View source for KSAZ-TV

{{short description|Fox TV station in Phoenix, Arizona}}
{{about|the television station in Phoenix||Fox 10 (disambiguation){{!}}Fox 10}}
{{for|the unrelated radio station in Marana, Arizona|KSAZ (AM)}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|KTSP-TV|KSTP-TV}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KSAZ-TV
| logo = Fts-phoenix-a.svg
| logo_upright = 0.9
| logo_alt = The Fox network logo next to a black numeral 10 in a sans serif typeface. The zero in the number 10 matches the O in the Fox network logo. On a line below, the word "Phoenix" in another sans serif, width-justified.
| branding = Fox 10 Phoenix; ''Fox 10 News''
| digital = 10 ([[VHF]])
| virtual = 10
| translators = {{ubl|[[KUTP]] 10.2 (26.4 UHF) Phoenix|''for others, see {{section link||Translators}}''}}
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''10.1:''' [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[Fox Television Stations]]
| licensee = NW Communications of Phoenix, Inc.
| location = [[Phoenix, Arizona]]
| country = United States
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1953|10|24|p=y|br=yes}}
| callsign_meaning = From slogan adopted in 1994, "The Spirit of Arizona"
| sister_stations = [[KUTP]]
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|KOOL-TV (1953–1982)|KTSP-TV (1982–1994)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 10 (VHF, 1953–2009)|'''Digital:''' 31 ([[UHF]], 2000–2009)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1953–1954, September–December 1994)|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (1954–1955)|[[CBS]] (1955–1994)}}
| erp = 48 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|558|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 35587
| coordinates = {{Coord|33|20|3|N|112|3|46|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.fox10phoenix.com/}}
}}
'''KSAZ-TV''' (channel 10) is a [[television station]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona]], United States, serving as the market's [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] network outlet. It is [[owned and operated]] by the network's [[Fox Television Stations]] division alongside [[KUTP]] (channel 45), which airs [[MyNetworkTV]] programming. The two stations share studios on West Adams Street in [[Downtown Phoenix]]; KSAZ-TV's transmitter is located atop [[South Mountains (Arizona)|South Mountain]].
Channel 10 was the third television station established in the Phoenix area, making its first broadcast on October 24, 1953. It was originally allocated as a shared-time channel to stations run by the owners of Phoenix radio stations [[KKNT|KOOL]] and [[KFYI|KOY]], though both KOOL-TV and KOY-TV operated from the same building. After a year as an [[independent station|independent]], it became Phoenix's original [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate in early 1954. KOOL became sole owner of the channel later in 1954 and absorbed the staff of KOY-TV. After switching affiliations to [[CBS]] in 1955, KOOL-TV rose to become Phoenix's highest-rated station under the ownership of [[Gene Autry]] and Tom Chauncey. A falling-out between Autry and Chauncey ended with the sale of KOOL-TV to the Gulf United Corporation in 1982; separated from its sister radio properties, channel 10 changed its call sign to KTSP-TV. Initially, the station remained the news leader in Phoenix; however, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the station lost ground in the news ratings to an ascendant [[KTVK]], which had poached two key KTSP-TV executives as part of a successful effort to turn itself around. Channel 10's ratings issues were not helped by several visible personnel miscues.
In February 1994, KTSP-TV changed its call letters to KSAZ-TV. Three months later, as part of the first act in a [[1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment|national realignment of network affiliations]] initiated by then-owner New World Communications, the station announced it would switch from CBS to Fox. Phoenix was one of the most affected markets; the timing of affiliation contract expirations led to three changes in four months. KSAZ lost CBS in September 1994 but did not begin airing Fox programming until December. Coinciding with the switch to Fox was a major expansion of the station's news department, including new morning and prime time newscasts. However, the three months of forced independent status and miscalculations around syndicated programming and new competitors caused the station's ratings to fall dramatically, with some newscasts losing half their viewership.
Fox acquired the New World stations in 1996 and steadied the struggling operation, bringing the newscasts more in line with the network's target audience and instituting a flashier style. From 1999 to 2021, [[Kari Lake]], future Arizona gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, was one of the station's main anchors. By 2020, KSAZ-TV produced twelve hours a day on weekdays of local news programming.
==History==
===Shared-time era and early years===
While the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) worked its way toward ending a years-long freeze on new television station grants initiated in 1948, it issued a near-final version of the table of allocations for Arizona in 1951 that gave Phoenix channels 4 (changed to 3 the next year), 5 ([[KPHO-TV]], the only pre-freeze station in the state), 8, and 10. [[KKNT|KOOL (960 AM)]], Phoenix's [[CBS News Radio|CBS radio]] affiliate, had previously expressed interest in filing for channel 7 prior to the amended table being released,<ref name="Ariz510323">{{Cite news |date=March 23, 1951 |title=TV Channels Are Allocated For Arizona: New Assignments Made For Phoenix, Other State Cities |page=1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600518/tv-channels-are-allocated-for-arizona/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064815/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600518/tv-channels-are-allocated-for-arizona/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> and on September 27, 1951, it applied for channel 10.<ref name="hc">{{FCC letter|hcards=yes|callsign=KSAZ-TV|letterid=85438}}</ref>
KOOL was not alone in its interest. In July 1952, [[KFYI|KOY (550 AM)]], the home of the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]] in Phoenix and one of the oldest stations in the state, filed its own bid.<ref name="Ariz520725">{{Cite news |date=July 25, 1952 |title=KOY Seeks TV Channel 10 |page=22 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600677/koy-seeks-tv-channel-10/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064811/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600677/koy-seeks-tv-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> The two bids portended what could have been years of comparative hearings over who got the construction permit. To avoid this, in May 1953, KOOL and KOY struck a deal that would result in both getting construction permits to share time on channel 10. The time-sharing proposal, first used by the FCC in television in grants for [[WHEC-TV|channel 10]] in [[Rochester, New York]], and suggested to KOOL and KOY by the commission,<ref name="Ariz530520">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Maggie |date=May 20, 1953 |title=2 Stations Join Hands In TV Deal |page=7 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600738/2-stations-join-hands-in-tv-deal/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064818/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600738/2-stations-join-hands-in-tv-deal/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> was approved on May 27, 1953, with KOOL-TV and KOY-TV getting construction permits the same day.{{r|Ariz530528}} Under the proposal, the stations would alternate daytime and evening telecasting.{{r|Ariz530520}}
