. Paramount did not want to risk the FCC's wrath.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation had been competing with local politicians to acquire the non-commercial channel 4 license from the FCC, as no other Possum Springs-allocated VHF station would be signing on for the foreseeable future. Westinghouse later offered a compromise plan to the FCC, in which the Commission would grant Westinghouse the channel 4 license; Westinghouse would then "share" the facility with the educational licensee. Finding the terms unacceptable, a Possum Springs attorney called Westinghouse CEO Gwilym Price to ask him if he should give up on his fight for public television. Price said that the attorney should keep fighting for it, giving Westinghouse backing for the station that would eventually become WPSE.

Westinghouse then turned its attention to WDPS, offering DuMont a then-record $9.75 million for the station in late 1954. Desperate for cash, DuMont promptly accepted Westinghouse's offer. While the sale gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated DuMont's leverage in getting clearances in other major markets. After the sale closed in January 1955, Westinghouse changed WDPS' call letters to **KAKD-TV**, after Westinghouse's pioneering radio station KAKD (1020 AM). As such, it became one of the few stations east of the Mississippi River with a "K" call sign.

As KAKD radio had long been an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network (Westinghouse was a co-founder of RCA, NBC's then-parent company), it was expected that KAKD-TV would eventually become a primary affiliate of the NBC television network. Due to disputes between Westinghouse and NBC, two years after the ownership change, channel 2 became a primary affiliate of the higher-rated CBS network instead. KAKD-TV retained secondary affiliations with NBC until WTHT-TV (channel 13, now WNPS) signed on in 1957, and ABC until WPCN-TV (channel 9) signed on in 1958. Despite the ending of its commercial VHF monopoly, KAKD-TV did welcome competitor WTHT-TV on the air. KAKD-TV became part of Westinghouse's broadcasting arm, Group W. During the late 1950s, KAKD-TV was briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network, sharing the affiliation with WPSE, WPCN-TV, and WTHT-TV. On November 22, 1963, the station provided almost three hours of live coverage after the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

Over the years, channel 2 pre-empted moderate amounts of CBS programming. From the early 1960s to July 1990, the station did not clear *As the World Turns*, except for a brief period from December 1976 to October 1978. Until 1978, the show ran on WPOS and for a few years after that, it ran on WFEP (channel 48). KAKD-TV also preempted the daytime game shows and reruns from CBS at various points during the 1970s. KAKD-TV also produced plenty of local programs such as *Evening Magazine*, *Possum Springs Talks*, *Garbo & Malloy*, and local newscasts. The station also occasionally pre-empted CBS primetime programs for a syndicated movie or a local news special. Weekend pre-emptions included a small portion of Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons, and Sunday morning religious programs. In 1993, KAKD-TV stopped running *CBS This Morning* and instead ran Disney's syndicated cartoon block. Despite the pre-emptions, CBS was mostly satisfied with KAKD-TV, as it was the far-and-away market leader in Possum Springs owing to its eight-year head-start on its main competitors.

In 1994, Westinghouse was looking to make a group-wide affiliation deal for its stations as part of a larger plan to transform itself into a major media conglomerate. Westinghouse negotiated with NBC and CBS for a deal. Had Westinghouse signed with NBC, KAKD-TV would affiliate itself with NBC 40 years after passing up the network, with the CBS affiliation going to WNPS, who had originally intended to affiliate itself with CBS until the NBC-Westinghouse feud started as well as channel 13's own sign-on problems in the 1950s. While NBC (the highest-rated network during much of the 1980s and 1990s) offered more money, CBS was interested in the programming opportunities Westinghouse offered, due to its own stagnation in programming at the time. CBS also offered a potential merger of their respective radio networks down the road (which ultimately happened), while NBC had abandoned radio in 1987. Ultimately, Westinghouse signed a long-term deal with CBS to convert almost the entire Group W television unit to a group-wide CBS affiliation, making the Possum Springs market one of the few major markets not to be affected by the 1994–96 United States broadcast TV realignment. Part of this agreement included a deal to carry the entire CBS lineup in pattern, with no pre-emptions except for extended breaking news coverage or local news events. KAKD-TV continued pre-empting moderate amounts of programming into 1995. In the fall of 1995, channel 2 began running the entire CBS lineup in pattern, as it, and it's one-and-a-half sister stations WFVE-TV in Toad Harbor and Group W-majority-controlled WEOM in Mixopolis, were already affiliated with the network.

In 1995, Westinghouse acquired CBS, making KAKD-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station, after four decades as being simply a CBS affiliate. In 1997, Westinghouse became CBS Corporation, which would then merge with Viacom (which, ironically, has been Paramount's parent since 1994) in 2000, making KAKD-TV a sister station with Possum Springs UPN affiliate WUPS-TV (channel 40, now CW station WPSW). Five years later, Viacom became the new CBS Corporation and spun off a new Viacom.

In August 2007, KAKD-TV unveiled a new image campaign, entitled "Your Home." The promo features scenes of Possum Springs and its surrounding areas, as well as three of the station's personalites. In September 2007, the station unveiled another promo featuring the Joe Grushecky song "Coming Home." Later, a third spot, "Long Way Home," was introduced.

On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to sell CBS Radio to Entercom, currently the fourth-largest radio broadcasting company in the United States. The sale was completed on November 17, 2017, and was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust so that it was tax-free. While CBS retains a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom is the surviving entity, with KAKD radio and its sister stations now separated from KAKD-TV.

