KNPN-LD

KNPN-LD, virtual channel and UHF digital channel 26, is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Saint Joseph, Missouri, United States. As the television flagship of the News-Press & Gazette Company, KNPN is a sister station to CW affiliate KBJO-LD (channel 21), Telemundo affiliate KNPG-LD (channel 30) and local news and weather channel News-Press 3 NOW; this arrangement also places the four outlets under the same ownership as the St. Joseph News-Press newspaper.

All five media properties are based out of NPG's corporate offices on Edmond Street/I-29 in downtown Saint Joseph; KNPN maintains transmitter facilities located between South 16th and 17th Streets (adjacent to U.S. 36), near downtown Saint Joseph. There is no separate website for the station, instead it is integrated with that of the co-owned St. Joseph News-Press.

History

On March 14, 2012, News-Press & Gazette acquired two low-power digital television licenses in Saint Joseph, K16KF-D and K26LV-D from Sunrise, Florida-based DTV America 1, LLC for $72,000; two weeks earlier on February 29, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the company's construction permit application to relocate the two stations' transmitter facilities from a tower near Mound City to the Saint Joseph transmitter and upgrade the effective radiated power for both stations (the channel 16 license would not be activated until March 7, 2013 when it signed on as CW affiliate KBJO-LD). K26LV-D was assigned the call letters KNPN-LD on April 5, 2012, before reverting to the original K26LV-D callsign on May 8, 2012; the callsign reversion was deleted from FCC authorization records two weeks later on May 23, 2012, reverting to the KNPN-LD callsign.

News-Press 3 NOW

News-Press 3 NOW is a 24-hour local cable news and weather channel based in St. Joseph, Missouri and serves Buchanan, Nodaway and Andrew counties. Owned by News-Press & Gazette Company, the channel is based out of the company's corporate headquarters at Edmond and Seventh Streets (near Interstate 29) in downtown Saint Joseph.

News-Press 3 NOW is one of a handful of flagship properties owned by News-Press & Gazette Company, which also publishes the St. Joseph News-Press and owns local Fox affiliate KNPN-LD, both of which also share offices with the channel at News-Press & Gazette's Edmond Street headquarters. It is carried on Suddenlink cable channel 3 and in high definition on digital channel 603 throughout the St. Joseph metropolitan area (including the communities of Maryville, Savannah, Country Club and Agency). Since June 2, 2012, it is also rebroadcast as a second digital subchannel of KNPN-LD, broadcasting over-the-air on UHF channel 26.2.

History

Originally launched as St. Joe NOW, News-Press 3 NOW was sold by News-Press & Gazette Company in April 2011, as part of the sale of NPG Cable, Inc., the company's cable television division that operated cable systems in Missouri, Arizona and California, to Suddenlink Communications for $350 million. On March 5, 2012, News-Press & Gazette Company announced that it would re-acquire ownership of News-Press 3 NOW from Suddenlink; the purchase includes production equipment and other resources. All twelve employees would be retained in the sale, which closed on May 1, 2012.

KBJO-LD

KBJO-LD, virtual channel 21 (UHF digital channel 16), is a CW-affiliated television station located in Saint Joseph, Missouri, United States. The station is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate (and the company's television flagship) KNPN-LD (channel 26) and Telemundo affiliate KNPG-LD (channel 30). The three stations share studio facilities located out of News-Press & Gazette's company headquarters (which also house operations for the St. Joseph News-Press and local news and weather channel News-Press 3 NOW) on Edmond Street and Interstate 29 in downtown Saint Joseph; KBJO maintains transmitter facilities located between South 16th and Duncan Streets (adjacent to U.S. 36), just southeast of downtown Saint Joseph.

The station is affiliated with The CW through its programming feed The CW Plus; its on-air branding, St. Joseph CW 6, is derived from the station's cable placement on Suddenlink Communications channel 6.

History

Early history