KOOL was the CBS radio affiliate in Phoenix, and KOOL expressed a desire to similarly align its new television station, but this would not be immediately possible. KPHO-TV, which held both CBS and ABC hookups after [[KTYL-TV]] signed on with NBC earlier in May, had just signed a renewal agreement with CBS a month and a half before the construction permits were granted.<ref name="Ariz530528">{{Cite news |date=May 28, 1953 |title=2 Stations Divide TV Channel 10 |page=2:1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600821/2-stations-divide-tv-channel-10/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064820/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600821/2-stations-divide-tv-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> Even though the two stations would have separate staffs and ownership, much of the physical plant would be shared, including a maximum-power transmitter site on South Mountain.<ref name="Ariz530610">{{Cite news |date=June 10, 1953 |title=TV Plans $500,000 To Outfit |page=19 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600979/tv-plans-500000-to-outfit/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064814/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600979/tv-plans-500000-to-outfit/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> Originally proposing to build television studios behind the KOY radio studios near First Avenue and Roosevelt Street,<ref name="Ariz530529">{{Cite news |date=May 29, 1953 |title=Third TV Unit Aims To Be On Air By Fall |page=16 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600885/third-tv-unit-aims-to-be-on-air-by-fall/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064809/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90600885/third-tv-unit-aims-to-be-on-air-by-fall/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> KOOL and KOY arranged instead in July to buy a former car dealership at Fifth Avenue and Adams Street; KOY wanted to continue using the other site for parking.<ref name="Ariz530724">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Maggie |date=July 24, 1953 |title=Tune In: New TV Channel 10 Plans Fall Opening |page=6 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601024/tune-in-new-tv-channel-10-plans-fall-op/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044102/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601024/tune-in-new-tv-channel-10-plans-fall/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> Studio construction started in August, with KOOL and KOY crews leading the way,<ref name="Ariz530815">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Maggie |date=August 15, 1953 |title=Tune In: Channel 10 Begins Broadcast Oct. 1 |page=4 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601095/tune-in-channel-10-begins-broadcast-oct/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044103/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601095/tune-in-channel-10-begins-broadcast/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sat --> and a test pattern went out for the first time on October 19, 1953,<ref name="Ariz531019">{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1953 |title=Channel 10 Telecasts Test Today |page=13 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32885386/channel-10-telecasts-test-today/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064813/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32885386/channel-10-telecasts-test-today/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Mon --> ahead of both stations' October 24 launch. The next day, channel 10 carried an opening program featuring KOY and KOOL management, including KOOL majority owner [[Gene Autry]].<ref name="Ariz531025">{{Cite news |date=October 25, 1953 |title=TV Channel 10 Plans To Go On Air Today |page=46 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601215/tv-channel-10-plans-to-go-on-air-today/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064815/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601215/tv-channel-10-plans-to-go-on-air-today/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun -->
As shared-time stations, KOOL-TV and KOY-TV were a conjoined unit: separate staffs, common facilities, and no network affiliation at all.{{r|Ariz531025}} This changed in January 1954, when channel 10 picked up an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliation; now, each of the three major networks had their own outlet in Phoenix.<ref name="Ariz540115">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Maggie |date=January 15, 1954 |title=Tune In: Channel 10 Embraces ABC |page=18 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89546635/tune-in-channel-10-embraces-abc/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126011605/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89546635/tune-in-channel-10-embraces-abc/ |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Fri --> However, KOY-TV would not last much longer. In March 1954, KOOL reached a deal to buy out KOY's stake in channel 10. KOY general manager Albert D. Johnson believed that the station would do better under one operator instead of two and stated that the goal of the shared-time venture—to avoid lengthy comparative hearings—had been met.<ref name="Ariz540316">{{Cite news |date=March 16, 1954 |title=KOOL Buys KOY's Share Of Channel 10 |page=17 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601551/kool-buys-koys-share-of-channel-10/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064809/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601551/kool-buys-koys-share-of-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Tue --> The FCC approved of the deal—reported as $400,000 by newspapers and $200,000 to the FCC<ref>{{Cite news|id={{ProQuest|1285700482}} |date=May 10, 1954 |title=FCC Approves Sales Of KOY-TV, WUTV (TV) |page=60 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-05-10-BC.pdf |via=World Radio History |access-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044103/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-05-10-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>—on May 5, allowing KOOL-TV to become the sole occupant of channel 10.<ref name="Ariz540506">{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1954 |title=FCC Okays TV Sale By KOY |page=45 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601606/fcc-okays-tv-sale-by-koy/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215064812/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601606/fcc-okays-tv-sale-by-koy/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> All staff were retained by the enlarged KOOL-TV.{{r|partner}} It was the first time any of the post-freeze shared-time arrangements had been wound down.<ref name="partner">{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1954 |title=KOOL-TV Buys Share-Time Partner KOY-TV Phoenix|id={{ProQuest|1285707456}} |page=82 |work=Broadcasting |url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-03-22-BC.pdf |via=World Radio History |access-date=June 3, 2014 |archive-date=November 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20141127144524/http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-03-22-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
===CBS affiliation and Autry-Chauncey ownership===
On December 29, 1954, KOOL-TV announced it had secured the CBS affiliation in Phoenix, to begin on June 15, 1955.<ref name="Ariz541230">{{Cite news |date=December 30, 1954 |title=Next June 15: KOOL-TV Will Get CBS Affiliation |page=1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601657/next-june-15-kool-tv-will-get-cbs-affil/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044103/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90601657/next-june-15-kool-tv-will-get-cbs/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> KPHO-TV, whose two-year affiliation agreement ended at that time, was blindsided by the move, but it was a natural fit. Not only was KOOL radio already CBS in Phoenix, but Gene Autry had deep ties to CBS radio and television, as well as [[Columbia Records]]. ABC soon found a new home: startup outlet [[KTVK]] (channel 3), which joined that network on March 1, 1955.<ref name="Ariz550114">{{Cite news |date=January 14, 1955 |title=Soon To Be Seen Channel 3 KTVK Will Carry ABC-TV Network Shows |page=13 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59816870/soon-to-be-seen-channel-3-ktvk-will-carr/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044103/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59816870/soon-to-be-seen-channel-3-ktvk-will/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri -->
{{Quote box
| quote = Mr. Chauncey has always been a guy who has said, "We're going to be first class. We're going to be No. 1. And we're going to do it the right way."
