. kprc tv houston texas united states city houston branding kprc channel 2 general kprc channel 2 news newscasts slogan houston s home for news channels digital 35 uhf virtual 2 psip subchannels 2.1 nbc 2.2 this tv 2.3 heroes & icons affiliations nbc owner graham media group graham media group houston inc. first air date january 1 1949 call letters meaning kotton port rail center from former radio sister sister station s ktrh news partnership only former callsigns klee tv 1949 1950 former channel number s analog 2 vhf 1949 2009 former affiliations all secondary cbs 1949 1953 abc 1949 1954 dumont 1949 1955 4 dt2 nbc weather plus 2005 2008 dt3 latv 2007 2012 transmitter power 1000 kw height 585 m facility id 53117 transmitter coordinates 29 34 6 n 95 29 57 w 29.56833 n 95.49917 w 29.56833 ; 95.49917 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.click2houston.com kprc tv virtual channel 2 uhf digital channel 35 is an nbc affiliated television station located in houston texas united states . 1 2 the station is owned by the graham media group subsidiary of graham holdings company . kprc tv maintains studio facilities located on southwest freeway interstate 69 u.s. route 59 in the sharpstown district on the city s southwest side and its transmitter is located in unincorporated northeastern fort bend county near missouri city . as of the 2016 17 television season kprc is the largest nbc station by market size that is not owned by the network . prior to the digital transition kprc was the only houston station on the vhf dial whose cable channel position did not match its over the air analog channel due to interference from the low band vhf terrestrial signal ; it was placed on comcast cable 12 instead . 3 other cable systems on the outer edges of the houston media market carried kprc on cable channel 2 . it is also available on cable in lufkin nacogdoches victoria and bryan college station . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 houston oilers 3.2 preemptions 3.3 2007 nfl season opener 3.4 houston life 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 station notoriety 6 references 7 external links history edit the station first signed on the air on january 1 1949 as klee tv . it was houston s first television station and the second one to sign on in texas beating kbtv in dallas now wfaa by more than eight months . it was originally owned by hotelier w. albert lee and carried programming from all four networks of the day nbc cbs abc and dumont . however after a year of difficulty lee sold the station to the hobby family owners of the houston post and houston s oldest radio station kprc 950 am and 99.7 fm now koda at 99.1 . the hobbys took control on june 1 1950 and changed the television station s call letters to match its radio sisters on july 3 1950 . although the call letters appear to stand for post radio company they actually stand for kotton port rail center . after the hobbys took over channel 2 became a primary nbc affiliate due to kprc fm radio s longstanding affiliation with the nbc blue network a link that remains today . due to the federal communications commission imposed freeze on new station licenses channel 2 remained the only television station in houston for four more years . 4 cbs moved to kgul tv channel 11 now khou in 1953 and ktrk tv channel 13 took over the abc affiliation when it signed on one year later . dumont ceased operations in 1956 though it was briefly affiliated with now defunct knuz tv channel 39 frequency now occupied by kiah . because of its affiliation with nbc kprc was the first station in houston to broadcast a program in color and was subsequently the first to broadcast its programming entirely in color . kprc tv s original star 2 logo used from late 1994 to 2004 the current logo shown in the infobox is very similar to the original but is enhanced for hd . the station originally operated from studios located on post oak road near what later became the galleria shopping complex in uptown houston . kprc was the first station in houston to use weather radar to use videotape for field reporting to have a fully staffed news bureau in austin and to hire female and african american reporters . the station became the source of controversy after some television viewers in the united kingdom claimed to receive its signal on september 14 1953 three years after the original signal was transmitted . however this was actually a hoax . 5 over the years the hobby family bought several other television stations including kvoa tv in tucson kcci in des moines wtvf in nashville wesh in orlando and ksat tv in san antonio . from 1969 to 1998 kprc produced the longest running syndicated television program in texas the eyes of texas a lifestyle program which focused on segments relating to texas culture and life the program continues to air locally on pbs member station kuht channel 8 . kprc was also one of the first stations to air telethons raising 28 000 for the american cancer society in 1950 . it carried the mda labor day telethon every labor day from 1970 to 2012 kprc s status as an mda love network affiliate in 2013 when the telethon discontinued its syndicated distribution model and moved to abc where it aired locally on ktrk tv up to 2014 . in march 1972 kprc tv moved into a new state of the art studio facility in houston s sharpstown neighborhood where its operations remain