KAMD-TV

KAMD-TV
Location	Alpine, Texas
Branding	11 Alive 11 Alive News
Slogan	One of Texas' Leading ABC stations Informative. Interactive. Investigative. (newscasts)
Channel(s)	Digital: 11 (VHF)
subchannel(s)	ABC - 11.1 Telemundo/KRGR - 11.2 EstrellaTV - 11.3
Affiliation	American Broadcasting Company
First air date	April 7, 1978
Former affiliations	Independent (1981–1986) Fox (1986-1996)
Former channel number	none
Owner	Tribune Broadcasting (Tribune Broadcasting of Alpine License, LLC)

KAMD-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Texas Big Bend. Licensed to Alpine, Texas, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 (or virtual channel 11.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Davis Mountains. Owned by Tribune Broadcasting, KAMD-TV has sales and administrative offices in Alpine, Marfa and Fort Davis as well as a set of news bureaus in Presidio, Marathon, Valentine and Ojinaga in neighboring Chihuahua, Mexico.

Overview

KAMD-TV clears all network, syndicated, and local programming from neighboring markets in Midland/Odessa and El Paso/Las Cruces. It was thought that the Big Bend region (Alpine-Marfa-Fort Davis/Tri-Cities) could break away from Midland/Odessa and become its own television market. By the mid-80's, this area had its own CBS, NBC and ABC station and PBS member stations KBPT (channel 8), KLPT (channel 24) and KDVS (channel 26). If this area were to break away from Midland/Odessa, it would rank in the top 100 of all western U.S. television markets.

Since Fall 1984, KAMD was known as "11Alive", which was adopted from Gannett-O&O station WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia and Tribune-O&O station WPIX in New York City. It has also been the home of "Entertainment Tonight" (and until 1991, its weekend edition, "Entertainment This Week") since March 8, 1982, one week after the station's launch.

History

Early History

The station was founded by Taft Television and Radio Company of Cincinnati, Ohio On March 1, 1982 and first went on the air the next day. It was the Big Bend's first independent station as well as the first independent VHF TV station in West Texas until it joined as a charter affiliate of the Fox Network on October 6, 1986. Throughout its life as an independent, KAMD offers movies and variety shows like Charlie's Angels, Falcon Crest, Dallas, Another World and many more. However, like most Fox stations, it continued to essentially be programmed as an independent station during the network's early years. KAMD continued to air movies during primetime on nights when Fox did not provide programming until the network began airing primetime shows seven nights a week in September 1993. By the early 1990s, KAMD rebranded as "Fox 11 Alive," and began to add a few talk and reality shows to its schedule.

Taft became Great American Broadcasting in 1987 and entered a joint venture with Atlanta, Georgia-based Cox Enterprises until 1999, the year before Cox acquired rival NBC affiliate KLWT-TV (channel 35) in nearby Marfa. In 1993 after filing for bankruptcy, Great American Broadcasting spun-off KAMD to its predecessor, Citicasters, which, in turn sold its share of the station to the Dallas, Texas-based Belo Corporation in 1999, then to SagamoreHill Broadcasting in 2008.

ABC Affiliation

Fox wanted to upgrade affiliates in many markets when it acquired the rights to broadcast games from the NFL's National Football Conference in the mid-1990s. After signing an affiliation deal with New World Communications to switch its "Big Three" affiliates to Fox, the network decided to make affiliate upgrades in smaller markets. In 1995, Fox formed SF Broadcasting in a joint venture with Savoy Pictures, which the network owned a voting stock in, and bought four NBC affiliates and an ABC affiliate; one of the NBC stations it acquired was KQCX-TV (channel 10) in Lewiston, Idaho. SF Broadcasting sold most of its Fox stations to Silver King Broadcasting, which later became USA Broadcasting, in 1997. Around the same year, Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, South Carolina sold KBDP-TV to SKB, which subsquently turn rival ABC affiliate KBDP (channel 10) in Fort Davis into the new Fox affiliate. Thus, making KAMD an ABC affiliate ever since although most of KBDP's ABC programming have been migrated from 1996 until its completion of the switch the next year.

Spin-off to different owners

In 2000, due to FCC regulations, Cox spun-off its share of KLWT to Benedek Broadcasting, then to San Diego-based McKinnon Broadcasting in 2002 and finally, Augusta, Georgia-based SagamoreHill Broadcasting in 2003. Cox eventually sold its master operations to SagamoreHill in 2008.

Purchase to Tribune

In 2013, SagamoreHill purchased the station to Tribune Broadcasting, making its return to the Alpine/Marfa/Fort Davis market since it sold KLWT to Cox in 2000.

Station Slogans

• Tri-County's Independent (1982-1984)
• 11 Alive, Watch What We're Doing Now! (1984-1986)
• 11 Alive, Your Fox affiliate in the Big Bend (1986-1996)
• Don't Let 11 Alive Weekends Pass You By (1987-1988; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• 11 Alive, This is the Year (1988-1990; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• It's on 11 Alive (1990-1992; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• Everybody Knows It's on 11 Alive (1992-1993; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• 11 Alive: You're Watching It (1993-1994; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• It Could Only Happen on 11 Alive (1994; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• 11 Alive is Kickin' It (1994-1995; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• It's not just any Fox, it's 'Your' 11 Alive (1995; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
• We're Your Primetime News Leader (1995-2002)
• 11 Alive, Cool Like Us (1995-1996; localized version of Fox ad campaign; this was the last slogan before switching to ABC in 1996)
• 11 Alive, Your new ABC Station (1996)
• Nobody Does It Like 11 Alive (1996-1997; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• This is 11 Alive. KAMD-TV, ABC for the Big Bend. (1997-2014)
• TV is Good on 11 Alive (1997-1998; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• We Love TV on 11 Alive (1998-1999; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Dedicated - Determined - Dependable (1998-2014)
• This is KAMD 11 Alive, ABC for the Big Bend. A Tribune Broadcasting Station. (2013–present)

Logos

1982-1984

1984

1984-1996

1984-1986

1984-1987

Promo for "The 700 Club" (1985)

1986-1987

1986-1993

1988

1993-1994

1994-1996

1996

1996-2000

2000–present

25th Anniversary (2007)

KAMD Tribune ID (2013–present)

KAMD Promo for The Bachelorette from 2015

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