KOZL-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States. It is programmed primarily as an independent station, but maintains a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. KOZL-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KRBK (channel 49) and is co-managed with CBS affiliate KOLR (channel 10). The three 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 as 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 KSPR (channel 33), which successfully obtained the ABC affiliation in 1986. Woods contested the action and sued ABC; he obtained a favorable jury verdict, but 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 a local marketing agreement 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, which left it at reduced power for nearly two months. Nexstar acquired KDEB-TV in 2003; the station changed call signs to KSFX-TV in 2005. When Nexstar and Fox disputed over terms of their affiliation agreement in 2011, Fox moved its affiliation to KRBK, and channel 27 became an independent station as KOZL-TV.
History
KMTC: ABC for Springfield In March 1966, Midland Television Corporation filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a third commercial TV station in Springfield, Missouri. Its owners were primarily from Springfield, led by Kenneth Meyer and Thomas Barneby, part-owners of local radio station KTXR (101.3 FM). The construction permit was granted on November 17, 1966, but construction of studios on Cherry Street did not begin until July 1968. A 1,621-foot (494 m) tower and transmitter facility were built near Fordland. KMTC began broadcasting on September 29, 1968, as an ABC affiliate. Previously, ABC had been relegated to limited clearances on CBS affiliate KTTS-TV (channel 10, now KOLR) and NBC affiliate KYTV. Meyer initially thought KMTC had a chance to get a footing in the market with ABC's schedule, especially sports. He was also encouraged by an Arbitron survey that showed Springfield had 35 percent UHF-capable set penetration in an area with only VHF stations. However, KMTC remained third in overall market ratings even after ABC rose to become the country's highest-rated network. This was because KMTC's footprint was not as large as those of its VHF competitors. KMTC only covered 51 percent of the market's households, while its VHF competitors reached 90 percent or more of regional homes. However, the station performed better in Springfield's inner ring than in the wider market. In 1977, KMTC managed to win several time slots in Greene and Christian counties during prime time. For instance, The Six Million Dollar Man finished a close third in its time slot in the market as a whole, but won the time slot by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in Springfield's inner ring. Meyer later remarked that even when viewers had sets with the capability to receive UHF stations, their UHF tuners had never been used before his station arrived and did not work: "[I]f one out of six people could get us we were lucky." Similarly, KMTC's newscasts traditionally had audience shares far behind its competitors. In November 1976, KMTC's newscasts 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. Even after cable arrived in the market in 1979, KMTC's news ratings showed little improvement. In the early 1980s, channel 27's news ratings were so low that Springfield's new independent station, KSPR (channel 33)—which began in March 1983—attracted double the share commanded by KMTC in the May 1985 sweeps period at 10 p.m.
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