KONG

KONG
Everett/Seattle, Washington
Branding	KONG 6/16
Slogan	The 10 O'Clock Choice
Channels	Digital: 31 (UHF) Virtual: 16 (PSIP)
Subchannels	16.1 KONG-DT (HD) 16.2 KONG-DT (SD)
Affiliations	independent
Owner	Belo Corporation (KONG-TV, Inc.)
First air date	July 8, 1997
Call letters’ meaning	counterpart of KING-TV, as in King Kong
Sister station(s)	KING-TV
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 16 (UHF, 1997-2009)
Transmitter Power	700 kW
Height	218 m
Facility ID	35396
Transmitter Coordinates	47°37′54.6″N 122°21′3.9″W / 47.631833°N 122.351083°W / 47.631833; -122.351083
Website	www.kongtv.com

KONG is a television station based in Seattle, Washington. Owned by the Belo Corporation, KONG's city of license is Everett, Washington. It is a sister station to KING-TV, and is run out of KING's studios just east of Seattle Center.

KONG signed on the air July 8, 1997. The call letters were chosen because of the marketability of King Kong.

Technical

KONG broadcasts over-the-air on digital, high-definition UHF channel 31. KONG's powerful over-the-air UHF signal is transmitted with 1MW of power from Seattle's Queen Anne Hill, and can be received over much of the Puget Sound area. Western Washington cable TV systems usually carry KONG on cable channel 6, next to its sister station KING-TV channel 5. Local area cable companies, Comcast and Wave Broadband also carry the High-Definition simulcast on channel 106.

KING-TV and KONG-TV ceased analog broadcasting, effective June 12, 2009, and go digital only.^[1]

Affiliation and programming

KONG is independent of any network affiliation. Initially, the station ran a general entertainment format with classic sitcoms, westerns, old movies, cartoons, and a 10pm newscast. Along with the newscast, the station now airs KING-TV's syndicated shows (such as Oprah) during primetime or other time slots, giving viewers a second chance to watch the shows that day. It also carries a few syndicated shows not aired on KING-TV, like Extra, Access Hollywood, The Tyra Banks Show and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

KONG also broadcasts NBC network programs, including Meet the Press and Early Today. KING also produces extra newscasts for KONG including an extension of the KING5 Morning News and a 10pm newscast.

Due to its relationship with KING, KONG can air NBC programming that may get displaced by other programming such as local events, or due to local interest. An example of this is when in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, KONG aired NBC's coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals for games that occurred on the East Coast, with KING airing local programming and news in its place. For the 2008 NFL preseason, two non-national telecasts of Seattle Seahawks pre-season football games aired on KONG as NBC held the rights to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Newscasts

• KING 5 Morning News on KONG (Weekday Mornings 7-9AM)
• KING 5 News @ 10 on KONG (10-11PM weeknights; 10-10:30PM weekends)
• Northwest Sports Tonight (Weeknights 11-11:35PM)

KONG 6/16 News Team

• Joyce Taylor - KING 5 Morning News on KONG Anchor
• Brad Goode - KING 5 Morning News on KONG Anchor
• Meeghan Black - KING 5 Traffic Reporter
• Rich Marriott - KING 5 Morning News on KONG Meteorologist
• Lori Matsukawa - KING 5 News @ 10 on KONG anchor
• Dennis Bounds - KING 5 News @ 10 on KONG anchor
• Jeff Renner - KING 5 News @ 10 Weeknight Meteorologist
• Paul Silvi - KING 5 Sports Director and host of Northwest Sports Tonight on KONG
• Allen Schauffler - KING 5 News @ 10 on KONG weekend anchor
• Mimi Jung - KING 5 News @ 10 on KONG weekend anchor
• Jim Guy - KING 5 News @ 10 Weekend Meterologist
• Lisa Gangel - KING 5 News @ 10 Weekend Sports Anchor

During KING-produced KONG newscasts, additional news personnel from KING 5 are also used, see the KING 5 article for a complete listing

References

1. ^ Congress postpones DTV transition, Seattle may not, KING/AP, February 5, 2009

External links

• KONG 6/16
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KONG
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KONG-TV