channel 3 . not to be confused with kktv . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message ktvk phoenix arizona united states branding 3tv general 3tv news newscasts slogan the best gets better general news that matters to you newscasts everywhere always there breaking news channels digital 24 uhf virtual 3 psip subchannels see article translators see below affiliations independent cbs alternate owner meredith corporation kpho broadcasting corporation first air date february 28 1955 ; 61 years ago 1955 02 28 call letters meaning ktvk because tv will be our middle name quote by ernest mcfarland sister station s kpho tv former channel number s analog 3 vhf 1955 2009 former affiliations primary abc 1955 1995 the wb january september 1995 secondary fox kids 1994 1995 this tv 2009 2015 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 501 m 1 644 ft facility id 40993 transmitter coordinates 33 20 0.9 n 112 3 47.9 w 33.333583 n 112.063306 w 33.333583 ; 112.063306 coordinates 33 20 0.9 n 112 3 47.9 w 33.333583 n 112.063306 w 33.333583 ; 112.063306 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.azfamily.com ktvk virtual channel 3 uhf digital channel 24 is an independent television station located in phoenix arizona united states . the station is owned by meredith corporation as part of a duopoly with cbs affiliate kpho tv channel 5 . its studio facilities are located on the northwest end of the central avenue corridor in phoenix ; ktvk s transmitter is located on south mountain . its signal is relayed across northern arizona on a network of translator stations . contents 1 history 1.1 as an abc affiliate 1.2 transition 1.3 wb affiliation 1.4 as an independent station 1.5 sale to belo 1.6 helicopter crash 1.7 sale to meredith 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 local programming 4.1 newscasts 4.2 notable former on air staff 5 rebroadcasters 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit as an abc affiliate edit former u.s. senator ernest mcfarland author of the gi bill was awed by the new medium of television . with a few friends he formed the arizona television company and applied for a television station license with the federal communications commission . ktvk signed on the air as phoenix s fourth television station on february 28 1955 shortly after mcfarland was elected governor of arizona immediately becoming an abc affiliate . mcfarland quoted that he chose the ktvk call letters because tv will be our middle name . 1 ktvk cleared most of abc s network schedule with the exception of some lower rated daytime shows as well as an occasional program during prime time hours . it soon built a translator network stretching across the entire state of arizona including tucson . occasionally the station preempted abc programming so as not to interfere with tucson s local abc affiliate kgun tv . despite the preemptions abc was generally satisfied with ktvk as the station was one of the network s strongest affiliates . even so ktvk s news programming was a very distant second to longtime leader kool tv channel 10 now ksaz tv for many years even when ktar tv channel 12 s 1979 sale to the gannett company and subsequent call sign change to kpnx made ktvk the only locally owned network affiliate in the market . mcfarland died in 1985 . his daughter jewell mcfarland lewis inherited the station and ran it alongside her husband delbert . ktvk logo used from 1986 to 1996 ; the circle 3 dates back to 1982 and is meant to be an offshoot of abc s circle 7 logo as the circle was used when ktvk was an abc affiliate . the station s fortunes began to improve significantly after several members of channel 10 s by now ktsp news management staff defected to ktvk in 1986 . an aggressive marketing campaign a new brand newschannel 3 one of the earliest uses of the newschannel brand that became popular with television stations in the 1990s and a popular new anchor team finally helped make ktvk a truly competitive player in local news . by the late 1980s ktvk was the top rated television station in arizona . the station slowly expanded its news programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s eventually adding weekend morning newscasts with the launch of a two hour program on saturday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m. in 1993 . ktvk s atmosphere was somewhat different from that of a typical major market big three network affiliate . mcfarland ran his station as a mom and pop business and had an open door policy which the lewises continued when they took over the station . employee turnover was very low and hugs were very common in the newsroom . this was an outgrowth of what would become the station s longtime slogan arizona s family . transition edit on may 23 1994 new world communications announced an affiliation deal with fox in which twelve of its stations including phoenix s longtime cbs affiliate ksaz tv would defect from their affiliations with abc cbs and nbc to join fox . 2 3 cbs approached ktvk for an affiliation but the lewises turned the offer down expecting a renewed pact with abc . much to the lewises surprise though the e. w. scripps company forced abc to move its phoenix area affiliation to the company s then fox affiliate knxv tv channel 15 as a condition of retaining abc on the company s two biggest stations wews tv in cleveland and wxyz tv in detroit . ktvk then approached cbs in an effort to secure that network affiliation but meredith corporation owner of then independent future sister station kpho tv channel 5 convinced cbs to move its affiliation there as a condition of keeping the cbs affiliation on its kansas city station kctv . the lewises appealed to the federal communications commission on grounds that scripps had abused its license power for anti competitive purposes but their appeal was denied . 