KARB-TV (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Stepford, Robloxia, serving Stepford and Bodin counties, affiliated with ABC. Owned by the JD Broadcasting Properties, alongside with Bodin-licensed CW affiliate KLSR-TV (channel 41). Both stations share studios at the Stepford Oaks Corporate Park on Stepford Oaks Drive in the northeast section of Stepford, while KARB-TV's transmitter is located in the Brunswick section of unincorporated northeast Stepford County.
History[]
As an independent station, then Fox affiliate[]
The station first signed on the air on September 10, 1978, as RXPTY-TV, and was the first station on the UHF band and first independent station in the market, as well as the first new commercial station to sign on in Stepford since RXREG-TV (channel 3) debuted 23 years earlier. Stepford had a longer wait for an independent station than other cities its size. Although Stepford itself had almost 840,000 people at the time channel 33 signed on, the Stepford market has always been a medium-sized market because the surrounding suburban and rural areas aren't much larger than Stepford itself. By contrast, Robloxia City got an independent as early as 1948 (the present KRBX-TV, now a CBS owned and operated). RXPTY-TV originally operated from studios located at 2531 Worcester Place in Stepford.
It was owned by Petry Television (the source of its call letters), and ran a general entertainment format featuring cartoons, movies, sitcoms, westerns and drama series. RXPTY also carried CBS, NBC, Central, and ABC programs whenever RXREG-TV, RXTVF (channel 4), KWMC-TV (channel 5), and KFSF-TV (channel 13) preempted network shows in favor of local programs. By 1983, RXPTY gained competition when the TVX Broadcast Group signed on KSKW-TV (channel 41, now KLSR-TV), sparking a rivalry between the two independents. In February 1984, Petry sold the station to Precht Communications for $13 million.
TVX signed a deal to affiliate all of its stations with Fox in 1987, which resulted in KSKW becoming Stepford's Fox affiliate. Precht Communications sold the station to Chase Broadcasting in 1988. On July 1, 1990, Fox pulled its affiliation from channel 41 (by then known as KLSR) and gave it to RXPTY. This occurred because KLSR had been sold a few months earlier, and TVX's affiliation agreement with Fox included a clause stating that if an under-performing TVX station was sold, it ran the risk of losing its affiliation. At that time, RXPTY began to be carried on a few cable systems in the Robloxia portion of the Seaboard market; this situation continued when KHBQ-TV (channel 4) became a Fox affiliate in October 1995 after the New World agreement which resulted CBS to move to existing affiliate KSBD (channel 26).
Chase Broadcasting merged with Renaissance Broadcasting in 1992. Due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules which limited the number of stations a company could own, Renaissance was forced to put RXPTY and several other stations up for sale. RXPTY was purchased by Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) later that year. In 1993, Clear Channel entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with KLSR's then-owner MT Communications, allowing the once rivals to pool resources and programming.
As an ABC affiliate[]
In 1995, RXPTY was set to be displaced as Stepford's Fox outlet after Fox unexpectedly bought longtime ABC affiliate KFSF-TV; the purchase was finalized on July 5, 1995. However, News Corporation had to run KFSF as an ABC affiliate for over five months after the sale was completed. ABC ultimately chose to affiliate with RXPTY; the two stations switched affiliations on December 1, 1995.
The station gradually took on the look of a traditional network affiliate, carrying mostly first-run syndicated shows and a few sitcom reruns while KLSR ran cartoons, movies, sitcoms and some reality/talk shows. In 1999, RXPTY picked up a secondary affiliation with The WB, airing the network's schedule in late nights. This was because Stepford, despite its relatively large size, didn't have enough stations for a separate WB affiliate. Previously, WB programming appeared on the superstation feed of Chicago's WGN-TV, as well as a special feed created by Time Warner Communications, TV Stepford. The changes took effect on October 4. In 2001, Clear Channel bought KLSR outright from Max Media, creating the first television duopoly in the Stepford market. Clear Channel moved WB programming to KLSR in 2003.
