About 12NEWS

12News Station History

KBMT is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Golden Triangle area of Southeast Texas that is licensed to Southeast Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Mauriceville. The station can also be seen on Time Warner cable, DISH and DirecTV satellite services, and other cable systems throughout Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana.  Owned by TEGNA Broadcasting, KBMT has studios along I-10/U.S. 69/U.S. 96/U.S. 287 in Southeast Texas. With the onset of the digital transition, which began more than ten years ago, KBMT has grown its television network base to include five other stations.  These five stations, along with KBMT, provide the foundation for The Networks of 12News.  

About TEGNA

KBMT is owned and operated by TEGNA Inc., an innovative media company that serves the greater good of its communities. Across platforms, TEGNA delivers relevant and trusted content by telling empowering stories, conducting impactful investigations and providing innovative and unparalleled solutions for advertisers through TEGNA Marketing Solutions. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.

Mission and Coverage Priorities

MISSION

TEGNA’s purpose is to serve the greater good of our communities.
We will provide the news and information that people need to function as effective citizens.
We will seek solutions as well as expose problems and wrongdoing.
We will provide editorial and community leadership.
We will seek to promote understanding of complex issues.
We will be advocates for our communities.

DIVERSE VOICES

At TEGNA, you will find people from all backgrounds, interests and abilities, united by a common purpose to make a difference in our work, our company and our community.

We are committed to making editorial decisions with input from a variety of voices that reflect our community. We seek sufficient understanding of the communities, individuals and stories we cover to inform the public. We are persistent in pursuit of the whole story.

DIVERSITY STAFFING REPORT

At TEGNA, we believe that attracting a talented and diverse workforce is one of the keys to our success. We strive to create for our employees an environment which offers professional and intellectual challenges, which encourages innovation and creativity, and which rewards success and effective teamwork. Read our latest EEO Diversity Report.

Ethics, Standards and Practices

ETHICS

TEGNA is committed to the highest ethical standards and dedicated to the principles of truth, independence, fair play and integrity. These principles apply to everything we do, from gathering content to reporting and producing content. Read TEGNA’s Principles of Ethical Journalism.

TEGNA journalists observe the following principles:

INDEPENDENCE

We will remain free of outside interests, investments, business relationships or personal relationships that may compromise the credibility of our news reports.
We will seek to avoid potential conflicts of interest and promptly disclose any that arise.
We do not accept gifts, meals or entertainment from any individuals or organizations that may be covered by our stations.
We do not allow sponsors of news to determine, change or restrict content.
We do not make political contributions, participate in political advocacy or publicly share political views.

TRANSPARENCY

We are transparent about paid or sponsored content.
We clearly identify and differentiate commentary from news.
We will explain our journalistic processes to our audience.

PUBLIC INTEREST

We will uphold and defend the First Amendment.
We will be vigilant watchdogs of government and institutions that affect the public.
We will fight to insure the public’s business is conducted in public.

FAIRNESS

We will treat people with dignity, respect and compassion.
We will be fair with people unaccustomed to dealing with the media. (*)
We will seek all sides relevant to a story.
(Also diverse voices)

INTEGRITY

We will act honorably, transparently and ethically in dealing with news sources, the public and our colleagues.
We will obey the law.
We will not skew facts, distort reality or sensationalize events (ETHICS).
We will not manipulate images or sound in misleading ways.
We will not present images that are reenacted without informing the audience.
We will use hidden cameras or similar techniques only if there is no other way to tell a significant story effectively, and only with news management approval.
We will respect the copyrights of others.

VERIFICATION & FACT-CHECKING

We report the news accurately, thoroughly and in context on all platforms. We vet sources, verify facts and challenge assumptions before reporting news. We hold factual information on all platforms to the same standards of accuracy.
We are honest. We do not mislead sources, story subjects or the public.
We attribute information received from others, and we are transparent with sourcing. We do not plagiarize.
We do not misstate our identity or intentions. We keep our word.
We do not intentionally slant the news.
We value being right over being fast.

UNNAMED SOURCES

We will use unnamed sources as the sole basis for reporting only as a last resort when it best serves the public’s right to know, and only with prior news management approval.

CORRECTIONS

We will make corrections promptly and proportionate to the original reporting.

CONTACT US

MASTHEAD/EDITORIAL LEADERSHIP

Click here to meet our Editorial Leadership team

ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK

We value feedback from our community, including story ideas as well as comments and corrections on our coverage. Click on the appropriate link below to route your feedback to the correct team in our newsroom.

