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KOZL-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Osage Beach–licensed Fox affiliate KRBK (channel 49); Nexstar also provides certain services to CBS affiliate KOLR (channel 10) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission Broadcasting. The stations share studios on East Division Street in Springfield; KOZL-TV's transmitter is located on Switchgrass Road, north of Fordland.
The Midland Television Corporation, a group of Springfield businessmen led by Ken Meyer, built the station at KMTC in 1968. It was Springfield's ABC affiliate but languished in local news ratings, trailing the established KOLR and KYTV. In 1985, Charles Woods bought the station and renamed it KDEB-TV after his daughter Deborah, who became station manager. When Woods bought the station, it was in the middle of a fight for its affiliation with the recently built KGHZ (channel 33), which successfully obtained the ABC affiliation in 1986. Woods contested the action and sued ABC; even though he obtained a favorable jury verdict, a federal judge overturned it. KDEB instead became a Fox affiliate in 1987 and became more competitive with improved network programming.
The station was sold three times in the 1990s; the third owner, Quorum Broadcasting, entered into the first version of the LMA with KOLR in 1999. Under common operation with KOLR, KDEB introduced a 9 p.m. local newscast, and KOLR helped KDEB recover from the November 2001 collapse of its tower, leaving it at reduced power for nearly two months. Nexstar acquired KDEB-TV in 2003; the station changed to KSFX-TV in 2005. When Nexstar and Fox entered into a dispute over terms of their affiliation agreement in 2011, Fox moved its affiliation to KRBK, leaving channel 27 to become an independent station as KOZL-TV.
KMTC began broadcasting on September 29, 1968, as an ABC affiliate. Even when the network rose to number-one in the ratings in the late 1970s, KMTC placed third in overall market ratings. This was because it struggled to serve the same market area as Springfield's established VHF stations, KYTV (channel 3) and KOLR (channel 10). These stations reached 90 percent or more of regional homes, while KMTC performed better in the area it reached, the Springfield metro. Even where viewers had the capability to receive UHF stations, their UHF tuners—never before used—often did not work, Meyer later recalled. Similarly, KMTC's newscasts traditionally had audience shares far behind its competitors. In November 1976, KMTC's news had an 8 percent share at 10 p.m., trailing KOLR's 24 percent share and KYTV's 56 percent. Meyer filed to acquire controlling interest in KMTC in 1977.
News ratings continued to be low in the early 1980s, so low that Springfield's new independent station, KGHZ (channel 33)—which began in March 1983—outrated KMTC in the May 1985 sweeps period at 10 p.m.
The deal included the affiliation contract with ABC, a three-year pact that expired July 3, 1986. Woods told the media at a news conference when he assumed control, "They should send us the normal notice a few months ahead of time. Cancellation of a network affiliation is almost unheard of." However, ABC was also entertaining a proposal from KSPR for the affiliation and invited KDEB to pitch the network on why it should not change stations. On April 3, 1986, ABC announced it was switching its affiliation in Springfield to KSPR by the end of the year. The news stunned Corbett and former owner Ken Meyer. ABC senior vice president of affiliate relations George Newi commented, "We feel strongly that the resources and management that KSPR Lorimar-Telepictures has brought to KSPR will be more beneficial to the long-term growth and success of the ABC Television Network." As a result of losing the network affiliation, KDEB disbanded its news department on July 25. The change occurred on October 5, though KDEB had already dropped some ABC programs, which KSPR began airing.
In response, Woods sued Lorimar-Telepictures seeking $109 million in damages, claiming that KSPR had overrepresented its improvements and financial capacity to the network while misrepresenting KSPR's finances and management, and sued Capital Cities/ABC for the same amount, claiming that ABC had represented its decision would be based on improvements in ratings and facilities, not the financial wherewithal of ownership. The Capital Cities/ABC case proceeded to a jury trial in 1988. The jury granted Woods $3.5 million in damages—far less than the firm had been seeking. A month later, federal judge Russell Gentry Clark overturned the verdict, finding that the jury had erred in its decision and that the evidence so strongly favored ABC that the judgment should favor it.
On February 18, 1999, Quorum Broadcasting entered into a joint sales and shared services agreements with KOLR, owned by VHR Broadcasting, to pool personnel, advertising sales, production, and promotions and operations. KDEB moved into the KOLR studios on Division Street and gained the resources necessary to start airing a 9 p.m. local newscast. Coming into the agreement, KOLR was recognized as stronger in programming and KDEB in sales.
KDEB's tower at Fordland collapsed on November 30, 2001, in the wake of an ice storm. The collapse came two months before Fox was to telecast Super Bowl XXXVI, which became a priority deadline for the station to restore as much service as possible. Cable subscribers in Springfield continued to receive a feed of KDEB, but subscribers to cable companies in other areas or satellite television were left without its signal. A temporary transmitter on KOLR's tower was used to broadcast the station at low power. In January 2002, a new permanent antenna was mounted on KOLR's tower. On January 26, the station resumed full-power telecasting, ahead of schedule and in time for the NFC Championship Game.
In 2003, VHR Broadcasting sold KOLR to Mission Broadcasting; at the same time, Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired KDEB. KDEB-TV changed its call sign to KSFX-TV on January 18, 2005, when it began branding as "Ozarks Fox". The station began digital-only telecasting alongside KOLR in April 2009.
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