KARE
KARE (or commonly
KARE-11) is a broadcast
television station in
Minnesota in the
United States. It is currently owned by
Gannett Corporation and affiliated with
NBC. The station is noted for having a number of
Emmy-winning photojournalists and has had a highly-rated newscast for well over a
decade. The station serves the
Twin Cities region, and its studioss are located in the
suburb of
Golden Valley. The station broadcasts on
VHF channel 11 and
digitally on
UHF channel 35 (through virtual channel numbering, it appears as channel 11-1).
KARE-11 was first known as WTCN (the “TCN” stood for “Twin Cities Newspapers”), though it was not the first TV station in the Twin Cities to carry that name. Channel 4 originally carried the WTCN name, but it was changed to WCCO following the station's merger with WCCO Radio in 1952.
In 1953, the station started broadcasting on channel 11 with a time sharing agreement with station WMIN. Each station would use the transmitter for two hours, then allow the other channel to take over for the next two. The two stations eventually merged. The original transmitter for WTCN and WMIN was located atop the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis, the tallest building in the city at the time. A growing city center meant that the transmitter would eventually have to go, and it was moved to Shoreview, Minnesota in 1972. Additionally, the new transmitter greatly increased the station's reception area.
WTCN was first operated by Minnesota Television Service Corporation, but the station changed ownership several times over the following years. It was sold to the H.M. Bitner Group in 1955, Time Life Broadcasting in 1957, Criss Craft Industries in 1964, Metromedia in 1971, and finally Gannett Corporation in 1983.
Other notable events
- 1957 - WTCN's first news team is formed.
- 1973 - The current studios are built in Golden Valley.
- 1979 - WTCN joins NBC as an affiliate
- 1983 - The purchase by Gannett causes a reshuffling of the station's staff. News anchors Paul Magers and Diana Pierce, amorg others, come to the station.
- 1985 - The station's call letters are changed to WUSA
- 1986 - On July 18 a helicopter pilot working for the freshly-renamed KARE is flying out to cover a news story when he notices a funnel cloud forming in the sky. A camera onboard the helicopter is switched on, and the images are fed to the station's studios. The funnel soon forms into a full-fledged tornado as it touches the ground. KARE broadcasts the funnel live for 30 minutes. In the years to come, this first aerial video of a tornado is heavily studied by meteorologists, and contributes heavily to what is known about tornado formation.
- 2003 - Paul Magers leaves to work for KCBS in Los Angeles, California.
See Also