View source for KOZK

{{Short description|Television station in Springfield, Missouri}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station dual
| name1 = KOZK
| city1 = [[Springfield, Missouri]]
| logo = PBS OPT logo.png
| logo_size = 240px
| branding = Ozarks Public Television
| digital1 = 16 ([[UHF]])
| virtual1 = 21
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''21.1/26.1:''' [[PBS]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[Missouri State University]]
| licensee = Board of Governors of Missouri State University
| country = United States
| airdate1 = {{Start date and age|1975|1|20|p=y}}
| callsign_meaning1 = Ozarks
| former_channel_numbers1 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 21 (UHF, 1975–2009)|'''Digital:''' 23 (UHF, until–2018)}}
| erp1 = 105 [[Watt|kW]]
| haat1 = {{convert|584|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id1 = 51102
| coordinates1 = {{coord|37|10|26|N|92|56|28.1|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.optv.org/}}
| name2 = KOZJ
| city2 = [[Joplin, Missouri]]–[[Pittsburg, Kansas]]
| digital2 = 35 (UHF)
| virtual2 = 26
| airdate2 = {{Start date and age|1986|6|1|p=y}}
| callsign_meaning2 = KOZK Joplin
| former_channel_numbers2 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 26 (UHF, 1986–2009)|'''Digital:''' 25 (UHF, until 2018)}}
| erp2 = 68 kW
| haat2 = {{convert|281|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id2 = 51101
| coordinates2 = {{coord|37|4|34.9|N|94|32|16.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=KOZJ}}
}}
'''KOZK''' (channel 21) is a [[PBS]] member [[television station]] licensed to [[Springfield, Missouri]], United States, owned by [[Missouri State University]]. The station's studios are located on the Missouri State University campus on National Avenue in southern Springfield, and its transmitter is located on Highway FF north of [[Fordland]].

'''KOZJ''' (channel 26) in [[Joplin, Missouri|Joplin]] operates as a full-time [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of KOZK; this station's transmitter is located on West 13th Street/Junge Boulevard in northwestern Joplin. The two stations utilize the unified brand '''Ozarks Public Television''', and their combined signals cover the [[Ozarks]] region of southwestern [[Missouri]], southeastern [[Kansas]], northwestern [[Arkansas]] and far northeastern [[Oklahoma]].

==History==
KOZK's history can be traced to the founding of Springfield Community Television, a [[nonprofit]] group that was formed in 1974 to bring [[public television]] to the area. At the time, it was standard practice for PBS to offer its programming to [[commercial television]] outlets in markets without a PBS station of their own. For instance, Springfield [[NBC]] affiliate [[KYTV (TV station)|KYTV]] (channel 3) and Joplin [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[KODE-TV|KODE]] (channel 12) aired ''[[Sesame Street]]'' at 9&nbsp;a.m. during the week. After securing a license from the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) and funding from various groups, Springfield Community Television was able to launch its first station. KOZK first signed on the air on January 20, 1975, broadcasting from a former [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] center located on the campus of [[Drury University]]. From there, the station originally broadcast five days a week with seven employees on its staff (augmented by a lot of student volunteerism), eventually expanding to a 24-hour operation with 25 employees. The station borrowed transmitter space from Springfield [[CBS]] affiliate [[KOLR]] (channel 10).

On June 1, 1986, KOZJ signed on from Joplin as KOZK's sister station. Its business offices are located in downtown Joplin, with its broadcasting equipment located at [[Missouri Southern State University]]. Prior to that station's sign-on, the Joplin–[[Pittsburg, Kansas|Pittsburg]] market had been one of the few markets in the United States that did not have a PBS member station of their own, although PBS programming could be received over the air via [[KOED-TV]] (in the southwestern portion of the market), [[KTWU-TV]] (in the northwestern portion), or via KOZK (in the eastern portion).

In 1990, the station moved its operations to the new Shewmaker Communications Center on the campus of Drury College. In 2001, the board agreed to sell the station to Southwest Missouri State University (now [[Missouri State University]]); later that year, the station's operations moved to Strong Hall on the MSU campus. Two years later, in 2003, KOZK moved its transmitter facilities to a {{convert|1,980|ft|m|adj=on}} broadcast tower located on Switchgrass Road in rural southwestern Webster County (north of [[Fordland]]), which was donated to the university by KYTV station management.

