KQFX-LD is the successor to three different low-power TV stations, two in Columbia and one in Jefferson City, the oldest of which began broadcasting in 1990. Benedek Broadcasting brought the Fox network to Mid-Missouri in 1997 by acquiring two of them and running them alongside KMIZ. The third was acquired in 2003 and is the current license on which the station has operated since the digital television transition in 2009. KQFX offers morning and late newscasts produced by KMIZ.
History
K02NQ "KONQ"
In 1989, Ray Karpowicz, the general manager of WEVU and W07BR "WBR" in Naples, Florida, and a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, obtained a permit from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a new low-power TV station on channel 2 in Columbia—K02NQ, typically styled "KONQ". The transmitter for channel 2 was atop downtown Columbia's Tiger Hotel.[2] The station began broadcasting on June 4, 1990. It featured syndicated shows and movies and rebroadcasts of KOMU-TV's local programming and newscasts, as well as programming from the National College Television network, which distributed student-produced shows.[3] By August 1991, it had dropped most of that programming for Channel America. At that time, Karpowicz held a construction permit for another low-power station in Jefferson City.[4]
In 1997, Karpowicz sold K02NQ and K11TB in Jefferson City to Benedek Broadcasting, the owners of Columbia ABC affiliate KMIZ (channel 17).[5] The stations were relaunched as Mid-Missouri's first in-market and full-time Fox affiliate, carried on cable channel 11.[6][7] Part-time Fox programming was previously seen as a secondary affiliation on CBS station KRCG-TV (until 1996), while full-time programming from Fox can be seen at the time on cable via neighboring sandwiched stations or Foxnet, but many cable systems in the Mid-Missouri region continued to show full-time Fox programming from other markets (Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis) due to the station's low-power signal.[8]
K11SN "KXI"
In October 1990, Tom Koenig put K11SN, styled "KXI-TV", on the air after it first broadcast the month before.[9] Koenig's father, Richard, had built channel 17 as KCBJ-TV in 1971; he had applied for the low-power channel in 1981, envisioning a station that promoted KCBJ's news product.[4] It was promoted as an affiliate of the short-lived Star Television Network.[10] Channel 11 was affiliated with All News Channel, The Learning Channel, Country Music Television, and Movie Greats Network; it offered local programming shot on Super VHS cameras as well as a simulcast of the morning talk show of local radio station KFRU.[4]
Koenig died in February 2000.[11] Three years later, Tom sold K11SN to JW Broadcasting, the new owners of KMIZ.[12] JW added a 9 p.m. local newscast from KMIZ to "Fox 11", now also known as KQFX, in 2003.[13]
Due to the start of digital operations by KRCG-TV, JW Broadcasting applied to move K11TB and K11SN to new channels—38 and 32, respectively. It built a new tower in Ashland, Missouri, for channel 38, which became the main Fox signal.[14] the addition of a 9 p.m. local newscast on KQFX in 2003; and the launch of two new services, UPN-affiliated "KZOU" (which appeared on channel 32, renamed KZOU-LP) and the Show Me Weather Channel, available on cable and from KMIZ's new digital transmitter.[15]
On June 14, 2009, two days after the digital television transition for full-power stations, KQFX moved from channel 38 to digital operations on channel 22 on the former K11SN/KZOU-LP license and became "Fox 22". KMIZ had been using channel 22 for pre-transition digital operations.[16]
In 2012, JW Broadcasting sold KMIZ and KQFX-LD to the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) for $16 million.[17][18] NPG lengthened the weeknight prime time newscast on KQFX from 30 to 60 minutes in 2013.[19]
^Rose, Forrest (December 2, 1989). "New non-cable TV station planned". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. p. 10. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abcIsrael, Benjamin (August 29, 1991). "Columbia's Other TV Stations". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. p. Scene 13. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Notice". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. April 16, 1997. p. 5B. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Schuckman, Matt (August 29, 1997). "Fox station a boon for sports fans". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. p. 1B. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Boonville takes boom to the bank". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. August 28, 1997. p. 6B. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Action Line". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, Missouri. September 17, 1990. p. 12. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"The Amazing Result of Scientific Study!". Columbia Daily Tribune (Advertisement). Columbia, Missouri. October 1, 1990. p. 12. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