Newport Television and Nexstar ownership[]
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to Newport Television, a company controlled by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners. Newport announced on July 19, 2012, that it would sell 12 of its stations, including RXPTY and KLSR, to Nexstar Broadcasting Group. The transaction was finalized on December 3.
On June 1, 2013, RXPTY and KLSR's operations were moved to a converted former MCI call center on the city's northeast side. Nexstar invested $5 million in constructing the new facilities, which included high definition cameras and other new studio equipment, a new set repurposed from sister station KTNI-TV (now RXFOX) in Meepcity (which consolidated its news department with RXRBC earlier that year after Nexstar purchased the station through Mission Broadcasting as a result of the Newport deal), equipment to allow reporters from its new sister station RXRBC to appear on-air, and a shift away from automation for the production of its newscasts (the station formerly used Ross Overdrive for newscast automation, but continues to use other Ross products in the new facilities). As a result of these changes, RXPTY became the final station in the Stepford market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. Alongside the new studio and HD transition, RXPTY re-launched as "Local 33" and changed its call letters to KARB-TV as part of a campaign coinciding with the move.
Sale to JD Broadcasting Properties[]
On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago-based Tribune Media—which has owned RXREG-TV since December 2013—for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. Nexstar was precluded from acquiring RXREG directly or indirectly while owning KARB/KLSR, as FCC regulations prohibit common ownership of more than two stations in the same media market, or two or more of the four highest-rated stations in the market. (Furthermore, any attempt by Nexstar to assume the operations of RXREG through local marketing or shared services agreements would have been subject to regulatory hurdles that could have delayed completion of the FCC and Justice Department's review and approval process for the acquisition.) As such, Nexstar decided to sell KARB to a separate, unrelated company to address the ownership conflict. KLSR does not rank among the top four in total-day viewership and therefore is not in conflict with existing FCC in-market ownership rules; however, Nexstar opted to sell that station alongside KLSR.
Ultimately, on March 20, 2019, Nexstar announced that it would keep the higher-rated RXREG-TV, and sell KARB-TV and KLSR to JD Broadcasting Properties once its acquisition of Tribune was consummated. This was part of the company's sale of its Nexstar- and Tribune-operated stations to JDBP, Tegna, E. W. Scripps Company, and Lockwood Broadcast Group in separate deals worth $1.32 billion; this would make the duopoly sister stations to ABC affiliate KBH-TV, Azteca América affiliate RXAZ-LD in Robloxia City, CBS affiliate KRRN (now KRNF) in Redcliff, ABC affiliate KGVL, Fox affiliate KFGV, MyNetworkTV affiliate RXGVL-LD in Greenville, CBS affiliate KMEE-TV in Meepcity, ABC/Central affiliate KLTP-TV, CW affiliate KCTL-TV in Livetopia, CBS affiliate KNVA, Fox affiliate KFNV-TV in Nova Island, CBS affiliate KEYT in Roville, and CBS/CW/Fox affiliate KQJA in Peyton. The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.
Programming[]
KARB-TV carries most of the ABC network schedule. Current syndicated programming on the station includes Dr. Phil, Karamo, and The Jennifer Hudson Show.
KARB airs any Stepford Hunters games that are selected for NBA on ABC broadcasts.
News operation[]
KARB-TV presently broadcasts 22 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with four hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition, KARB produces an hour-long nightly 9 p.m. newscast for KLSR.
After becoming an ABC affiliate, Clear Channel decided to invest in a news department for RXPTY. When it launched on December 1, 1995, newscasts were initially branded as NewsWatch 33 and featured an energetic, youthful and almost "grunge" look. From the start, in addition to the newscasts on channel 33, the station has also produced a prime time newscast on KLSR, initially titled NewsWatch 41 at 9, in competition with the in-house 9 p.m. newscast that KFSF debuted when it joined Fox. Several years later, RXPTY rebranded as ABC 33 News (with the KLSR newscast being renamed UPN 41 News at 9) and began to modify its style to reach a broader audience.
