medford oregon united states city medford oregon branding nbc 5 slogan your place channels digital 5 vhf virtual 5 psip subchannels 5.1 nbc 5.2 thistv translators see article affiliations nbc primary 1983 present ; secondary 1953 1961 owner california oregon broadcasting inc. smullin family first air date august 1 1953 1953 08 01 call letters meaning k c alifornia oregon broadcasting incorporated former callsigns kbes tv 1953 1962 ktvm 1962 1968 former channel number s analog 5 vhf 1953 2009 digital 15 uhf until 2009 former affiliations cbs 1953 1983 ; secondary from 1978 abc 1953 1983 ; secondary until 1978 dumont secondary 1953 1955 transmitter power 6.35 kw height 823 metres 2 700 feet facility id 8260 transmitter coordinates 42 41 49.5 n 123 13 45.1 w 42.697083 n 123.229194 w 42.697083 ; 123.229194 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.kobi5.com kobi is a local nbc affiliate based in medford oregon . it is owned by patricia smullin . the company california oregon broadcasting inc. is the longest continuously independent broadcast group in the west and one of the three oldest in the country . 1 the station also operates a satellite station in klamath falls koti on channel 2 as well as a large network of translators . together the two stations serve 12 mostly rural counties in southern oregon and northern california . the station s vice president and general manager is robert wise who served as general manager of kobi s former sister station krcr tv in redding california from 1995 to 2005 . the studios are located on south fir street in downtown medford . contents 1 history 2 jackpot bingo 3 academic challenge quiz bowl 4 southern oregon meth project 5 digital television 5.1 digital channels 5.2 analog to digital conversion 6 translators 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit it was founded on august 1 1953 by bill smullin a 20 year veteran of the television industry . the station s call letters were originally kbes tv best tv and it carried programming from all four major networks . 2 however for its first 25 years it was primarily a cbs affiliate . it was the second television station in oregon following kptv in portland by eleven months and the first on the vhf band . smullin soon realized that kbes signal was not strong enough to cover all of southern oregon which the fcc had ruled was part of the medford market . fortunately he was able to buy the license for channel 2 in klamath falls and koti debuted on august 12 1956 . in 1962 smullin changed the call letters to ktvm . when channel 10 was allocated to medford smullin helped the owners of kmed am get the license as well as space on his transmitter on blackwell hill . partly because of his help kmed tv now ktvl signed on in 1961 . in 1968 ktvm moved to a powerful transmitter on king mountain and changed its calls to the current kobi . by 1978 kobi had become a primary abc affiliate which by then had become the top network . 3 however they continued to carry some cbs programs such as the cbs evening news and several daytime shows . in 1983 kobi picked up nbc from ktvl which switched to cbs . it carried a few abc programs for another year until kdrv signed on . for many years kobi branded itself as channel 5m with a logo showing a 5 on an interstate highway sign reflecting the interstate that goes through the medford area interstate 5 . the interstate sign motif was later extended to koti and krcr . kobi rebranded itself as the news channel in 1998 and as nbc 5 in 2004 but the highway sign remains today . the station has a uhf translator k32dy d to serve non antenna rotator equipped households between medford and ashland . it is located on mt. baldy east of phoenix . kobi has brought many firsts to southern oregon and northern california . it was the first station in medford to offer local color programming the first station to operate in stereo the first medford station to employ electronic news gathering technology and was the first medford station with statewide microwave news coverage . bill smullin retired in 1985 and was succeeded by his daughter patricia c. patsy smullin who serves as owner and president today . kobi added a dt2 channel for accuweather s local weather and national weather digital channel to kobi s digital signal were instituted in early 2008 . it was replaced by thistv in january 2014 . jackpot bingo edit during the 1980s kobi broadcast a popular interactive game show called jackpot bingo hosted by tom carnes . the show aired before days of our lives and took after the popular dialing for dollars format . jackpot bingo gave contestants the opportunity to win up to 5 000 in cash by playing blackout bingo . however contestants usually won the minimum 200 prize . carnes was replaced by sally holliday in 1987 and the show was renamed 10 000 jackpot bingo as the prize money doubled . still contestants usually won 200 . the show garnered the highest ratings for its time slot 4 although it was cancelled in 1988 . academic challenge quiz bowl edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . october 2015 this competition similar to ge college bowl places local high schools in a head to head battle for the championship title and over 40 000 in scholarship money . twenty high schools from southern oregon are participating in the nbc academic challenge . each school brings in a team of five students four participating and one alternate who answer a series of