KAAL
Encyclopedia
KAAL is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for the Driftless Area of Southeastern Minnesota
and North-Central Iowa
. Licensed to Austin, Minnesota
, the station broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 33 (or virtual channel
6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southeast of Grand Meadow, Minnesota
in Eastern Mower County
. The station can also be seen on Mediacom
and Charter
channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 786 and Mediacom digital channel 806.
Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, KAAL has studios on 10th Place Northeast along I-90
/US 218
in Austin. It operates a secondary facility on Superior Drive Northwest in Rochester
. Syndicated
programming on the station includes Entertainment Tonight
, The Rachael Ray Show, America's Funniest Home Videos
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
among others. In addition to its main signal, KAAL operates a low-powered digital fill-in translator
licensed to Mason City, Iowa
. This airs on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Garner, Iowa
along US 18
.
as KMMT and aired an analog signal on VHF channel 6. Its first owners were local businessmen Martin Busted, Harry Smith, and Palmer Ulland. Originally, the station was a primary CBS
affiliate with secondary ABC and DuMont
relations. After KGLO-TV (now KIMT
) launched from Mason City in late-1954, KMMT switched its primary network to ABC. DuMont would eventually be dropped in 1956 after that network shut down operations. This station is the longest-tenured ABC affiliate in the Upper Midwest
.
During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. It shared studios with KAUS radio (AM 1480
and FM 99.9
) on MN 105
in Austin where the two radio station
s continue to operate today. The television station produced a few local programs most notably The Family Hour hosted by Christian
Pastor
Joe Matt. The program aired until April 2001 and was one of the longest-running, locally-produced religious shows in the United States
.
KMMT was purchased by Waterloo, Iowa
-based Blackhawk Broadcasting sometime between 1956 and 1957. The station would add color television
in 1967. It calls became KAUS-TV (for AUStin) in 1968 to match its radio sisters. The outlet would begin carrying the yearly Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1973 and remains the area's affiliate to this day. KAUS-TV-AM-FM separated operations in 1974 after the television station moved to its current location on 10th Place Northeast along I-90. The building previously housed a Volkswagen
dealership and showroom. Blackhawk would sell KAUS to the News-Press & Gazette Company
of St. Joseph, Missouri in 1980. The call sign became KAAL-TV on December 1, 1982 referring to Austin and Albert Lea.
In December 1985, Dix Communications acquired the station and the new company added stereo
programming in November 1990. Another ownership change occurred in 1997 after Grapevine Communications of Atlanta, Georgia
purchased KAAL. It would eventually drop the use of the -TV suffix on September 23, 1998. Grapevine, in turn, divested the station to GOCOM
on January 1, 2000. Exactly a year later, current owner Hubbard Broadcasting assumed control. The year 2001 also saw the launch of KAAL's digital signal on UHF channel 33. As part of the DTV transition on June 12, 2009, KAAL turned-off its analog transmitter and moved its digital signal to UHF channel 36.
Its previous digital allotment would eventually be used to sign-on a fill-in translator to cover Mason City. During the analog era, its signal used an FM
audio
carrier
which could be heard at 87.75
in areas where the video signal could be received (and some where it could not). The same practice was true of all analog channel 6 television stations in North America
. However, this analog FM carrier no longer exists for full-powered stations after the conversion to digital-exclusive transmission.
At 8 p.m. on June 17, 2009, Austin was struck by an EF2 tornado
in the city's north side. It passed one half mile to the north of KAAL's studios. This tornado was powerful enough to take out power for the entire city including this station. However, it continued to cover the severe weather
event with a backup generator only able to power a few lights, computers, and camera set up in the weather center. The station would remain without electricity until 2 p.m. the next day. Normal operations resumed with the 5 p.m. newscast on June 18. The EF2 tornado caused structural damage to buildings on the north side of the city from US 218 near 4th Street Northwest to the golf country club. Since KAAL is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to broadcast out of Austin, the station can not move all of its operations to the Rochester facility.
Storm Tracker 6 Weather Team
Sports team
Reporters
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Driftless Area of Southeastern Minnesota
Southeast Minnesota
Southeast Minnesota is the corner of Minnesota south of the Twin Cities metropolitan area extending east, and part of the multi-state area known as the Driftless Area. Rochester is the largest city in the area; other major cities include Winona, Owatonna, Faribault, Northfield, Austin, and Red...
and North-Central Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. Licensed to Austin, Minnesota
Austin, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,168.2 people per square mile . There were 10,261 housing units at an average density of 954.3 per square mile...
