KOSA-TV

KOSA-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Odessa, Texas, and serving the Odessa–Midland television market and the wider Permian Basin. The station operates as a CBS affiliate under the CBS7 brand and has carried CBS programming continuously since signing on, making it the only major network station in the Permian Basin that has never changed its primary network affiliation. Its programming mix combines CBS network content with locally produced news, weather, sports coverage, syndicated programming, and digital-subchannel services. The station began broadcasting on January 1, 1956, under the ownership of Odessa Television Co. It was associated with the Trigg-Vaughn Stations group, whose principals included Cecil L. Trigg and Jack Vaughn, and initially operated from studios on North Whitaker Street in Odessa. In 1967, KOSA-TV and El Paso station KROD-TV were sold to Doubleday Broadcasting, a subsidiary of publisher Doubleday & Company. The station later became part of Benedek Broadcasting and was sold to the Investment Corporation of America in 2000 after Benedek's bankruptcy-related restructuring. Gray Television, now Gray Media, announced the acquisition of KOSA-TV from Investment Corporation of America in 2015. The transaction was valued at $33.6 million and closed on July 1 of that year. The purchase reunited KOSA-TV with several stations that had previously been connected through Benedek, while also placing the Odessa station within one of the largest local-television groups in the United States. KOSA-TV's facilities are shared with other Gray-operated stations in the market. Its primary studios are located inside Music City Mall on East 42nd Street in Odessa, with an additional studio and news bureau in downtown Midland. The main transmitter is west of Odessa on FM 866, and the station's signal is also relayed by low-power translator K31KJ-D in Big Spring. The local station group includes KWWT, KCWO-TV, KTLE-LD, and KMDF-LD. KOSA's digital operation has also supported additional services, including MyNetworkTV and CW programming on digital subchannels. The station has played a significant role in regional news and sports broadcasting. Its newsroom was the subject of the 2007 reality television series Making News: Texas Style, which followed employees and day-to-day operations at the station. KOSA and its associated digital services have also carried selected professional, collegiate, and regional sports programming, including Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, Big 12, Southeastern Conference, and University of Texas Permian Basin football content at different times. Most of those arrangements were temporary and have expired. KOSA-TV completed the federally mandated transition from analog to digital broadcasting on June 12, 2009. Its post-transition digital signal returned to VHF channel 7 after operating temporarily on UHF channel 31. In the present-day market, KOSA-TV remains a locally focused CBS affiliate, with its identity centered on news, weather, community coverage, and service to communities across the oil-producing Permian Basin.

KOSA-TV signed on from Odessa, Texas, on January 1, 1956. Licensed to Odessa Television Co., the station was established as a CBS affiliate and has maintained that affiliation throughout its history. It was initially connected with the Trigg-Vaughn Stations group, associated with Cecil L. Trigg and Jack Vaughn, and operated from studios on North Whitaker Street in Odessa. The station served a regional audience centered on Odessa, Midland, and the surrounding Permian Basin. In 1967, Trigg-Vaughn sold KOSA-TV and KROD-TV in El Paso to Doubleday Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Doubleday & Company. The station subsequently became part of Benedek Broadcasting. In 2000, Investment Corporation of America acquired KOSA-TV from Benedek. This ownership period preceded Gray Television's purchase of the station, announced in May 2015 and completed on July 1 of that year for $33.6 million. A major tragedy in the station's history occurred on November 26, 1983. A chartered Beechcraft King Air traveling from Fort Worth to Odessa crashed while returning from a high-school football playoff assignment. All eight people on board died, including six KOSA-TV employees: assistant news director Gary Hopper, sports director Jeff Shull, chief engineer Bobby Stephens, assistant chief engineer Edward Monette, and production assistants Bruce Dyer and Brent Roach. Pilot Keith Elkin and Jay Alva Price, who assisted the station at football games, also died. The crash became one of the defining events in the station's institutional history. KOSA-TV's newsroom later received national television exposure through Making News: Texas Style, a reality series broadcast by the TV Guide Network in 2007. The program focused on the station's newsroom personnel and the pressures of producing local news. KOSA and its associated digital outlets also carried a variety of sports programming over the years, including selected Dallas Mavericks games, Texas Rangers broadcasts, Big 12 basketball, SEC football, and University of Texas Permian Basin football. These arrangements expanded the station's local sports presence but were generally limited-term contracts. Gray's 2018 agreement to merge with Raycom Media required a market-ownership restructuring. Gray already owned KOSA-TV and competing NBC station KWES-TV, and Federal Communications Commission rules restricted common ownership of multiple leading stations in the same market. Gray elected to retain KOSA-TV. Tegna acquired KWES-TV and WTOL in Toledo, while Gray retained KWAB and relaunched it as CW affiliate KCWO-TV, with programming also available through a KOSA digital subchannel. The broader transaction closed on January 2, 2019. Gray expanded its Odessa–Midland presence again in 2020 by acquiring KWWT and KMDF-LD. The FCC granted a failing-station waiver because of concerns about the number of independent voices remaining in the market, and the deal closed on September 30. The acquired stations were moved operationally toward the shared KOSA/KCWO facility. KOSA-TV completed the United States full-power analog-to-digital transition on June 12, 2009. Its digital signal ultimately operated on VHF channel 7, corresponding to its long-standing virtual channel identity. The station's principal studios are now inside Music City Mall on East 42nd Street in Odessa, supplemented by a downtown Midland studio and news bureau. Its transmitter is located west of Odessa on FM 866, and its service is extended by low-power translator K31KJ-D in Big Spring. Today, KOSA-TV operates as CBS7, providing network programming, local news, weather, online content, and regional public-service coverage under Gray Media ownership.