Contact Information

NEWSROOM CONTACT INFORMATION

Connect/Contact

Trust Project Participation

TEGNA is proud to be a participant in the Trust Project. The Trust Project is an international consortium of news organizations collaborating to use transparency to build a more trustworthy and trusted press. For more information visit https://thetrustproject.org/.

Channel			Programming
12.1			KBMT - ABC
12.2			K-JAC - NBC
12.3			COZI
12.4			Me-TV
12.5			MYTX - MyNetwork
12.6			ION Television

 

History

Unrelated to the current channel 12 license, the KBMT call sign was originally used on UHF channel 31 when it was launched May 9, 1954 as the first television station to broadcast in the Golden Triangle. It carried ABC, CBS and NBC, but lost CBS when KFDM-TV went on the air in 1955. Since the FCC did not mandate television sets to use converters until 1964, this KBMT went off the air on August 1, 1956.

 

The current KBMT-TV began broadcasting from its transmitter facilities in Sabine Pass on June 18, 1961 as an ABC affiliate. Before 1961, ABC had been relegated to limited clearances on KJAC-TV (now KBTV-TV) and KFDM-TV. The original owners were N.D. "Doug" Williams and Randolph Reed. The station was later sold to Cowles Broadcasting in 1965, which moved the transmitter site to its current location in Mauriceville, TX. The station was then sold to H&C Communications in 1970, McKinnon Broadcasting in 1977, and then sold to London Broadcasting in Aug. 2009 and now to the current owner TEGNA Broadcasting in July 2014. In September 2002, KBMT became the first station in the market to transmit a digital signal and on January 1, 2009, KBMT was first in the market and one of the first in the country to transmit 2 major networks in HD on a single RF channel when it added NBC programming on digital sub channel 12.2. This came after KBTV, which previously held the affiliation, switched to Fox. This caused former FOX affiliate KUIL-LP (now KUIL-LD) to become an Independent and subsequently re-brand itself as MYTX.  In a ten-year deal with London Broadcasting, KBMT began to manage the programming of that station. On July 6, 2010, the station launched Azteca America on a new 4th digital sub channel becoming the first Spanish-language television station offered in the Golden Triangle. That channel was dropped in early 2013 in favor of MundoMAX. Due to a realignment, 4 digital channels (3 HD and 1 SD) are carried on the main channel 12 signal while the other two (12.5 MYTX in HD and 12.6 MundoMAX in SD) are carried via the lowpower stations (except in Jasper where KVHP-LD on 44 carries the main RF12 signal with ABC, NBC, COZI and MeTV).  KUIL-LP was acquired by TEGNA Broadcasting when TEGNA assumed ownership of KBMT.

 

Newscasts

KBMT launched its news operation in 1962. On September 16, 2009, several changes occurred in the newscast lineup. The weekday morning show, 12News Daybreak, began simulcasting on both the ABC and NBC channels while becoming a full two-hour broadcast.  Late in 2014, 12News Daybreak expanded the morning show from 5-7 a.m. to 4:30-7 a.m. There began to be a half-hour newscast weekday mornings at 12:00 p.m. on K-JAC. The NBC channel also launched a weeknight show at 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. and began to simulcast the main channel's weeknight 10 o'clock news.  Ultimately, K-JAC switched to syndication programming at 10 p.m.  On April 28, 2010, KBMT and K-JAC became the first stations in the market to air local news in high definition and followed up in July by being the first stations to air commercials and syndicated programming in HD. In the summer of 2016, KBMT was proud to accept the ‘Best Newscast’ award from the Press Club of Southeast Texas, the sixth year in a row in which the honor was bestowed upon the station.

 

Newscast Titles

• ABC

  12News Daybreak M-F

  12News at 5       M-F

  12News at 6       M-F

  12News at 10     M-F

  12News at 6       Saturday

  12News at 5:30  Sunday

  12News at 10     Saturday

  12News at 10     Sunday 

  NBC

  12News Daybreak           M-F

  12News at Noon               M-F

  KJAC Live at 4 O’ Clock   M-F

  12News at 6:30                 M-F

•  

• Station slogans
• "Hello Southeast Texas, Channel 12 and You" (1980s-1991, used when station featured Frank Gari's "Hello News")
• "The News Station of Southeast Texas" (1991–1998)
• "More Local News for Southeast Texas" (1998–2001)
• "Southeast Texas' First Choice for More Local News" (2001–2007, primary slogan)
• "Live. Local. Latebreaking." (2001–2007, secondary slogan)
• "We Believe in More Local News" (2007–2011)
• "Expect More" (2011–present)

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