| author = Bob Davies
| source = longtime KOOL radio-television employee, on Tom Chauncey's management philosophy{{r|Ariz820929}}
| align = left
| width = 250px
| quoted = yes
| salign = left
}}
As a full-time CBS affiliate, it was now able to feature Autry's show ''Gene Autry's Melody Ranch'' on its schedule. Tom Chauncey, who also owned the biggest Arabian horse ranch in Phoenix, was a minority partner with Autry. Over the years, KOOL-TV ran nearly the entire CBS schedule; Chauncey was a fierce loyalist to the network.{{r|Ariz820929}} In addition to local news, channel 10 produced a series of other local programs, such as the bilingual children's program ''Niños Contentos'' and investigative and feature series ''Chapter 10'' and ''Copperstate Cavalcade''.{{r|Ariz820929}}
Phoenix audiences' loyalty to KOOL-TV was proven in 1971. That September, a group of Valley business leaders led by [[Del Webb]], organized as the Valley of the Sun Broadcasting Company, filed an application for a competing channel 10 proposal to KOOL-TV's license renewal; this group proposed to return the channel to Phoenix-based ownership.<ref name="Ariz710908">{{Cite news |last=Bailey |first=Clarence W. |date=September 8, 1971 |title=Group files challenge of Channel 10 |page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624401/channel-10-faces-challenge/ 4] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624378/group-files-challenge-of-channel-10/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216061642/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624378/group-files-challenge-of-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> However, the KOOL-TV license challenge was met with a decidedly cool reception by viewers and power brokers alike. Senators [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[Paul Fannin]] and governor [[Jack Williams (American politician)|Jack Williams]] threw their support behind KOOL; Goldwater noted he often cited KOOL as an example of a quality television station, Fannin was "amazed" to learn of the counterproposal, and Williams—a former broadcaster—lauded its "record of public service" and inclusion of minority groups.<ref name="Ariz710912">{{Cite news |date=September 12, 1971 |title=Political leaders in fray: Support for KOOL grows in license renewal fight |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624541/kool-gains-license-fight-backing/ A8] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624513/political-leaders-in-fray-support-for/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060417/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624513/political-leaders-in-fray-support-for/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> Further, hundreds of phone calls and letters in support of KOOL were received by the station.{{r|Ariz710918}} Ten days after the application was first made public, Valley of the Sun abandoned their channel 10 bid.<ref name="Ariz710918">{{Cite news |date=September 18, 1971 |title=KOOL-TV takeover try abandoned by challengers |page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624788/kool-tv-takeover-attempt/ 4] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624764/kool-tv-takeover-try-abandoned-by/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060413/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624764/kool-tv-takeover-try-abandoned-by/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sat --> It was later revealed that the same Washington law firm had backed a string of similar license challenges to other stations across the country.<ref name="Ariz710926">{{Cite news |last=Swanson |first=Jack |date=September 26, 1971 |title=A national trend: Legal maneuvers of the KOOL fight |page=N1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624679/a-national-trend-legal-maneuvers-of/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060359/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90624679/a-national-trend-legal-maneuvers-of/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> After the license challenge was rebuffed, Chauncey became the majority stakeholder as a result of a sale of shares by Autry.{{r|hc|Ariz810514}}
In 1978, KOOL AM was sold to [[Stauffer Communications]] of [[Topeka, Kansas]], with the FM and television stations remaining under the Autry–Chauncey ownership.<ref name="Ariz781112">{{Cite news |date=November 12, 1978 |title=KOOL-AM in Phoenix being sold |page=D5 |work=Arizona Daily Star |agency=Associated Press |location=Tucson, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630597/kool-am-in-phoenix-being-sold/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060406/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630597/kool-am-in-phoenix-being-sold/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> However, cracks began to form in the longtime ownership partnership of KOOL-FM-TV. That same year, Autry allegedly began to try and induce Chauncey to reach an agreement with Signal Oil upon which the latter company would have the option to buy Chauncey's stake at his death. Chauncey then began negotiating to buy Autry out. These talks ended in April 1981 when Autry sold half of his 48.11-percent stake in the company to the Gulf United Corporation of [[Jacksonville, Florida]]. That May, Autry sued Chauncey, alleging that he had mismanaged the assets of KOOL Radio-Television, Inc., to the tune of millions of dollars and had diverted company funds to Arabian horses, cars, and airplanes.<ref name="Ariz810514">{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1981 |title=Autry sues partners in KOOL-TV |page=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625048/kool/ C2] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625066/autry-sues-partners-in-kool-tv/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060419/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625066/autry-sues-partners-in-kool-tv/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> Chauncey then filed a countersuit, accusing Autry and Gulf of racketeering and trying to pressure longtime manager Homer Lane, who owned a small but pivotal stake in the firm, to sell.<ref name="Ariz810605">{{Cite news |date=June 5, 1981 |title=KOOL officials file countersuit against minority stockholders |page=C1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625184/kool-officials-file-countersuit-against/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060401/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625184/kool-officials-file-countersuit-against/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> In the wake of the dueling lawsuits, and as early as November 1981, speculation began to circulate that Chauncey and Lane were nearing a sale of their stakes to Gulf.<ref name="Ariz811124">{{Cite news |date=November 24, 1981 |title=Speculation still rampant about KOOL-TV status |page=40 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625228/speculation-still-rampant-about-kool-tv/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060425/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90625228/speculation-still-rampant-about-kool-tv/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Tue -->
===Gulf, Taft, and Great American===
On June 8, 1982, Tom Chauncey and Gulf United announced that the latter was buying out the remaining shares in KOOL-TV, with KOOL-FM to be retained by Chauncey and split from the firm; the dueling lawsuits would be dropped when the FCC approved the transaction.<ref name="Ariz820609">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=June 9, 1982 |title=Tom Chauncey sells KOOL-TV to Gulf United |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34046884/kool-tv/ A11] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34046890/tom-chauncey-sells-kool-tv-to-gulf/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060406/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34046890/tom-chauncey-sells-kool-tv-to-gulf/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed -->
{{Quote box
| quote = We told people for a long time that it stood for Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix, but I don't know if anyone really believed it.
| author = Tom Dolan
| source = news director in 1994, when the KTSP-TV call sign was dropped<ref name="Ariz940213">{{Cite news |last=Shaffer |first=Mark |date=February 13, 1994 |title=Channel 10 catches spirit, changes name to KSAZ |page=B1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28880055/channel-10-catches-spirit-changes-name/ |access-date=December 15, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215074827/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28880055/channel-10-catches-spirit-changes-name/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun -->
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The sale closed on October 1, 1982, a month after receiving FCC approval, and major changes followed at channel 10. The first was a change in call sign, as the FM retained the KOOL designation. The next morning, KOOL-TV became KTSP-TV; while Gulf claimed that it stood for "Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix", the more likely reason was that it mirrored another channel 10 station owned by Gulf, [[WTSP]] in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name="Ariz820901">{{Cite news |date=September 1, 1982 |title=FCC gives green light to sale of Channel 10 |page=25 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630679/fcc-gives-green-light-to-sale-of/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216060403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630679/fcc-gives-green-light-to-sale-of/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> Homer Lane, the general manager and minority owner, was replaced by Jack Sander, hired from [[WTOL]] in [[Toledo, Ohio]].<ref name="Ariz820929">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=September 29, 1982 |title=End of an era: Come Saturday, it'll no longer be KOOL in Phoenix as Channel 10 changes hands |page=E7, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630831/kool-tv/ E10] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630722/end-of-an-era-come-saturday-itll-no-l/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044104/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630722/end-of-an-era-come-saturday-itll-no/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> Gulf also invested in new production equipment to give KTSP a more high-tech look,<ref name="Ariz821231">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=December 31, 1982 |title=Equipment, new set add dazzle at KTSP |page=D16 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36531863/equipment-new-set-add-dazzle-at-ktsp/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217033100/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36531863/equipment-new-set-add-dazzle-at-ktsp/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> and it completed a project started under Chauncey to replace the transmitter and tower on South Mountain.<ref name="Ariz821001">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=October 1, 1982 |title=Transfer of KOOL-TV ownership scheduled today |page=E1 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630873/transfer-of-kool-tv-ownership-scheduled/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217033100/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90630873/transfer-of-kool-tv-ownership-scheduled/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri -->
[[File:KTSP-TV logo, 1982.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=A circle cut off at the bottom. Two horizontal lines sit above the cut out portion, and a white 10 appears against it set in the right corner.|Logo used by channel 10 under the KTSP call sign from 1982 to 1989. This logo was similar to that used by Gulf-owned WTSP.]]