, the station broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 33 (or virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southeast of Grand Meadow, Minnesota
Grand Meadow, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 945 people, 395 households, and 233 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,470.9 people per square mile . There were 407 housing units at an average density of 633.5 per square mile...
in Eastern Mower County
Mower County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 38,603 people, 15,582 households, and 10,315 families residing in the county. The population density was 54 people per square mile . There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
. The station can also be seen on Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 786 and Mediacom digital channel 806.
Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, KAAL has studios on 10th Place Northeast along I-90
Interstate 90 in Minnesota
In the U.S. state of Minnesota, Interstate 90 traverses the southern side of the state, parallel to the Minnesota-Iowa state line. The route connects the cities of Worthington, Albert Lea, and Austin. The cities of Rochester and Winona are also in close proximity to I-90, with Winona about 10...
/US 218
U.S. Route 218
U.S. Route 218 is an original United States Highway, created in 1926. Although technically a spur of U.S. Route 18, US 218 neither begins nor ends at US 18, but overlaps US 18 for near Charles City, Iowa. US 218 begins at U.S. Route 136 in downtown Keokuk and ends away at...
in Austin. It operates a secondary facility on Superior Drive Northwest in Rochester
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on the station includes Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, The Rachael Ray Show, America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
among others. In addition to its main signal, KAAL operates a low-powered digital fill-in translator
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
licensed to Mason City, Iowa
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
. This airs on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Garner, Iowa
Garner, Iowa
Garner is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,129 in the 2010 census, an increase from 2,922 in the 2000 census. -History:...
along US 18
U.S. Route 18
U.S. Route 18 is an east–west U.S. highway in the Midwestern United States. The western terminus is in Orin, Wyoming at an interchange with Interstate 25. Its eastern terminus of US 18 is in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, US 18 runs concurrent with other U.S...
.
History
The station signed-on August 17, 19531953 in television
The year 1953 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1953.-Events:*January 19 – 68% of all US television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth to little Ricky....
as KMMT and aired an analog signal on VHF channel 6. Its first owners were local businessmen Martin Busted, Harry Smith, and Palmer Ulland. Originally, the station was a primary CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate with secondary ABC and DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
relations. After KGLO-TV (now KIMT
KIMT
KIMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Driftless Area of North Central Iowa and Southeastern Minnesota. Licensed to Mason City, Iowa, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter near Meyer, Iowa south of the Minnesota state line...
) launched from Mason City in late-1954, KMMT switched its primary network to ABC. DuMont would eventually be dropped in 1956 after that network shut down operations. This station is the longest-tenured ABC affiliate in the Upper Midwest
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...
.
During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
. It shared studios with KAUS radio (AM 1480
KAUS (AM)
KAUS is a radio station that broadcasts a news and information format. Licensed to Austin, Minnesota, U.S., the station serves the Mower County area. The station is currently owned by Three Eagles Communications.- History :...
and FM 99.9
KAUS-FM
KAUS-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Austin, Minnesota, USA, the station serves the Austin-Albert Lea area. The station is currently owned by Three Eagles Communications.-External links:*...
) on MN 105
Minnesota State Highway 105
Minnesota State Highway 105 is a highway in southeast Minnesota, which runs from Mitchell County Road S70 at the Iowa state line and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with Interstate Highway 90 outside Austin....
in Austin where the two radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s continue to operate today. The television station produced a few local programs most notably The Family Hour hosted by Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
Joe Matt. The program aired until April 2001 and was one of the longest-running, locally-produced religious shows in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
KMMT was purchased by Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
-based Blackhawk Broadcasting sometime between 1956 and 1957. The station would add color television
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
in 1967. It calls became KAUS-TV (for AUStin) in 1968 to match its radio sisters. The outlet would begin carrying the yearly Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1973 and remains the area's affiliate to this day. KAUS-TV-AM-FM separated operations in 1974 after the television station moved to its current location on 10th Place Northeast along I-90. The building previously housed a Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
dealership and showroom. Blackhawk would sell KAUS to the News-Press & Gazette Company
News-Press & Gazette Company
The News Press & Gazette Company is a media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley , Eric Bradley and Kit Bradley serving on its Board of Directors. All are descendants of...
of St. Joseph, Missouri in 1980. The call sign became KAAL-TV on December 1, 1982 referring to Austin and Albert Lea.
