KSAT-TV

• 1. Origins And Licensing Battle

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  The Federal Communications Commission granted a license to Mission Telecasting Company on the 12th of May 1956. This decision ended years of regulatory competition between two groups vying for channel 12 in San Antonio. Sunshine Broadcasting Company had withdrawn its application earlier that year. Walmac Corporation owners of KMAC radio filed an application in January 1954. They hoped to avoid long hearings by meeting with Mission officials in May 1954. An FCC examiner favored Mission's application the previous year. The final oral arguments took place before the commission on the 12th of March 1956. Eugene J. Roth served as principal owner of Mission Broadcasting Company and held fifty percent ownership in Mission Telecasting Company. Seven other individuals split the remaining half of the company. Mission officials constructed a new studio building and tower on North St. Mary's Street adjacent to existing KONO radio studios. The station did not begin regular testing until the evening of the 14th of January 1957. It officially came on air on the 21st of January 1957 as KONO-TV. Assistant station manager Jack Roth noted viewers from Corpus Christi Austin Kerrville Boerne and Camp Wood received the test pattern. The first program broadcast was the inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower beginning at ten a.m.

• 2. Ownership Transitions And Branding

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  Mission announced on the 31st of July 1967 that it sold channel 12 to Providence Rhode Island based The Outlet Company for ten point five million dollars. Eugene Roth stated the sale occurred due to increasing costs needed to keep pace with the rapidly growing television industry. Outlet took control of the station in January 1968. They changed call letters to KSAT-TV on February 1. This change resulted from an FCC regulation preventing stations without co-ownership from sharing base call signs. Outlet went private in 1986 when its new owners sold KSAT to H&C Communications. KSAT nearly lost its ABC affiliation to KENS in 1990. Management at KENS discussed switching their station to ABC citing poor CBS programming performance. Both stations signed new agreements in August 1990. A planned sale to Young Broadcasting in 1992 failed because Young could not obtain financing. On the 22nd of April 1994 H&C sold KSAT and Houston sister station KPRC-TV to The Washington Post Company. Post-Newsweek Stations placed both properties within its subsidiary. In 2004 the station briefly rebranded as Local 12 before reverting to KSAT 12. The logo bug during newscasts cycles between the call letters and the word Local.

• 3. Studio Relocation And Infrastructure

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  KSAT relocated from its longtime St. Mary's Street studios in March 2014. The move brought operations into a new two-story facility built where part of the parking lot once stood. The building houses a large newsroom numerous offices meeting spaces and a convenience store style breakroom for staff. A courtyard with outdoor seating includes a grill and garden area. Demolition began on the former studio building shortly after relocation. By May 2014 that space transformed into a new parking lot for employees and news vehicles. The transmitter remains located off US Highway 181 in northwest Wilson County northeast of Elmendorf. Channel 12 ended regular programming on its analog signal over VHF channel 12 on the 12th of June 2009. This date marked when full power television stations transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The digital signal relocated from pre-transition UHF channel 48 to VHF channel 12 for post-transition operations. On the 6th of May 2024 KSAT converted from an ATSC 1.0 signal to ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV broadcasting. Its subchannels moved to other broadcasters for simulcasting while KSAT became the lighthouse host for transmission of KENS KLRN KWEX-DT and KVDA.

• 4. Newsroom Innovations And Expansion

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  Weeknight co-anchor Leslie Mouton was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. She decided to anchor evening newscasts without a wig during chemotherapy treatments that caused her hair loss. Mouton chronicled her treatment and recovery on KSAT earning accolades from local oncologists and cancer patients. She recounted her battle in a 2004 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show which aired on KSAT at the time. Clips showed her first anchoring appearance after losing her hair including her explanation of what she was going through. KSAT became the second station in San Antonio to broadcast local newscasts in high definition on the 5th of February 2009. Prior to this upgrade only in-studio cameras recorded in HD while video downconverted to widescreen standard definition. Field cameras remained in standard definition and upconverted to 16:9 widescreen format in the control room. On the 26th of May 2011 KSAT debuted First News At Four at four p.m. This program replaced The Oprah Winfrey Show which ended its syndication run on the 25th of May 2011. First News At Four ran until the 5th of September 2014. On the 12th of September 2011 KSAT expanded its ten p.m. newscast to one hour making it one of few Big Three affiliates airing an hour long late evening show.

• 5. The Michelle Lima Tragedy

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  Tragedy struck the station on the 26th of March 1999 when anchor reporter and rising star Michelle Lima died during a live report. She was killed while reporting from the scene of a search for a nine year old boy. As she helped pack up equipment for a future assignment a truck hit her on a dark rural frontage road in southern Bexar County. Lima was airlifted to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead two days later. She was thirty years old. The incident became known as the Michelle Lima Tragedy within the broadcasting industry. It highlighted the dangers faced by field reporters covering breaking news stories. The station responded to this loss with internal support measures for staff members. No other specific details about the aftermath appear in available records regarding immediate policy changes or memorial services held at that time.

• 6. Local Programming And Sports Rights

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  KSAT airs select San Antonio Spurs games through the network's contract with the NBA. The station aired four of the team's five NBA Finals victories in 2003 2005 2007 and 2014. They also covered the team's 2013 NBA Finals appearance. KSAT produces a one hour lifestyle and variety show called SA Live weekdays at ten a.m. In addition the station produced Instant Replay an hour long sports highlight and discussion program airing Sundays at eleven p.m. until cancellation in March 2025. The 2000 comedy film Miss Congeniality used KSAT live trucks and microphones with mic flags in a fictional sense. None of KSAT actual staff appeared during the film instead using actors playing a reporter and photographer. A scene showed FBI agent Gracie Hart played by Sandra Bullock being interviewed at The Alamo. On the 6th of May 2024 KSAT converted from ATSC 1.0 signal to ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV broadcasting. Its subchannels moved to other broadcasters for simulcasting while KSAT became the lighthouse host for transmission of KENS KLRN KWEX-DT and KVDA.