In 1985, [[Taft Broadcasting]] acquired Gulf Broadcasting, which had been spun out of Gulf United two years prior. The deal included the entire chain, but so interested was Taft in Phoenix that it obtained an option to buy KTSP-TV alone for $250&nbsp;million if the entire Gulf deal were to collapse, and KTSP-TV was the most expensive of the properties it purchased from Gulf.<ref name="Tamp850304">{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1985 |title=Taft Broadcasting puts Tampa Bay on its map |page=1-D, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653047/ 4-D] |work=St. Petersburg Times |location=St. Petersburg, Florida |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653013/taft-broadcasting-puts-tampa-bay-on-its/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216071550/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653013/taft-broadcasting-puts-tampa-bay-on-its/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Mon --> Not long after Taft acquired Gulf, however, a major management change occurred that would have long-term ramifications in Phoenix television. KTVK, which had until that time been a perennial third-place finisher in local news, poached Bill Miller, channel 10's news director, to be its station manager and hired Phil Alvidrez, the KTSP-TV assistant news director, to run its newsroom.<ref name="Ariz860108">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=January 8, 1986 |title=Channel 10 loses another newsman to Channel 3 |page=E7 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90652938/channel-10-loses-another-newsman-to-chan/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044104/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90652938/channel-10-loses-another-newsman-to/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> The two hires by channel 3 were partly responsible for KTVK climbing to the top of the Phoenix television market in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref name="Ariz900708">{{Cite news |last=Joseph |first=Greg |date=July 8, 1990 |title=Coming into the Picture: Family-run Channel 3, once the 'black sheep' of local TV, has bloomed |page=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34063311/channel-3-invests-boldly/ E4] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34063376/coming-into-the-picture-family-run/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216073054/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34063376/coming-into-the-picture-family-run/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> On October 12, 1987, Taft was restructured into Great American Broadcasting after the company went through a [[hostile takeover]] by investors led by Carl Lindner.<ref name="Dayt871008">{{Cite news |date=October 8, 1987 |title=Taft changes name |page=33 |work=Dayton Daily News |location=Dayton, Ohio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653719/taft-changes-name/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081728/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653719/taft-changes-name/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> KTSP nearly lost its CBS affiliation in 1988; CBS was in negotiations to purchase KPHO from [[Meredith Corporation]]. Network officials were interested in buying a station in a fast-growing Sun Belt market. However, talks foundered when neither party could agree to a purchase price.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33915994/cbs-eye-looking-at-kpho/|date=November 29, 1988|page=C5, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33915986/cbs-reportedly-wants-to-buy-kpho-drop/ C10]|first=Bud|last=Wilkinson|title=CBS eye looking at KPHO?|newspaper=Arizona Republic|location=Phoenix, Arizona|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 24, 2023|archive-date=November 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126075903/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33915994/cbs-eye-looking-at-kpho/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Other subsidiaries of Great American Communications Corporation filed for [[Chapter 11]] [[bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]] in 1993, a move that did not affect the television and radio holdings.<ref name="Cinc931229">{{Cite news |last=Henterly |first=Meghan |date=December 29, 1993 |title=GACC plan OK'd: Bankruptcy court signs off on reorganization |page=B5 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90702209/gacc-plan-okd-bankruptcy-court-signs-o/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044104/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90702209/gacc-plan-okd-bankruptcy-court-signs/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Wed --> The station changed its call sign to KSAZ-TV on February 12, 1994, to match its new slogan, "The Spirit of Arizona".{{r|Ariz940213}}
===As a Fox station===
After emerging from bankruptcy, Great American Broadcasting (renamed Citicasters soon after<ref name="Rock940609">{{Cite news |date=June 9, 1994 |title=Broadcast company changes its name |page=5A |work=Rocky Mount Telegram |agency=Associated Press |location=Rocky Mount, North Carolina |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90654046/broadcast-company-changes-its-name/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216082007/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90654046/broadcast-company-changes-its-name/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu -->) put four of its stations (including KSAZ-TV) up for sale, seeking to raise money to pay down debt and fund more acquisitions in radio.<ref name="Ariz940505">{{Cite news |last=Carlile |first=William H. |date=May 5, 1994 |title=Parent firm selling Channel 10 |page=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653189/parent-firm-selling-channel-10/ E3] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653206/parent-firm-selling-channel-10/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216071939/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653206/parent-firm-selling-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> KSAZ-TV, along with [[WDAF-TV]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]; [[WGHP]] in [[High Point, North Carolina]]; and [[WBRC]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], were sold to [[New World Communications]] on May 5, 1994, for $360&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1994 |title=Company News; Great American Selling Four Television Stations |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/06/business/company-news-great-american-selling-four-television-stations.html |access-date=October 23, 2009 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305150221/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/06/business/company-news-great-american-selling-four-television-stations.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Just 18 days later, New World announced that twelve of its 15 stations (those it already owned and those it was in the process of acquiring) would [[1994 United States broadcast TV realignment|switch]] their varying [[Big Three network]] affiliations to [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], which had been affiliated with [[KNXV-TV]] (channel 15).<ref name="nytbusinessdigest">{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Bill |date=May 24, 1994 |title=Fox Will Sign Up 12 New Stations; Takes 8 from CBS |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/24/us/fox-will-sign-up-12-new-stations-takes-8-from-cbs.html?pagewanted=4 |access-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-date=June 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625021414/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/24/us/fox-will-sign-up-12-new-stations-takes-8-from-cbs.html?pagewanted=4 |url-status=live }}</ref> A major catalyst for the Fox-New World deal was the network's newly signed [[NFL on Fox|contract]] with the [[National Football League]]'s [[National Football Conference]]. New World's portfolio, dominated by CBS affiliates, included many stations that had long aired the home games of NFC teams in their home cities, such as KSAZ and the [[Phoenix Cardinals]].<ref name="Ariz940524">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=May 24, 1994 |title=Channel 10 would leave CBS to go with Fox |pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695176/ A11] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28879924/republic-front-page-coverage-of-new/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030852/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28879924/republic-front-page-coverage-of-new/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Tue -->
The affiliation changes—three of them in all—played out in phases. CBS was the first to move, returning to KPHO-TV on September 10, 1994, after 39 years on channel 10.<ref name="Ariz940910">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=September 10, 1994 |title=TV switch: Channel 5 to carry CBS today |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89556043/channel-5-begins-carrying-cbs-today/ A20] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28879847/tv-switch-channel-5-to-carry-cbs-today/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126045400/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28879847/tv-switch-channel-5-to-carry-cbs-today/ |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sat --> However, KNXV's affiliation contract with Fox did not run out for another three months. In the interim, KSAZ-TV became an [[independent station]], filling the holes once occupied by CBS programming with movies and additional syndicated shows<ref name="CBSFoxstationsswitch">{{Cite news |last=Meisler |first=Andy |date=August 29, 1994 |title=Murdoch's Raid Brings a Shuffling of TV Stations in Phoenix |page=D1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/29/business/murdoch-s-raid-brings-a-shuffling-of-tv-stations-in-phoenix.html?pagewanted=1 |access-date=October 22, 2009 |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613154035/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/29/business/murdoch-s-raid-brings-a-shuffling-of-tv-stations-in-phoenix.html?pagewanted=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> while also using the opportunity to debut a suite of new news programs. Fox programs moved to KSAZ on December 12.<ref name="Ariz941211">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=December 11, 1994 |title=Fox leaping to Ch. 10 in latest network flip |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695775/fox-leaping-to-channel-10-in-latest/ A32], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695868/ A33] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695807/fox-leaping-to-ch-10-in-latest-network/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030848/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695807/fox-leaping-to-ch-10-in-latest-network/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun -->
{{Quote box
| quote = It's pretty much a flop in every category.