In December 1985, Dix Communications acquired the station and the new company added stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
programming in November 1990. Another ownership change occurred in 1997 after Grapevine Communications of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
purchased KAAL. It would eventually drop the use of the -TV suffix on September 23, 1998. Grapevine, in turn, divested the station to GOCOM
Piedmont Television
Piedmont Television was a broadcasting company in the United States that owned television stations in smaller markets. The company was based in Charlotte, North Carolina....
on January 1, 2000. Exactly a year later, current owner Hubbard Broadcasting assumed control. The year 2001 also saw the launch of KAAL's digital signal on UHF channel 33. As part of the DTV transition on June 12, 2009, KAAL turned-off its analog transmitter and moved its digital signal to UHF channel 36.
Its previous digital allotment would eventually be used to sign-on a fill-in translator to cover Mason City. During the analog era, its signal used an FM
FM broadcast band
The FM broadcast band, used for FM broadcast radio by radio stations, differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa , it spans from 87.5 to 108.0 megahertz , while in America it goes only from 88.0 to 108.0 MHz. The FM broadcast band in Japan uses 76.0 to 90 MHz...
audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
carrier
Carrier wave
In telecommunications, a carrier wave or carrier is a waveform that is modulated with an input signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave is usually a much higher frequency than the input signal...
which could be heard at 87.75
87.7 FM
-In North America:*87.75 MHz, a frequency-modulated audio subcarrier used by all NTSC-M analog channel 6 television stations**For a listing of channel 6 television stations that promote their audio feeds as their primary signal, advertising as being on 87.7 FM, see :Category:Channel 6 radio...
in areas where the video signal could be received (and some where it could not). The same practice was true of all analog channel 6 television stations in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. However, this analog FM carrier no longer exists for full-powered stations after the conversion to digital-exclusive transmission.
At 8 p.m. on June 17, 2009, Austin was struck by an EF2 tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
in the city's north side. It passed one half mile to the north of KAAL's studios. This tornado was powerful enough to take out power for the entire city including this station. However, it continued to cover the severe weather
Severe weather
Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...
event with a backup generator only able to power a few lights, computers, and camera set up in the weather center. The station would remain without electricity until 2 p.m. the next day. Normal operations resumed with the 5 p.m. newscast on June 18. The EF2 tornado caused structural damage to buildings on the north side of the city from US 218 near 4th Street Northwest to the golf country club. Since KAAL is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to broadcast out of Austin, the station can not move all of its operations to the Rochester facility.
News operation
Local news, weather, and sports have been provided on the station since its first day of broadcasting in 1953. Under News-Press & Gazette Company control in he early-1980s, its news department was significantly expanded complete with new equipment for live reporting from the field. Most of KAAL's operations are currently based at its main studios in Austin. However, the secondary facility in Rochester allows the station to have a solid presence in that area as opposed to a smaller bureau. For several years during its weeknight newscasts, the station has maintained special technology to offer the unique practice of producing live news segments from its Rochester studios while also featuring live weather forecasts and sports highlights originating from Austin.Newscast titles
- Regional Roundup (1953–1958)
- The Upper Midwest Report (1958–1962)
- Television 6 Reports (1962–1964)
- TV 6 News/Channel 6 News (1964–1989)
- News 6 (1989–1996)
- Region 6 News (1996–2002)
- 6 News (2002–2004)
- 6 News First (2004–2007)
- ABC 6 News (2007–present)
Station slogans
- The Spirit of the Heartland (1990–1996)
- When You Need To Know (1996–2006)
- Your News and Weather Source (2006–2009)
- It's About You (2009–present)
News team
Anchors- Melanie Bloom - weekday mornings
- Laura Lee - weeknights at 10 p.m.; also reporter
- Ellery McCardle - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
- TBD - weekday mornings
- Betsy Singer - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- James Wilcox - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
Storm Tracker 6 Weather Team
- Rusty Dawkins (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Chris Kuball - meteorologist; weekday mornings
- Jim Peterson - meteorologist; Weekend evenings
Sports team
- Caleb Ostrander - sports directorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m. - Kristin Martin - sports anchor; weekend evenings
Reporters
- Dan Conradt
- Katie Eldred
- Andrew Lovelette
- Dietrich Nissen
- Gordon Severson
- David Springer - also assistant news directorNews DirectorA news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...