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KOSA-TV

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KOSA-TV
CityOdessa, Texas
Channels
Branding
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KCWO-TV, KWWT, KMDF-LD, KTLE-LD
History
First air date
January 1, 1956 (1956-01-01)
Former channel numbers
  • Analog: 7 (VHF, 1956–2009)
  • Digital: 31 (UHF, until 2009)
Call sign meaning
Odessa
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
6865
ERP48 kW
HAAT226 m (741 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
31°51′50.8″N 102°34′42.5″W / 31.864111°N 102.578472°W / 31.864111; -102.578472
Translator(s)K31KJ-D Big Spring
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.firstalert7.com

KOSA-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Odessa, Texas, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Permian Basin area. It is owned by Gray Media alongside KWWT (channel 30), KCWO-TV (channel 4), KTLE-LD (channel 20), and KMDF-LD (channel 22). These stations share studios inside the Music City Mall on East 42nd Street in Odessa, with a secondary studio and news bureau in downtown Midland; KOSA-TV's transmitter is located on FM 866 west of Odessa.

KOSA-TV began broadcasting on January 1, 1956, after three years of wrangling over who would get the permit to build a television station in Odessa. The station was founded by a group led by KOSA radio owner Cecil Trigg and soon joined by businessman Jack Vaughn, who came to own radio and television stations in West Texas and throughout the Southwest and Mountain West. The Trigg-Vaughn group, including KOSA-TV but not KOSA radio, was sold to book publisher Doubleday in 1967 to form Doubleday Broadcasting; Doubleday in turn sold the station to Forward Communications in 1973.

KOSA was the leading station for news in the area until the aftermath of a 1983 plane crash that killed eight people, including six KOSA employees. On board were the assistant news director, who anchored the 6 p.m. newscast, as well as the sports director, both returning from high school football coverage. The loss of personnel and turnover coincided with the remaking of KMID (channel 2) under new ownership. The rises of KMID in the 1980s and KWES-TV (channel 9) in the 1990s caused the station to sink to third place as ownership changed four times in twelve years.

ICA Broadcasting, a local business conglomerate, acquired KOSA-TV in 2000. It moved the station from its original studio building into the Music City Mall, which it owned, and overhauled the news operation, which rebounded from its 1990s lows. KOSA featured in the 2007 reality TV series Making News: Texas Style. Gray acquired the station from ICA in 2015 and absorbed additional assets, including KCWO-TV and the Telemundo and CW affiliations, as part of Gray's merger with Raycom Media in 2019.

History

[edit]

Construction and early years

[edit]

After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated channel 7 to Odessa, Texas, several different groups over a two-year period sought federal approval to build a station on the channel:

  • Odessa Television Company, backed by Cecil Mills, an oil property owner[2] and manager of the Lincoln Hotel[3]
  • Odessa Broadcasting Company, owned by Cecil Trigg,[4] owner of Odessa radio station KOSA[3]
  • The Ector County Broadcasting Company, owner of local radio station KECK and solely owned by Ben Nedow, a furniture and real estate businessman[5]

The Mills and Trigg applications were combined, and in June 1953 Trigg announced he would withdraw his application if Nedow could build the proposed station, in order to speed up the arrival of television in Odessa.[3][6] However, the city's television dealers, nonplussed by the Nedow proposal, felt that they did not have confidence enough to ask Trigg to withdraw, so he stayed in.[7] A third application, made by Clarence E. Wilson and Philip D. Jackson doing business as The Odessa Television Company with broadcasting interests in Oklahoma and Wyoming, was filed in August 1953;[8] Nedow withdrew in June 1954, citing poor health.[9]

