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Station won’t be seen on-air or cable after Dec. 4BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUXSUN STAFF WRITERThe Yuma television market has grown up, so a station from a neighboring market that’has been seen here for 12 years is moving out.KAZT-TV, also known as AZ-TV, will cease delivering programming here Dec. 4 by leaving the Time-Warner Cable system and turning off its over-the-air translator on Telegraph Pass. The channel is currently available on Channel 19 both over the air and on cable.Station manager Rich Howe said growth in the Yuma area has filled the niche the station once served. As a wmmmmmmmrnmresult, some of the KAZT pro- T||_gramming is regularly blacked TWCout because the same shows are being aired by stations in the *,s0local market. known as AZ-TV will“It was easier to bow out,” he cease broadcastingsa’l , , , ,, in the Yuma marketThe channel shows old movies, vintage sitcoms, local Ari- Dec. 4. The station,zona programming and sports, which is based inIn recent years, it has begun to prescott but servesshow nationally syndicated pro- D. . .grams, such as “Frasier,” Khoenut'hasbeenGeorge Lopez” and According on Channel 19 bothto Jim.” Because these syndi- on the cablecated programs are already package and overshown on local stations, specifi- . . cally on Fox 9 for Yuma and El the air since 1994.Centro, they get blacked out on Channel 19. HHowe said that when KAZT. which is based in Prescott but serves the Phoenix area, entered the Yuma market in 1994, it offered content that wasn’t provided by other stations, including Arizona State University and University of Arizonaf programming.Some of that content has moved to other stations and as KAZT-TV has moved toward more syndicated content, the blackouts have increased.Howe said the station did not mind the blackouts on cable because they did not have to do that much to keep them off the air; the cable system simply ensures that they do not get broadcast. But the over-the-air channel was a different story because someone must actually drive up to the Telegraph Pass site.It’s expensive to block out an over-the-air transmitter,” he said.KAZT has received some inquiries about leasing the transmitter, according to Howe, but there is no definite buyer or offer at this time. The station doesn’t receive the Yuma Nielsen ratings because it is not in the local market, but Howe said there has always been a small but loyalviewership»Howe said the station enjoyed its time serving the Yuma market and said with changing times and growth in the number of stations here, it was simply time to move on. We enjoyed being there, but our model has changed.”Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreauxfffyumasun539-6888.
Newspaper Details
Yuma Sun
Yuma, Arizona, US
Mon, Nov 13, 2006
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 13 Apr 2021
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