states branding kjct 8 general kjct news 8 newscasts slogan where the news comes first channels digital 20 uhf virtual 8 psip subchannels see article translators k28ad d 28 uhf montrose affiliations abc 2014 present owner gray television gray television licensee llc founded august 16 2005 first air date 2006 call letters meaning grand junction sister station s kkco kktv former callsigns kkhd lp 2006 2015 former affiliations telemundo 2006 2014 transmitter power 15 kw height 892 m facility id 128473 transmitter coordinates 39 2 54.9 n 108 15 8.3 w 39.048583 n 108.252306 w 39.048583 ; 108.252306 website www.kjct8.com kjct lp is the abc affiliated television station for colorado s western slope region that is licensed to grand junction . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 20 or virtual channel 8.1 via psip from a transmitter at the mesa point electronics site on the grand mesa southeast of interstate 70 . the station can also be seen on charter communications channel 10 with a high definition feed on channel 510 . kjct lp is owned by the gray television . kjct lp operates studios on foresight circle in northern grand junction . syndicated programming on this station includes access hollywood entertainment tonight the doctors the dr. oz show and judge judy among others . its signal is relayed on low powered k28ad d in montrose which has operated from storm king mountain since it launched in september 1982 along with 13 analog and eight digital translators across central and northwestern colorado . contents 1 digital channels 2 history 2.1 intellectual unit 2.2 license 3 news operation 3.1 notable former on air staff 4 repeaters 5 see also 6 references 7 external links digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 8.1 720p 16 9 kjct dt main kjct lp programming abc 8.2 kjct cw cw 13 history edit intellectual unit edit the kjct lp intellectual unit originated on october 22 1979 when kjct channel 8 signed on as the first television station in western colorado since krex tv in 1954 . it was owned by the pikes peak broadcasting company as a semi satellite of krdo tv in colorado springs ; as a result it immediately took abc away from krex . the station had full production facilities in grand junction ; however much of the programming was fed via hundreds of miles of microwave links from krdo . in the late 1990s kjct chief engineer roger hightower modernized kjct into one of the first true digital facilities in colorado and severed the electronic umbilical cord with krdo . kjct was the first western colorado television station with modern electronic news gathering technology . 8 live the stations first live microwave newsvan came into service in 1984 . in 2006 news press & gazette company announced the purchase of kjct along with krdo tv and krdo radio from pikes peak broadcasting . 2 in late 2008 kjct s third digital subcarrier became western colorado s affiliate for the cw . however despite the cw being available locally denver s kwgn tv which has been on cable for decades in grand junction is still available through two low powered repeaters in the area . on august 2 2013 news press & gazette announced the sale of kjct s license assets to excalibur broadcasting and its non license assets to gray television ; excalibur is owned by former gray executive don ray . gray planned to operate the station through joint sales and shared services agreements making kjct a sister station to kkco . 3 4 the sale was completed on october 31 . 5 this was npg s first broadcast divestiture since the sale of its original group of five stations to new vision television in 1993 . in the wake of the federal communications commission fcc s increased scrutiny towards virtual duopolies gray announced that it would move kjct s programming to a subchannel of kkco and sell kjct to a minority owned broadcaster which will operate the station autonomously from kjct or any other broadcaster . 6 on august 27 2014 gray announced that it would sell kjct to jeff chang and gabriela gomez chang owner of kqsl . 7 the new owners would change kjct s call letters to kgby . 8 9 on october 21 2014 the fcc approved a swap of virtual channels between kjct kgby and a co owned low power station in grand junction kkhd lp channel 20 that gray was in the process of acquiring ; as a result kgby following the sale uses psip to map to virtual channel 20 while kkhd inherited virtual channel 8 as well as kjct s abc programming . the swap is intended to reduce viewer confusion that would otherwise result from a move of abc programming . 10 the sale of the original kjct s license assets was completed on december 15 . 11 license edit the current license for kjct lp originated on august 16 2005 when the fcc granted a construction permit to paul varecha for a low power television station on channel 20 ; 12 13 the station was originally issued the call sign k20in but changed to kkhd lp on april 3 2006 . 14 the station filed for its license to cover the permit on september 1 2006 15 and was granted it on december 17 . 16 that october varecha sold kkhd which had affiliated with telemundo and kxhd lp channel 36 in montrose to news press and gazette company for 675 000 ; 17 the deal was completed on january 2 2007 . 18 kxhd was previously k07iu channel 7 19 a translator for fox affiliate kfqx channel 4 20 which moved to channel 36 as k36hj 19 in march 2006 after being displaced by the digital signal of eventual sister station kjct ; 21 22 23 shortly thereafter varecha bought k36hj from professional antenna tower and translator service for 15 000 24 25 and changed its call letters to kxhd lp . 