The Trigg–Mills and Wilson–Jackson applications proceeded to comparative hearing, with FCC hearing examiner John B. Poindexter ruling in favor of Trigg–Mills in an initial decision rendered in November 1954. He found that bid superior in "local ownership, past partnership in civic affairs of the Odessa community, program proposals, and diversification of control of the media of mass communications".[10] Wilson and Jackson appealed the decision to the full FCC,[11] which in July 1955 upheld the award to Trigg–Mills.[12] That September, construction began on KOSA-TV. Studios were erected at 13th Street and Whitaker;[13] network affiliation was obtained with CBS;[14] the station paid for four temporary towers to connect KOSA to live network television, joining existing network lines at Lamesa;[15] and a transmitter was built at a site 13 miles (21 km) west of town.[16]

KOSA-TV began broadcasting January 1, 1956, using a temporary antenna for nearly two weeks.[17] At the end of the year, a 50-percent interest in the station was sold to Jack C. and Grady H. Vaughn.[18] The Vaughns, brothers, owned oil and real estate properties throughout the state;[19] their company had built KOSA-TV's studio building.[16] The Trigg–Vaughn group grew in Texas with the acquisition of KVII-TV in Amarillo (owned 1958–1963)[20] and KROD-AM-TV in El Paso (1959).[19] By the time Trigg–Vaughn sold nearly all of its stations to book publishing firm Doubleday in 1967, forming Doubleday Broadcasting, it also owned radio properties in San Antonio, Denver, Albuquerque, and San Bernardino, as well as a construction permit for channel 39 in Dallas.[21] The sale did not include KOSA radio.[22] In 1973, Doubleday sold KOSA-TV to the Wisconsin-based Forward Communications.[23]

1983 plane crash

[edit]

On November 26, 1983, an airplane chartered by KOSA was returning from Fort Worth, carrying personnel who had been covering playoff high school football games there and in Wichita Falls. It crashed when it attempted to land at Midland Regional Airport. The crash killed assistant news director Gary Hopper, sports director Jeff Shull, chief engineer Bob Stephens, and three other KOSA employees, representing more than 51 years of experience, as well as the pilot and Gary Hopper's brother-in-law.[24][25] A witness saw the aircraft stall, turn on its left wing and crash.[26] It was, to that time, the deadliest air crash in Midland history.[25] The remaining staff were left to cover the news story while mourning their fallen colleagues;[27][28] among them was station manager Tom Hughes, who had changed his plans not to travel at the last minute.[29]

The National Transportation Safety Board was unable to determine a cause for the crash and released its final report in 1985. Opinions differed on whether the pilot was feeling the onset of a heart attack, noting that the yoke had been pulled up—unusual for the pilot, who was considered reliable. The possibility that a passenger grabbed the controls was investigated.[30] The plane's owner and operator were sued by the families of three of the victims and settled out of court.[31]

From first to second to third

[edit]

Prior to the plane crash, KOSA-TV had been the leading news station in the Midland–Odessa market. However, in addition to the crash killing on-air employees (Hopper was the 6 p.m. news anchor),[32] staff turnover increased following the event.[33] One competitor, KMID (channel 2), capitalized on this uncertainty. KMID, previously the distant second-rated station, hired popular KOSA weatherman J. Gordon Lunn and invested in capital improvements under new ownership.[34][35] Within a year, from November 1984 to November 1985, KMID increased its 6 p.m. news audience by 15 percentage points and moved past KOSA.[36]

Forward Communications was sold in late 1984 to Wesray Capital Corporation, which retained the Forward name for its media holdings.[37] Under Wesray, KOSA news shifted to a dual-anchor format, and the station got a new news set as it sought to compete with the ascendant KMID.[36] The company sold its remaining five TV stations to Adams Communications in 1987,[38] in a transaction that left the buyer highly leveraged. As a result of the leverage and declines in the value of broadcast properties, the company defaulted on $283 million of debt in 1991;[39] Brissette Broadcasting was formed the next year when Paul Brissette, who had been the vice president of Adams Communications's television stations division, bought out the business for $257 million.[40] Four years later, in a $270 million merger, Brissette was folded into Benedek Broadcasting after the company was unable to expand by adding stations.[41] During this time, KOSA-TV fell further in the ratings, from second to third, after KTPX-TV (channel 9) became KWES-TV and rose to supplant KMID as the market's highest-rated station for news. The station's first attempt at a morning newscast, KOSA This Morning, lasted a year and a half due to CBS's poor ratings performance with its national CBS This Morning.[42][43]

