KODE-TV


KODE-TV is a television station licensed to Joplin, Missouri, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Joplin, Missouri–Pittsburg, Kansas television market. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements with Nexstar Media Group, owner of NBC affiliate KSNF, for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on South Cleveland Avenue in Joplin, where KODE-TV's transmitter is also located.
WWW Official Site

History

The station began broadcasting on September 26, 1954, as KSWM-TV and was a primary CBS affiliate, but shared ABC with then-NBC affiliate KOAM-TV. It was locally founded by Austin Harrison who also owned radio station KSWM. It originally operated from studios and transmitter located on West 13th Street in Joplin. Harrison sold his stations to Friendly Broadcasting, owners of WSTV in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1956. In 1957, the call letters were changed to KODE-AM-TV. Friendly then sold both KODE and WRGP in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Massachusetts-based United Printers & Publishers in 1961. Gilmore Broadcasting of Kalamazoo, Michigan, bought the KODE stations in 1962.
KODE became a sole ABC affiliate on January 1, 1968, and three days later KUHI-TV started and took over the CBS affiliation.
On March 15, 1970, KODE weatherman Lee George would make a major blunder on his daily forecast, where a prediction of light flurries for the next day instead turned into a snowstorm, with over falling at the official measuring station at Joplin Regional Airport and across portions of the Ozarks, with the station receiving viewer criticism to the point local police had to escort George to the station due to death threats. George swore to never use the word 'flurries' in another forecast, and future snowstorms in the area have been derisively known as 'Lee George flurries'.
KODE was acquired by Mission Broadcasting in 2002. Subsequently, KODE then entered into a shared services agreement with Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns NBC affiliate KSNF. The same year, it was announced KSNF and KODE would merge, with KSN's studios expanded to accommodate the combined operation.
On May 8, 2009, a powerful storm system slammed Joplin, knocking out power to KODE and knocking down the tower of sister station KSNF. KODE-TV returned to the air early on the morning of May 9, while KSNF did not return to the air until June 17. Both stations moved to a rebuilt KSNF building in April 2010 making it the next-to-last Nexstar duopoly to do so.
On December 19, 2012, KODE began broadcasting its local newscasts in High Definition.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV, including KODE-TV and KSNF. Ion Television was added to KODE-TV's subchannel map several years later.

News operation

KODE-TV presently broadcasts 17 hours of local newscasts each week.

Notable former on-air staff

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:
ChannelRes.AspectShort nameProgramming
12.1720p16:9KODE-DTABC
12.2480i16:9GritGrit
12.3480i16:9BounceBounce TV
12.4480i4:3IONIon Television