The KOA-TV (later changed call to KCNC-TV) antenna is NGS Benchmark KK1854 GOLDEN KOA TV TOWER. The antenna is the only benchmark tower in the mountain. See: (
visit link)
"KK1854 STATION DESCRIPTION
KK1854
KK1854''DESCRIBED BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 1978 (LHW)
KK1854''THE GOLDEN KOA TELEVISION TOWER IS LOCATED ON LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN,
KK1854''ABOUT 1 MILE SOUTH OF GOLDEN, THE TALLEST OF 5 MASTS AND TOWERS
KK1854''ON THE MOUNTAIN.
KK1854''
KK1854''THE STATION IS THE RED LIGHT AT THE APEX OF THE 750 FOOT, RED
KK1854''AND WHITE SINGLE COLUMN STRUCTURE."
KOA-AM is one of the earliest broadcast stations in the American west. It was assigned the 850 kHz clear-channel frequency in thw 1930s, and at night can be heard in three countries: The US, Canada, and Mexico.
From Wikipedia: (
visit link)
KOA (850 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado. . . KOA is a Class A clear-channel station, broadcasting at 50,000 watts non-directional, the maximum power permitted by the Federal Communications Commission for AM stations. By day, the station is easily heard around Eastern Colorado, including cities such as Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Fort Collins. With a good radio at night, the signal can be heard over the Central and Western United States, and parts of Canada and Mexico. KOA is nicknamed "the Blowtorch of the West"."
When television came to Colorado, KOA got into the business with KOA-TV, Channel 4. The call letters were changed from KOA to KCNC (Colorado News Channel) in 1984.
From the KCNC website: (
visit link)
"June 1952 – Metropolitan TV Company bought KOA Radio from NBC. This company was partially owned by Bob Hope and former Denver Mayor Quigg Newton.
September 1953 – KOA was granted the right to Channel 4 on the dial. KOA-TV went on the air December 24, 1953.
June 5, 1968 – The Federal Communications Commission approved sale of KOA-TV and KOA-AM and FM to a subsidiary of General Electric Company who took over in August of 1968.
June 1984 – GE sold all of its media properties except KOA-TV, and KOA Radio personnel moved out of the building. Radio got to keep KOA call letters, so the television station changed to call letters KCNC, which stand for “Colorado’s News Channel.” GE later merged with RCA, owner of NBC. KCNC became one of NBC’s “owned and operated” stations.
September 1995 – Group W Westinghouse ended up with 2 stations in Philadelphia, the CBS and the NBC affiliates. NBC wanted to buy their affiliate for cash, but Group W wanted to trade for TV stations, one of which was Denver. So, on Saturday night, Sept. 9, 1995, at midnight, KCNC-TV was sold and became a CBS affiliate. Meanwhile KMGH switched from CBS to ABC, and KUSA switched from ABC to NBC. Since Westinghouse and CBS merged in 1995 to become the CBS Corporation, we once again became a network “Owned and Operated” station, this time for CBS.
September 1998 – the NFL returned to CBS, bringing the Broncos home to KCNC.
In 2000, CBS became part of Viacom (which had started as a spin-off of CBS in 1971), forming the #2 communications company. However, at the end of 2005, it split itself in two with CBS becoming the CBS Corporation, which included the CBS Network and owned TV stations, CBS Radio (owner of 3 stations in Denver, the syndicated companies of Paramount and Kingworld, Viacom Outdoor (renamed CBS Outdoor), Showtime, and Simon & Schuster. Viacom, keeping the original name, retained the Paramount movie portion plus the cable networks. Both CBS Corporation and the new Viacom are still owned by National Amusements (Sumner Redstone’s company).
September 2003 – KCNC-TV announced that it was changing from KCNC-TV to CBS4.
Summer 2004 – KCNC once again became the “Broncos Station” and started carrying preseason football and Preview/Coaches shows.
Dec. 22, 2006 – Public Law 109-466 is approved by the US Congress permitting the start of construction of the HDTV tower on Lookout Mountain by the Lake Cedar Group (which includes KCNC).
Jan. 15, 2007 Construction begins 10 years after discussions began.
2007 KCNC is featured in the 2007 films “Blades of Glory” and “Resurrecting the Champ.”
May 2008 KCNC begins transmitting from Lookout in HDTV on Channel 35 KCNC-DT. We had been transmitting the channel previously from the top of the Republic Plaza Building downtown.
June 12, 2009 At midnight, KCNC analog channel stops carrying regular programming. We are one of the 2 Denver “Nightlight” stations who carries digital conversion information on the analog channel for another 30 days. Then on July 12 at noon, we turn off our analog channel entirely.
July 16, 2009 At 10 a.m., after six months of design and planning and nearly four months of construction, KCNC makes the cutover to the new digital Air Ops. The new Air Ops switching equipment replaces the analog automation system that has been in place since 1996. It takes several more months to complete the build-out as we add the ability to air HD commercials, HD promo spots, HD weather cut-in segments, and other new digital features. We plan to be the first Denver station to carry an entire newscast in HD, field and studio.
by Wendy Holmes, CBS4 Program Director"