KONG

About KONG

KONG is an independent television station licensed to Everett, Washington, broadcasting on channel 16 and serving the Seattle area. It is owned by Tegna Inc. as part of a duopoly with NBC affiliate KING-TV. The two stations share studios at the Home Plate Center on 1st Avenue South in Seattle's SoDo district, with KONG's transmitter in the Queen Anne neighborhood. Plans for the station dated to the early 1980s, but it did not go on the air until July 8, 1997, when KING-TV began programming it under a local marketing agreement, relying heavily on classic television series. It has become a secondary conduit for local news and sports programming from KING-TV and is presently the broadcast home for Seattle Reign FC and the Seattle Kraken.

A call sign worth suing over

Plans for KONG dated as far back as the early 1980s, when a San Francisco-based investor group obtained the construction permit for a new station in Everett. The group secured the call sign KONG, over threats by KING-TV to sue, and set up a studio, but the station never launched. The KONG-TV call sign had first been granted by the FCC on April 6, 1984, drawing a legal complaint from King Broadcasting, then-owner of KING-TV, against Carl Washington's KONG TV, Inc., the first broadcaster to apply for a license for Everett's channel 16.

Residents on Cougar Mountain challenged the proposed tower site, and the permit was sold to Zeus Corporation of Washington, lying dormant for years.

King Kong and KING-TV

The KONG call letters were chosen as a tongue-in-cheek reference to King Kong, a counterpart to sister station KING-TV that made both stations easily marketable together. The playful name stuck through years of legal challenges and ultimately became the station's permanent identity.

On cable, the station is usually carried on channel 6 in western Washington, adjacent to KING-TV's position on channel 5.

Finally signing on

KONG-TV signed on July 8, 1997. It was locally owned but managed by KING-TV, which had just been acquired by Belo, through a local marketing agreement. Belo bought channel 16 outright in 2000, when the FCC began to permit television station duopolies. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced it would acquire Belo, completing the sale on December 23.

On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with the broadcast and digital media side retaining KING and KONG under the new name Tegna.

Classic TV programming

At sign-on, KONG relied heavily on classic television series for its programming, building its schedule around reruns that complemented KING-TV's news-heavy lineup. The independent station carried off-network sitcoms, dramas, and syndicated programs including Extra, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, Tamron Hall, The Goldbergs, Dateline, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Its programming strategy has remained consistent as an independent outlet with strong syndicated fare.

Local news expansion

It has become a secondary conduit for local news from KING-TV; the first newscast on KONG debuted in 1999. The station airs KING 5 News programs in additional time slots, giving the duopoly more local news hours across its two channels.

The arrangement has made KONG the home for newscasts and public affairs programming beyond KING-TV's capacity.

Sports home

Over the years, teams including the Seattle SuperSonics, Seattle Storm, and Seattle Sounders FC aired their games on KONG. Presently, the station is the broadcast home for Seattle Reign FC and the Seattle Kraken, carrying their matches and games over the air.

The station's sports commitments have given it a strong identity among Seattle sports fans, particularly for hockey and soccer.

Digital pioneer

In 2009, KONG became one of the first four television stations in the country to begin broadcasting mobile DTV signals, positioning it at the forefront of broadcast technology. It is now one of two ATSC 3.0 stations in the Seattle market, adopting the NextGen TV standard for its transmissions.

The station's early adoption of mobile and next-generation broadcasting reflected its ownership's investment in broadcast technology.

Ownership

KONG is owned by Tegna Inc. as part of a duopoly with NBC affiliate KING-TV, operating as KONG TV, Inc. The duopoly shares studios, offices, and news operations at the Home Plate Center in SoDo.

The King Broadcasting Company survives as a license holder for its properties under Tegna ownership.

Technical operations

KONG broadcasts on digital UHF channel 31, displayed as virtual channel 16, with an effective radiated power of 700 kW from its Queen Anne transmitter. The station shut down its analog signal on UHF channel 16 in 2009 as part of the digital television transition, remaining on pre-transition UHF channel 31 with PSIP displaying virtual channel 16.

Its digital channel is multiplexed with additional diginet subchannels.

Cougar Mountain and the dormant years

Plans for KONG dated as far back as the early 1980s, when a San Francisco-based investor group obtained the construction permit for a new station in Everett. The KONG-TV call sign was first granted by the FCC on April 6, 1984; the station was first licensed in January 1984 as KONN, but an early owner decided to change the call letters to KONG, which didn't make the folks at KING too happy. When it was applied for, it immediately drew a legal complaint from King Broadcasting, then-owner of KING-TV, against Carl Washington's KONG TV, Inc., the first broadcaster to apply for a license for Everett's channel 16. The station had planned to go on the air on June 1 of that year, with studios in Everett and an advertising sales office in Seattle, but kept getting bogged down by years of legal challenges from residents on Cougar Mountain who objected to the electromagnetic radiation from an additional broadcaster. KONG first tried to go on the air off of Hardeson Road in south Everett but ran into multiple issues. A dispute over the tower site on Cougar Mountain and difficulty securing financing scuttled the project. The permit was sold to Zeus Corporation of Washington and lay dormant until KING-TV agreed to program the new station in 1996. KONG-TV signed on the air on July 8, 1997, locally owned but managed by KING-TV, which had just been acquired by Belo, through a local marketing agreement.

Belo, Gannett, and Tegna

Belo bought channel 16 outright in 2000, when the FCC began to permit television station duopolies. The KONG call letters were retained as a tongue-in-cheek reference to King Kong, which made both stations easily marketable together. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo; the sale was completed on December 23. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other specializing in broadcast and digital media; KING and KONG were retained by the latter company, named Tegna. The station is owned by the Tegna subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KING-TV channel 5. The two stations share studios at the Home Plate Center on 1st Avenue South in the SoDo district of Seattle; KONG's transmitter is in the city's Queen Anne neighborhood. KONG went on the air in 1997 relying heavily on classic TV series for its programming, and it has become a secondary conduit for local news and sports programming from KING-TV. The first newscast on KONG debuted in 1999, and over the years teams including the Seattle SuperSonics, Seattle Storm, and Seattle Sounders FC aired their games on KONG. Presently, the station is the broadcast home for Seattle Reign FC and the Seattle Kraken. It is one of two ATSC 3.0 stations in the Seattle market, with digital channels 16.1 in 1080i and 16.2 in 480i.