questions from the host nbc 5 chief meteorologist jeff heaton on topics such as history math literature current events and a variety of other categories . at the end of this double elimination competition the final two teams will split the scholarship money 60 % to the championship team 40 % to the second place team . the idea for academic challenge started at krcr tv in redding in 1998 and was hosted by gary gunter from 1998 to 2005 then tim mapes from then on . nbc 5 s newly hired general manager bob wise brought the identically formatted program to southern oregon in 2005 . the program regularly airs on sundays at 6 30pm or after nbc sunday night football and nbc 5 news during the national football league season . southern oregon meth project edit in 2005 kobi started a special program called the southern oregon meth project to educate viewers and concerned citizens about the dangers of methamphetamine and what can be done to prevent it . the project was headed up by kobi s lead news anchor christina anderson where she remained until her departure for kovr in sacramento in 2010 . 5 information can be found at www.somp.org . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 6 5.1 1080i 16 9 kobi hd main kobi programming nbc 5.2 480i 4 3 kobi wx this tv analog to digital conversion edit kobi shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 5 on february 17 2009 the original target date on which full power television stations in the united states were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later pushed back to june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 15 to vhf channel 5 for post transition operations . 7 8 translators edit kobi is rebroadcast on the following network of translator stations . some channels currently broadcasting are not listed in the fcc database city grade translators k32dy d channel 32 medford digital lptv translators k22ho d channel 22 cottage grove digital k34kj d channel 34 crescent city california digital k36bx d channel 36 coos bay digital k39cl d channel 39 yoncalla digital k41jq d channel 41 roseburg digital k47dv d channel 47 yreka california digital k49je d channel 49 grants pass digital repeater stations k02ft channel 2 gold hill k04ey channel 4 grants pass k04he channel 4 yreka california k07hs channel 7 williams k07jt d channel 7 brookings digital k07pz d channel 7 cave junction digital k08ak d channel 8 port orford digital k13hu channel 13 scott valley california k13mi d channel 13 gold beach digital k25en d channel 25 gold beach digital k49je d channel 49 murphy digital see also edit koti references edit william b. smullin nab distinguished service award youtube.com kramer ronald . history of television in southern oregon . western states museum of broadcasting . retrieved october 9 2015 . http radiodiscussions.com smf index.php topic 159896 . msg1362180 msg1362180 dead link youtube kobi s first 50 years the 1980s christina anderson s kovr profile page rabbitears tv query for kobi dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . cdbs print registration required external links edit official website thistv southern oregon website western states museum of broadcasting history of television in southern oregon bill smullin southern oregon tv s pioneer query the fcc s tv station database for kobi biafn s media web database information on kobi tv v t e broadcast television in southern oregon and siskiyou county california including medford klamath falls and yreka medford kobi 5.1 nbc 5.2 this tv ksys 8.1 pbs hd 8.2 world 8.3 create ktvl 10.1 cbs 10.2 cw 10.3 comet tv 10.4 grit tv kdrv 12.1 abc 12.2 antenna tv kmcw lp 14 tmd kmvu 26.1 fox 26.2 metv kbln 30.1 3abn kdov lp 44.1 christian ind. kfbi ld 48.1 mntv 48.2 telemundo klamath falls koti 2.1 nbc 2.2 accuwx k19hh d 10.1 cbs 10.2 cw kfts 22.1 pbs hd 22.2 world 22.3 create kdkf 31.1 abc 31.2 sd local cable channels soptv cable 21 pbs csn northwest csn bay area csn west northwest cable news the oregon channel root sports northwest rvtv ashland mctv weed california yctv yreka california defunct k41ix 41 tbn kbsc 49 ind california television bakersfield chico redding eureka fresno las vegas nv los angeles medford or monterey inland empire palm springs reno nv sacramento san diego san francisco santa barbara el centro ca yuma az see also eugene tv v t e broadcast television in western oregon including eugene eugene springfield koac tv 7 kepb tv 28 pbs opb x. 1 pbs x. 2 plus x. 3 fm kezi 9.1 abc 9.2 metv kval tv 13.1 cbs 13.2 this tv kory cd 15 a1 kmtr 16.1 nbc 16.2 cw kevu cd 23.1 mynetworktv klsr tv k19gh d 34.1 19.1 fox 34.2 19.2 kevu cd kamk ld 36.1 3abn khwb ld 38.1 tbn roseburg myrtle creek kpic 4.1 cbs 4.2 this tv ktvc 36.1 3abn k41jq d 41.1 nbc 41.2 this tv ktcw k46as 46.1 nbc 46.2 cw k47ht 47 3abn k51gj d 51.1 pbs opb 51.2 pbs encore 51.3 fm k46ks d 46.1 abc 46.2 lwn coos bay north bend kcby tv 11.1 cbs 11.2 this tv k16ie d k23kd d 16.1 23.1 pbs opb 16.2 23.2 pbs encore 16.3 23.3 fm kmcb 23.1 nbc 23.2 cw k27cl d 27.1 abc 27.2 lwn k30bn 30.1 mntv k36bx d 36.1 nbc 36.2 this tv k44fh 44 3abn k14mq d 14.1 fox 14.2 kevu cd local cable channels csn northwest northwest cable news oregon sports network root sports northwest defunct k33ao 33 tbn kxor lp 36 aza k49fv 49 tbn see also portland tv medford tv bend tv v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of oregon koti dt 2.1 kobi 5 klamath falls medford kgw 8 portland kmtr 16 kmcb 23 ktcw 46 eugene