Subchannels (see article) Founded September 22, 2006 | ||
Owner Koplar Communications(KRBK LLC) | ||
KRBK, virtual and UHF digital channel 49, is a Fox-affiliated television station serving Springfield, Missouri, United States that is licensed to Osage Beach. The station is owned by Koplar Communications. KRBK maintains studio facilities located on Enterprise Avenue in southeast Springfield, and its primary transmitter is located in Eldridge. The station uses a multi-site distributed transmission system using six digital transmitters located throughout the market to distribute its signal, all of which transmit on UHF channel 49.
Contents
Digital channels
On January 1, 2014, KRBK launched a second digital subchannel carrying the classic television network MeTV.
History
The station first signed on the air on August 1, 2009; prior to signing on KRBK, Koplar Communications served as the founding owner of KPLR-TV in St. Louis – which it sold to ACME Communications in 1997 (it is now owned by Tribune Media) – and formerly owned KMAX-TV in Sacramento – which once bore the KRBK-TV call letters and which Koplar sold to Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1994 (it is now owned by CBS Television Stations). At the time KRBK signed on, MyNetworkTV programming had not been available in the market for several months, after Harrison-based KWBM (channel 31) switched to Daystar upon being sold to the network as part of Equity Media Holdings's auction of its television stations. The station originally branded as "KRBK-HD".
KRBK's transmitter was originally plotted to be located halfway between Springfield and Jefferson City in northern Laclede County, giving it rimshot (Grade B) signals within Springfield and Jefferson City. This is possible because Osage Beach spills into both Camden and Miller counties, and is thus split between the two markets. Most of the city is in Camden County, part of the Springfield market. However, a small sliver in the north is in Miller County, part of the Columbia-Jefferson City market. The transmitter was later moved to Eldridge, in northeastern Polk County, firmly in the Springfield market.
On June 20, 2011, Fox announced that it would end its affiliation with the network's Springfield charter affiliate, KSFX-TV (channel 27) following a dispute between the network and that station's owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group over Fox's proposal to increase the amount of retransmission consent fees that its stations must divide with the network; on that same day, Koplar signed an affiliation agreement with Fox to make KRBK the market's new affiliate. The switch became official on September 1, 2011, with KSFX-TV changing its call letters to KOZL-TV and became an independent station. With the addition of Fox programming on the station, KRBK relegated MyNetworkTV to a secondary affiliation, delaying its programming by two hours to 9:00 to 11:00 p.m.; as a result, KRBK was one of the few Fox-MyNetworkTV hybrid affiliates that carry both networks on the station's main channel (most Fox affiliates that also carry MyNetworkTV programming usually air the latter service on an additional digital subchannel). The station also changed its on-air branding to "FOX KRBK".
On September 8, 2014, MyNetworkTV programming moved from KRBK to KOZL. On that same date, KRBK rebranded its name to "Fox 5" due to the fact that most viewers (mostly on cable & satellite) watch this station on channel 5, with the look emulating that of the Fox owned and operated stations.
On March 1, 2017, Ion Netowrk was added to 49.4 subchannel.
News operation
KRBK presently broadcasts just 5 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (running weeknights from 9:00pm to 10:00pm).
Programming
Syndicated programs broadcast by KRBK include Maury, Right This Minute, The Steve Wilkos Show, TMZ on TV, Dish Nation. From 2010 to 2012, KRBK aired wraparound segments throughout its broadcast day featuring the "KRBK Street Team," who provided entertainment, sports and event-related stories.
Transmitters
In April 2013, KRBK improved its signal coverage in this vast and mostly mountainous market through the implementation of a distributed single-frequency network, consisting of five specially engineered slot antennas positioned throughout the Ozarks. All of the repeaters broadcast high definition digital signals on UHF channel 49.
Due to this system, the station is unavailable over-the-air in Salem located in the northeast part of the market, and is only available on cable television in that town.
Since the main KRBK signal misses Springfield itself, Koplar leases two subchannels of KWBM from their owner Daystar in order to provide a full-power signal of their Fox and MeTV channels to main portion of the market.
In other media
The 2014 20th Century Fox film Gone Girl features KRBK's pre-September 2014 logo within the film's preview poster, various key art and other online presences with news stories around the events depicted in the film (whose setting takes place in KRBK's market area), along with a false search coordination website with the same logo. No real staff members were used, and in the actual film, the fictional KRBK news organization seems to have a glossy tabloid image unlike what is seen in reality.