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| Channels | |
| Branding | KTKA; 27 News; Northeast Kansas CW (DT3) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| Operator | Nexstar Media Group |
| KSNT, KTMJ-CD | |
| History | |
First air date | June 20, 1983 |
Former call signs | KLDH (1983–1987) |
Former channel number(s) |
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| Fox (secondary, 1994–1996) | |
Call sign meaning | Kansas Topeka |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 49397 |
| ERP | 150 kW |
| HAAT | 448.2 m (1,470 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°1′34″N 95°55′2″W / 39.02611°N 95.91722°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KTKA-TV (channel 49) is a television station in Topeka, Kansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Vaughan Media, LLC, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of NBC affiliate KSNT (channel 27) and Fox affiliate KTMJ-CD (channel 43), for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios on Northwest 25th Street (US 24), near the unincorporated community of Kiro (with a Topeka mailing address); KTKA-TV's transmitter is located along West Union Road west of Topeka.
Channel 49 began broadcasting as KLDH on June 20, 1983. It brought Topeka its first full local ABC affiliate. Owned by Mid America Broadcasting of Topeka, the station suffered two major setbacks within a year of signing on. A dispute among stockholders restricted cash and led to a filing for bankruptcy reorganization; in March 1984, one of the worst ice storms in Kansas history felled its tower, leading to major layoffs and financial difficulties as well as the cancellation of all newscasts. Larry D. Hudson, the original majority owner and namesake, acquired the station out of bankruptcy in 1985 and sold it to the Brechner family in 1986. The new owners renamed the station KTKA-TV and reinstated local news programming. The news department never rose above third place in the ratings and was discontinued in April 2002 due to low ratings and falling revenues.
Free State Communications—a subsidiary of the World Company, publisher of the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper—purchased KTKA-TV from the Brechners in 2005. A new news department was started for the station, which lasted until it was sold and entered into the agreement with KSNT in 2011. KSNT's news department was combined with KTKA's to produce newscasts for both stations.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTKA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.