| author = Dave Walker
| source = television writer for ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'', assessing the aftermath of KSAZ-TV's switch to Fox<ref name="dallas">{{cite news|work=The Dallas Morning News|date=June 25, 1995|page=1C|first=Manuel|last=Mendoza|title=A bad omen for Channel 4? - Six months after switching to Fox, Phoenix station yet to rise from ashes}}</ref>
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In the aftermath of the change, channel 10 management faced the task of melding the station's more mainstream image with the new Fox programming,{{r|Ariz941211}} which proved difficult. Not only did the news programs rate poorly, but the station let go of valuable news lead-ins ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' and ''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' as skewing too old in viewership, and the competition by KTVK and KNXV was more aggressive than KSAZ-TV had anticipated. In June 1995, general manager Ron Bergamo resigned after seven years and in the wake of sweeps figures showing the station's news ratings in some time slots had fallen by as much as 50 percent;<ref name="Ariz950602">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90749914/channel-10-chief-resigns-amid-low-rating/|date=June 2, 1995|page=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90749968/channel-10-general-manager-resigns-amid/ B3]|first=Dave|last=Walker|title=Channel 10 chief resigns amid low ratings|newspaper=Arizona Republic|location=Phoenix, Arizona|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 18, 2021|archive-date=December 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044105/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90749914/channel-10-chief-resigns-amid-low/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> that same month, an article in ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' called what happened to KSAZ a "worst-case scenario".{{r|dallas}} Revenue reportedly dipped across the New World stations by 15 percent after their switches; New World management, however, also noted that the three months without network programming had led to the decline being more pronounced at KSAZ than elsewhere.<ref name="Ariz960718">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=July 18, 1996 |title=Murdoch acquires Channel 10 |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90698784/ A6] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90698926/murdoch-acquires-channel-10/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217043535/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90698926/murdoch-acquires-channel-10/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Thu --> As with most other New World stations, KSAZ declined to run [[Fox Kids]] programming, which instead moved to KTVK; in September 1995, [[KASW]] (channel 61), a station programmed by KTVK, launched with The WB and Fox Kids programs.<ref name="joins">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=September 24, 1995 |title=At last! Channel 61 joins the airwaves |pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34043901/ B2] |work=The Arizona Republic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34043953/ |access-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044105/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34043953/at-last-channel-61-joins-the-airwaves/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[News Corporation]] purchased New World Communications, acquiring only its ten Fox-affiliated stations, in July 1996;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=July 18, 1996 |title=New World Vision: Murdoch's News Corp. to Buy Broadcast Group |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-18-fi-25271-story.html |access-date=June 22, 2012 |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914122323/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-07-18/business/fi-25271_1_rupert-murdoch-s-news-corp |url-status=live }}</ref> the merger was finalized on January 22, 1997, making KSAZ an [[owned-and-operated station]] of Fox. This status almost became short-lived: in February 1997, Fox nearly traded KSAZ and sister station [[KTBC (TV)|KTBC]] in [[Austin, Texas]], to the [[Belo Corporation]] in exchange for [[Seattle]]'s [[KIRO-TV]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=February 4, 1997 |title=Reported KIRO Swap Would Mean Network Changes |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970204/2522277/reported-kiro-swap-would-mean-network-changes |access-date=May 20, 2013 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201204821/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970204&slug=2522277 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fox began to upgrade the station's programming, adding some high-rated off-network sitcoms (such as ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', ''[[Seinfeld]]'' and ''[[King of the Hill]]'') as well as higher-rated syndicated court and reality shows. In the 2010s, Fox began to use KSAZ-TV and other stations on a regular basis to test new programs that later entered national syndication, such as ''[[TMZ Live]]''—which KSAZ was the second station to air<ref>{{Cite news |last=Albiniak |first=Paige |date=October 20, 2014 |title='TMZ's Big Three Are in a Zone |language=en |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/tmz-s-big-three-are-zone-134940 |access-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218044105/https://www.nexttv.com/news/tmz-s-big-three-are-zone-134940 |url-status=live }}</ref>—and ''[[The Real (talk show)|The Real]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buckman |first=Adam |date=June 10, 2016 |title=Inside Fox TV Stations' Summer Of Testing |language=en |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/inside-fox-tv-stations-summer-of-testing/ |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
Fox Television Stations purchased [[KUTP]] (channel 45) in 2001 as part of its acquisition of [[United Television]];<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hofmeister |first=Sallie |date=August 12, 2000 |title=News Corp. to Buy Chris-Craft Parent for $5.5 Billion, Outbidding Viacom |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-12-fi-3272-story.html |access-date=March 23, 2011 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232639/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/12/business/fi-3272 |url-status=live }}</ref> this resulted in the creation of Phoenix's second television duopoly.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davis Hudson |first=Eileen |date=January 14, 2002 |title=Phoenix |pages=10–16 |work=Mediaweek |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediaweek/2002/Mediaweek-2002-01-14.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310035248/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediaweek/2002/Mediaweek-2002-01-14.pdf|id={{ProQuest|213639039}} |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2006, [[Jordin Sparks]] won an opportunity to audition for ''[[American Idol]]'' after winning KSAZ's own "Arizona Idol" competition; she ultimately went on to win the season.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=February 7, 2011 |title='American Idol': A Case Study In Affiliate Relations |language=en |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/american-idol-case-studyin-affiliate-relations-42731 |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217043532/https://www.nexttv.com/news/american-idol-case-studyin-affiliate-relations-42731 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==News operation==
[[File:Gallego on John Hook's Newsmaker Saturday 20190420.jpg|thumb|Congressman [[Ruben Gallego]] on ''John Hook's Newsmaker Saturday'' in 2019]]
