branding kgns 8 kgns news .2 ngns abc laredo .3 telemundo laredo channels digital 8 vhf virtual 8 psip affiliations .1 nbc .2 abc .3 telemundo owner gray television gray television licensee llc first air date january 7 1956 call letters meaning good neighbor station 1 sister station s kylx ld former callsigns khad tv 1956 1958 former channel number s analog 8 vhf 1956 2009 digital 15 uhf 2004 2009 former affiliations secondary cbs 1956 1973 abc 1956 1984 upn .2 the cw 2008 2014 transmitter power 20 kw height 312 m facility id 10061 transmitter coordinates 27 40 21 n 99 39 51 w 27.67250 n 99.66417 w 27.67250 ; 99.66417 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website kgns.tv kgns tv is the nbc affiliated television station for laredo texas and the mexican city of nuevo laredo tamaulipas . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on vhf channel 8 from a transmitter northwest of laredo . owned by gray television as a sister station to low powered cbs affiliate kylx ld it maintains studios located on del mar boulevard near i 35 in northern laredo . kgns can be seen on time warner cable laredo channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 860 as well as on dish network and directv . contents 1 history 2 digital television 3 news operation 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit kgns studios on del mar boulevard near the intersection of interstate 35 . kgns originally went on air january 7 1956 as khad tv citation needed it has been a primary nbc affiliate since its sign on but the station initially held secondary affiliations with cbs and abc . 2 cbs programming moved to kvtv in december 1973 and abc programming moved to present day univision affiliate kldo tv in december 1984 effectively making kgns an exclusive nbc affiliate . donrey media group now stephens media group bought the station on september 1 1958 . one of its first moves under donrey ownership was to change the station s call letters donrey management held a contest in which elementary and middle school students from both the united states and mexico sides of the rio grande region to choose a new callsign ; the winning entry resulted in the station changing its callsign to the current kgns tv standing for good neighbor station . 1 in 1985 kgns was purchased by century development corporation . citation needed in 1990 the station began a spanish language newscast . 3 by 1998 kgns gained a secondary affiliation with united paramount network lasting at least until 2000 4 5 while definitively off the station by 2004 . 6 then move to cable only on time warner cable channel 16 . 7 while in 2000 the wb affiliate was a cable only ktxw 5 which by 2010 was on a subchannel of the station . 8 in april 2002 the spanish news staff resigned their jobs forcing the station to initial run a sitcom then replacing it with english language news . 3 in 2004 the station was purchased by sagamorehill broadcasting . 1 the sale to sagamorehill was approved by the federal communications commission on december 1 2005 . on january 24 2006 the wb and cbs corporation owned upn announced that the two networks would cease broadcasting and merge into a new broadcast network called the cw . on september 18 2006 kgns tv rebranded ktxw time warner cable channel 19 as the cw laredo starting its cw programming . 9 with the subsequent sign on of digital subchannel 8.2 the subchannel began broadcasting ktxw bringing the channel over the air coverage throughout the market . 2 in 2010 local spanish language news returned to the station on telemundo affiliated subchannel 3 . 10 in may 2013 sagamorehill broadcasting reached a deal to sell kgns along with kgwn tv in cheyenne wyoming and kstf in scottsbluff nebraska to yellowstone holdings a subsidiary of frontier radio management . 11 12 on november 4 2013 gray television announced a deal to acquire yellowstone holdings for 23 million . 13 the sale was competed on december 31 . 14 on november 6 2013 kgns tv reached an agreement with the abc television network to add the abc affiliation originally slated to launch february 2014 on channel 8.2 . 15 the abc affiliation began on july 1 2014 leaving laredo without a cw affiliate . 2 the cw programming wouldn t be seen over the air in laredo area until october 2015 as kylx lp picked up the affiliation . digital television edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed . it broadcasts its main programming nbc on channel 8.1 in 1080i hd abc programming on subchannel 8.2 in 720p hd and telemundo programming in 480i sd on subchannel 8.3 . kgns was one of the last american television stations that continued to sign off during the overnight hours doing so nightly from 1 35 to 5 30 a.m. ; as of 2014 update the station now operates 24 hours a day . however in later years its second and third digital subchannels remained on the air during the overnight hours even when the main channel did not . channel video aspect programming 8.1 1080i 16 9 main kgns tv programming nbc hd 8.2 720p abc hd 8.3 480i 4 3 telemundo former .2 subchannel logos former cw branding 2006 2014 logo as ngns 12 in 2014 on april 8 2004 kgns tv launched its digital signal on uhf channel 15 becoming the first television station in the laredo market to operate a digital broadcast television signal . kgns tv discontinued its analog signal and began broadcasting exclusively on a digital only signal on june 12 2009 . 16 the station vacated its pre transition digital channel 15 and moved its digital channel allocation to its former analog vhf channel 8 . kgns tv began broadcasting high definition programming on its digital signal in october 2008 . 