KVAL-TV (channel 13) is a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, United States, affiliated with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. It is owned by

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

, which provides certain services to dual

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

/ CW+ affiliate

KMTR KMTR (channel 16) is a television station in Eugene, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Roberts Media, LLC, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of CBS af ...

(channel 16) under a

shared services Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the ...

agreement (SSA) with Roberts Media,

LLC A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

. The two stations share studios on Blanton Road in Eugene, where KVAL's transmitter is also located. KMTR maintained separate facilities on International Court in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...

, until 2020 when the station relocated to KVAL's building;

master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swit ...

and some internal operations for KMTR were based at the KVAL studios. KVAL-TV reaches additional viewers in west-central Oregon via co-owned full-power

semi-satellites A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or trans ...

KCBY-TV (channel 11) in

Coos Bay Coos Bay (Hanis language, Coos language: Atsixiis or Hanisich) is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon sta ...

and KPIC (channel 4) in Roseburg.

History

The station began broadcasting on April 15, 1954, locally owned by Eugene Television. Originally, it carried programming from all three networks, but was primarily an

affiliate. It lost CBS and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

when

KEZI KEZI (channel 9) is a television station in Eugene, Oregon, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by Allen Media Group. The station's studios are located on Chad Drive in Eugene, and its transmitter is locat ...

signed on in 1960. Eugene Television bought KBCI-TV (now

KBOI-TV KBOI-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Boise, Idaho, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside low-power CW+ affiliate KYUU-LD (channel 35). The two stations share studios on North 16th Str ...

) in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

, in 1975 and changed its name to Northwest Television. In the summer of 1978, as NBC was floundering in third place in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, KVAL started airing five hours of CBS programming each week. During the next four years, the station gradually offered more programs from CBS. NBC affiliated with newly signed-on KMTR in 1982, and KVAL formally switched its affiliation to CBS.

Retlaw Enterprises Retlaw Enterprises, originally Walt Disney Miniature Railroad, then Walt Disney, Inc. (WDI), and then WED Enterprises (WED), was a privately held company owned by the heirs of entertainment mogul Walt Disney. Disney formed the company to control ...

(a company owned by relatives of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

—Retlaw being "Walter" spelled backwards) bought the station in 1996.

Fisher Communications Fisher Communications, Inc. was a media company in the United States. Based in Seattle, Washington, the company primarily owned a number of radio and television stations in the Western United States. It was the last company in the Seattle area ...

bought Retlaw's entire broadcasting division, including KVAL, in 1998. Many KVAL alumni have gone on to be elected into office.

Susan Castillo Susan Castillo (born August 14, 1951) is a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon who most recently served as Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 to 2012. A Democrat, she also served from 1997 to 2003 in the Oregon State Senate. Be ...

, the last person to be elected Oregon state schools superintendent prior to its abolition as an elective office, is a former KVAL reporter. Former Secretary of State

Bill Bradbury Bill Bradbury (May 29, 1949 – April 14, 2023) was an American politician who served as a member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as the 23rd Oregon secretary of state from 1999 to 2009. Bradbury was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2 ...

, who left office in January 2009, is also a former reporter and on-air personality. Bradbury and Castillo also served in the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower chamber: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

, as did KVAL alumni Wayne Whitehead and

Mark Hass Mark Hass (born December 10, 1956) is an American politician from the US state of Oregon. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was the representative for District 14 in the Oregon State Senate from November 21, 2007, until January ...

. In September 2000, KVAL debuted an original sports program, ''Inside the Pac'', a reference to the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

which then included the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

and

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, both in KVAL's coverage area. ''Inside the Pac'' was created after the

Oregon Sports Network Oregon Sports Properties is a division of Learfield which handles the sports broadcasting, accommodation, and billboard rights for the teams of the University of Oregon's athletic programs and its venues. Until 2012, it was known as the Oregon Spo ...

TV contract went to local rival KEZI, along with the seasonal weekly program featuring

Oregon Ducks football The Oregon Ducks football program is a college football team for the University of Oregon, located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS and is a member of the Big Ten Co ...

head coach

Mike Bellotti Robert Michael Bellotti (born December 21, 1950) is an American college football analyst for ESPN and ABC. He was with the University of Oregon's football program for over 20 years serving as offensive coordinator for six years, head coach for ...

. Airing each Sunday afternoon, ''Inside the Pac'' features game highlights and talk about Pac-12 sports. It was originally hosted by former KVAL sports director and longtime Eugene TV broadcaster Todd McKim, who left KVAL in 2005. Also featured on the show as in-studio guests are former college football players from Oregon and Oregon State, who share their knowledge and experience. On April 11, 2013, Fisher announced that it would sell its properties, including KVAL, KCBY, and KPIC, to the

. The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.

