KPNX

About KPNX

KPNX is a television station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, broadcasting on channel 12 and serving the Phoenix area as the market's NBC affiliate. Branded as 12News, the station has been Phoenix's NBC outlet since it signed on May 2, 1953, as KTYL-TV, the Valley's second television station and the first local station to locate its transmitter on South Mountain. Owned by Tegna Inc., now a subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios at the Republic Media building on Van Buren Street in downtown Phoenix, with its transmitter atop South Mountain. It is rebroadcast by full-power satellite KNAZ-TV in Flagstaff and a network of translators across northern and central Arizona.

Signing on in 1953

Channel 12 began broadcasting on May 2, 1953, as KTYL-TV, the Valley's second television station and a counterpart to radio station KTYL, a venture of Harkins Theatres and Harry Nace. Originally operating from studios in Mesa, it was the NBC affiliate in the Phoenix area from its sign-on, with a secondary affiliation to the DuMont network, and the first local TV station to locate its transmitter on South Mountain.

The station's call letters changed to KVAR in 1955 and to KTAR-TV in 1961, reflecting its association with Phoenix radio station KTAR, before becoming KPNX, for Phoenix, in 1979.

The KTAR years

As KTAR-TV, the station was closely associated with KTAR radio, one of Phoenix's leading broadcast voices. The combined radio-television operation was a major force in Arizona media, with the television station building a reputation for local news coverage.

The station's South Mountain transmitter site gave it commanding coverage of the Phoenix metropolitan area, and its NBC affiliation brought the network's news, sports, and entertainment programming to the fast-growing Valley.

Gannett and Tegna ownership

The station came under the ownership of the Gannett Company, which also owned The Arizona Republic newspaper, creating a powerful cross-media combination in the Phoenix market. When Gannett split its publishing and broadcasting businesses in 2015, KPNX became part of Tegna Inc., the broadcast and digital media company.

In 2026, Tegna became a subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group through the merger of the two companies, bringing KPNX into the nation's largest television station group. Nexstar also operates CW station KAZT-TV in the market under a time brokerage agreement.

12News

Branded as 12News, KPNX operates one of the most-watched news operations in the Phoenix market, with extensive morning, midday, evening, and late-night newscasts. The station has long been known for its coverage of Arizona's distinctive news environment, from extreme heat and monsoon storms to immigration, water policy, and the state's pivotal role in national politics.

The station's newsroom at the Republic Media building in downtown Phoenix houses one of the largest television news operations in the Southwest, with reporters covering the Valley, northern Arizona via the KNAZ satellite, and the state capital.

Weather coverage

KPNX operates a 24-hour weather channel, 12 News Weather, devoted to covering Phoenix weather along with northern Arizona and Mesa conditions. The round-the-clock weather service reflects the critical importance of weather information in a desert metropolis where summer temperatures routinely exceed 110 degrees and monsoon storms bring dangerous flash flooding.

The station's meteorologists are among the most recognized television personalities in the market, guiding viewers through heat warnings, dust storms, and winter storms in the high country.

Statewide reach

KPNX is rebroadcast by KNAZ-TV, channel 2 in Flagstaff, a full-power satellite station, and a network of translators across northern and central Arizona. The extensive rebroadcast network gives the station's news and NBC programming reach far beyond the Phoenix metropolitan area, serving viewers in mountain and rural communities.

The translators are essential infrastructure in Arizona's rugged terrain, where mountain ranges block direct reception of the South Mountain signal.

Technical operations

KPNX broadcasts on digital UHF channel 18, displayed as virtual channel 12, with an effective radiated power of 1,000 kW from its South Mountain transmitter. The station's subchannels carry additional programming services.

The station completed the digital television transition in 2009, ending analog programming on VHF channel 12 after 56 years.

Digital presence

KPNX's digital home is 12news.com, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and comprehensive coverage of Arizona news, weather, and sports. The station maintains mobile apps and active social media accounts under the 12News brand.

As part of Tegna, now a Nexstar subsidiary, the station's digital operations are integrated with the company's digital media platforms, extending its journalism to streaming and mobile audiences. Its official website is https://www.12news.com.

Four call signs

Channel 12 first opened in 1953 as KTYL-TV, an NBC affiliate with a secondary DuMont affiliation. In 1955, the station changed its call letters to KVAR, then in 1959 to KTAR-TV, which pioneered Phoenix's "happy talk" news format when it reformatted its newscasts as Action News in late 1973, with longtime anchor Ray Thompson paired alongside Bob Hughes, weatherman Dewey Hopper, and sportscaster Ted Brown; the moniker was dropped in 1986. Combined Communications merged with Gannett in 1979 in what was at the time the biggest media merger in U.S. history. Gannett opted to keep channel 12 and sell off the radio station, and KTAR-TV renamed itself KPNX on June 4, 1979, since the radio properties had held the KTAR call letters first. In 2000, Gannett merged with Central Newspapers, owner of The Arizona Republic, receiving a "permanent" waiver of the FCC's newspaper-television cross-ownership rules; the station and newspaper continue to operate in the same building as separate entities.

The station that never switched

In 1994, KPNX was the only station unaffected by a major realignment of network affiliations in the Phoenix market, in which KPHO, KTVK, KSAZ-TV, and KNXV all swapped affiliations. This status, and the strength of NBC in the late 1990s, catalyzed a decade of ratings success for channel 12, which put together nearly 50 consecutive ratings book wins at 10 p.m. from 1996 to 2007. It was the first station in Arizona to convert its news production to high definition in 2006. The station is the only major English-language commercial television station in Phoenix to have never changed its primary network affiliation. Channel 12 began using a helicopter in 1978, the market's second, piloted by Jerry Foster, who received a Harmon Trophy in 1981; on March 1, 2009, it began sharing a news helicopter with KPHO-TV and KTVK, named "News Chopper 20" for the three stations' channel numbers, after a mid-air collision between KTVK and KNXV-TV's helicopters. Karl Eller, who owned the company that became Combined Communications, was one of the original founding owners of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, and channel 12 carried Suns games from the team's 1968 inception until 1973 and again from 1979 to 1985. The station also operates a full-time satellite, KNAZ-TV channel 2 in Flagstaff. On August 15, 2026, KPNX began producing 12News on CW7 Arizona, a 9 p.m. newscast airing on KAZT, extending its news brand to The CW affiliate's primetime lineup.

KPNX is licensed to Mesa, Arizona, and its studios and offices serve the Phoenix market as the city's NBC affiliate. The station's 12News brand is one of the most recognized local news brands in Arizona, built over decades of ratings leadership.

The station was retained by the broadcasting company that took the name Tegna after Gannett's 2015 split of its publishing and broadcasting interests.