KTVZ

Not to be confused with KZTV, WTVZ, or WZTV.

KTVZ (channel 21) is a television station in Bend, Oregon, United States, serving Central Oregon as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) alongside two low-power stations: Class A Fox affiliate KFXO-CD (channel 39) and Telemundo affiliate KQRE-LD (channel 20). The stations share studios on Northwest O. B. Riley Road in Bend, while KTVZ's transmitter is located on Awbrey Butte west of US 97.

KTVZ

Bend, Oregon United States
Channels	Digital: 21 (UHF) Virtual: 21
Branding	NewsChannel 21 Bend CW (on DT2) Fox Central Oregon (on DT3)
Programming
Affiliations	21.1: NBC 21.2: CW+ 21.3: Fox 21.4: Ion Television 21.5: Bounce TV
Ownership
Owner	News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG of Oregon, Inc.)
Sister stations	KFXO-CD, KQRE-LD
History
First air date	November 6, 1977 (45 years ago) (1977-11-06)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 21 (UHF, 1977–2009) Digital: 18 (UHF, 2006–2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (secondary, 1980–1997)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	55907
ERP	131.8 kW
HAAT	197 m (646 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	44°4′39.4″N 121°19′53.1″W / 44.077611°N 121.331417°W / 44.077611; -121.331417
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.ktvz.com

History

KTVZ went on-the-air November 6, 1977. It was started by former owners Ray Johnson of KMED-AM-TV (now KTVL) in Medford and C. Howard Lane from KOIN-TV in Portland who formed Ponderosa Broadcasting, Inc. The station has always been an NBC affiliate but also began to carry CBS programming on a secondary basis. Efforts to carve out Deschutes County from the Portland television market began in 1980. By fall 1981, Nielsen formed the newly created Bend DMA. Sierra Cascade Communications sold the station to Stainless Broadcasting Company in 1986 which later became known as Northwest Broadcasting in 1997 based in Spokane, Washington.

By 1997, KTVZ discontinued CBS programming since KOIN in Portland (now seen through semi-satellite KBNZ-LD, channel 7) already had full translator and cable coverage in the Bend area. Later in 2002, Northwest Broadcasting sold KTVZ to the News-Press & Gazette Company. By 2006, they added more network affiliations to the growing Central Oregon area when The CW was added as a second digital channel. In late 2006, it was announced that Meredith would sell KFXO to the News-Press & Gazette Company which occurred on May 24, 2007. BendBroadband filed a petition with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block the proposed sale but it still went through. KQRE-LP was originally a repeater of KTVZ. In January 2007, that station completed a transmitter move that brought it closer to Bend making the rebroadcast redundant. The station then began airing Telemundo's schedule.

Programming

Syndicated programming

Syndicated programming on KTVZ (as of 2023) includes Live with Kelly and Ryan, Dr. Phil, Extra, Tamron Hall, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and Family Feud, among others. KTVZ is one of the few NBC affiliates that air paid programming on weekdays.^[1]

Newscasts

On June 22, 2007, KFXO's own prime time news at 10 p.m. was replaced by one produced by KTVZ. In September of that year, this station began to air its newscasts in 16:9 widescreen format. It broadcasts five hours of local news every weekday. It produces a two-hour weekday morning show and nightly hour-long newscast for KFXO.

Notable former staff

• Lisa Verch Fletcher
• Kayna Whitworth
• Ryan Bennett (now deceased)

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	Short name	Programming^[2]
21.1	1080i	16:9	KTVZ-TV	Main KTVZ programming / NBC
21.2	480i		NTVZ-DT	Bend CW
21.3			KFXO-LP	SD simulcast of KFXO-CD / Fox
21.4			QTVZ	Ion Television
21.5			BTVZ-DT	Bounce TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

KTVZ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to channel 21.^[3]

Translators

KTVZ is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

Call sign	Channel	City of license	Transmitter location
K22IL-D	22	Prineville	Grizzly Mountain
K23PN-D	23	La Pine
K27DO-D	27	Bend, etc.
K28QR-D	28	La Pine
K30JT-D	30	La Pine
K36OD-D	36	North La Pine	west of Sunriver

Low-power analog translators in Burns, Chemult, La Pine, and Madras have been discontinued.

See also

• Channel 12 branded TV stations in the United States
• Channel 21 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 21 virtual TV stations in the United States

References

1. "TV Listings - KTVZ". ktvz.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
2. RabbitEars TV Query for KTVZ
3. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.

External links

• Official website
• Bend CW website