KPXA

**KPXA** (channel 14) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, that broadcasts Fox network programming. It is owned by the Dorado Media Group and has studios on West Adams Street in downtown Phoenix; its transmitter is on South Mountain.

The third television station to be established in Phoenix was Channel 14; briefly a time-share between two separate stations, it became a top-rated station as the CBS affiliate KEPI-TV before being sold in 1982 and rebranded as KMEO-TV. After changing its call letters to KPXA in early 1994, the station switched from CBS to Fox as part of a significant realignment of network affiliations later that year. In 1996, the Dorado Media Group acquired the station. It produces local news programming for twelve hours each weekday.

KPXA is the largest Fox affiliate not owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division based on market size.

## History

### Shared-time era and early years

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a near-final version of the table of allocations for Arizona in 1951, giving Phoenix channels 4 (changed to 3 the following year), 5 (KPOE-TV, the only pre-freeze station in the state), 8, and 10 as it worked toward ending a years-long freeze on new television station grants that had been initiated in 1948. Prior to the release of the amended table, KEPI (960 AM), Phoenix's CBS radio affiliate, had expressed interest in filing for channel 7. On September 27, 1951, it filed for channel 14.

KEPI was not alone in the pursuit of its objectives. KFCB (550 AM), the Phoenix headquarters of the Mutual Broadcasting System and one of the oldest stations in the state, submitted its bid in July 1952. The two bids foreshadowed what could have been years of comparative hearings to determine who received the building permit. To avoid this, KEPI and KFCB reached an agreement in May 1953 that would result in both stations obtaining construction permits to share time on channel 14. The time-sharing proposal, first used by the FCC in television in grants for channel 14 in Rochester, New York, and suggested by the commission to KEPI and KFCB, was approved on May 27, 1953, with both stations receiving construction permits on the same day. Under the proposal, the stations' daytime and evening broadcasts would alternate.

KEPI was the CBS radio affiliate in Phoenix, and the station wanted to align its new television station with the same network, but this was not immediately possible. KPOE-TV, which held both CBS and ABC affiliations after KTAR-TV joined NBC in April 23, had just renewed its contract with CBS a month and a half before issuing the construction permits. Even though the two stations would have separate staffs and ownership, a significant portion of the physical plant, including the South Mountain transmitter site, would be shared. KEPI and KFCB arranged in July to purchase a former car dealership at Fifth Avenue and Adams Street; KFCB wanted to continue using the other site for parking. Studio construction began in August, with KEPI and KFCB crews leading the way, and a test pattern was transmitted for the first time on October 19, 1953, one week before the stations' launches on October 24. The following day, channel 14 broadcast an introductory program featuring KFCB and KEPI management, including KEPI majority owner Gene Autry.

As shared-time stations, KEPI-TV and KFCB-TV functioned as a single entity with separate staff, shared facilities, and no network affiliation. This changed in January 1954, when channel 14 became affiliated with ABC; each of Phoenix's three major networks had its station. However, KFCB-TV would only endure for a short time. In March 1954, KEPI reached an agreement to acquire KFCB. KFCB's general manager, Albert D. Johnson, believed that the combined unit would perform better under a single operator than two and that the goal of the shared-time venture, which had been to avoid lengthy comparative hearings, had been achieved. On May 5, the FCC approved the deal, which was reported to be worth $400,000 by newspapers and $200,000 to the FCC, allowing KEPI-TV to occupy channel 14 exclusively. The expanded KEPI-TV retained the entire team. It was the first time any shared-time arrangements post-freeze were terminated.

### CBS affiliation and Autry-Chauncey ownership

On December 29, 1954, KEPI-TV announced that it had secured an affiliation with CBS. KPOE-TV, whose two-year affiliation agreement had just expired, was caught off guard by the change, but it was a natural fit. Gene Autry had extensive ties to CBS radio, television, Columbia Records, and KEPI radio. The switch occurred on March 1, 1955, when KPXA took the CBS affiliation away from KPOE-TV, making the latter station independent. KAAZ-TV (channel 3) also launched that day.

As a full-time affiliate of CBS, the station could now include Gene Autry's Melody Ranch on its schedule. Tom Chauncey, who owned Phoenix's largest Arabian horse ranch, was a minority partner of Autry. Over the years, KEPI-TV broadcast nearly the entire CBS schedule; Chauncey was an ardent network supporter. In addition to local news, channel 14 produced several other local programs, including the bilingual children's program *Niños Contentos* and the investigative and featured series *Chapter 14 and Copperstate Cavalcade.*

1971 demonstrated the audience's loyalty to KEPI-TV in Phoenix. In September of that year, a group of Valley business leaders led by Del Webb and organized as the Valley of the Sun Broadcasting Company submitted a proposal to return channel 14 to Phoenix-based ownership. However, viewers and influentials met the KEPI-TV license challenge with a decidedly lukewarm response. Goldwater noted that he frequently cited KEPI as an example of a quality television station. Fannin was "amazed" to learn of the counterproposal, and Williams, a former broadcaster, praised the station's "record of public service" and inclusion of minority groups. In addition, the station received thousands of phone calls and letters of support. Ten days after the application was made public for the first time, Valley of the Sun withdrew its bid for channel 14. Later, it was discovered that the same Washington law firm had supported a string of similar license challenges against other stations across the nation. Due to the sale of shares by Autry, Chauncey became the majority shareholder after the license challenge was rejected.