19 on april 26 2010 kkhd was granted a construction permit to flash cut to digital . 26 27 kkhd lp and kxhd lp the latter of which had joined kkhd in carrying telemundo programming were included in excalibur broadcasting s 2013 purchase of kjct from npg . 28 in june 2014 excalibur reached a deal to sell kkhd and kxhd to gray outright for 2.5 million ; 29 the purchase was completed on december 15 . 30 kkhd changed its call letters to kjct lp on january 9 2015 ; 14 this followed the move of the original kjct s virtual channel 8 and its programming including abc to the station . 10 news operation edit on may 22 2009 kjct became the first station in grand junction to launch local news in high definition . 31 the station debuted a new set in may 2011 to coincide with a new graphics package . in july 2011 kjct overtook its competitors to become the top rated station in the coveted 25 54 demographic in all weekday newscasts . notable former on air staff edit john gurtler sports anchor now serves as the play by play voice of the buffalo bandits 32 michelle tuzee anchor reporter now at kabc tv in los angeles 33 repeaters edit k02rg d gateway co k22lr d collbran co k34lc d rifle etc. co k36af d new castle co k45af d parachute etc. co k42ev d glenwood springs co k39af d grand junction co k13rd d collbran co k02op collbran co k31dw d mesa co k47jr d gateway co k28ad d montrose co k40lr d paonia etc. co k21jk d montrose co k35ch d cortez mancos etc co k34km d basalt co k10pr d thomasville co k45hl d redstone co k28jy d carbondale co k38fo d carbondale co k48bk d dove creek co k12qo d aspen co k25mr d nowmass village co see also edit channel 8 virtual tv stations in the united states channel 13 branded tv stations in the united states channel 20 low power tv stations in the united states references edit http www.rabbitears.info market.php request station search & callsign kjct lp station npg to buy two broadcast tv affiliates radio station news press & gazette gets 12m for kjct . tvnewscheck . august 2 2013 . retrieved august 4 2013 . harden mark august 2 2013 . grand junction tv station kjct to be sold . denver business journal . retrieved august 4 2013 . https licensing.fcc.gov cgi bin ws.exe prod cdbs forms prod cdbsmenu.hts context 25 & appn 101572917 & formid 314 & fac num 52593 gray retains mmtc as broker for former ssa d stations rbr.com retrieved 13 june 2014 . gray sets buyers for its six ssa stations . tvnewscheck . 27 august 2014 . retrieved 27 august 2014 . call sign history kgby . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved october 28 2014 . media bureau call sign actions pdf . federal communications commission . december 9 2014 . retrieved december 9 2014 . a b hashemzadeh hossein october 21 2014 . re kjct tv grand junction co facility id no. 52593 kkhd lp grand junction co facility id no. 128473 request for waivers of atsc a 65c pdf . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved october 28 2014 . consummation notice . cdbs public access federal communications commission retrieved 16 december 2014 . application for authority to construct or make changes in a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . january 18 2005 . retrieved january 9 2015 . application search details kjct lp 1 . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 9 2015 . a b call sign history kjct lp . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 9 2015 . application for a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station license . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . september 1 2006 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application search details kjct lp 2 . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 10 2015 . bia financial markets november 3 2006 . deals . broadcasting & cable . access date requires url help consummation notice . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . january 8 2007 . retrieved january 10 2015 . a b c call sign history kxhd lp . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 10 2015 . application for a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station license . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . december 5 2005 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application for authority to construct or make changes in a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . august 13 2013 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application for a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station license . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . march 20 2006 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application search details kxhd lp 1 . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 10 2015 . application for transfer of control of a corporate licensee or permittee or for assignment of license or permit of tv or fm translator station or low power television station . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved january 10 2015 . consummation notice . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . august 3 2006 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application for authority to construct or make changes in a low power tv tv translator or tv booster station . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . march 24 2014 . retrieved january 10 2015 . application search details kjct lp 3 .