In 1964, Chauncey merged the KOOL radio and television news departments into a single division under the management of Bill Close, formerly of KOY radio. Close was an 18-year veteran of Phoenix radio and television at the time, and KOOL billed him as "the Dean of Arizona Newscasters".<ref name="Ariz640808">{{Cite news |date=August 8, 1964 |title=KOOL News Staff Best In Southwest |page=46 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90616342/kool-news-staff-best-in-southwest/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081731/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90616342/kool-news-staff-best-in-southwest/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sat --> The newsroom grew from six people when Close arrived to 23 by 1970, making it the largest among Phoenix's four news-producing stations;<ref name="Ariz700426">{{Cite news |last=Wilmot |first=Vic |date=April 26, 1970 |title=Video news content weighs heavily on shoulders of local newscasters |page=N-5 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89550992/video-news-content-weighs-heavily-on/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126045353/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89550992/video-news-content-weighs-heavily-on/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> a helicopter, the first of several, was also added to the KOOL arsenal at that time.<ref name="Ariz790826">{{Cite news |date=August 26, 1979 |title=Big names, helicopters aid in TV news battle |page=A-2 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85921903/big-names-helicopters-aid-in-tv-news/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081728/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85921903/big-names-helicopters-aid-in-tv-news/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> Under Close's watch, ''KOOL News 10'' became the perennial news leader in Phoenix. At one point, channel 10's dominance was so absolute that its 6 p.m. newscast (anchored by Close) attracted 46 percent of all TV households in the market, the same share as the ''[[CBS Evening News]] with [[Walter Cronkite]]''.{{r|Ariz820929}} The news department was largely a reflection of the [[bola tie]]-wearing Close. According to his longtime anchor desk partner, [[Mary Jo West]]—the second full-time female anchor in Phoenix—Close took a fatherly attitude toward his reporters and placed a high premium on accuracy and professionalism.<ref name=CloseObit>{{cite news|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/06/02/bill-close-arizona-icon/9184885/|title=Longtime Valley anchor Bill Close dies|author1=Michael Clancy|author2=Richard Ruelas|work=[[The Arizona Republic]]|date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>
The station's success produced people who went on to larger jobs, both in and out of Phoenix. In 1979, Kent Dana—who would become a fixture at KPNX and later KPHO—was hired from KOOL-TV, where he was anchoring the weekend news, by channel 12.<ref name="Ariz790810">{{Cite news |last=Price |first=Hardy |date=August 10, 1979 |title=KOOL newscaster Kent Dana to replace Hambrick at KPNX |page=D-6 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85885625/kool-newscaster-kent-dana-to-replace/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081724/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85885625/kool-newscaster-kent-dana-to-replace/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri --> KOOL was also the first Phoenix television station to win a [[Peabody Award]], doing so in 1980 for a documentary, ''The Long Eyes of [[Kitt Peak]]''.<ref name="Ariz800420">{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1980 |title=KOOL-TV wins Peabody Award |page=G5 |work=Arizona Republic |agency=United Press International |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90705205/kool-tv-wins-peabody-award/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217083216/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90705205/kool-tv-wins-peabody-award/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun -->
On May 28, 1982, at about 5&nbsp;pm, Joseph Billie Gwin, wanting to "prevent [[World War III]]", forced his way into the KOOL-TV studios and fired a shot from his gun. The butt of the gun struck Luis Villa in the back of the head; Gwin then held Villa in a chokehold, at gunpoint, for nearly five hours. Gwin took four people hostage and demanded nationwide airtime. Two of the hostages, Jack Webb and Bob Cimino, were released three hours later. At 9:30&nbsp;pm, anchor Bill Close read a 25-minute statement as Gwin sat next to him holding a gun under the table; Close took Gwin's gun after the statement and set it on the table.<ref name="Ariz820529">{{Cite news |date=May 29, 1982 |title=Gunman gives up at TV studio: Apocalyptic vision aired under gaze of 'prophet' |page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653969/ A25] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90653932/gunman-gives-up-at-tv-studio-apocalypti/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Gwin surrendered to the police following the broadcast of the statement; he was charged with kidnapping, assault, and burglary and was later declared insane.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 30, 1982 |title=Man Who Took 4 Hostages Faces Charges in Incident at TV Station |page=24 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/30/us/man-who-took-4-hostages-faces-charges-in-incident-at-tv-station.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829223001/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/30/us/man-who-took-4-hostages-faces-charges-in-incident-at-tv-station.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Gwin was put on parole and placed in a halfway house but violated that parole after assaulting two convenience store clerks in 1984;<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1984 |title=A man declared insane after taking over a Phoenix... |agency=United Press International |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/22/A-man-declared-insane-after-taking-over-a-Phoenix/4149464673600/ |access-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829215555/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/22/A-man-declared-insane-after-taking-over-a-Phoenix/4149464673600/ |url-status=live }}</ref> he was released from prison in 2006.<ref name="Ariz100911">{{Cite news |last=Ruelas |first=Richard |date=September 11, 2010 |title=1982 hostage-taking at Phoenix TV station |page=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90654018/ E2] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90654013/1982-hostage-taking-at-phoenix-tv-statio/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sat -->
Channel 10 remained at the top of the ratings for a time after becoming KTSP-TV. However, in the late 1980s, after KTVK poached Miller and Alvidrez, channel 10's news ratings began to decline, not helped by a series of unforced errors. In 1989, KTSP newscaster [[Shelly Jamison]] left the station after appearing as both a cover model and posing nude in a ''[[Playboy]]'' pictorial.<ref name="PhoenixNewTimes">{{Cite news |last=Webb |first=Dewey |date=August 30, 1989 |title=On the Rink of A Vervous Breakdown |work=[[Phoenix New Times]] |url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-08-30/news/on-the-rink-of-a-vervous-breakdown/full |access-date=March 9, 2007 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930152251/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-08-30/news/on-the-rink-of-a-vervous-breakdown/full |url-status=live }}</ref> The most publicized move, however, was the 1991 dismissal of anchor Karen Carns, who found out she had been fired 15 minutes before the evening newscast when a newspaper reporter called to get her reaction.<ref name="Ariz940524a">{{Cite news |last=Muller |first=Bill |date=May 24, 1994 |title=Irony at 10: Anchorwoman may be getting the last laugh |page=A11 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695212/irony-at-10-anchorwoman-may-be-getting/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030920/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695212/irony-at-10-anchorwoman-may-be-getting/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Tue --> In the February 1992 sweeps, KTSP-TV lost the lead at 6 p.m. in both the Arbitron and Nielsen ratings, the first time in memory that it had failed to win that timeslot.<ref name="Ariz920307">{{Cite news |date=March 7, 1992 |title=February ratings reveal new trends in local market |page=D8 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34063954/february-ratings-reveal-new-trends-in/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030842/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34063954/february-ratings-reveal-new-trends-in/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sat --> That year, Close retired from channel 10 after a 28-year career,{{r|betrayed}} having stepped down from the anchor desk four years earlier.<ref name=CloseObit/>