to this day ; the three studios located within the building are suspended from the ground to reduce vibration . in 1983 the hobbys sold the houston post to medianews group while the family s broadcast holdings were reorganized as h & c communications with kprc am tv remaining as the flagship stations kprc fm had been sold some years earlier . after 40 years under hobby family ownership kprc was sold to the washington post company in april 1994 the post was then bought by the hearst corporation and absorbed into its houston chronicle with the last edition printed on 18 april 1995 . in 2004 kprc was rebranded local 2 . in january 2015 kprc dropped the local and began calling themselves channel 2 . digital television edit kprc dt3 logo during its latv affiliation digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 6 2.1 1080i 16 9 kprc hd main kprc tv programming nbc 2.2 480i 4 3 this this tv 2.3 16 9 h & i heroes & icons analog to digital conversion edit kprc tv discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 2 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 7 the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 35 using psip to display kprc tv s virtual channel as 2 on digital television receivers . on that date tropospheric ducting resulted in kprc s digital signal being receivable as far away as alexandria louisiana where kprc virtual channel 2.1 was seen in place of kalb tv s virtual channel 5.1 on digital receivers both channels transmit their digital signals on uhf channel 35 . as part of the safer act 8 9 kprc kept its analog signal on the air until july 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the national association of broadcasters . programming edit in addition to clearing most of nbc s programming schedule kprc tv broadcasts mostly syndicated programming during the daytime hours such as dr. phil the insider extra and entertainment tonight . houston oilers edit beginning in 1965 the american football league signed a broadcast deal with nbc . as a result kprc became the primary station for the houston oilers one of the league s eight founding teams . this continued after the afl became the american football conference of the national football league in 1970 ; oilers broadcasts ended after the 1996 nfl season when the team relocated to nashville and became the tennessee titans . during the team s final years in houston the oilers failed to sell out many home games subjecting them to in market television blackouts under league rules . preemptions edit kprc had been notorious in recent years for its share of pre emptions . when passions debuted on nbc in 1999 kprc along with detroit sister station wdiv tv were the only nbc affiliates that preempted the soap opera until 2002 ; 10 both stations had also previously preempted sunset beach though upn stations in both cities carried that program . maury aired in place of passions until it moved to khwb after kprc cleared the latter show in its normal network timeslot . initially it aired for a short time on knws tv channel 51 now kyaz in 2001 before moving to kprc the following year airing at 3 am . while nbc has become more tolerant of preemptions than in previous years it prefers that its affiliates clear the entire schedule whenever possible . as a result kprc placed passions in its normal 2 pm timeslot in august 2004 but this matter became moot when the program ended in september 2007 . late night with conan o brien also did not air in houston from 1994 to 1996 ; kprc opted to air reruns of the jenny jones show in its place . late night returned to kprc in 1996 although it was subjected to delayed scheduling in later years to air various programs such as ricki lake at 11 35 pm followed by access hollywood a repeat of the 10 pm newscast and jenny jones which delayed late night to 2 40 am . this fact was not lost on o brien who visited houston including visits at the main houston bus terminal and the astrodome to watch an episode of his own show with houstonians in a classic skit ; kprc s mail servers were flooded with emails in response . kprc moved the show to 12 35 am in 1998 and finally to its network recommended 11 35 pm slot in 2005 where late night now hosted by seth meyers continues to air ; however the station still delays last call with carson daly until 2 05 showing infomercials in the show s network timeslot of 12 35 am . kprc was among a handful of nbc affiliates that did not air poker after dark during its entire run and likewise did not carry the short lived face the ace in august 2009 along with wdiv and milwaukee s wtmj tv pre empting both primetime airings with st. jude children s research hospital programs . as of january 2013 nbc s current overnight lineup a rebroadcast of the fourth hour of today and mad money on weekdays ; lxtv 1st look and open house nyc on weekends does not air in houston as with sister station wdiv . kprc was also known for motorsports pre emptions in 2001 a contract with the miss texas scholarship pageant which did not allow it to be rescheduled resulted in the pre emption of the firecracker 400 then televised on nbc under an alternating basis with fox fox and nbc alternated the daytona 500 and firecracker 400 . in 2013 kprc pre empted coverage of nbc s inaugural formula 1 telecast of the 2013 monaco grand prix which aired locally at 6 30 am due to time differences between the u.s. and