city dubuque iowa united states city cedar rapids ia branding kcrg tv 9 general kcrg tv 9 news newscasts slogan your 24 hour news and weather source channels digital 9 vhf subchannels 9.1 abc 9.2 mntv 9.3 antenna tv owner gray television gray television licensee llc first air date october 15 1953 call letters meaning k cedar rapids gazette former sister newspaper former callsigns analog kcri tv 1953 1954 kcrg tv 1954 2009 digital kcrg dt 2003 2009 former channel number s 9 vhf analog 1953 2009 52 uhf digital 2003 2009 transmitter power 18 kw height 607 m facility id 9719 transmitter coordinates 42 18 58.4 n 91 51 31.1 w 42.316222 n 91.858639 w 42.316222 ; 91.858639 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.kcrg.com kcrg tv channel 9 is a television station operating as an abc network affiliate for the cedar rapids iowa metropolitan area and the nearby cities of waterloo dubuque and iowa city . the station is owned by gray television . the station broadcasts on vhf digital channel 9 and is the primary abc broadcaster for the northeast quarter of iowa . contents 1 history 2 programming 3 news operation 4 digital programming 5 notable current and former on air staff 6 references 7 external links history edit during the late 1940s the cedar rapids gazette then owners of kcrg am 1600 filed an application with the federal communications commission for a tv station license . at the time the fcc had a backlog of over 200 applications and had decided not to proceed with action on further applications until the backlogged requests could be filled . after the backlog was cleared many applications were filed for licenses . the gazette company didn t want to compete for a license and decided to withdraw the initial application . instead it joined with a number of other investors as cedar rapids television company crtv which was granted a license for channel 9 . the station began broadcasting october 15 1953 . initially the station was known as kcri because the other investors didn t want the new television station so closely identified with the gazette newspaper . the radio station also took the kcri call sign because one of the television station s managers suggested that every mention of kcrg on air was a promotion for the newspaper one for which the gazette would have to pay each time . after about a year of operation the gazette bought out its partners in crtv and the station was renamed kcrg tv in 1954 . kcrg news logo used from 1992 2011 modified in 2002 ; the 9 in the logo has been in use since 1989 . from 1954 to 2015 the station remained under the ownership of gazette communications which was renamed the sourcemedia group in mid 2010 . after the 1996 sale of who tv in des moines kcrg tv was the only locally owned and operated television station left in iowa . kcrg started broadcasting in high definition television in january 2003 . the station also had the first news helicopter in iowa newscopter 9 . in september 2015 atlanta georgia based gray television and gazette communications announced they had an agreement where gray television would buy kcrg tv for 100 million with the transfer taking place on october 1 . 1 2 the sale was completed on november 1 . 3 kcrg s broadcasts became digital only effective june 12 2009 . the station had attempted to convert on february 17 2009 with the majority of other cedar rapids stations but the fcc requested they maintain one analog commercial network signal for the market for the remaining four months . upon kcrg tv s digital transition completion in june 2009 the kcrg tv callsign was legally transferred from the now defunct analog channel 9 to the new digital channel 9 with the kcrg dt callsign being permanently discontinued . programming edit kcrg airs america this morning at 4 a.m. due to the 4 30 a.m. start of their newscasts . syndicated programs on kcrg include live with kelly and michael the big bang theory the dr. oz show steve harvey and rachael ray . the station also produces powerhouse tv a program about energy efficiency and safety for local utility alliant energy which airs on kcrg and stations throughout alliant s service area in iowa wisconsin minnesota and small portions of illinois and missouri . 4 news operation edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . may 2010 currently kcrg tv broadcasts a total of 31 hours of local newscasts each week with 5 hours on weekdays three hours on saturdays and three hours on sundays . in addition to its main newsroom at its cedar rapids studios the station also operates satellite newsrooms in dubuque and iowa city . it previously operated a news bureau in waterloo . kcrg tv is one of three remaining broadcast television stations in the united states employing the 24 hour news source format citation needed which it began using in 1990 . the other stations are as of november 2014 nbc affiliate wood tv in grand rapids michigan and cw affiliate wish tv in indianapolis . upon retirement meteorologist denny frary was the station s longest running on air personality working for kcrg from 1974 until he retired november 17 2006 . 5 6 sports director john campbell who had also been with the station since the 1970s retired in 2012 . 7 news reporter dave franzman also has been with the station since the 1970s while bruce aune started anchoring at kcrg in 1986 . 8 9 kcrg s first use of a satellite to broadcast live local news was december 31 1982 when sports director john campbell reported the university of iowa hawkeyes had defeated the tennessee volunteers 28 22 to win the 1982 peach bowl at fulton county stadium in atlanta georgia . 