KRCR TV

History

The station was founded in 1956 as KVIP-TV by William B. Smullin of California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. (COBI), owners of KOBI in Medford, Oregon and KOTI Klamath Falls, Oregon as a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. By 1963, network emphasis had shifted towards ABC, as only the Saturday morning and Sunday night primetime schedules, a few daytime game shows and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson were carried in NBC's schedule pattern. The full ABC schedule was available by way of translators of Stockton's KOVR in Chico and Redding. Channel 7 became KRCR in 1963.

It changed from primary NBC affiliation to a full-time ABC affiliation in 1978, which in turn started the seven-year process for building KCPM (now KNVN). This was an unusual arrangement for a two-station market especially one of the size of Chico and Redding, but, after 15 years of unsuccessful attempts, the area was served by a local ABC affiliate.

KRCR, KAEF, and KFWU (now KQSL in Fort Bragg, part of the San Francisco TV market) aired Fox full-time on off-network hours until 1994 when now sister station KCVU switched to Fox and KBVU signed on.

KRCR was purchased by Lamco Communications of Texas in 1995 and was rebranded News Channel 7, which is now just the branding for the newscasts. The station was operated by California Broadcasting, Inc., run by general manager Bob Wise, until 2004, when the station was sold to current owners Bluestone Television. Then in December 2006, the station was sold (along with 12 other Bluestone stations) to Diamond Castle Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm, later become Bonten Media Group.

The station also operates a semi-satellite in Eureka, KAEF-TV (channel 23). It operated a local cable-only WB affiliate KIWB, but that station was sold to Catamount Broadcasting following the merger between the WB and UPN to form the new CW Network. KRVU-LD was previously a UPN affiliate, but now is a My Network TV affiliate.

KRCR was one of very few ABC affiliates that broadcasts on channel 7 but didn't use the Circle 7 logo until April 11, 2006 when a new set and logo were designed. Under COBI ownership, KRCR's logo was an interstate highway sign, with the name "7R", matching its sister stations. The "7R" was adopted due to TV Guide's reference to KRCR in text (non-bulleted) listings to differentiate it from KGO-TV San Francisco (both stations were listed in the Northern California edition).

Merger with KCVU & KBVU

In December 2012, KRCR/KAEF took over sales operations of KCVU Fox 20 in Chico, as well as KVIQ and KBVU in Eureka. They still all maintain separate operations.

In August 2012, Bonten Media announced that KCVU and KBVU will be sold to Esteem Broadcasting, effectively merging both the ABC and Fox affiliates' operations to create a media powerhouse north of Sacramento and south of the Oregon border.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

On August 23, 2011, Disney-ABC Television Group announced that KRCR would carry Live Well Network as part of an affiliation agreement with Bonten Media Group; the network was added to a new third subchannel. Live Well Network was replaced by Movies! on November 18, 2013.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KRCR-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from UHF channel 34 to VHF channel 7.

What Makes News Channel 7?

In the fall of 1995, Continental Cablevision of Mt. Shasta (now part of Northland Communications) filmed, produced and broadcast a 30-minute documentary special called "What Makes News Channel 7?" as part of its news magazine series In Focus: Siskiyou Magazine. It took a look behind the scenes of what went on at the station and mainly focused on the news team, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at how a newscast is done as well as interviews with key personalities such as Mike Mangas, Rich Eisen, Sandra Geist, Warren Wright, Gary Gunter and Katy Brown. The program aired on Mt. Shasta cable channel 3 in the winter and spring of 1996 and starting showing on YouTube and MySpace in February 2010. It was rebroadcast to the Mt. Shasta cable airwaves again on MCTV 15 in 2010 leading to that program's relaunch.

Past ownership

Notable former on-air staff

Mt. Shasta cable dispute

Since its inception in the mid 1980s, the Mt. Shasta cable system currently owned by Northland Communications had carried KRCR on its cable channel 7. However, in January 2012, Northland dropped KRCR from its cable line-up after the station's current ownership and the cable company failed to come to a mutual agreement to continue the station's coverage on the system and severed ties after a near-30-year working relationship between the two. As a result, Northland replaced KRCR on cable channel 7 with Medford, Oregon, ABC affiliate, KDRV NewsWatch 12.

KRCR and its sister stations no longer broadcast north of Shasta County or south of Butte County.

Disputes with Dish Network

Dish Network and KRCR have been at odds for quite sometime regarding carriage of the station on the satellite system. KRCR was asking for reimbursement and made their feeling public. As a result, on December 8, 2013, Dish halted carrying KRCR on their system. General manager Andrew Stewart went to the internet at the station's website to share his frustrations with the viewers and called out Dish Network. On January 12, 2014, DISH restored KRCR, KCVU and associated stations to its lineup. On January 17, 2017, KRCR and KCVU was once again removed from Dish's lineup as part of a new dispute."A message to our DISH viewers". KRCRTV.com. January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017.  As of February 1, both stations remains off of Dish.

Translators

KRCR is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

KRCR is operating a digital fill-in translator on their pre-transition channel 34 for residents in Redding and the surrounding areas that have difficulty receiving their VHF signal on channel 7.

In the 1990s, KRCR had a co-station KFWU channel 8 (now defunct) serving Mendocino County.

Formerly, KRCR was broadcast on translators channel 20 in Yuba City, part of the Sacramento television market (KRCR no longer broadcasts at all in Yuba City) and channel 21 in Susanville, part of the Reno television market.