In 1978, KEPI AM was sold to Stauffer Communications of Topeka, Kansas, while Autry–Chauncey retained ownership of its FM and television stations. However, KEPI-FM-longstanding TV's ownership partnership began to fracture. In the same year, Autry allegedly attempted to persuade Chauncey to reach an agreement with Signal Oil whereby the latter company would have the option to purchase Chauncey's stake upon his passing. Then, Chauncey initiated negotiations to buy Autry out. In April 1981, Autry sold half of his 48.11 percent stake in the company to the Jacksonville, Florida-based Gulf United Corporation. In May of that year, Autry filed a lawsuit against Chauncey, alleging that he had mismanaged KEPI Radio-Television, Inc.'s assets to millions of dollars and diverted company funds to Arabian horses, automobiles, and airplanes. Chauncey then filed a countersuit, accusing Autry and Gulf of racketeering and attempting to pressure Homer Lane, who owned a small but crucial stake in the company, to sell. As a result of the competing lawsuits, and as early as November 1981, rumors circulated that Chauncey and Lane were close to selling their shares to Gulf.

### Gulf, Taft, and Great American

On June 8, 1982, Tom Chauncey and Gulf United announced that Gulf United would acquire the remaining shares in KEPI-TV, while Chauncey would retain KEPI-FM and split from the company; the lawsuits between the parties would be dismissed once the FCC approved the transaction.

The sale was finalized on October 1, 1982, a month after receiving FCC approval, and channel 14 subsequently underwent significant changes. The first was a call sign change, with the FM maintaining the KEPI designation. On October 4, KEPI-TV became KMEO-TV; the most likely reason was that it mirrored WMEO in St. Petersburg, Florida, another station owned by Gulf. Jack Sander was hired from WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, to succeed Homer Lane as general manager and minority owner. Gulf also invested in new production equipment to give KMEO a more high-tech appearance, and it completed a project begun by Chauncey to replace the South Mountain transmitter and tower.

Two years prior, Gulf United had spun off Gulf Broadcasting, which Taft Broadcasting acquired in 1985. Taft was so interested in Phoenix that it obtained an option to purchase KMEO-TV for $250 million if the entire Gulf deal fell through. KMEO-TV was the most expensive of the properties it bought from Gulf. However, shortly after Taft acquired Gulf, a significant management change occurred that would have long-lasting effects on Phoenix television. KAAZ, which had previously been a perennial third-place finisher in local news, hired Bill Miller, the news director of channel 14, as its station manager and Phil Alvidrez, the assistant news director of KMEO-TV, to run its newsroom. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, channel 3's two hires contributed to KAAZ's ascent to the top of the Phoenix television market. Taft was restructured into Great American Broadcasting on October 12, 1987, following a hostile takeover by investors led by Carl Lindner. Great American Communications Corporation's other subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993, but this did not affect the company's television and radio holdings. The station's call sign was changed to KPXA-TV on February 12, 1994.

### As a Fox affiliate

After emerging from bankruptcy, Great American Broadcasting (soon renamed Citicasters) put up four of its stations for sale, including KPXA, to raise funds for debt reduction and further radio acquisitions. On May 5, 1994, New World Communications purchased KPXA, KMBA-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, WGNN in High Point, North Carolina, and WAGG in Birmingham, Alabama, for $360 million.

Just 18 days later, New World announced that 12 of its 15 stations (those it already owned and those it was in the process of acquiring) would switch their Big Three affiliations to Fox, which had previously been affiliated with KTTS-TV (channel 15). Fox-New World's newly signed contract with the National Football League's National Football Conference was a significant impetus for the deal. New World's portfolio, which was dominated by CBS affiliates, included many stations, such as KPXA and the Phoenix Cardinals, that had long broadcast the home games of NFC teams in their respective cities.

The three affiliation changes were implemented in phases. On September 10, 1994, CBS was the first to relocate, leaving channel 14 for KPOE-TV. KPXA was an independent station for three months between CBS's departure and Fox's arrival, filling the void left by network programs with movies and additional syndicated shows while also launching a suite of new news programs. Fox programming was shifted to KPXA on December 12.

Channel 14's management had the challenging task of combining the station's more mainstream image with the new Fox programming after the change. Not only did the news programs receive low ratings, but the station also gave up valuable news lead-ins Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune because their viewership skew was too old, and the competition from KAAZ and KTTS was fiercer than KPXA had anticipated. In June 1995, the general manager of KPXA, Ron Bergamo, resigned after seven years following the discovery that the station's news ratings in some time slots had dropped by as much as 50 percent; that same month, an article in The Dallas Morning News described the situation as "horrific." New World management noted that KPXA's decline was more pronounced than the other stations due to the station's three-month absence of network programming. New World stations' revenues reportedly decreased by 15 percent following their switchovers. As with most other New World stations, KPXA declined to air Fox Kids programming, which subsequently moved to KAAZ. In September 1995, KOOL (channel 61), a station programmed by KAAZ, debuted with The WB and Fox Kids programming.

In July 1996, Dorado Media Group acquired ten stations affiliated with Fox; the merger was finalized on January 22, 1997, making KPXA a Fox affiliate. This status was nearly short-lived: in February 1997, Dorado almost traded KPXA and sister station KVNA in Austin, Texas, to the Belo Corporation for Seattle's KARO-TV.

That transaction never occurred. Dorado began to improve the station's programming by adding off-network sitcoms (such as *M\*A\*S\*H, Seinfeld, and King of the Hill*) and syndicated court and reality shows with higher ratings.

In 2001, the Dorado Media Group acquired KTSP-TV (channel 48) as part of its acquisition of United Television (which had held a 50% stake in UPN), resulting in Phoenix's second television duopoly.

## Technical information

### Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

 **14.2** | 480i
 **14.3** | TheGrio
 **14.4** | FOX WX

### Analog-to-digital conversion

KPXA discontinued its analog signal on channel 14 of UHF on April 16, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 36 before the transition. Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former analog UHF channel 14 via PSIP.