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KTVL (channel 10) 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 ...
in
Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...
, 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 ...
and
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
. 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 ...
, the station has studios on North Fir Street in downtown Medford, and its transmitter is located atop
Mount Ashland Mount Ashland is the highest peak in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon. It was named for the city of Ashland, located north of the mountain. The Siskiyou Mountains are a subrange of the Klamath Mountains in northwestern California an ...
, south of the city.


History

Channel 10 signed on the air on October 3, 1961, as KMED-TV, owned by Ray Johnson and his company, Radio Medford, Inc., along with
KMED KMED may refer to: * KMED (FM), a radio station (106.3 FM) licensed to serve Eagle Point, Oregon, United States * KYVL (AM), a radio station (1440 AM) licensed to serve Medford, Oregon, which held the call sign KMED from 1927 to 2023 * KTMT-FM, a ...
radio (1440 AM). Several groups contended for the second television station in the area, but Radio Medford received a substantial assist from Bill Smulin, owner of KTVM (channel 5, now KOBI), who offered Radio Medford space on KTVM's tower. KMED-TV was an
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 ...
affiliate, since KMED had been an
NBC radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
affiliate since 1937. It also shared
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 ...
with KTVM. In 1963, the station started a joint news department with its radio sister. KMED radio had set up the first full radio news department between
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
and
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in 1957. In 1966, the station moved to a new tower on Mount Ashland, which added
Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...
to its city-grade coverage. It is the highest transmitting tower in the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
. To this day, channel 10 is the only Medford station that covers the entire market without a full-power satellite station. KMED-TV bought the first color cameras in Southern Oregon in 1968, a year of many firsts for the station. That year also saw the area's first live remote broadcast, the first television editorials and the first use of live microwave technology. In 1977, KMED was sold off, and KMED-TV became KTVL. A year later, the station picked up some CBS programs after KOBI switched its primary affiliation to ABC. In 1981, Johnson sold KTVL to
Freedom Communications Freedom Communications, Inc. was an American media conglomerate that operated daily and weekly newspapers, websites and mobile applications and television stations, as well as ''Coast Magazine'' and other specialty publications. Headquartered at ...
, marking Freedom's entry into television. Under Freedom's ownership, KTVL aired the first color weather forecast in Southern Oregon. In the meantime Johnson was working on another station, which would become
KTVZ KTVZ (channel 21) is a television station in Bend, Oregon, United States, serving Central Oregon as an affiliate of NBC and The CW. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) alongside low-power, Class A dual Fox/Telemundo affiliate ...
in
Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...
. In 1983, KTVL became a CBS affiliate, and KOBI switched to NBC. ABC programming would not return to the market until
KDRV KDRV (channel 12) and KDKF (channel 31) are television stations licensed respectively to Medford, Oregon, Medford and Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Allen Media Group, the stat ...
(channel 12) signed on a year later. Freedom announced on November 2, 2011, that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including KTVL, to
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 ...
. On April 2, 2012, Sinclair took over official ownership of the station as shown at their website. In late 2022, KTVL moved its news operations from its original Rossanley Drive location northwest of Medford to its current location in the old
Medford Mail Tribune The ''Mail Tribune'' was a seven-day daily newspaper based in Medford, Oregon, United States that served Jackson County, Oregon, and adjacent areas of Josephine County, Oregon and northern California. The paper ceased operations on January 13, 2 ...
building at 111 North Fir Street in downtown Medford. The entire office would soon follow a few months later.


Local programming


Local news operation (1961–2023)

KTVL had broadcast 22 hours of locally production news each week. It was known as ''NewsCenter 10'' in the late 1970s back when they were an NBC affiliate. The name ''NewsCenter'' was used by many NBC-owned and/or affiliated stations to identify their newscasts. After KTVL switched to CBS, the name of the newscast was changed to ''Channel 10 News'', then again to ''News 10''. The news department featured well-known news personalities such as Terry Miller, Hank Henry, George Warren, Leon Hunsaker (also previously of KOBI and theDove TV), Marvin Rhodes, Pete Belcastro, Fred Inglis (formerly of KTVU), Milt Radford (also previously of
KDRV KDRV (channel 12) and KDKF (channel 31) are television stations licensed respectively to Medford, Oregon, Medford and Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Allen Media Group, the stat ...
) and, most notably,
Ann Curry Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist, who has been a reporter for more than 45 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palest ...
(who went on to become host of NBC's ''
Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
'' in 2011). The last news director was Chad Hypes. The newscasts were last anchored by Carmine Gemei and Tyler Myerly at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. The chief meteorologist was Holden LeCroy. Myerly previously anchored the 5 a.m. newscast ''News 10 Good Morning''. Mollie Smith and weather-caster Tiffany Olin anchored the region's only noon newscast previously anchored by such talent as Libby Dowsett, April Warneke and later-main anchor Trish Glose. It was considered the "usual amount of news for a CBS affiliate." KTVL did not have a full-time local sportscast after 2009 as it was dropped by previous management. However, in 2012 the news team began covering local high school football and basketball highlights called ''Friday Night Fastbreaks'' (KDRV is now the only station in the market to continue airing a local sportscast and KOBI does not have a sports department.)


''News 10 Good Morning''

On January 24, 2011, KTVL added an additional hour to their morning news program. Originally, it was ''News 10 at 6 a.m.'' but they changed the start time to 4:55 a.m. dubbing it ''News 10 Good Morning'' going head-to-head with competitor KDRV's early morning newscast. The show switched up its format, differing from its competitors to include faster-paced headline style news with more morning weather hits than any other station in Southern Oregon and Northern California. The program also showcased the station's strong social media content, with the only station to have smart phone and iPad applications.


