KCBJ-TV: Early years
In September 1969, Jeffco Television Corporation, associated with station WJJY-TV in Jacksonville, Illinois, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a station on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 17 in Columbia. At the time, Mid-Missouri had no full-time affiliate of ABC; its programs were split between primary NBC affiliate KOMU-TV (channel 8) and primary CBS affiliate KRCG (channel 13).[1] In November, Channel Seventeen, Inc., headed by St. Louis engineer Richard Koenig, also applied for the channel.[2] The two applications were designated by the commission for comparative hearing,[3] but Jeffco dropped out due to problems at its station in Illinois,[4] allowing Channel Seventeen to receive the construction permit on August 28, 1970.
KCBJ-TV began broadcasting on December 5, 1971, as a full-time ABC affiliate.[5] It broadcast from a tower at Jamestown, Missouri, 17 mi southwest of Columbia.[6] The station's early months were pocked with technical issues; it was the only local station with a studio and transmitter at separate sites. Moreover, many older television sets still in use were not UHF-capable. Unable to afford a direct microwave feed, Koenig had his engineers switch to and from the signal of KMTC-TV in Springfield—which, in turn, picked up the signal off-air from KODE-TV in Joplin. If a network program was preempted in either of those cities, KCBJ-TV could not show it;[7] occasionally, weather warnings and other material from the Springfield area appeared on channel 17 as well. In its first three and a half years of operation, the station never once made a profit and, as a result, could not afford the expenditures necessary to improve the quality of its incoming network feed. In the ratings, KCBJ-TV struggled against KOMU and KRCG, which had been in the market nearly 20 years when channel 17 signed on and were better-funded stations with stronger local news presences. Koenig became aggressive in his efforts to defend channel 17 from competition. He unsuccessfully argued that KOMU-TV, a commercial station owned by the University of Missouri (MU) and the more successful of Columbia's two local stations, should be forced to become non-commercial and a new private commercial station on the UHF band opened to provide NBC programming.
Koenig agreed in August 1979 to sell KCBJ-TV to the Wooster Republican Printing Company of Wooster, Ohio, controlled by the Dix family. The acquisition of channel 17 would have marked the return of the Dix family to television after their sale years prior of WTRF-TV in Wheeling, West Virginia.[11][12] Two months later, the Dix family sued, claiming Koenig had breached the sale contract; Koenig replied by declaring that there never was a valid contract.[13] In 1981, the Dix family won the initial lawsuit and a court order forcing Koenig to sell the station to them.[14] Koenig appealed the ruling; federal judge Scott Olin Wright, a former lawyer in Columbia, ordered the station to be transferred to a receiver during the process, but Koenig refused, claiming Wright held a grudge against KCBJ-TV from an earlier legal contact when the station started and that a short-form transfer of control was not appropriate for the process.[15]
As the appeals continued in the breach of contract case, ABC sought to move to the higher-rated KOMU-TV. In the late 1970s, ABC became the number-one network and began seeking upgrades in its affiliate base, primarily at the expense of NBC.[16] It contacted KOMU-TV, the number-one station in Mid-Missouri, in 1979; that was the year NBC hired Fred Silverman, and KOMU instead renewed with NBC in hopes that Silverman could turn around the network's low ratings. This did not materialize, and the station instead agreed to switch in 1982.[17] While it was logical that KCBJ-TV, the local station without a network affiliation, and NBC, the network needing a station, would connect, the ongoing ownership dispute complicated matters because the network received affiliation pitches from the Koenigs and the Dix family.[18] The switch was set for July 12, but Wright issued a temporary restraining order to prevent ABC from moving.[19] KOMU's ABC switch was then set for August 8, though no NBC deal was in place for channel 17 until late July.[20][21]
Stauffer ownership
In October 1984, Stauffer Communications agreed to purchase KCBJ-TV from the Koenig family,[23] assuming control in January 1985.[24] The company's first priority was to revamp the station's neglected and little-watched news operation, described by the Columbia Daily Tribune as "laughable at best" and by station manager Rush Evans as a "cursory programming service". It was a distant third behind KOMU and KRCG in the ratings, only attracting three percent of the audience. The newscasts finally had two cameras instead of one, and the news staff was increased from five employees to thirteen.[25] At the same time, the fortunes of NBC turned; the network was in the lead nationally, and KCBJ was the number-one station in prime time. Citing its disappointment with revenues under ABC, KOMU announced it would return to NBC.[26] It was not alone; other recent converts from NBC to ABC were beginning to return to the network, including stations in Temple, Texas, and Savannah, Georgia.[27]
Chelsey and JW Broadcasting ownership
Financial problems developed at Benedek in the new millennium. The early 2000s recession reduced ad sales and caused the company to miss interest payments on a set of bonds issued in 1996, prompting a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[37] Benedek's financial issues hurt investment in KMIZ and led to staff cuts and the station canceling its 5 p.m. newscast in 2001.[38]
While most of Benedek's stations were sold out of bankruptcy to Gray Television, some—including KMIZ—went to Chelsey Broadcasting, an affiliate of the Chelsey Capital hedge fund which was a major investor in Benedek.[39] Chelsey owned KMIZ for a year before selling it to JosephWood (JW) Broadcasting, a partnership formed by David J. Joseph and James Wood.[40] JosephWood sought to turn around the station, which had been among Benedek's worst ratings performers, by investing in staff and capital improvements.[41]
News-Press & Gazette Company ownership
On July 26, 2012, JW Broadcasting announced the sale of KMIZ and KQFX-LD to the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) for $16 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The sale marked NPG's entry into a second Missouri TV market after starting a low-power station, KNPN-LD, in its home city of St. Joseph.[48] At the time, NPG CEO David Bradley served as chairman of the University of Missouri system's board of curators. Since the university owns KOMU, this raised concern that NPG's purchase of KMIZ would effectively give Bradley control of two local stations in contravention of FCC ownership limits. NPG argued that Bradley had no personal involvement in KOMU's operations.[49] The sale was consummated on November 1.[50]
NPG has expanded the news department several times. In 2013, KMIZ debuted weekday newscasts at 9 a.m. and noon.[51] The station debuted weekend morning newscasts for KMIZ and KQFX in 2016;[52]