With the Fox switch, KSAZ-TV added 30 news staffers and increased its news output from three hours a day to seven, with the addition of the two-hour morning newscast ''Arizona Morning'', an additional early evening newscast at 5:30&nbsp;pm, and a 9 p.m. news hour, ''Arizona Prime''.<ref name="Ariz941211a">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=December 11, 1994 |title=Stations expand news staff to lure viewers in transition |page=A32 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90695624/stations-expand-news-staff-to-lure-viewe/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sun --> A simulcast of [[KTAR (AM)|KTAR]] talk show ''McMahon Live'' with Pat McMahon was also added in late mornings. However, the switch proved to be very messy for the newsroom. Close, who said he felt "betrayed" by the affiliation switch, predicted that the station would lose its standing in local news.<ref name="betrayed">{{Cite news|first=Barbara|last=Holsopple|work=The Phoenix Gazette|page=D1|date=May 24, 1994|title=Pending sale creates turmoil at Valley TV stations|id={{ProQuest|245946642}} }}</ref> Ratings for KSAZ-TV's other newscasts declined after the switch, prompting morale to fall. ''Arizona Morning'' was retooled just months after its debut, and Heidi Foglesong—the former KTVK anchor who was the show's centerpiece—left after just over a year.<ref name="Ariz951210">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=December 10, 1995 |title=First year of marriage 'tough' for Channel 10, Fox |page=F1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696152/channel-10-manager-senses-ratings-reboun/ F6] |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696089/first-year-of-marriage-tough-for-chann/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The McMahon program was dropped in January 1996.<ref name="Ariz960130">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=January 30, 1996 |title='Unflappable' newsman Patterson travels into retirement from Ch. 10 |page=C5 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696290/unflappable-newsman-patterson-travels/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030839/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696290/unflappable-newsman-patterson-travels/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Tue -->
After two years of a news product that was more staid and conservative than had become the norm for a Fox station, things began to change in 1996 under new news director Bill Berra, who promised to "bring up the intensity".<ref name="Ariz960317">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=March 17, 1996 |title=Channel 10 sly like fox with news plans |page=F8 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88139886/channel-10-sly-like-fox-with-news-plans/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030849/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88139886/channel-10-sly-like-fox-with-news-plans/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> Presentation was revamped that fall; the sound of an emergency siren was incorporated into the opening of the 10 p.m. newscast.<ref name="Ariz961027">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=October 27, 1996 |title=Stations differ on style, not substance |page=A18 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696524/stations-differ-on-style-not-substance/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217030841/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90696524/stations-differ-on-style-not-substance/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun --> One anchor, June Thomson, increased her delivery speed at the behest of the new management, but the relationship broke down, and Thomson took a job at [[KGO-TV]] in San Francisco. She told the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' that the station practiced "crime and body-bag journalism, just like Miami" and that she "watched the destruction of a once-fine newsroom" at channel 10.<ref name="SanF961209">{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Bill |date=December 9, 1996 |title=KGO's June Thomson toned down for S.F. |page=D-3 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |location=San Francisco, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90735013/kgos-june-thomson-toned-down-for-sf/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Mon --> Arizona Prime was replaced in April 1997 with ''Fox 10 News at Nine''.<ref name="Ariz970404">{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Dave |date=April 4, 1997 |title=PBS' 'Forest Wars' cut down by lapse in objective coverage |page=D21 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90702557/pbs-forest-wars-cut-down-by-lapse-in/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217061817/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90702557/pbs-forest-wars-cut-down-by-lapse-in/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri -->
On April 1, 2009, Fox Television Stations and the E. W. Scripps Company, owner of KNXV-TV, announced the formation of Local News Service, a model for pooling newsgathering efforts for local news events in which each station provided employees to the pool service in exchange for the sharing of video.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 1, 2009 |title=Fox, Scripps Create Local News Service |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/191108-Fox_Scripps_Create_Local_News_Service.php |access-date=May 28, 2009 |archive-date=September 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928075456/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/191108-Fox_Scripps_Create_Local_News_Service.php |url-status=live }}</ref> KPHO-TV eventually joined the Phoenix LNS agreement shortly after the announcement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 8, 2009 |title=Chicago stations join to share video crews for ENG |work=BroadcastEngineering |url=http://broadcastengineering.com/news/chicago-stations-join-0508/ |url-status=dead |access-date=May 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090516184503/http://broadcastengineering.com/news/chicago-stations-join-0508/ |archive-date=May 16, 2009}}</ref> By 2020, all four English-language television newsrooms in Phoenix shared a helicopter.{{r|royale}}
In 2014, KSAZ debuted an expanded Saturday morning newscast and a new Sunday morning news hour.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=June 10, 2014 |title=Stations Working for the Weekend |language=en |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/stations-working-weekend-131635 |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217043535/https://www.nexttv.com/news/stations-working-weekend-131635 |url-status=live }}</ref> KSAZ added a 4 p.m. weekday news hour, a second half-hour to its 10 p.m. newscast, and a 7 p.m. nightly hour of news for KUTP in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=April 12, 2018 |title=Fox Television Stations Expand News |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-television-stations-expand-news |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=November 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101053335/https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-television-stations-expand-news |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2020, KSAZ-TV's daily news output had reached twelve hours on weekdays.<ref name="royale">{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=February 15, 2021 |title=Local News Battle Royale in Phoenix |language=en |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/features/local-news-battle-royale-in-phoenix |url-status=live |access-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303190327/https://www.nexttv.com/features/local-news-battle-royale-in-phoenix |archive-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref>
Phoenix was also the starting point for LiveNow from Fox, the over-the-top streaming news offering from the Fox television stations. It began as "Fox 10 News Now" in November 2014, streaming for seven hours a day on the station's website and YouTube channel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |date=March 9, 2015 |title=KSAZ Online News Service Eyes 24 Hours |language=en |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/ksaz-online-news-service-eyes-24-hours/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217051418/https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/ksaz-online-news-service-eyes-24-hours/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, production of the service was spread between the Fox stations in Phoenix, Orlando, and Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Mark |date=August 12, 2020 |title=For Fox Stations, OTT's Target Is Niche |language=en |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/digital/article/for-fox-stations-otts-target-is-niche/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217051409/https://tvnewscheck.com/digital/article/for-fox-stations-otts-target-is-niche/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Notable current on-air staff===
* [[Troy Hayden]] – anchor<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cordova |first=Randy |date=July 26, 2016 |title=Troy Hayden to replace Rick D'Amico on Fox 10 morning show |language=en-US |work=The Arizona Republic |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/television/2016/07/26/troy-hayden-replace-rick-damico-fox-10-morning-show/87577522/ |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
===Notable former on-air staff===
[[File:Kari Lake by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg|thumb|alt=Image of Kari Lake at a 2022 campaign event|Prior to running for [[Governor of Arizona]] in 2022, Kari Lake spent more than 20 years as a news anchor at KSAZ-TV.]]