News operation

In December 2005, KVAL launched a newscast called ''Northwest News at 10 on Fox'' for local

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate

KLSR-TV KLSR-TV (channel 34) is a television station in Eugene, Oregon, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KEVU-CD (channel 23), a low-power Class A station. The two stations ...

(channel 34). Katie Dyer anchored the newscast until April 2007, when Natasha Chugthai took over. This newscast came into its own in April 2007, with a new graphics scheme similar to that of such Fox affiliates as

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secauc ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In August 2007, the newscast got its own theme music, rather than continuing to share the opening tune with KVAL. In March 2008, ''Northwest News at 10'' was renamed ''Fox News @ 10'' for the live weekday broadcast, and ''KVAL News @ 10 on Fox'' for the weekend repeats of the evening news. KVAL's 6 a.m. hour of morning news is replayed on KLSR at 7 a.m. In September 2007, KVAL's morning news started airing from 5 to 7 a.m., beating rival

, whose morning newscasts start at 5:30 a.m. KEZI soon announced it would begin to broadcast from 5 to 7 a.m. as well, branding the early-morning newscast with a new look and a new team. In October 2008, Al Peterson, former KEZI morning news anchor, joined KVAL's morning news team. He replaced Seth Wayne, who moved to a station in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. The day Peterson took over, KVAL, like most other Fisher stations, adopted a new graphics scheme heavily emphasizing the station's CBS affiliation. KVAL also rebranded its news as ''KVAL News'', dropping the 50-year-old ''Northwest News''. The station also adopted a new news slogan: "First, Fair, Accurate." On May 10, 2010, KVAL News debuted a new set and started broadcasting newscasts in 16:9 widescreen. In spring 2012, KVAL took complete control over the news departments at semi-satellites KCBY and KPIC. Previously, those newsrooms were controlled by their own news directors who each oversaw two to three reporters. Today, the KVAL news director oversees KCBY and KPIC's content. During the third block during the 5 and 6 p.m. news and second block during the 11 p.m. news, KCBY and KPIC air pre-recorded four-minute local inserts that include a local weather forecast. In the mornings, KPIC and KCBY have five minutes of local news at 6:55 a.m., and produce their own local cut-ins during ''

CBS Mornings ''CBS Mornings'' is an American morning television program which is broadcast on CBS. The program debuted on September 7, 2021, and airs live every weekday from 7:00a.m. to 9:00a.m., EST. It is hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, Nate Burleson, ...

''. Roseburg and Coos Bay content is also interwoven into KVAL and KLSR's news. If there is a major breaking news or severe weather event in Roseburg or Coos Bay, Eugene viewers will see the KPIC or KCBY on-air staff, respectively. On a normal day, they do not because the signals are not switched for viewers in Eugene, or on the Eugene

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

and

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

feeds. Usually while the semi-satellites are running the local segment, a long block of weather is aired in Eugene and on satellite. On February 26, 2020, KVAL debuted a new set and became the second station in Eugene to broadcast news in HD.

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' digital signals are

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...

: On September 23, 2024, the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

announced an agreement with Sinclair to launch Rip City Television Network, which will syndicate games over-the-air. Games in Eugene will air on KVAL's second subchannel, which will also allow games to be aired on KCBY's second subchannel in Coos Bay and KPIC's second subchannel in Roseburg.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KVAL-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, 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 relocated from its pre-transition

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

channel 25 to VHF channel 13. As part of the

SAFER Act The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, (, ) is a U.S. law that required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for an additional 30 da ...

, KPIC kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

s from the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

Rebroadcasters

Semi-satellites

Translators

* Camas Valley (translates KPIC) * Cottage Grove (translates KVAL-TV) *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

(translates KVAL-TV) * Glide (translates KPIC) *

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy la ...

(translates KCBY-TV) * London Springs (translates KVAL-TV) * Mapleton (translates KVAL-TV) * Myrtle Creek (translates KPIC) * Port Orford (translates KCBY-TV) * Powers (translates KCBY-TV) * Roseburg (translates KPIC) * Scottsburg (translates KVAL-TV) * Squaw Valley (translates KCBY-TV) * Tri-City, etc. (translates KPIC) Low-power translators in Elkton, Glendale, Mapleton, Myrtle Point, Newport,

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Oakridge, and Swisshome have been decommissioned.

References

External links

KVAL websiteKCBY websiteKPIC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kval-Tv 1954 establishments in Oregon CBS affiliates Charge! (TV network) affiliates Sinclair Broadcast Group Roar (TV network) affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1954 VAL-TV