ICA Broadcasting ownership

[edit]

On December 27, 1999, Odessa businessman John Bushman announced he had agreed to acquire KOSA-TV from Benedek. Bushman already had media interests in the form of ICA Broadcasting, which owned KMCM (96.9 FM), and owned Odessa's Music City Mall, to which he announced KOSA-TV would relocate,[44] and several car dealerships and other businesses. The $8 million[45] sale closed in March 2000; a new morning newscast debuted the following month,[46] and work began that May to renovate three storefronts in the mall for the new KOSA facility.[47] The new site featured large windows looking out to the mall.[48] By the end of 2000, KOSA had increased its 10 p.m. news audience by 50 percent, but it was still behind KWES;[49] in 2003, the station posted its first number-one ranking in prime time in more than a decade.[50]

While KOSA-TV regained the ratings advantage in Ector County and Odessa, it still was losing in the total market because Midland viewers had the impression that KOSA was an Odessa-oriented station.[51] From 2003 to 2007, the station operated a Midland bureau in the Heritage Center downtown,[52] and in 2007, it hired KWES-TV anchor Jay Hendricks with hopes of increasing its viewership in Midland.[53]

In 2007, KOSA was the setting for Making News: Texas Style, a reality television series aired by TV Guide Network. The program had originally been set to be filmed at KWES-TV before Hendricks changed stations; producers selected the Midland–Odessa market because of its competitiveness.[54][55]

Gray ownership

[edit]

On May 20, 2015, Gray Television announced that it would acquire KOSA-TV from ICA for $33.6 million;[56] the sale was completed on July 1.[57] Gray reopened a Midland bureau in 2017, in the ground floor of Midland Tower.[58]

Gray merged with Raycom Media in a deal announced in June 2018 and completed on January 2, 2019.[59][60] Raycom owned KWES-TV, but under FCC rules of the time, the merged company could not retain both stations, and KWES-TV and WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, were divested to Tegna Inc. for $105 million.[61] In the acquisition, Gray retained several assets previously held by Raycom in the Midland–Odessa market: KWAB-TV in Big Spring (which became The CW affiliate KCWO-TV) and the Telemundo affiliation, both of which began broadcasting from KOSA-TV with the sale's closing.[62] Gray acquired KWWT (channel 30), the MeTV affiliate, in 2020 under a failing station waiver; it was able to do so because KCWO-TV holds a satellite station waiver.[63][64] KOSA rebranded as First Alert 7 in 2024.[65]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

KOSA-TV's transmitter is located on FM 866 west of Odessa.[1] The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KOSA-TV[66]
Subchannel Res.Tooltip Display resolution Short name Programming
7.1 1080i CBS CBS
7.2 720p CW CW+ (KCWO-TV)
7.3 480i TLMD Telemundo (KTLE-LD)
7.4 H&I Heroes & Icons
7.5 OUTLAW Outlaw
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