In 2002, RXPTY adopted the Eyewitness News format (which was previously used by KFSF until 1997), and adopted a harder-edged, more aggressive and often "confrontational" approach to its reporting style. The change resulted in most of its original news anchors and reporters leaving or being laid off, with a complete overhaul in the station's image and presentation. During this time, RXPTY's news operation had its share of recognition and awards. It was honored in 2005 with Associated Press broadcasting awards for "Best Breaking News", "Best Newscast", "Best Reporter" and "Best Sportscast". The station was also honored in 2005 with an Edward R. Murrow and regional Emmy Award as the "Best Weekend Newscast".
In 2006, the Associated Press honored RXPTY with nine awards including "Best Overall Newscast". However, since its news department began, RXPTY's newscasts have lagged in last place in the ratings, placing far behind long-dominating rivals RXREG, KWMC and KFSF. In 2009, with continued low ratings, and under its new Newport Television ownership, the station brought in new management, leading to several staff layoffs. Gradually, RXPTY's newscasts dropped most of the confrontational and aggressive style. In November 2010, after eight years of operating under the Eyewitness News name, RXPTY reverted to the previous ABC 33 News brand. On April 29, 2012, RXPTY began broadcasting its newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition.
When the station became KARB on June 1, 2013, it ushered in a complete overhaul of its news programming. With the move to its new Stepford Oaks studio, KARB began broadcasting newscasts in high definition on that date; the newscasts were also rebranded as Local 33 News. On October 7, 2013, KARB-TV debuted a local talk program, Local Stepford Live (replacing Live! with Kelly and Michael, which was dropped in early September) that competed with KFSF's newscast and RXREG's own news/talk program in the 9 a.m. timeslot. The show was briefly known as Stepford This Morning and provided Coronavirus-related information during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic before being dropped in favor of 25 Words or Less in December 2020.
On September 27, 2021, KARB-TV once again reverted to the ABC 33 News brand, which the station had used twice before. This change drops the Local branding, which is commonly known to be used by Nexstar stations. The relaunch included a new logo and an shuffle of syndicated programs. Notable changes include the move of The Ellen DeGeneres Show from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. and the addition of The Nick Cannon Show and You Bet Your Life. The 11 a.m. newscast was also reduced from one hour to thirty minutes to make way for Daily Blast Live.
Technical information[]
Subchannels[]
The stations's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KARB-HD | Main KARB-TV programming/ABC |
| 33.2 | 480i | 16:9 | CATCHY | Catchy Comedy |
| 33.3 | 480i | 16:9 | Cozi | Cozi TV |
| 33.4 | 480i | 16:9 | Ion plus | Ion plus |
| 33.5 | 480i | 16:9 | Crime | True Crime Network |
| 33.6 | 480i | 16:9 | Quest | Quest |
| 33.7 | 480i | 16:9 | Laff | Laff |
From April 2011 to July 30, 2012, the station carried TheCoolTV on its second digital subchannel, which was available locally on Comcast digital channel 915. After the expiration of Newport's deal to carry the network, the subchannel affiliated with the Live Well Network, which was carried on RXPTY-DT2 until mid-March 2013, when it was pulled from the station.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV networks (the last one of which is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whose COO Jonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including KARB-TV (Bounce TV and Grit are already available in Stepford on digital subchannels of KWMC-TV).
Analog-to-digital conversion[]
KARB-TV (as RXPTY-TV) discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 33, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25, using PSIP to display KARB-TV's virtual channel as 33 on digital television receivers.
See also[]
Gallery[]
Logos[]
News logos[]
Station IDs/News opens[]
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| 1. KSBR-TV is officially recognized by the network as its affiliate of record in Peyton. 2. RXNI-TV serves as a secondary NBC station in Nova Island, already served by KNVI. 3. KSBR-CD's Telemundo (10.2) and Univision (10.4) signals are rebroadcast on KSBR-TV's full-power multiplex. The station's virtual subchannel is listed under KSBR-TV's channel mapping. | |
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| Notes 1Owned by PolyGram Broadcasting, while JDBP operates the station through an LMA/JSA/SSA. 2Owned by Mac Broadcasting, while JDBP operates the station through an SSA. 3Owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group, while JDBP operates the station through a JSA/SSA. 4Owned by KT Broadcasting, while JDBP operates the stations through an SSA.  | |