Cancellation of local newscasts

On April 27, 2023, it was reported that KTVL would be discontinuing its local newscasts, effective May 12, with plans to lay off the entire news operation. The station now runs ''
The National Desk ''The National News Desk'' (''TND''; originally ''The National Desk'' from January 2021 to September 2024) is a daily American television news program produced by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The program premiered nationally on January 18, 202 ...
'' in lieu of locally produced newscasts. On June 30, 2023, the branding of KTVL was changed from ''News 10'' to ''KTVL 10''.


Notable former news staff

*
Ann Curry Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist, who has been a reporter for more than 45 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palest ...
(reporter/Telethon co-hostess, now with
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and formerly of
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and of NBC's ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...
'')


''Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon'' (1970–2010) / ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' (2011)

KTVL was also the only southern Oregon and northern California television station that has continuously broadcast the ''
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded i ...
'', benefiting the
Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related Neuromuscular disease, neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived wi ...
every
Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
weekend from 1970 to 2011. (Fellow CBS affiliate
KHSL-TV KHSL-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Chico, California, United States, serving the Chico–Redding, California, Redding area as an affiliate of CBS and The CW Plus. It is owned by Allen Media Group in common operation with KNVN (chan ...
in
Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...
, was the next closest station to do so before broadcasting the program was ceased after 1997 by new ownership.) The local portion of the telethon was hosted by Marvin Rhodes, who was the main host for 35 years, and Donna Hildebrand, who was co-host for over 25 years, until they ended their tenure as main telethon hosts in 2005. Members of the ''News 10'' team including Trish (Borucki) Glose, Kevin Lollis and Libby Dowsett had hosted the telethon at various times until the format was dissolved by MDA in 2012. It is believed to have been one of the most successful local telethon broadcasts in the country. The most emotional moment came in 2002 when a devastated Rhodes announced that
Grants Pass Grants Pass is a city in and the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The populatio ...
resident Ray Dimmick, who battled courageously against
ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...
(Lou Gehrig's Disease), had died in December 2001. Dimmick, accompanied by his wife Debra, appeared on the show every year for 10 years despite his condition deteriorating. A tribute video was broadcast in his memory. With
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
' retirement as host of the national telethon and its move from hours to six hours in 2011, KTVL did air the telethon as usual. On February 10, 2012, MDA announced that the 2012 edition would be cut to three hours in length airing during prime time on Sunday, September 2, 2012. The 2012 edition, renamed the ''MDA Show of Strength'' (moving away from its heritage as a telethon), effectively ended KTVL's 41 years of telethon coverage. The special was since picked up by ABC for two years in 2013 and 2014 airing on
KDRV KDRV (channel 12) and KDKF (channel 31) are television stations licensed respectively to Medford, Oregon, Medford and Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Allen Media Group, the stat ...
, before being canceled altogether by MDA in early 2015.


''After 10''

On June 3, 2006, KTVL launched a new locally produced late-night program for young adults called ''After 10'', hosted by Curtis Bartlett and Lindsey Matherly, every Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. It was dubbed as the only locally produced show that delivers news and information on the local music scene, video games, movie releases (in theaters and on video), graphic novels,
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s,
viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...
s from the internet, and websites. ''After 10'' was KTVL's attempt to compete against NBC's ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' by producing a program for its target audience themselves, instead on relying on syndication. ''After 10'' was being retooled and was expected to be relaunched in the third quarter of 2007, but it never returned to the air. After various syndicated programs and
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...
s aired in the 11:30 p.m. slot, the slot became the home of the weekly ''
Ring of Honor Wrestling ''Ring of Honor Wrestling'' (also known as ''ROH Honor Club TV'', and often shortened as ''ROH Wrestling TV'', ''ROH TV'', ''ROH TV on HonorClub'', or ''ROH on HonorClub'') is an American professional wrestling television series produced by Rin ...
'' show in April 2012 upon the acquisition of the station by Sinclair, which owned the ''RoH'' circuit until 2022 when the promotion was acquired by
All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...
.


Technical information


Subchannels

The station's signal is
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 syndicates games over-the-air. Games in Medford air on KTVL's fourth subchannel.


Analog-to-digital conversion

KTVL shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 10, 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 35 to VHF channel 10 for post-transition operations.


Translators

*
Applegate Valley Applegate Valley is the valley of the Applegate River in Southern Oregon, United States and extending slightly into Northern California. Applegate Valley is in Jackson County to the east and Josephine County to the west, and includes a little b ...
* Butte Falls * Cave Junction, etc. * Dunsmuir, etc., CA * Fort Jones, etc., CA * Fort Jones, etc., CA * Glendale, etc. * Gold Hill * Hugo *
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
*
Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...
, etc. * Lakeview * Midland, etc. * Phoenix, Talent *
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...
* Rogue River *
Williams Williams may refer to: People * Williams (surname), a surname English in origin, but popular in Wales, 3rd most common in the United Kingdom * Williams Nwaneri, American football player Places Astronomy * Williams (lunar crater) * Williams ...
* Yreka, CA


See also

* Channel 10 digital TV stations in the United States * Channel 10 virtual TV stations in the United States * Channel 11 branded TV stations in the United States


References


External links


KTVL News 10 website

SouthernOregonCW.com

History of Television in Southern Oregon
{{SBGI 1961 establishments in Oregon CBS affiliates Charge! (TV network) affiliates Comet (TV network) affiliates The CW affiliates Sinclair Broadcast Group Roar (TV network) affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1961 TVL