KHQ-TV
CitySpokane, Washington
Channels
BrandingNonStop Local KHQ
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
December 20, 1952 (1952-12-20)[1]
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 6 (VHF, 1952–2009)
ABC (secondary, 1952–1954)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34537
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT653 m (2,142 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°34′52″N 117°17′51″W / 47.58111°N 117.29750°W / 47.58111; -117.29750
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.nonstoplocal.com/spokane/

KHQ-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Spokane, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship and namesake of the KHQ Television Group, a subsidiary of the locally based Cowles Company, which also owns The Spokesman-Review newspaper. KHQ-TV's studios are located on West Sprague Avenue in Downtown Spokane, and its transmitter is located on Krell Hill southeast of the city. The station also operates a 24-hour sports and weather channel called SWX Right Now on digital subchannel 6.2.

KHQ-TV is also carried on cable systems in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, both of which are double the size of the station's American coverage area. One result of this is that stations in Calgary and Edmonton air American shows on Pacific Time, even though Calgary and Edmonton are both on Mountain Time. KHQ-TV is one of five local Spokane area television stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite service. It can also be seen on local cable systems in eastern British Columbia.

KHQ-TV also handles master control and some internal operations for sister stations and fellow NBC affiliates KNDO and KNDU in the Yakima–Tri-Cities market.

History

While KHQ and KXLY were both granted authorization by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build television stations on July 12, 1952,[3] KHQ was first to sign on the air, going live at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 20, 1952, with the film Texas Trouble Shooters. The first NBC program KHQ broadcast was an episode of Your Hit Parade, which aired that evening at 7:30.[4] In addition to being the oldest television station east of the Cascades, KHQ is also the second-oldest station in Washington state. It was co-owned by Cowles Publishing along with KHQ radio (AM 590, now KQNT; and FM 98.1, now KISC). The radio stations were both sold off in 1985.

It was originally a dual NBC/ABC affiliate. KREM-TV took the ABC affiliation when it signed on the air in 1954, but KHQ kept the NBC affiliation, which it retains to this day. It is the only major station in Spokane, and one of a few in the country, that has retained the same primary affiliation, owner, and call letters throughout its history.

KHQ broadcast studio

After being in its original studio for over forty years, KHQ moved to a new all-digital facility at 1201 W. Sprague Avenue in Downtown Spokane in 2001.[5]

Final "Q6" logo, used until October 2022

Traditionally, KHQ has been colloquially known on-air as "Q6" since the 1960s, but the station switched to call letter branding from around 2005 to 2018, albeit retaining the "Q6" within its logo. On September 24, 2018, coinciding with the introduction of new newscast graphics, the "Q6" branding was restored full-time to the station's newscasts, which were rebranded "Q6 Local News – Right Now." In October 2022, KHQ's news programming was rebranded as NonStop Local, as part of a group-wide rebranding.[6]

Programming

Sports programming

KHQ-TV has been the local home of Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball games since 2001. KHQ-TV and Root Sports Northwest simulcast all games not covered by either the West Coast Conference's television contract with ESPN or that of an inter-conference opponent.[7][8]

News operation

In 2006, with the popularity of high-definition newscasts increasing around the country, the race to HD began in the Spokane television market when competitor KXLY became the first Spokane station to produce a local segment of the news in HD. Each week, one news story was presented in high definition. Until 2008, KXLY was the only news station in Spokane to produce a segment of the news in HD.

On May 16, 2008, KHQ produced a live, on-the-air report in HD. It was officially announced on this date that KHQ was slated to become the first station in Spokane to broadcast its entire newscasts in HD, debuting on August 8, 2008, to coincide with the 2008 Summer Olympics on NBC.[5] However, after months of marketing this milestone, KXLY shocked KHQ and the Spokane television market when it made a surprise announcement on August 1, just two days before the start of its broadcasts, that it would beat KHQ in becoming the first station in Spokane to produce HD newscasts. KXLY's HD newscasts started August 3, just a mere five days before KHQ's scheduled date. Despite marketing their newscasts as being in HD, KHQ did not yet present its newscasts in true high definition, but standard definition widescreen. However, with the implementation of a new master control hub (which handles the operations of KHQ, along with sister stations KNDU and KNDO and its SWX channels) using fiberoptic links, and the purchase of new studio equipment and cameras, KHQ migrated to full HD newscasts in late 2012.[9][10]

In 2008, KHQ and Northern Quest Resort & Casino started a partnership and created SWX, a 24-hour sports and weather channel. SWX soft-launched in January 2009, and officially launched on August 30, 2009.[11]

Unlike most NBC affiliates, the station does not air a noon newscast.

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KHQ-TV[18]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
6.1 1080i16:9KHQ-HDMain KHQ-TV programming / NBC
6.2 480iKHQ-SWXSWX Right Now

Analog-to-digital conversion

KHQ-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 15 due to adjacent channel interference with KSPS (now on channel 8).[19][20] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 6.