17 kgns tv previously operated the area s cw affiliate on digital subchannel 8.2 branded as laredo cw 19 . on november 6 2013 kgns tv reached an agreement with the abc television network to add the abc affiliation originally slated to launch february 2014 on channel 8.2 . 18 the abc affiliation began on july 1 2014 leaving laredo without a cw affiliate . 2 news operation edit kgns studios on del mar boulevard near the intersection with interstate 35 since cbs affiliate kvtv shut down its news department in 2006 kgns has operated the only english language news department in the market . it currently airs three hours of newscasts every weekday and one hour per day on weekends . the station employs a number of recent college graduates . according to nielsen media research kgns competes closely with spanish language station kldo . in 1990 the station began a spanish language newscast at 5 pm called noticias en espa ol with news anchor hector lerma . on april 29 2002 the spanish news staff resigned their jobs forcing the station to initial run a sitcom then replacing it with english language news on march 1 . the staff had filed wage complaints with equal employment opportunity commission six month earlier which according to the staff a hostile work environment . 3 in 2010 local spanish language news returned to the station on telemundo affiliated subchannel 3 . initially there was a sunday morning show telemundo laredo en tu casa then expanded on november 18 2010 with a week night 10 pm show . 10 on june 21 2008 kgns tv began producing a weeknight 9 o clock newscast on its cw affiliated second digital subchannel titled laredo s first news at 9 . this program was the only primetime newscast in the laredo nuevo laredo market until fox affiliate kxof ca launched a competing 9 p.m. newscast on april 9 2012 . the half hour newscast is anchored by brenda medina and ryan bailey who also serves as weather anchor for the newscast it is targeted at young adults between the ages of 21 and 34 years old . 19 see also edit channel 8 digital tv stations in the united states channel 8 virtual tv stations in the united states references edit a b c rabago iii emilio july 31 2004 . local television station sold to georgia group . laredo morning times . retrieved november 13 2015 . a b c d station adds abc ; will drop the cw . laredo morning times . july 1 2014 . retrieved november 13 2015 . a b c garcia robert march 1 2002 . spanish newscast no mas . laredo morning times . retrieved november 13 2015 . united paramount network affiliates . cmu.edu . aaron greenhouse . may 1 1998 . retrieved november 13 2015 . from information on upn.com . a b channels listed in the south texas edition pdf . tv guide fan . tv guide . retrieved november 13 2015 . affiliates texas . upn.com . united paramount network . december 12 2004 . archived from the original on december 12 2004 . retrieved november 13 2015 . affiliates texas . upn.com . united paramount network . october 18 2005 . archived from the original on october 18 2005 . retrieved november 13 2015 . henson robert january 22 2013 . weather on the air a history of broadcast meteorology revised ed . . springer science & business media . p. 30 . isbn 1935704001 . retrieved november 13 2015 . cw laredo will hit area tvs on monday . laredo morning times . september 17 2006 . retrieved november 13 2015 . a b sanchez mary nell november 19 2010 . spanish newscast debuts . laredo morning times . retrieved november 13 2015 . malone michael may 31 2013 . yellowstone buys laredo cheyenne stations for 20.5 million . broadcasting & cable . retrieved may 31 2013 . application for consent to assignment of broadcast station construction permit or license . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . may 30 2013 . retrieved june 17 2013 . gray buying yellowstone stations . tvnewscheck . retrieved 4 november 2013 . consummation notice cdbs public access federal communications commission retrieved 2 january 2014 gray to air abc on kgns subchannel tvnewscheck november 6 2013 . 1 kgns about us gray to air abc on kgns subchannel tvnewscheck november 6 2013 . new news show begins monday on cw ch . 19 laredo morning times external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for kgns tv biafn s media web database information on kgns tv rabbitears.info query for kgns tv v t e broadcast television in the laredo borderplex laredo nuevo laredo american stations kgns 8.1 nbc 8.2 abc 8.3 tmd k10qk d 10.1 cp kylx ld 13.1 cbs 13.2 cw klmv ld 15.1 ind. 15.2 info 15.3 vida vision 15.4 test kldo 27.1 uni 27.2 latv ketf cd 31.1 unim s 31.2 fox mntv kxof cd 39.1 fox mntv 39.2 mundomax k40nu d 40.1 cp mexican stations xefe 2.1 televisa local xhbr 11.1 canal de las estrellas xhlna 21.1 azteca 13 21.2 proyecto 40 xhlat 33.1 azteca 7 13.20 blank xhnat 45.1 multimedios 45.2 milenio tv 45.3 teleritmo xhlar 57.1 televisa regional xhnan tvnl ciudad an huac n.l. currently off air out of market channels klrn 9 pbs the cw plus defunct stations kvtv 13.1 cbs texas broadcast television areas by city abilene sweetwater amarillo texas panhandle austin hill country beaumont port arthur corpus christi dallas fort worth north texas ciudad acu a del rio eagle pass el paso west texas houston laredo lubbock south plains midland odessa permian basin rio grande valley san angelo san antonio sherman ada ok texarkana shreveport la tyler longview east texas victoria waco bryan brazos valley wichita falls lawton ok tamaulipas broadcast television areas