10 11 12 use of satellite air time was reported to be 3 000.00 a minute . citation needed on january 3 2011 kcrg tv expanded its weekday morning newscast by one half hour moving it to 4 30 a.m. creating a 2 hour block of news each weekday morning . 13 on january 21 2012 kcrg tv became the second station in the cedar rapids waterloo dubuque iowa city market to broadcast its newscasts in high definition . the switch to hd came with brand new logo graphics news set and a new 113 inch interactive touch screen that will be used for weather and other interactive storytelling . it is the largest interactive touch screen of its kind in the u.s.a. and third largest in the world . 14 digital programming edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 15 9.1 720p 16 9 kcrg d1 main kcrg tv programming abc 9.2 480i kcrg d2 mynetworktv 9.3 kcrg d3 antenna tv kcrg has a digital subchannel called kcrg 9.2 at channel 9.2 which originally aired a wheel schedule of local news weather and features . the remainder of the screen had a news ticker current weather conditions rotating weather images and program listings . over time syndicated and locally produced programs were added culminating in the addition of mynetworktv to the subchannels in october 2011 one month after kwkb dropped the service and became a sole cw affiliate . however mynetworktv s programming runs as a late night offering on 9.2 airing from 12 05 2 05 a.m. five hours later than its usual primetime running time . subchannel 9.2 is also used to air abc network programming pre empted on the main signal for breaking news coverage ; a prime example was during the great iowa flood of june 2008 when 9.2 carried abc s coverage of the nba finals while 9.1 devoted full coverage of the disaster . the schedule of 9.2 prominently features live and taped local sports coverage including regular season and state championship coverage of volleyball wrestling soccer baseball football and basketball the latter two sports are broadcast on friday evenings . also featured are coverage of the dubuque fighting saints ushl hockey cedar rapids kernels midwest league baseball and university of northern iowa athletics . the subchannel also airs chicago cubs and chicago white sox telecasts originating from wgn tv . ancillary sports programming includes the discussion show on iowa live and the zach johnson foundation pro am golf tournament . in late august 2011 kcrg added a third subchannel 9.3 branded wxnow and featuring local forecasts and looping conditions originated locally from station weather computers . on october 1 2013 the wxnow loop was moved to an online only streaming channel on the station s website and replaced on 9.3 by the lifestyle oriented live well network . with live well slated to discontinue programming in january 2015 16 subchannel 9.3 joined antenna tv that month taking over the network s eastern iowa affiliation from kwkb subchannel 20.2 . 17 notable current and former on air staff edit bruce aune 1986 current ; appears as kcrg tv newscaster in the crazies 18 dick fletcher 1960s 1970s ; died in 2008 liz mathis anchor 1998 2007 ; then horizons four oaks 19 in cedar rapids now state senator for iowa s district 18 curt menefee sports reporter 1984 1988 ; now co host of fox nfl sunday tom pettit news reporter 1950s ; nbc news correspondent 1960s 1995 ; died in 1995 references edit http gray.tv index.php page press releases & releaseid 2084226 kcrg tv9 sold to gray television kcrg.com cedar rapids iowa gazette communications september 1 2015 retrieved september 1 2015 consummation notice cdbs public access federal communications commission retrieved 3 november 2015 . http powerhousetv.com getshowinfo index.htm kcrg tv9 staff november 12 2015 . denny frary keynote speaker at red kettle kick off . the gazette . retrieved september 29 2016 . where are they now dennis denny frary class of 1970 pdf . the lincoln log fall winter 2009 . p. 14 . retrieved september 29 2016 . john campbell . kcrg.com . retrieved september 29 2016 . dave franzman . kcrg.com . retrieved september 29 2016 . bruce aune . kcrg.com . retrieved september 29 2016 . eastern iowa stations plan plenty of peach bowl coverage . the des moines register . december 26 1982 . retrieved september 29 2016 . into the outback tv9 team . kcrgsports.com . retrieved september 29 2016 . into the outback final outback bowl thoughts . kcrgsports.com . retrieved september 29 2016 . kcrg sets alarm clock for 4 30 a.m. tvnewscheck.com december 22 2010 . winters joe january 16 2012 . your new nine the winds of change are blowing through kcrg tv9 . kcrg.com . http www.rabbitears.info market.php request station search & callsign kcrg station abc to discontinue live well network from broadcasting & cable 6 9 2014 kcrg cedar rapids to launch antenna tv from tvnewscheck 12 3 2014 bruce aune . imdb . retrieved september 29 2016 . http www.fouroaks.org index.cfm fuseaction news.list history article from the kcrg web site . date accessed july 29 2005 . cedar rapids iowa cedar rapids television company . stein jeff making waves the people and places of iowa broadcasting isbn 0 9718323 1 5 . cedar rapids iowa wdg communications 2004 . external links edit the kcrg tv website mobile kcrg tv website query the fcc s tv station database for kcrg tv biafn s media web database information on kcrg tv v t e television in eastern iowa including cedar rapids waterloo iowa city and dubuque stations kgan 2.1 cbs 2.2 gettv 2.3 comet kwwl 7.1 nbc 7.2 cw 7.3 metv kcrg tv 9.1 abc 9.2 mntv 9.3 antenna tv kiin krin 12.1 32.1 pbs iptv 12.2 32.2 create 12.3 32.3 world kwkb 20.1 this tv 20.2 the works kfxa 28.1 fox 28.2 grit 28.3 zuus country kfxb tv 40.1