KING-TV, virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 25), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States and also serving Tacoma. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., as part of a duopoly with Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). The two stations share studios at the Home Plate Center in the SoDo district of Seattle; KING-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Queen Anne neighborhood History Channel 5 first took to the air as KRSC-TV on November 25, 1948, becoming the first television station in the Pacific Northwest. The station was originally owned by Palmer K. Leberman's Radio Sales Corporation, which also operated KRSC radio (1150 AM, now KKNW, and FM 98.1, now KING-FM).[2] The first broadcast on channel 5 was a live remote of a Thanksgiving Day high school football game – the telecast was plagued with technical difficulties, but local viewers reported being impressed nonetheless.[3][4] Channel 5 was originally a primary CBS affiliate,[5] and carried secondary affiliations with NBC, ABC and DuMont.[6] Eight months after the television station debuted, KRSC-TV and KRSC-FM were purchased by King Broadcasting Company, owners of KING radio (1090 AM, now KFNQ) and the original KING-FM (94.9, frequency now occupied by KUOW-FM), for $375,000 in May 1949.[7] The station changed its callsign to KING-TV to match its radio sisters[8] (according to legend, King Broadcasting president Dorothy Bullitt purchased the KING call letters while on a fishing boat).[citation needed] For many years, the stations' logo was "King Mike", an anthropomorphized microphone in ermine robes and a crown, drawn by cartoonist Walt Disney[9][10][11] (Portland, Oregon sister stations KGW-AM-FM-TV used a similar logo, called "Pioneer Mike";[citation needed] the King Mike logo was later brought back for KING's 50th anniversary in 1998 and still appears in promotional announcements to this day). Once the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-imposed freeze on television station license awards ended in 1952, KING-TV lost its monopoly in the market. During 1953, the Seattle–Tacoma area received three new stations: KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW) debuted in March as the market's CBS outlet; while NBC went to KMO-TV (channel 13, now KCPQ), which signed on in August. NBC moved a few months later to KOMO-TV (channel 4), which went on the air in December. By the end of the year, KING-TV was left with poor-performing ABC and DuMont, the latter of which ceased operations in 1956. Subsequently, Bullitt lobbied NBC for a group affiliation for her stations, and in October 1958, KING-TV and KGW-TV in Portland began carrying NBC programming.[12] In Seattle, channel 5 shared NBC and ABC with KOMO-TV for most of the 1958–59 television season. On September 27, 1959, KING-TV became an exclusive NBC station and KOMO-TV affiliated with ABC full-time. KING-TV is one of a few handful of stations in the country to have held a primary affiliation with all of the "Big Three" networks.[13][14][15] Dissatisfied with Stimson Bullitt's management style, Dorothy Bullitt, and Mr. Bullitt's sisters, arranged for his voluntary resignation from King Broadcasting in 1972.[citation needed] Stimson sold his company shares to his sisters, Harriet and Patsy. He then received control of the family's real estate interests. Ancil Payne, who had served as general manager of the company's Portland stations since 1965, became president and CEO. By the 1970s and 1980s, KING-TV was the flagship of a growing regional media empire which at various times included ventures in publishing, the film industry, cable television systems (under the name of King Videocable, the assets of which have by now been absorbed into Comcast) and even various timber assets in the Far East.[citation needed] Locally produced programs that debuted on the station during the 1970s and 1980s included Seattle Today/Good Company, a mid-morning talk show hosted by Cliff Lenz and Shirley Hudson and later by Susan Michaels and Colby Chester; Seattle Tonight, Tonite!, hosted by Ross McGowan and later Dick Klinger; Almost Live!, originally a Sunday night talk and comedy show hosted by Ross Shafer, that later became an ensemble sketch comedy show (that eventually moved to Saturday nights) after Shafer left to become host of The Late Show on Fox; and a local Evening Magazine franchise, first hosted by Penny LeGate and Brian Tracey. Of these, only Evening Magazine (now entitled simply Evening) exists today. How Come?, a half-hour early Sunday evening family television program hosted by Al Wallace, won several awards during its run during the 1970s and early 1980s. The show covered topics on how things were made or done in the world. Dick Klinger hosted the show after Al Wallace died. King Broadcasting's stations included KGW radio and television in Portland, KREM-TV in Spokane, KTVB-TV in Boise, KHNL-TV and KFVE in Honolulu and KYA/KOIT radio in San Francisco. Long-time station-owner Dorothy Bullitt died in June 1989. Dorothy Bullitt's daughters Harriet Bullitt and Priscilla "Patsy" Bullitt Collins decided to sell the King assets in 1992—eventually selling King Broadcasting (including KING, KREM, KGW, KTVB, KHNL/KFVE and the cable provider assets) to The Providence Journal Company. KING-TV and other King Broadcasting stations later became Belo properties as a result of that company's merger with The Providence Journal Company in 1997.[16] As a result, Belo was forced to divest KIRO-TV to Cox Enterprises in order to keep the higher rated KING-TV. Bonneville International Corporation purchased KING-AM in 1994. During the 1990s, Almost Live!, as it became a pure comedy show, launched the careers of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Joel McHale (of The Soup fame) nationally and locally, Pat Cashman and John Keister (who replaced Ross Shafer as host of that show in 1988). KING-TV was also the home for Watch This!, a fast-paced Emmy Award-winning show aimed at children and teenagers;[citation needed] the show lasted five years and was hosted by local anchors, Jim Dever and Mimi Gan. On December 18, 1995, King Broadcasting launched Northwest Cable News (NWCN), which was a 24-hour regional cable news channel available primarily to cable providers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho with lesser cable coverage in Alaska, Montana and California. Almost Live! ended after 15 years in 1999.
| Types | Organization |
| Start date | 1948 |