View source for KDRV

{{Short description|Television station in Medford, Oregon}}
{{Copy edit|date=March 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station dual
| name1 = KDRV
| name2 = KDKF
| country = US
| logo = KDRV current (with 2021 ABC logo).svg
| city1 = [[Medford, Oregon]]
| city2 = [[Klamath Falls, Oregon]]
| logo_size = 200px
| branding = 12 ABC, ''NewsWatch 12''
| digital1 = 12 ([[VHF]])
| virtual1 = 12
| digital2 = 29 ([[UHF]])
| virtual2 = 31
| translators = ''see {{Section link||Translators}}''
| founded1 = 1984
| airdate1 = {{start date and age|1984|2|26|p=y}}
| airdate2 = {{start date and age|1989|10|27|p=y}}
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''12.1/31.1:''' [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|''for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| former_channel_numbers1 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 12 (VHF, 1984–2009)|'''Digital:''' 38 ([[UHF]], until 2009)}}
| former_channel_numbers2 = '''Analog:''' 31 (UHF, 1989–2009)
| erp1 = 16.9 [[kW]]
| erp2 = 4.87 kW
| owner = [[Allen Media Group]]<ref name="allenmedia">{{cite web|url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/239568/byron-allen-buying-11-stations-for-290m/|title=Byron Allen Buying 11 Stations For $290M|last=Miller|first=Mark K.|work=TVNewsCheck|publisher=NewsCheckMedia|date=October 1, 2019|access-date=October 1, 2019|archive-date=October 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001182211/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/239568/byron-allen-buying-11-stations-for-290m/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| licensee = Oregon TV License Company [[LLC]]
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| haat2 = {{convert|651|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| haat1 = {{convert|823|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| coordinates1 = {{coord|42|41|29.4|N|123|13|48.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| coordinates2 = {{coord|42|5|49.5|N|121|38|2.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=KDKF}}
| facility_id1 = 60736
| facility_id2 = 60740
| callsign_meaning1 = [[Rogue Valley]]
| callsign_meaning2 = KDRV Klamath Falls
| website = {{URL|https://www.kdrv.com/}}
}}

'''KDRV''' (channel 12) and '''KDKF''' (channel 31) are [[television station]]s licensed respectively to [[Medford, Oregon|Medford]] and [[Klamath Falls, Oregon]], United States, affiliated with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. Owned by [[Allen Media Group]], the stations maintain studios on Knutson Avenue (near [[Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport]]) in north Medford. KDRV's transmitter is located at the edge of Wolf Creek Park in rural northeastern [[Josephine County]] (near [[Golden, Oregon|Golden]]), while KDKF's tower sits atop Stukel Mountain southeast of Klamath Falls.

KDKF operates as a full-time [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of KDRV; its existence is only acknowledged in [[station identification]]s. Aside from its transmitter, KDKF does not maintain any physical presence locally in Klamath Falls.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==History==
[[File:Newswatch12.png|150px|thumb|left|KDRV NewsWatch 12 logo, used from 2004 to 2011.]]
Prior to 1984, [[KOBI (TV)|KOBI]] (channel 5) served as the primary ABC affiliate for southern Oregon and extreme northern California, but Medford was only partially covered. Viewers in some areas of southern Oregon could also receive [[KATU]] from [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] on [[cable television|cable]]. By this time, the Medford–Klamath Falls–[[Yreka]] market was one of the few markets in the country without full network service. This was partly because the channel 8 construction permit, [[KSYS]], was transferred to an educational permittee. When the FCC changed channel 8's status to reserved noncommercial in late 1977, it allocated channel 12 to Medford "to provide a third VHF network service".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1978-01-10/pdf/FR-1978-01-10.pdf|date=January 10, 1978|work=Federal Register|page=1503 (41)|author=Federal Communications Commission|title=Television Broadcast Stations in Medford and Grants Pass, Oreg.; Changes made in Table of Assignments|access-date=December 1, 2020}}</ref>

Four groups filed for the new channel 12 allocation: Christian Broadcasting Corporation, Highland Communications, Sunshine Television, and Medford Channel 12 Limited Partnership. The parties entered into a settlement agreement in September 1982 that granted Sunshine the construction permit.

KDRV signed on for the first time on February 26, 1984, having missed a deadline to broadcast the [[1984 Winter Olympics]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64390775/|access-date=December 1, 2020|date=January 13, 1984|title=Medford getting third commercial TV station|work=Corvallis Gazette-Times|agency=Associated Press|page=TV 6}}</ref> The station's studio had not been finished yet, and live local programming was not possible from its temporary studio. The new studio was finished later in 1984, and the station was able to begin news and other local programming a year later. Sunshine sold the station to Love Broadcasting in 1987 and signed on KDKF on October 17, 1989. [[Chambers Communications]] bought the station in 1994.