1. 2020KWWT and KMDF-LD join Gray's Odessa–Midland operations

   Gray completes its acquisition of KWWT and KMDF-LD after receiving an FCC failing-station waiver.

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2. 2019Gray completes Raycom-related market restructuring

   The transaction separates KOSA-TV from former competing station KWES-TV ownership while preserving Gray's control of KOSA and KCWO.

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3. 2017MyNetworkTV digital service upgrades to HD

   KOSA-DT2 begins carrying a 720p widescreen high-definition MyNetworkTV feed.

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4. 2015Gray Television ownership begins

   Gray completes its $33.6 million acquisition of KOSA-TV.

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5. 2009Analog transmission ends

   KOSA-TV shuts down its analog VHF 7 signal during the United States digital television transition.

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6. 2007Making News: Texas Style airs

   The TV Guide Network broadcasts a reality series centered on the station's news department.

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7. 2000Investment Corporation of America acquisition

   Investment Corporation of America purchases the station from Benedek Broadcasting.

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8. 1983Aircraft crash claims station personnel

   Six KOSA-TV employees and two other occupants die in a crash while returning from a football assignment.

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9. 1967Sale to Doubleday Broadcasting

   Trigg-Vaughn sells KOSA-TV and KROD-TV to Doubleday Broadcasting.

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10. 1956KOSA-TV signs on

    The station begins broadcasting on January 1 as a CBS affiliate serving Odessa and the Permian Basin.

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A locally rooted CBS network affiliate serving the Odessa–Midland market, differentiated by continuous CBS affiliation, regional news coverage, severe-weather reporting, and a broad Permian Basin audience.

• CBS7 Local NewsLocal television news

  KOSA-TV's locally produced news service covers Odessa, Midland, and communities across the Permian Basin. Its output typically includes local reporting, weather, breaking-news coverage, public-service information, and regional stories distributed through broadcast and the station's website.

• CBS7 WeatherBroadcast weather service

  The station's weather operation provides forecasts and severe-weather information for the West Texas market. Weather coverage is a central part of the CBS7 local-news proposition because the large Permian Basin service area can experience rapidly changing conditions and severe storms.

• MyNetworkTV digital serviceDigital television subchannel2008

  KOSA's digital operation has carried MyNetworkTV programming for the Odessa–Midland market. The service was upgraded to a 720p 16:9 high-definition feed by fall 2017, expanding the quality and availability of secondary-network programming over the air.

