KVOA

KVOA (channel 4) is a television station in Tucson, Arizona, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Allen Media Broadcasting. The station's studios are located on West Elm Street north of downtown Tucson, and its primary transmitter is located atop Mount Bigelow, northeast of the city, supplemented by translators in the Tucson Mountains and in Sierra Vista. KVOA-TV, originally associated with KVOA radio, went on the air in September 1953 as Tucson's second television station. An NBC affiliate from the start, early owners included KTAR in Phoenix, Clinton D. McKinnon, and the Pulitzer Publishing Company. Pulitzer had to divest the television station to purchase the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, resulting in its 1973 purchase by an ownership group that led the station to ratings leadership in local news for nearly 30 years. Allen acquired KVOA in 2021, the second sale of the station in four years owing to ownership conflicts from a merger. History Early years In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifting its freeze on the award of new television stations, three Tucson radio stations applied for three channels. The Arizona Broadcasting Company, owner of KVOA (1290 AM), filed for channel 4 without opposition on February 7 and was granted a construction permit to build on November 12. KVOA, Tucson's NBC radio station, selected channel 4 because it was preferred by RCA and because NBC-owned stations in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., were on channel 4.