Until 2007, KDRV was one of the few television stations still using the [[U-Matic]] [[videotape]] format for editing and on-air playback.

On March 5, 2014, Chambers Communications announced that it would exit broadcasting and sell its stations to Heartland Media, a company owned by former [[Gray Television]] executive Bob Prather.<ref name=tvnc-saletoheartland>{{cite news|last=Colman|first=Price|title=Prather Buying Three Oregon TVs for $30M|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/74604/prather-buying-three-oregon-tvs-for-30m|access-date=March 6, 2014|newspaper=TVNewsCheck|date=March 5, 2014}}</ref> The sale was completed on July 15.<ref>[http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1644062&Service=DT&Form_id=905&Facility_id=34406 Consummation Notice], ''CDBS Public Access'', [[Federal Communications Commission]], Retrieved July 16, 2014.</ref> Heartland recently added [[CBS]] affiliate [[KHSL-TV]] in [[Chico, California]], to its family of stations, making KDRV and [[KEZI]] their new sister stations.

On June 1, 2025, amid financial woes and rising debt, Allen Media Group announced that it would explore "strategic options" for the company, such as a sale of its television stations (including KDRV/KDKF).<ref>{{cite news|last=Weprin|first=Alex|date=June 1, 2025|title=Byron Allen Puts His Local TV Stations Up for Sale|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/byron-allen-selling-local-tv-stations-up-1236235004/|access-date=June 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Mark K. |date=June 2, 2025 |title=Allen Media Group Retains Moelis To Sell Its TV Stations |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/allen-media-group-retains-moelis-to-sell-its-tv-stations/ |access-date=June 2, 2025 |website=TVNewsCheck |language=en-US}}</ref>

==News operation==
KDRV presently broadcasts 36 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).

Launched on September 16, 1985, KDRV has a fully staffed news department known as ''NewsWatch 12''. By the mid-1990s, it had shot to first place in the Medford–Klamath Falls market, and has stayed at the top for most of the last two decades. Like fellow station [[KOBI (TV)|KOBI]], they air newscasts at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. but beginning in 2013, weekend newscasts began airing at 8&nbsp;a.m., 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m. unlike its rivals. KDRV airs its morning news starting at 5 a.m. Anchor and reporter Ron Brown (Known as the "Dean of News Anchors" in Southern Oregon) and chief meteorologist Scott Lewis were the longest-tenured newscasters in the station's history, but Lewis retired in 2012 and Brown retired in May 2015. Anchor Brian Morton (who joined the station in 1995) succeeded Brown as KDRV's longest tenured anchor. Brown hosted the weekly "Oregon Trails" segment, which took a look back in Southern Oregon's history, while Morton reports on "Wednesday's Child", an adoption segment. The newscast has received numerous awards, including several [[National Association of Broadcasters]], [[Associated Press]] and [[Emmy Awards]]. For a short period of time, KDRV was the only station in the Medford market to continue airing local sportscasts while rival stations KTVL and KOBI dropped their sportscasts in 2009. This has since changed.

On January 5, 2011, ''NewsWatch 12'' was the first station in the market to begin broadcasting its newscasts in [[16:9]] [[widescreen]] to coincide with its new look, which is similar to sister station [[KEZI]] in [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]]. The station was also the first in the market to broadcast commercials in high definition. On September 9, 2013, KDRV added yet another newscast to its daily schedule known as ''NewsWatch 12 Midday'', which airs weekdays at 11&nbsp;a.m.  In 2025, the midday newscasts on KDRV and sister station KEZI were consolidated into a new title ''Oregon News Now at Midday''.

On January 17, 2025, Allen Media Group announced plans to cut local meteorologist/weather forecaster positions from its stations, including KDRV/KEZI, and replacing them with a "weather hub" produced by [[The Weather Channel]], which AMG also owns. The decision was reversed within a week by management in response to "viewer and advertiser reaction".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.westkentuckystar.com/News/Local-Regional/Changes-coming-to-TV-weather-at-local-stations-inc|work=West Kentucky Star|title=Allen Media reverses course on weather changes at WSIL|date=January 23, 2025|first=Brad|last=Munson|access-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref>