• Regional sports broadcastsSports television programming2008

  Through KOSA's primary or digital-subchannel operations, the station has carried selected Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, Big 12, SEC, and UTPB Falcons events. These offerings were tied to specific contracts and schedules rather than being permanent station-owned sports properties.

• 2007Making News: Texas Style

  United States

  The TV Guide Network reality series used KOSA-TV's newsroom as its setting and followed station employees, personalities, and the production of local television news.

  Outcome. The series aired from June 11 to September 23, 2007, and ended after its documented run.

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• 2020Gray expands with KWWT and KMDF-LDM&A

  Gray sought to acquire the Odessa–Midland market's KWWT and KMDF-LD, but the transaction required regulatory review because of local ownership and independent-voice concerns.

  What changed. The FCC granted a failing-station waiver, and Gray completed the $1.84 million acquisition on September 30, 2020.

  Aftermath. KWWT's operations were moved toward the shared KOSA/KCWO facility in Odessa, expanding Gray's local station group.

  Acquisition price. $1.84 million (Announced July 24, 2020; completed September 30, 2020)

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• 2018Gray chooses KOSA-TV in Raycom market restructuringM&A

  Gray's proposed merger with Raycom would leave it owning KOSA-TV and competing NBC affiliate KWES-TV in the same Odessa–Midland market, raising FCC ownership concerns.

  What changed. Gray retained KOSA-TV, sold KWES-TV to Tegna, and retained KWAB, which became CW affiliate KCWO-TV.

  Aftermath. The restructuring was completed on January 2, 2019, allowing Gray to preserve KOSA-TV while satisfying the market's ownership constraints.

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• 2015Gray Television acquires KOSA-TVM&A

  KOSA-TV was owned by Investment Corporation of America after its earlier association with Benedek Broadcasting.

  What changed. Gray announced a $33.6 million purchase and completed the transaction on July 1, 2015.

  Aftermath. KOSA-TV became part of Gray's national television-station portfolio and was reunited with several former Benedek-associated stations.

  Acquisition price. $33.6 million (Announced May 20, 2015; completed July 1, 2015)

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• 2009KOSA-TV completes digital transitionOther

  United States full-power television stations were required to end analog broadcasting under the national digital-transition timetable.

  What changed. KOSA-TV ended its analog VHF channel 7 transmission on June 12 and operated its post-transition digital signal on VHF channel 7.

  Aftermath. The station continued broadcasting digitally while maintaining its familiar channel 7 identity.

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• 2020Gray acquires KWWT and KMDF-LD

  Gray announced an agreement to purchase MeTV affiliate KWWT and low-power station KMDF-LD for $1.84 million. The FCC approved a failing-station waiver, and the transaction closed on September 30, 2020.

  M&ARegulation
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• 2018Gray retains KOSA-TV during the Raycom merger

  Gray's planned merger with Raycom created ownership concerns in the Odessa–Midland market because Gray also controlled competing NBC affiliate KWES-TV. Gray chose to retain KOSA-TV and arranged the sale of KWES-TV to Tegna, while keeping KWAB and converting it into CW affiliate KCWO-TV.

  M&ARegulation
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• 2015Gray Television agrees to buy KOSA-TV

  Gray Television announced a $33.6 million acquisition of KOSA-TV from Investment Corporation of America. The transaction closed on July 1, 2015.

  M&A
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• 2007Making News: Texas Style follows the KOSA-TV newsroom

  A TV Guide Network reality series documented the station's newsroom staff, personalities, and production routines. It aired from June 11 through September 23, 2007.

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• 2000Investment Corporation of America acquires KOSA-TV

  The Odessa station was purchased by local real-estate company Investment Corporation of America from Benedek Broadcasting.

  M&A
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• 1983Station employees die in a 1983 aircraft crash

  A chartered aircraft returning from Fort Worth to Odessa crashed on November 26, killing all eight people aboard, including six KOSA-TV employees who had been covering high-school football playoffs.

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• 1956KOSA-TV begins broadcasting as an Odessa CBS affiliate

  KOSA-TV signed on January 1, 1956, and began its long-running relationship with CBS while serving Odessa and surrounding Permian Basin communities.

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1. KOSA-TV
2. CBS7 official website