KKCO

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Television station in Grand Junction, Colorado

title: "KKCO" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1996-establishments-in-colorado", "gray-media", "metv-affiliates", "metv-toons-affiliates", "nbc-affiliates", "telemundo-affiliates", "television-channels-and-stations-established-in-1996", "television-stations-in-grand-junction,-colorado"] description: "Television station in Grand Junction, Colorado" topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKCO" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Television station in Grand Junction, Colorado ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox television station"]

FieldValue
callsignKKCO
logoKKCO logo.svg
logo_size200px
imageKKCOTELEMUNDO2018.svg
image_size100px
brandingKKCO 11 News
digital12 (VHF)
virtual11
translators
affiliations
foundedDecember 16, 1994
airdate
locationGrand Junction, Colorado
countryUnited States
callsign_meaningColorado
former_channel_numbersAnalog: 11 (VHF, 1996–2009)
owner
licenseeGray Television Licensee, LLC
sister_stationsKJCT-CD, KKTV
former_affiliationsThe CW (11.2, 2006−2008)
erp5.3 kW
haat452 m
facility_id24766
coordinates
licensing_authorityFCC
website
::

| callsign = KKCO | city = | logo = KKCO logo.svg | logo_size = 200px | image = KKCOTELEMUNDO2018.svg | image_size = 100px | branding = KKCO 11 News | digital = 12 (VHF) | virtual = 11 | translators = | affiliations = | founded = December 16, 1994 | airdate = | location = Grand Junction, Colorado | country = United States | callsign_meaning = Colorado | former_callsigns = | former_channel_numbers = Analog: 11 (VHF, 1996–2009) | owner = | licensee = Gray Television Licensee, LLC | sister_stations = KJCT-CD, KKTV | former_affiliations = The CW (11.2, 2006−2008) | erp = 5.3 kW | haat = 452 m | facility_id = 24766 | coordinates = | licensing_authority = FCC | website = KKCO (channel 11) is a television station in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States, affiliated with NBC and Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power, Class A station KJCT-CD (channel 8), an affiliate of ABC and The CW Plus. The two stations share studios on Blichmann Avenue in Grand Junction; KKCO's transmitter is located at the Black Ridge Electronics Site at the Colorado National Monument west of the city.

The station signed on for the first time on July 29, 1996, providing Grand Junction its first in-market NBC affiliate. Its local newscasts rose to number one in the market shortly after debuting. Originally owned by Eagle III Broadcasting, it was purchased by Gray in 2005.

History

In 1994, multiple groups applied for a construction permit to build channel 11 in Grand Junction. However, the process of awarding such permits through the comparative hearing process long used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had been forcibly derogated by a court ruling finding its criteria "arbitrary and capricious". In 1995, the commission opened a 90-day settlement window to encourage settlements or mergers among applicants for channels with multiple applicants. Among the settlements received was a merger of Uhlmann/Latshaw Broadcasting LLC and Grand Junction Television Partners. The lead partner in the merged corporation, Bill Varecha, had previously run a radio station in Vail, where he noticed the lack of a local NBC affiliate; he had previously built and sold WCEE-TV in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in the 1980s, as well as WAYK in Melbourne, Florida.

KKCO began broadcasting on July 29, 1996; in addition to broadcasting NBC, the station also served as a secondary affiliate of UPN. Its launch had the effect of removing Denver NBC affiliate KUSA from TCI Cable's systems on the Western Slope. This led to letters to the editor in publications including The Denver Post and Broadcasting & Cable from viewers who were upset at the loss of the Denver station's newscasts and Denver Broncos preseason games. At the crux of the station's inability to air the Broncos was the team's unwillingness to share preseason television revenue with the National Football League, which stipulated that any sale to a station outside a 75 mi radius from the main city was shared revenue. TCI was able to broadcast the Broncos preseason games beginning in 1998 by arrangement with KUSA, and KKCO itself gained the rights in 2003.

The station initially simulcast some of KUSA's newscasts while it developed its own news department. The station began producing its own newscasts later in 1996; within 18 months, KKCO had risen to number one in the market in ratings and revenue.