3 after nearly 40 years with abc the lewises decided to turn ktvk into an independent station . channel 3 immediately began purchasing more syndicated programming increasing local news programming and gradually removed abc network programs from its schedule . 3 in august 1994 it dropped good morning america and launched good morning arizona in the 6 00 9 00 a.m. slot the 6 00 7 00 a.m. slot had previously been occupied by a more traditional newscast . knxv would begin airing good morning america beginning that september . on december 15 1994 ktvk also dropped mike and maty of which ktvk had aired for only 30 minutes daily world news now and nightline which were also picked up by knxv . at that point abc s cartoons also moved to knxv ; ktvk then dropped its saturday morning newscast and began running fox kids which had been turned down by ksaz instead . by then ktvk was only airing prime time programming sports and popular soap operas from abc . ktvk renewed its local syndication rights to oprah and inside edition and purchased all available syndicated shows distributed by king world such as wheel of fortune and jeopardy which was not renewed by ksaz and later moved to knxv ; both shows have since returned to ktvk american journal which was not renewed by kpnx rolonda branded and the little rascals the latter two were both selected to air on weekends . wb affiliation edit variant of the circle 3 logo inside a tv . the tv portion was used from 1996 to 2003 . knxv officially became phoenix s abc affiliate on january 9 1995 after which ktvk transitioned to a news intensive schedule that retained all existing newscasts with a half hour tacked onto its weekday 5 00 p.m. newscast . ktvk nominally became the market s wb affiliate when that network debuted two days later on january 11 but since the wb initially had only one night of programming each week ktvk chose to tape delay the network s wednesday prime time schedule to air on saturday nights . the wb added a second night of programming on sundays that september shortly before it dropped the network which ktvk aired in pattern . with the wb only occupying two nights of programming ktvk was still essentially a de facto independent station . it also continued to broadcast fox kids programming on weekend mornings a similar situation occurred in canada where longtime ctv affiliate cjon tv in st. john s newfoundland and labrador retained news programming from ctv and simultaneously added news and entertainment programs from the rival global after becoming an independent in 2002 . a quirk of ktvk s scheduling of the fox kids lineup was that the station aired animaniacs and mighty morphin power rangers on sunday evenings after the 5 00 p.m. news and before feature films at 7 00 p.m. the station aired wheel jeopardy star trek the next generation and several off network sitcoms during primetime and ran classic sitcoms and movies on weekends . as an independent station edit ktvk owned a substantial programming inventory but did not have enough room on its schedule to air it all even after dropping abc . as such ktvk entered into an agreement with the brooks family to program the soon to launch kasw channel 61 under a local marketing agreement with ktvk leasing the new station s entire broadcast day . kasw signed on the air and took over the wb affiliation on september 22 1995 officially rendering channel 3 as a true independent station ; fox kids programming moved to channel 61 soon afterwards as ktvk reinstated newscasts on saturday mornings as a result of kasw airing not only fox kids hit shows but also airing the rival kids wb block & syndicated animated programs kasw had the same extensive children s programming lineup as cleveland s wb affiliate wbnx . when kasw debuted the arizona television company officially changed its name to mac america communications after its founder s nickname mac . by this time the company had grown to include two fm radio stations and a magazine ; on november 4 1996 mac america launched arizona newschannel a cable news channel operated as a joint venture with phoenix s major cable provider cox communications . 4 ktvk ran talk shows during the late morning and afternoon hours between newscasts during this period along with a mix of news magazines game shows sitcoms and drama series during prime time and a mix of classic sitcoms classic movies and talk show reruns in late night . weekends had a lesser amount of newscasts along with a mix of movies and classic sitcoms . most of the older shows also ran on kasw at different times . ktvk returned to the newschannel 3 branding in 2003 resulting in this variation used until 2005 . in 1998 when the team joined major league baseball s national league ktvk became the original over the air broadcaster of the arizona diamondbacks . television rights to the team s games remained with ktvk through the end of the 2007 season when the team opted to move all of its english language broadcasts not counting national telecasts to cable on regional sports network fox sports arizona . 5 in the fall of 1998 ktvk briefly aired the howard stern radio show ; both ktvk which aired the program after its 10 p.m. news and lubbock texas fox affiliate kjtv tv pulled the program from their schedules after two episodes . 6 variation used from 2005 to 2007 . sale to belo edit after