KOSA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official digital television transition date.[67] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 31 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.[68]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Facility Technical Data for KOSA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Television Applications Filed at FCC June 27-July 2". Broadcasting-Telecasting. July 7, 1952. p. 56. ProQuest 1401197946.
  3. ^ a b c "Trigg Says He Will Get Out Of TV If Nedow Will Build". The Odessa American. June 17, 1953. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  4. ^ "Television grants and applications". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Vol. 43, no. 5. August 4, 1952. pp. 56, 58, 89. ProQuest 1285694896.
  5. ^ "television grants and applications". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Vol. 43, no. 24. December 15, 1952. p. 84. ProQuest 1285707009.
  6. ^ King, Larry (June 19, 1953). "Says It's 50,000 Watter --- Nedow Ready To Offer TV". The Odessa American. pp. 1, 11. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  7. ^ King, Larry (June 21, 1953). "Odessa TV Is Back In Same Old Spot". The Odessa American. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  8. ^ "Actions of FCC". Broadcasting. August 31, 1953. p. 97. ProQuest 1401208361.
  9. ^ "Odessa Concern Quits 3-Way Battle for TV". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Associated Press. June 10, 1954. p. 4. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  10. ^ "KOSA Wins Round In TV Fight". The Odessa American. November 22, 1954. pp. 1, 13. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  11. ^ "Odessa TV Situation Deadlocked". The Odessa American. February 8, 1955. p. 13. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  12. ^ "FCC Awards TV Channel To Odessans". The Odessa American. July 15, 1955. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  13. ^ "Live Network TV Slated In Odessa Jan. 1: Work Begins Here Tuesday". The Odessa American. September 4, 1955. p. 21. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  14. ^ "KOSA-TV Signs Up With CBS". The Odessa American. November 17, 1955. p. 19. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  15. ^ "Odessan Signs Pact To Rush TV Service". The Odessa American. November 22, 1955. p. 9. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  16. ^ a b "KOSA-TV Opening Marks End To Long Struggle: CBS Affiliate To Take Air With Live TV". The Odessa American. December 30, 1955. p. 18. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  17. ^ "Video Station Installs Antenna". The Odessa American. January 11, 1956. p. 11. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  18. ^ "Two Buy Half of KOSA-TV". Broadcasting-Telecasting. Vol. 51, no. 26. December 24, 1956. p. 57. ProQuest 1285740454.
  19. ^ a b "KROD-TV, Radio Stations Sold For $3 Million". The El Paso Times. August 29, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  20. ^ "Amarillo Television Station KVII Sold". El Paso Herald-Post. July 31, 1963. p. 6. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  21. ^ "$18 million in station sales". Broadcasting. Vol. 71, no. 18. October 31, 1966. p. 60. ISSN 0007-2028. ProQuest 1014498136.
  22. ^ "Odessa's KOSA-TV Sale Is Approved". San Angelo Standard-Times. February 4, 1967. pp. 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  23. ^ "Television Station In Odessa Sold". The Odessa American. April 28, 1973. p. 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  24. ^ Emerine, Keely (November 27, 1983). "Owner says airplane was OK: TV news team dead at scene". The Odessa American. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  25. ^ a b Cunningham, Lana (November 27, 1983). "Eight killed in fiery plane crash: Loss of KOSA crew, others unexplained". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  26. ^ Burke, Gail (November 27, 1983). "Witness says aircraft stalled". The Odessa American. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  27. ^ Rubin, Sydney (November 27, 1983). "Newsroom feels loss of friends". The Odessa American. Associated Press. p. 1B. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  28. ^ Rigenhagen, Rhonda (November 27, 1983). "Victims 'believed in what they were doing'". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1C. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  29. ^ Burke, Gail (November 27, 1983). "'How do you write... about family?'". The Odessa American. pp. 1B, 3B. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  30. ^ Cunningham, Lana (October 25, 1985). "KOSA plane crash cause officially 'undetermined'". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  31. ^ "Precise cause of plane crash that killed 8 still a mystery". The Odessa American. December 29, 1984. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  32. ^ Cunningham, Lana (November 27, 1983). "Co-workers, friends react to loss of newsmen, pilot". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 1C. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  33. ^ Lichtenstein, Robin (November 25, 1984). "Memories permeate TV newsroom". The Odessa American. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  34. ^ Orr, Richard (April 8, 1984). "Channel-2 counts on Lunn to make ratings lunge". Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 4C.
