KLSR-TV (channel 34) is a television station in Eugene, Oregon, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KEVU-CD (channel 23), a low-power Class A station. The two stations share studios on Chad Drive in Eugene; KLSR's transmitter is located on Blanton Heights.
KLSR began as a low-power station (officially K25AS) on June 12, 1987, with a format consisting primarily of music videos. Alhough it lacked cable carriage until 1989, its strong viewership within months of launching allowed it to secure a Fox affiliation. Despite being a low-power station, it produced its own prime time newscast for several years. It remained the Eugene Fox affiliate even though a full-power station, KEVU, began on channel 34 in 1991. California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. acquired KLSR in 1993 and KEVU in 1994; though it stated its intention to move the Fox programming to the full-power channel 34 at the time, it did not do so until April 1, 1997. Cox Media Group acquired KLSR in 2022. Eugene CBS affiliate KVAL-TV produces 7 and 10 p.m. newscasts for KLSR-TV on weeknights.
History
On June 12, 1987,[3] a low-power[4] television station began broadcasting in Eugene.[3] Bearing the call sign K25AS[5] but known as KLSR, the station was owned by Metrocom of Oregon and initially featured music videos on weekdays.[6] Three Eugene-area radio personalities as well as the general manager and others held down on-air shifts during the week, and the station also presented on-the-hour newscasts and more traditional syndicated programming on the weekends.[3] During midday, it aired a bingo program that gave out prizes to participants.[6] It also had a morning show; Christopher Judge, a former University of Oregon football player, won the contest to host it, launching his acting career.[7] Despite lacking coverage on cable, KLSR was successful enough to garner a one-percent share of the audience later in 1987, a feat that earned it an affiliation with the Fox network in January 1988. KLSR was the first low-power station to affiliate with Fox.[5][8] In 1989, the station added a translator to serve Corvallis.[9] KLSR struggled to secure a slot on the Tele-Communications Inc. cable system in Eugene and did not do so until 1989,[10] first on a shared-time basis with KTVU from Oakland, California,[11] and then on a full-time basis beginning in 1990.[12] That year, KLSR signed a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team to carry games that in other parts of the state were distributed on cable systems.[13]
Originally operating from studios on 18th Avenue,[3] it had relocated to Goodpasture Island Road by October 1992, when Metrocom agreed to sell it to California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. (COBI) for $3.15 million. Metrocom sold because its primary stakeholder, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, wished to exit broadcasting; COBI owned KOBI-TV in Medford[14] and expanded into Eugene in response to Eugene-based Chambers Communications expanding into the Medford market.[15] After closing on KLSR, COBI acquired a Eugene full-power station in 1994. KEVU (channel 34) was built by Raul Palazuelos and began broadcasting on September 30, 1991, as a low-budget independent station.[16][15] COBI initially promised that the Fox affiliation would move to KEVU upon approval of the transaction,[10] but KEVU continued on channel 34 and affiliated with UPN when it launched in January 1995.[17]
On April 1, 1997, COBI moved KLSR to channel 34—which became KLSR-TV—and KEVU to the low-power channel 25 as KEVU-LP; the stations retained their existing cable numbers, only exchanging transmission facilities.[18] That year, the station began construction on a new studio facility on Chad Drive, designed to house a news department.[19] COBI was fined $13,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 2012. The company had failed to file paperwork for children's E/I programming for KLSR-TV's Eugene translator, K19GH-D, in the previous four years, even though it was filed for the main station.[20]
In 2022, California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc. sold KLSR-TV and KEVU-CD to Atlanta-based Cox Media Group for $7,222,000.[21][22] Under a local marketing agreement first signed in 2021, KLSR–KEVU's sales force markets the advertising time on Eugene radio station KORE (1050 AM).[23]
As early as 1989, KLSR produced its own 10 p.m. newscast,[24] known as Prime Time News. In October 1991, KLSR entered into a deal with Eugene CBS affiliate KVAL-TV (channel 13) to produce the 10 p.m. newscast on its behalf for at least six months;[25] it lasted two years before KVAL opted to exit the partnership, citing low ratings.[26] In the mid-1990s, KLSR aired a half-hour of Northwest Cable News at 10 p.m.[19]
Under a news share arrangement, KVAL-TV currently produces 7 and 10 p.m. newscasts for KLSR-TV on weeknights, as well as rebroadcasts of KVAL's weekend evening newscasts and a weekday half-hour at 7 a.m. The 10 p.m. news was a half-hour except between 2016 and 2017, when it was broadcast as a full hour.[27]
Technical information
Subchannels
KLSR-TV's transmitter is located on Blanton Heights.[2] The station's signal is multiplexed:
KLSR-TV, along with KEZI, opted to shut down its analog signal on the original digital television transition date of February 17, 2009.[29] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31, using virtual channel 34.[30]
Translators
KLSR-TV's signal is rebroadcast by translators to communities throughout southern and south-central Oregon:[31]
12Westlund, Chuck (September 4, 1987). "New station offers alternative to cable". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Corvallis, Oregon. p.B2. Retrieved April 28, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
↑"KLSR-TV to beef up local signal". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Corvallis, Oregon. February 10, 1989. p.Entertainer 18. Retrieved April 28, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12Hymen, Michelle (March 29, 1994). "Sale could shuffle affiliations". The Register-Guard. pp.1B, 2B.
12Hymen, Michelle (March 29, 1994). "Prime time: A big-money deal rewrites the script for little KEVU". The Register-Guard. pp.1B, 2B. ProQuest377680172.
↑Wright, Jeff (February 13, 2009). "Two local television stations delay switch to all-digital broadcasting". The Register-Guard. p.B13. ProQuest377828072.
** Owned by a third party and operated by Cox Media Group.
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