Translators

City of license Callsign Channel ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Owner
DrydenK12LV-D 120.018 kW649 m (2,129 ft)6950147°35′59.4″N 120°30′33.3″W / 47.599833°N 120.509250°W / 47.599833; -120.509250 (K12LV-D)Upper Wenatchee Valley TV Association, Inc.
LeavenworthK03IN-D 30.01 kW−126 m (−413 ft)18753947°36′59.4″N 120°40′42.3″W / 47.616500°N 120.678417°W / 47.616500; -120.678417 (K03IN-D)Leavenworth Non-Profit TV Association
MazamaK21LD-D 210.05 kW−339 m (−1,112 ft)18883548°32′19.5″N 120°18′47.8″W / 48.538750°N 120.313278°W / 48.538750; -120.313278 (K21LD-D)Methow Valley Communications District
MethowK09BI-D 90.002 kW749 m (2,457 ft)6850648°2′12.5″N 119°59′11.2″W / 48.036806°N 119.986444°W / 48.036806; -119.986444 (K09BI-D)
Pateros
Mansfield		K10AP-D 100.02 kW4,371 m (14,341 ft)6850048°0′59.5″N 119°58′55.2″W / 48.016528°N 119.982000°W / 48.016528; -119.982000 (K10AP-D)
WenatcheeK22JF-D 221.08 kW787 m (2,582 ft)250347°16′26.4″N 120°24′22.2″W / 47.274000°N 120.406167°W / 47.274000; -120.406167 (K22JF-D)Apple Valley TV Association, Inc.
Winthrop-TwispK08AY-D 80.035 kW507 m (1,663 ft)6850948°19′4.5″N 120°6′58.2″W / 48.317917°N 120.116167°W / 48.317917; -120.116167 (K08AY-D)Methow Valley Communications District
Bonners Ferry, IDK26OO-D 260.383 kW863 m (2,831 ft)653148°36′37.7″N 116°15′31.6″W / 48.610472°N 116.258778°W / 48.610472; -116.258778 (K26OO-D)Boundary County TV Translator District
Coeur d'Alene, IDK16NR-D 163 kW471 m (1,545 ft)3453647°43′53.6″N 116°43′50.6″W / 47.731556°N 116.730722°W / 47.731556; -116.730722 (K16NR-D)Cowles Company
Coolin, IDK12LF-D 120.016 kW71 m (233 ft)5350848°35′35.7″N 116°54′32.8″W / 48.593250°N 116.909111°W / 48.593250; -116.909111 (K12LF-D)Priest Lake Translator District
Juliaetta, IDK11DL-D 110.007 kW9 m (30 ft)3292746°34′43.6″N 116°41′29.5″W / 46.578778°N 116.691528°W / 46.578778; -116.691528 (K11DL-D)Juliaetta Television Association
Lewiston, IDK35BW-D 350.147 kW289 m (948 ft)5053046°27′3.5″N 117°2′49.5″W / 46.450972°N 117.047083°W / 46.450972; -117.047083 (K35BW-D)Cowles Company
Sandpoint, IDK21NG-D 210.705 kW866 m (2,841 ft)3453848°19′53.7″N 116°41′38.7″W / 48.331583°N 116.694083°W / 48.331583; -116.694083 (K21NG-D)
Troy, MTK13KV-D 130.035 kW553 m (1,814 ft)3630348°29′7″N 115°48′19.7″W / 48.48528°N 115.805472°W / 48.48528; -115.805472 (K13KV-D)Lake Creek TV District

References

  1. ↑ KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane, WA (NBC) begins broadcasting December 20 in History
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KHQ-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ Spokane Daily Chronicle - July 12, 1952 - Page 2: KHQ and KXLY Authorized to Build Television Stations
  4. ↑ Spokane Daily Chronicle - "1st Commercial TV Show for Area to Be Tonight" - December 20, 1952
  5. 1 2 KHQ Milestone: Armed Forces Torchlight Parade broadcast in HD
  6. ↑ "Washington, Montana stations consolidate under 'NonStop Local' brand". NewscastStudio. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bulldogs Announce Radio, TV Pact". Gonzaga University Athletics. August 8, 2001.
  8. ↑ "KHQ-TV, FSN Extend Gonzaga Men's Basketball Agreement 10 Years". Gonzaga University Athletics. January 9, 2009.
  9. ↑ "KHQ Launches Centralcasting With ABS". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Retrans Deal Drives Cowles Centralcasting". TVNewsCheck. July 14, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ Stealth powerbroker - - Sept. 13, 2009
  12. ↑ CNN: "CNN Profiles – Ana Cabrera – Anchor
  13. ↑ . linkedin.com. May 12, 2015 https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayburgcreative. Retrieved May 12, 2015. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ Minor, E. Kyle (July 12, 1998). "What's Behind the Forecast? Pure Poetry". The New York Times..
  15. ↑ "Phil Keating Bio". Fox News. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ "KHQ, SWX - Meet the KHQ Local News, SWX Local Sports Team". KHQ-TV. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Reporter Alex Rozier joining WFAA8 news room from Seattle". UncleBarky.com. March 14, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  18. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KHQ
  19. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  20. ↑ CDBS Print
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