===Notable former on-air staff===
* [[Walt Maciborski]] – news anchor

==Technical information==

===Subchannels===
The stations' signals are [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchanels of KDRV<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KDRV#station RabbitEars TV Query for KDRV]</ref> and KDKF<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KDKF#station RabbitEars TV Query for KDKF]</ref>
! scope = "col" colspan="2"|[[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" colspan="2"|Short name
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|Programming
|-
! scope = "col" | {{small|KDRV}} || {{small|KDKF}} || scope = "col" | {{small|KDRV}} || {{small|KDKF}} 
|-
! scope = "row" | 12.1 || 31.1 
| [[720p]] || rowspan=3|[[16:9]] || KDRV-HD || KDKF-HD || [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 12.2 || 31.2 
| rowspan=2|[[480i]] || KDRV-SD || KDKF-SD || [[Antenna TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 12.3 || 31.3 
| KDRVDT3 || KDKFDT3 || [[True Crime Network]]
|}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
Both stations shut down their analog signals, respectively on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to [[Digital television transition in the United States|transition from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref>
* KDRV shut down its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 12; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 38 to VHF channel 12 for post-transition operations.<ref name="FCCForm387-KDRV">[http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101258718&formid=387&fac_num=60736 CDBS Print<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* KDKF shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 31; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 29,<ref name="FCCForm387-KDKF">[http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101233121&formid=387&fac_num=60740 CDBS Print<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> using [[virtual channel]] 31.

===Translators===
KDRV is rebroadcast on the following digital [[broadcast relay station#Broadcast translators|translator]] stations:
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60741|3=K29NI-D}}''' [[Cave Junction]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60739|3=K15KJ-D}}''' [[Gold Hill, Oregon|Gold Hill]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60734|3=K15BP-D}}''' [[Grants Pass]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60745|3=K21BG-D}}''' [[Jacksonville, Oregon|Jacksonville]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60734|3=K15BP-D}}''' [[Fort Dick, CA]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|167250|3=K21LW-D}}''' [[Gazelle, CA]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|60735|3=K17BA-D}}''' [[Yreka, CA]]

==Carriage disputes==
===Dispute with Dish Network===
On December 10, 2010, KDRV announced on its newscast that its owner Chambers Communications and [[Dish Network]] could not come to a long-term agreement to keep the station on the air in the Medford market and were in danger of losing local ABC programming as a result. Viewers were encouraged to read a special [[FAQ|Q&A]] page regarding this matter. Despite their best efforts, their previous agreement expired on December 15 and the stations were removed from the Dish Network local line-ups. Chambers and Dish finally came to an agreement to resume service and on December 30, 2010, the stations returned on Dish Network.<ref>[http://kdrv.com/QandA Chambers Communications Announces Retransmission with Dish Network to Expire December 15, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214205320/http://kdrv.com/QandA |date=December 14, 2010 }}, KDRV.com</ref>

===KDRV replaces KRCR on Mt. Shasta cable===
In January 2012, KDRV replaced [[Redding, California]], ABC affiliate [[KRCR-TV]] on [[Northland Communications]] (now Vyve Broadband) cable channel 7 in [[Mt. Shasta, California]], as Northland and KRCR severed ties after failing to come to a mutual agreement to continue coverage on the Mt. Shasta cable system. Thus, Northland placed KDRV in the channel 7 slot.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120701111826/http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCGrid.do?method=decideFwdForLineup&zipcode=96067&setMyPreference=false&lineupId=CA04562:- Northland Communications Mt. Shasta Cable Schedule]</ref><ref>[http://www.redding.com/news/2012/jan/12/northland-pulls-krcr-channel-7-off-air/ Northland pulls KRCR Channel 7 off air in Siskiyou; affiliate out of Oregon takes its spot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519004521/http://www.redding.com/news/2012/jan/12/northland-pulls-krcr-channel-7-off-air/ |date=May 19, 2012 }}, David Benda, Redding.com(''Redding Record Searchlight''), January 12, 2012</ref>

Despite being in California, [[Siskiyou County]] is technically (yet officially) part of the Medford [[Designated Market Area|DMA]] according to the FCC. Both KRCR and Northland made several attempts to get the DMA changed, but were unsuccessful each time. [[KHSL-TV]], [[KNVN-TV]] and [[KIXE-TV]] are the ''only'' [[Chico, California|Chico]]–Redding market stations airing on the Northland system in Mt. Shasta; however, certain programs on KHSL and KNVN are subject to [[blackout (broadcasting)|blackout]] due to the FCC's network non-duplication and [[syndication exclusivity]] rules.

KDRV had been on Northland's Yreka cable system on channel 12 since the station launched in early 1984 and the advent of local cable television back in the early to mid 1980s.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.kdrv.com/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070115110853/http://www.wsmb.org/Page.asp?NavID=15 History of Television in Southern Oregon]

{{Medford TV}}
{{Oregon TV}}
{{ABC California}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kdrv}}
[[Category:1984 establishments in Oregon]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Antenna TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Allen Media Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1984]]
[[Category:Television stations in Medford, Oregon|DRV]]
[[Category:True Crime Network affiliates]]