KONG (TV)
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. 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 went on the air in 1997, relying heavily on classic TV series for its programming. 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 Sonics, 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.
History
Early permit history
In 1981, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated four applications for comparative hearing, all seeking the channel 16 allocation at Everett, from Oak Television of Everett; Unity Broadcasting Company of Washington State; Greater Everett Telecasters; and Channel 16, Inc. The designation followed a year of applications. At one point, FNI Communications—a subsidiary of First Northwest Industries, owner of the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team—applied. Channel 16, Inc., was part-owned by Jon Marple, owner of Everett radio station KRKO. Unity, a San Francisco–based group with almost entirely minority stockholders, was selected by administrative law judge Joseph Chachkin in November 1982 on account of its lack of other broadcast ownership and strongest integration of ownership and management.
Unity selected KONG as its proposed call sign. This triggered opposition from Seattle's KING-TV and its owner, King Broadcasting, which believed that the two stations could cause confusion; KONG hoped that the original 1933 film King Kong could be its first program and planned to operate as an independent station with sports, movies, and reruns, from a main studio near Paine Field. Instead, KONG found itself bogged down for years in tower siting problems. It applied to the FCC to build a 300-foot (91 m) tower on Cougar Mountain, near Issaquah. The mast would be used by KRAB, which owned the land, and two other FM radio stations. Residents near the mountain protested, fearing that electromagnetic radiation could affect their health. King County initially required a more in-depth environmental review, but it received approval in April 1985. For years, KONG promised it would be on the air, but continued appeals of the tower siting decision and delays in securing financing held the station back. During this time, the Home Shopping Network looked at buying the unbuilt KONG.
The originally planned KONG never materialized. In 1989, a public auction was held for station equipment and supplies, which included a satellite dish and receiving equipment. The permit was sold to Zeus Corporation of Washington, owned by Walter Ulloa and Paul Zevnik, for $300,000.
Under KING-TV management
In August 1996, KING reached an agreement to program KONG under a local marketing agreement, with an option to buy if the FCC permitted duopoly ownership. It began broadcasting July 7, 1997. KONG's programming relied heavily on classic TV series of the 1950s through 1980s with a "campy", irreverent approach to presentation and imaging; a large KONG Gong served as a promotional device. Also present on the original schedule were programs from two cable services owned, like KING-TV, by the Belo Corporation: Northwest Cable News and Food Network. Nancy Guppy, a cast member on KING-TV's comedy show Almost Live!, doubled as a host appearing between shows. When the FCC permitted duopolies in November 1999, Belo bought KONG from Zeus.
KONG launched a digital signal on February 1, 2002, and shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009. The digital signal on channel 31 continued to broadcast. KONG was one of two ATSC-M/H Mobile DTV model stations in Seattle alongside KOMO-TV.
Belo, including KING-TV and KONG, was acquired by the Gannett Company in 2013. Gannett split its print and broadcast operations into separate companies, the latter named Tegna, in 2015. KING and KONG moved their operations from the longtime KING studios on Dexter Avenue to Home Plate Center in 2016.
Local programming
Newscasts
KONG began airing local newscasts on February 1, 1999, with the debut of the half-hour KING 5 News at 10, originally anchored by Lori Matsukawa. The newscast, postponed from a late 1998 start when the news director resigned, brought Seattle back to having competing newscasts in the time period (opposite KCPQ) after KSTW folded its news department months prior. Originally a weeknight-only newscast, it expanded to seven nights a week in January 2001; a 7 p.m. newscast was dropped because of sports preemptions.
In 2004, KONG launched a morning show, originally named Seattle Live, to compete with KCPQ. On September 9, 2013, KONG added a weeknight 9 p.m. newscast from KING.
Sports
Seattle SuperSonics basketball games began airing in 1999, and KONG became the primary local television broadcaster for the team over the next two seasons, with 36 games in 1999–2000 and the entire 56-game local TV slate starting in 2000-2001. In 2000, the expansion Seattle Storm of the WNBA began airing a package of local telecasts on KONG. The SuperSonics and Storm departed for FSN Northwest in 2004, when the NBA team opted to move all its games to cable and get out of the production business. In 2009–2010, after the SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City, KONG and one of KING-TV's subchannels aired a package of Portland Trail Blazers basketball games.
KING and KONG were the first broadcast partner for Seattle Sounders FC when the club debuted in Major League Soccer in 2009. The stations lost the rights to KCPQ and KZJO in 2014.
In 2017, after KIRO-TV discontinued its 31-year-old tradition of full-day coverage of the H1 Unlimited Seafair Cup, full-day coverage of the races moved to KONG the next year in association with SWX Right Now.
KONG returned to major league sports broadcasts by way of two deals announced in April 2024. One deal made KONG the home of Seattle Reign FC women's soccer, with a local TV schedule of 11 matches. The second made KONG the home of all non-nationally televised Seattle Kraken hockey games starting in the 2024–25 season, replacing Root Sports Northwest. The games will also stream on Amazon Prime Video.
In addition to live sports, KONG airs a weekly show, Seahawks Central, as part of KING-TV's rights deal for Seattle Seahawks preseason games and coverage. The show debuted in 2022 as the rights moved back to KING from KCPQ.
Technical information
Subchannels
KONG is one of two ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) stations in the Seattle area, having switched to 3.0 transmission on December 15, 2020. The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on the multiplexed signals of other Seattle television stations:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ATSC 1.0 host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KONG-HD | Independent | KING-TV |
| 16.2 | 480i | TCN | True Crime Network | KZJO | |
| 16.3 | Quest | Quest | KCPQ |
In return, KONG's ATSC 3.0 signal broadcasts KING as well as KCPQ and KZJO:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | 1080p | 16:9 | KING-TV | NBC (KING-TV) 
|
| 13.1 | 720p | KCPQ | Fox (KCPQ) | |
| 16.1 | 1080p | KONG | Independent (KONG)
| |
| 22.1 | 720p | KZJO | MyNetworkTV (KZJO) |
See also
- Channel 6 branded TV stations in the United States
- Channel 16 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Channel 31 digital TV stations in the United States