  35. ^ Lewis, Mark (November 17, 1985). "Newscasters find station pride, like ratings, at stake". Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1B, 2B.
  36. ^ a b Lewis, Mark (January 3, 1986). "KMID news director 'tickled pink' over November ratings". Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 1C.
  37. ^ Berger, Tom (January 3, 1985). "New Forward owner expanding: Wesray must sell WSAW or Marshfield paper". Wausau Daily Herald. Wausau, Wisconsin. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ Storch, Charles (October 16, 1987). "Adams agrees to buy 5 Wesray TV stations". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 3:4. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ Riddle, Jennifer (June 12, 1991). "Ch. 15 owner defaults on $283 million". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 6B. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Brissette forms BBC; acquires eight TV's" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 2, 1992. p. 41. ProQuest 1014738693. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  41. ^ Rathbun, Elizabeth (January 1, 1996). "Park's place in TV, newspapers" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. p. 29. ProQuest 225351487. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  42. ^ Duey, Rhonda (May 9, 1993). "The Business of News: Basin news changes to keep pace with viewers". The Odessa American. pp. 1E, 2E. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  43. ^ Hayward, Kristie (April 5, 1995). "KWES-TV maintains No. 1 rank". The Odessa American. p. 4B. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  44. ^ McDonald, Jonathan (December 28, 1999). "Bushman buys KOSA-TV; may move station to mall". The Odessa American. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  45. ^ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable. Vol. 130, no. 6. February 7, 2000. p. 58. ISSN 1068-6827. ProQuest 1014785542.
  46. ^ Wakeland, Warren (March 25, 2000). "FCC approves local ownership for KOSA". The Odessa American. p. 1B. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  47. ^ "KOSA breaks ground at new Music City Mall site". The Odessa American (Advertising supplement). May 8, 2000. p. Business Weekly 1. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  48. ^ McEwen, Mella (March 24, 2000). "New ownership to bring changes to KOSA-TV and KCRS-FM". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 7C. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  49. ^ McEwen, Mella (January 9, 2001). "Election coverage dominates TV ratings survey". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 19. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  50. ^ "Nielsen ratings place KOSA first in market". The Odessa American. February 1, 2003. p. 6A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  51. ^ Doreen, Stewart (March 25, 2007). "Hendricks' move could mean changes in local ratings battles". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  52. ^ Campbell, Ruth (December 5, 2007). "County approves deal to buy out KOSA-TV lease". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1B, 3B. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  53. ^ Doreen, Stewart (March 25, 2007). "Hendricks' move could mean changes in local ratings battles". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  54. ^ Krift, F. A. (February 8, 2007). "Whơ's watching whom? National reality TV show to be based on KOSA-TV news crew". The Odessa American. pp. 1A, 10A. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  55. ^ Darling, Cary (June 11, 2007). "Reality series goes beyond daily news". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. pp. 1E, 8E. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  56. ^ "Gray Buying KOSA Odessa For $33.6 Million". TVNewsCheck. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  57. ^ "Gray In 4 New Deals, Closes 3 Earlier Ones". TVNewsCheck. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  58. ^ Doreen, Stewart (April 19, 2017). "KOSA opens newsroom inside Midland". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. p. 4. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  59. ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  60. ^ "Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions" (PDF) (Press release). Gray Television. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  61. ^ "TEGNA to Acquire the Leading Television Stations WTOL in Toledo, OH, and KWES in Odessa-Midland, TX". Tegna Inc. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  62. ^ "RESCAN: New channels coming to CBS7 lineup". CBS7.com. December 31, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  63. ^ "CBS7 Media Group continues to grow". CBS7.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  64. ^ Kreisman, Barbara A. (September 14, 2020). "Re: KWWT(DT), Odessa, Texas". Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
  65. ^ "First Alert 7: New name, same local content". First Alert 7. August 8, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  66. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KOSA". RabbitEars. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  67. ^ Thurber, Kathleen (June 5, 2009). "Local stations expect no static on TV switch". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  68. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
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