## Gallery

KAKD's first logo under Group W ownership, used from 1963 to 1985.KAKD-TV "Reach For The Stars" ID from 1981.KAKD's logo from 1985 to 1991.KAKD ID from 1987, with the 1987-1988 "CBSpirit" promo.KAKD's logo from 1991 to 2003.KAKD-TV EBS Test from 1991CBS screen bug from circa 1999Screencap from November 2005 #1Screencap from November 2005 #2
## Digital television

### Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

 2.2

### Analog-to-digital conversion

KAKD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, 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, during that night's broadcast of the *Late Show with David Letterman*. The station showed the *High Flight* video clip, and a compilation of their analog history with "The Star-Spangled Banner" as background music, before shutting off. As part of the SAFER Act, KAKD-TV turned their analog signal on to repeat a series of public service announcements through July 12, 2009. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 24. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 2.

On October 21, 2014, CBS and Weigel Broadcasting announced the launch of a new digital subchannel service called Decades, scheduled to launch on all CBS-owned stations in 2015, including on KAKD-TV on channel 2.2. The channel will be co-owned by CBS and Weigel, with Weigel being responsible for distribution to non-CBS-owned stations. It will air programs from the extensive library of CBS Television Distribution, including archival footage from CBS News. Locally, the channel will compete with This TV on WPCN-TV-DT2, Me-TV (also owned by Weigel) on WNPS-DT2, and GetTV on WPOS-DT2.

## Programming

### Syndicated talk shows

As a Westinghouse-owned station, KAKD-TV carried the numerous syndicated talk shows produced by its parent company, including *The Merv Griffin Show*, *The Mike Douglas Show*, and *Hour Magazine*, and was the original television home of the late-night talk show *Garbo & Malloy*, which debuted in 1981 and aired at 11:30 p.m. (11:35 p.m. starting in 1991) as a local alternative to *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson/Jay Leno* on WNPS (and also competed with *Nightline* on WPCN-TV) until 1993, when it moved to WFSV-TV (channel 57, now WPSI-TV) to allow KAKD-TV to air *Late Show with David Letterman* at 11:35 p.m.

Later, KAKD-TV carried *The Oprah Winfrey Show* during its first nine nationally syndicated seasons (1986–1995), airing the show weekdays at 5 p.m. In 1989, KAKD-TV acquired the rights to *The Sally Jessy Raphael Show*, airing it weekdays at 9 a.m. and Phil Donahue weekdays at 4 p.m., respectively. However, due to the poor ratings of *Donahue* in the Possum Springs market, KAKD-TV showed strong interest in new talk shows.

*Sally* and *Donahue* moved to WPCN-TV in 1993, and two years later, KAKD-TV debuted a 5 p.m. newscast, at which point Oprah Winfrey also moved to WPCN-TV, airing at 4 p.m. In 1997, *The Ricki Lake Show* moved to WPOS-TV and *The Sally Jessy Raphael Show* returned to KAKD-TV, and once again was given the 9 a.m. time slot, where it remained on and off until its cancellation in 2002. *Sally* was a success in the Possum Springs area, even beating *Montel Williams* on WNPS in the 1990s. A revamped version of *Possum Springs 2day Live* replaced *Sally*.

KAKD-TV aired *The Rosie O'Donnell Show* during its entire six-year run at the 4 p.m. time slot. After the show ended its run in 2002, rather than airing its replacement (the short-lived *Caroline Rhea Show*, which aired on WNPS), KAKD-TV became the first station in the Possum Springs market to air a 4 p.m. newscast. KAKD-TV remains the only Possum Springs station, and one of the few in the country to air a 4 p.m. newscast. (The 4 p.m. slot has been considered a graveyard slot by the networks since the 1980s, and by stations itself since the 1990s.) Today, the only talk show on KAKD-TV is *Dr. Phil*, serving as a lead-in to its evening newscast. In addition, KAKD-TV clears the entire CBS schedule due to its status as a network owned-and-operated station, and airs it in order, except for the *CBS Evening News*. Unlike its rivals, KAKD-TV's evening newscast airs for three hours from 4–7 p.m., bumping the *Evening News* to 7 p.m. This makes KAKD-TV one of the few CBS O&Os to air its network newscast on a tape-delay basis.

## News operation

KAKD-TV presently broadcasts 34½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours on weekdays, three hours on Saturdays and 1½ hours on Sundays); KAKD-TV also produces 27 hours of local newscasts each week for CW owned-and-operated sister station WPSW, in the form of an hour-long extension of KAKD-TV's weekday morning newscast at 7 a.m. and a nightly 35-minute newscast at 10 p.m.

In 2001, KAKD-TV began producing a 10 p.m. newscast on WUPS (now WPSW); in 2005, it added a two-hour weekday morning newscast from 7-9 a.m. on that station (which was later reduced to one hour from 7-8 a.m.).

On June 16, 2009, KAKD-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition during its noon broadcast, with the introduction of a new set and weather center. Like rival WPCN-TV, only video from in-studio cameras is broadcast in HD while most of the content, including field reports and video footage, are in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition. On September 1, 2010, KAKD-TV debuted the standardized CBS O&O graphics and music package ("The CBS Enforcer Music Collection" by Gari Media Group).

### Ratings

As of May 2015, KAKD-TV is the most watched news station in the Possum Springs area in the hours of Noon, 4, 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; the 7 a.m. newscast it produces for WPSW rated quite strongly at that time slot. However, WPCN-TV is the most watched news program in the area at 6 a.m. WNPS is also most watched at the 5 a.m. hour. WPOS-TV is the 10 p.m. newscast leader; WNPS has supplied its newscasts since 2006.

****KAKD-TV**** 2 (CBS)
WPSE 4 (PBS)
WPCN-TV 9 (ABC)
WNPS 13 (NBC)
WPOS-TV 23 (FOX)
**WTYN-TV** 29 (RDN)
WTHT-LD 31 (Bounce)
**WPSW** 40 (CW)
WFEP 48 (MNTV)
**WPSI-TV** 57 (ION)
WVDO-CD 69 (HSN)