* [[Walker Edmiston]] –&nbsp;host of a puppet show (1962–1963)<ref name="Ariz630306">{{Cite news |last=Wilmot |first=Vic |date=March 6, 1963 |title=On the Town with Vic Wilmot |page=23 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90705229/on-the-town/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Wed -->
* [[J. D. Hayworth]] – sports anchor (1987–1994); U.S. Congressman from 1994 to 2006 and talk show host on [[KFYI]]<ref name="Ariz940101">{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1994 |title=Channel 10's Hayworth steps down, may join politics |page=51 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90703163/channel-10s-hayworth-steps-down-may-jo/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Sat -->
* [[Kari Lake]] – anchor (1999–2021); Republican candidate for the [[2022 Arizona gubernatorial election]] and [[2024 United States Senate election in Arizona]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodykoontz |first=Bill |date=March 2, 2021 |title=Why longtime Fox 10 news anchor Kari Lake is leaving the Phoenix station after 22 years |language=en-US |work=The Arizona Republic |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2021/03/02/arizona-news-anchor-kari-lake-leaving-fox-10-phoenix/6885160002/ |access-date=December 17, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Geoff Morrell (spokesperson)|Geoff Morrell]] – reporter (1995–1996); formerly [[White House]] correspondent for [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]; former press secretary for [[The Pentagon]]<ref name="Ariz951231">{{Cite news |date=December 31, 1995 |title=Who Are These People?: Geoff Morrell |page=F6 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90703199/who-are-these-people-geoff-morrell/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217061822/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90703199/who-are-these-people-geoff-morrell/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sun -->
* [[Anne Montgomery (sportscaster)|Anne Montgomery]] – sports reporter (1980s); later at [[ESPN]], now a teacher at [[South Mountain High School]]<ref name="Ariz891123">{{Cite news |last=Cohn |first=Bob |date=November 23, 1989 |title=Stallings' on-air presence was undoing with Cards |page=F14 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90703273/stallings-on-air-presence-was-undoing-w/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Thu -->
* [[Vicky Nguyen]] – investigative reporter/collaborator (2004–2007); now reporter for [[NBC News]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet Vicky Nguyen, Senior Investigative, Reporter & Anchor NBC Bay Area News |url=https://bayareawomenmag.com/news/view/9132/Meet_Vicky_Nguyen_Senior_Investigative_Reporter_-_Anchor_NBC_Bay_Area_News |access-date=December 17, 2021 |website=Bay Area Women |archive-date=May 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514204851/https://bayareawomenmag.com/news/view/9132/Meet_Vicky_Nguyen_Senior_Investigative_Reporter_-_Anchor_NBC_Bay_Area_News |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Kinsey Schofield]] – reporter<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=Mike |date=April 30, 2018 |title=Meet WGNO's new 'Good Morning New Orleans' team |language=en |work=The Times-Picayune |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/movies_tv/article_767a10bd-52dc-5465-837f-29aa1b3bd2bb.html |access-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011051850/https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/movies_tv/article_767a10bd-52dc-5465-837f-29aa1b3bd2bb.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Peter Van Sant]] – anchor/reporter (1978–1982)<ref name="Ariz820910">{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Bud |date=September 10, 1982 |title=KOOL weekend anchor takes TV job in Dallas |page=E10 |work=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90705191/kool-weekend-anchor-takes-tv-job-in-dall/ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Fri -->
==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of KSAZ-TV<ref name="re">{{Cite web |title=RabbitEars TV Query for KSAZ |url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KSAZ |access-date=December 17, 2021 |website=[[RabbitEars.info]] |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019202504/https://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KSAZ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope="col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope="col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope="col" | Short name
! scope="col" | Programming
|-
! scope="row" | 10.1
| [[720p]] || rowspan=4|[[16:9]] || KSAZ-TV || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
|-
! scope="row" | 10.3
| rowspan=3|[[480i]] || Heroes || [[Heroes & Icons]]
|-
! scope="row" | 10.4
| TheGrio || [[TheGrio|TheGrio TV]]
|-
! scope="row" | 10.5
| FOX WX || [[Fox Weather]]
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6; border-top: 2px solid #003399;"
! scope="row" | [[KASW|61.2]]
| rowspan=3|480i || rowspan=3|16:9 || HSN || [[HSN]] ([[KASW|KASW-DT2]])
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6"
! scope="row" | [[KASW|61.5]]
| Grit || [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]] ([[KASW|KASW-DT5]])
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6"
! scope="row" | [[KASW|61.6]]
| Mystery || [[Ion Mystery]] ([[KASW|KASW-DT6]])
|}
{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}
Virtual channel 10.2 is assigned to a KUTP simulcast of 10.1 for the convenience of UHF antenna viewers. Three subchannels on the multiplex are hosted for KASW, Phoenix's [[ATSC 3.0]] (NextGen TV) station, which in turn broadcasts KSAZ in that format.{{r|re}}
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
KSAZ-TV began broadcasting a digital signal, initially in standard definition only, on October 15, 2000.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=KSAZ-DT|title=Television Factbook|date=2006|page=A-126}}</ref> KSAZ-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 10, at 8:30&nbsp;a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 31 to VHF channel 10 for post-transition operations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref>
===Translators===
KSAZ-TV is broadcast on these translators in northern and northwestern Arizona:<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 23, 2021|title=List of TV Translator Input Channels|url=https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209195336/https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|archive-date=December 9, 2021|access-date=December 17, 2021|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=40em}}
* [[Bullhead City]]: K07YJ-D
* [[Chloride, Arizona|Chloride]]: K17NS-D
* [[Clarkdale, Arizona|Clarkdale]]: K36AE-D
* [[Colorado City, Arizona|Colorado City]]: K27EJ-D
* East [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]]: K26NG-D
* [[Kingman, Arizona|Kingman]]: K29LO-D
* [[Lake Havasu City]]: K22NK-D
* [[Littlefield, Arizona|Littlefield]]: K31EA-D
* [[Peach Springs]]: K36PE-D
* [[Prescott, Arizona|Prescott]]: K25OM-D
* [[Snowflake, Arizona|Snowflake]]: K07OJ-D
* [[Williams, Arizona|Williams]]: K31NE-D
* [[Needles, CA]]: K17BN-D
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.fox10phoenix.com/}}
* {{YouTube|yWaQFguerFc|Video of the KOOL-TV/Bill Close hostage crisis live over-the-air statement read}}
{{PHX TV}}
{{Fox Arizona}}
{{Fox (company)}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ksaz-Tv}}
[[Category:1953 establishments in Arizona]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Fox Television Stations]]
[[Category:Heroes & Icons affiliates]]
[[Category:National Football League primary television stations]]
[[Category:New World Communications television stations]]
[[Category:Taft Broadcasting]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953]]
[[Category:Television stations in Phoenix, Arizona|SAZ-TV]]