In 2004, Gray Television bought the station and its translator in Montrose from Eagle III Broadcasting LLC for $13.5 million. Gray closed on the purchase in February 2005. At the time of the purchase, Varecha was working for Gray as its general manager in Charlottesville, Virginia, where it was starting up WCAV and WVAW-LP.

Gray acquired the programming assets of KJCT in 2014; unable to program the full-power station due to new scrutiny of joint sales agreements, its programming moved to a low-power station. The KJCT and KKCO newsrooms were combined.

Attack of Ja'Ronn Alex

On December 18, 2024, KKCO reporter Ja'Ronn Alex was allegedly followed by 39-year-old Patrick Thomas Egan, a taxi cab driver, for about 40 mi from the Delta area to the KKCO studios in Grand Junction. Alex, who was out reporting and driving a news vehicle, was allegedly followed by Egan in his company taxi. Upon reaching Grand Junction, Egan pulled up beside Alex at a stoplight, questioned Alex's citizenship, said that it was "Trump's America now", and added that he was a Marine and had taken "an oath to protect this country from people like [Alex]". Alex then returned to the news station, where he was chased by Egan, who demanded for Alex's identification before tackling him and putting him into a headlock. Coworkers ran out to protect Alex and said that Alex was apparently struggling to breathe. Part of the attack was captured on surveillance video. Egan was arrested on suspicion of bias-motivated crimes, second-degree assault by strangulation, and harassment by following and ethnic intimidation; and his bail was set at $20,000. Alex told Grand Junction police that he believed he had been attacked because he is Pacific Islander. Egan's public defender said that he intended to plead not guilty during the trial, which is scheduled to begin January 12, 2026.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed: ::data[format=table title="Subchannels of KKCO{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KKCO#station|title = RabbitEars TV Query for KKCO|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=December 28, 2024}}"]

ChannelRes.AspectShort nameProgramming11.111.211.311.411.5
1080i16:9KKCO-DTNBC
480i4:3MeTVMeTV
720p16:9TELE-HDTelemundo
480iThe365365BLK
MeToonsMeTV Toons
::

Translators

References

References

  1. McConnell, Chris. (January 22, 1996). "FCC moving to grant new TVs". Broadcasting & Cable.
  2. Perry, Erin. (July 6, 1996). "New NBC affiliate aims to be on air this month". The Daily Sentinel.
  3. DeWitte, Dave. (October 20, 1985). "Varecha sells WCEE-TV". Southern Illinoisan.
  4. Solomon, Scott. (July 15, 1990). "Troubled waters: Palm Bay's WAYK Television fights for recognition". Florida Today.
  5. (August 15, 1996). "Effective September 3, 1996, Notice: TCI Customers in the Grand Valley". The Daily Sentinel.
  6. Linko, John J.. (October 19, 1998). "Open Mike: Don't diss distant signals". Broadcasting & Cable.
  7. Kastella, Kenneth G.. (August 25, 1997). "Broncos shut out". [[The Denver Post]].
  8. Zimmer, Kurt. (September 3, 1999). "Broncos fans blacked out". Montrose Daily Press.
  9. (August 14, 1998). "Broncos to play on TV after all". The Daily Sentinel.
  10. Saunders, Dusty. (June 23, 2003). "Sardella interview offers a revealing look at Logan". [[Rocky Mountain News]].
  11. Hite, Patrick. (May 26, 2004). "Charlottesville to get yet another TV station". The Observer.
  12. (November 1, 2004). "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable.
  13. (February 19, 2005). "KKCO-TV names new manager". The Daily Sentinel.
  14. Slevin, Colleen. (December 27, 2024). "Man accused of attacking TV reporter, saying 'This is Trump's America now'". [[Associated Press.
  15. Sinton, Kacie. (December 23, 2024). "Bail and court date set for man charged with strangling a KKCO/KJCT reporter in bias-related attack". KKCO.
  16. Hesse, Thomas. (August 5, 2025). "Colorado man pleads not guilty to choking local TV reporter, trial date set". [[Colorado Public Radio]].
  17. "RabbitEars TV Query for KKCO".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1996-establishments-in-coloradogray-mediametv-affiliatesmetv-toons-affiliatesnbc-affiliatestelemundo-affiliatestelevision-channels-and-stations-established-in-1996television-stations-in-grand-junction,-colorado