On April 19, 2018, at about 9:32&nbsp;a.m., the KOZK transmission tower collapsed as maintenance was being done on the structure. The maintenance involved upgrades to the tower in preparation for the station's upcoming allocation shift under the spectrum repack. The six-person maintenance crew employed with [[Columbia, South Carolina]]–based Tower Consultants Inc., who were working replacing crossbeams at about the {{convert|105|ft|m|adj=on}} mark of the tower as they began to realize that the tower had likely become structurally unstable, were vacated the tower shortly before it collapsed. One worker, 56-year-old Stephen Lamay, died from injuries sustained when he became trapped under the tower debris. Three other workers were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries and were subsequently released.<ref>{{cite web|title=Investigation of the April 19, 2018, Communication Tower Collapse in Fordland, Missouri.|url=https://www.osha.gov/doc/engineering/pdf/2018_r_04.pdf|date=October 2018|publisher=[[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]]|format=PDF|access-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref>

While KOZK's signal was off the air, it continued to be available to [[Mediacom]] subscribers via a direct auxiliary feed transmitted by fiber optic to the cable provider; service was restored to [[AT&T U-verse]] and [[DirecTV]] customers by April 20, while it was unavailable on [[Dish Network]] (as of April 23, 2018). The tower was also used by local [[NOAA Weather Radio]] station WXL46, whose signal also went off-air.<ref>{{cite news|title=1,980-foot TV tower collapse in Webster County; 1 dead, several injured, officials say|url=https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/04/19/tower-collapse-webster-county-1-possibly-dead-several-injured-official-said/532227002/|first=Harrison|last=Keegan|first2=Giacomo|last2=Bologna|newspaper=[[Springfield News-Leader]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|date=April 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Following Tower Collapse: KOZK Restores Some Service|url=http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/following-tower-collapse-kozk-restores-some-service/1130690457|first=Frances|last=Lin|website=[[KOLR]]/[[KOZL-TV]]|publisher=[[Nexstar Media Group]]|date=April 20, 2018|access-date=April 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Missouri TV Tower Collapses|url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/missouri-tv-tower-collapses|first=John|last=Eggerton|periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|publisher=[[NewBay Media]]|date=April 19, 2018|access-date=April 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NOAA Weather radio alerts impacted by tower collapse in Fordland|url=http://www.ky3.com/content/news/NOAA-Weather-Radio-480294803.html|website=[[KYTV (TV station)|KYTV]]|publisher=[[Gray Television]]|date=April 19, 2018|access-date=April 23, 2018}}</ref>

In March 2020, KOZK and KOZJ added [[World Channel]] to 21.4 and 26.4, respectively.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The stations' signals are [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of KOZK<ref>{{cite web|title=RabbitEars TV Query for KOZK|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KOZK#station|website=[[RabbitEars]]|access-date=April 23, 2018}}</ref> and KOZJ<ref>{{cite web|title=RabbitEars TV Query for KOZJ|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KOZJ#station|website=RabbitEars|access-date=April 23, 2018}}</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" rowspan = "2" | Short name
! scope = "col" rowspan = "2" | Programming
|-
! scope = "col" | {{small|KOZK}} || {{small|KOZJ}}
|-
! scope = "row" | 21.1 || 26.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan = "4" | [[16:9]] || OPT HD || [[PBS]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 21.2 || 26.2 
| rowspan = "3" | [[480i]] || OPTKIDS || [[PBS Kids]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 21.3 || 26.3 
| Create || [[Create (TV network)|Create]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 21.4 || 26.4 
| World || [[World Channel]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 21.5 || 26.5 
| colspan = "2" align = "center" | ''[[Radio broadcasting|Audio only]]'' || KSMU || [[KSMU]]
|}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
On June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]], Ozarks Public Television shut down the analog transmitters of its two stations. Listed below are the post-transition channel allocations for each analog transmitter:<ref>{{cite web|title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds|url=https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|format=PDF|access-date=June 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Analog to Digital">{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=Archived copy |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>
* KOZK shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, using virtual channel 21.
* KOZJ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 26, on June 12. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 26.

As a part of the [[Spectrum reallocation#Repacking|broadcast frequency repacking]] process following the [[Spectrum reallocation#Broadcast incentive auction|2016–2017 FCC incentive auction]], KOZK was to relocate its digital signal to UHF channel 23 to UHF 16 by the November 30, 2018, deadline for the first group of television stations designated for repacking to shift to new digital allocations; KOZJ was to relocate its digital signal from UHF channel 25 to UHF 35 by the April 12, 2019, deadline for the second group of stations eligible for repacking to re-allocate. KOZK continues to display its virtual channel number as 21, while KOZJ continues to display its virtual channel as 26.<ref>{{cite web|title=NAB Spectrum Repacking Clearinghouse|url=http://www.nab.org/repacking/clearinghouse.asp|publisher=[[National Association of Broadcasters]]|access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref> As of September 1, 2018, KOZJ relocated to UHF channel 35. KOZK relocated to UHF channel 16 on September 17 in coordination with KYTV.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.optv.org/ Ozarks Public Television official website]
*[https://americanarchive.org/participating-orgs/1801 Ozarks Public Television in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting]

{{Springfield MO TV}}
{{Joplin TV}}
{{Missouri TV}}
{{Public broadcasting in the United States}}
{{Missouri State University}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozk}}
[[Category:1975 establishments in Missouri]]
[[Category:Missouri State University]]
[[Category:PBS member stations]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1975]]
[[Category:Television stations in Springfield, Missouri|OZK]]