KATU
ABC television affiliate in Portland, Oregon, United States
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed independent station KUNP, channel 16 (which KATU simulcasts on its second digital subchannel). The two stations share studios on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; KATU's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.
KATU went on the air in 1962 as Portland's fourth commercial television station. Built by the Fisher Broadcasting Company (later Fisher Communications), KATU remained an independent station until 1964, when it began an affiliation with ABC. In the early 1970s, KATU expanded its local programming and became a contender in Portland-area local news ratings. In 2013, Fisher Communications and KATU were acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
History
Channel 2 comes to Portland
Channel 2 was not initially assigned to Portland, being allocated in 1957. That action spurred activity on the valuable frequency. Four applications were initially received, from The Oregon Journal, owner of KPOJ (1330 AM); Fisher Broadcasting Company, which owned KOMO radio and television in Seattle; Tribune Publishing Company, publisher of The News Tribune and owner of KTNT-TV in Tacoma, Washington; and KPTV (channel 12), which wanted to move to channel 2. KPTV later withdrew, and KPOJ dropped its application in March, but it was not until the end of 1959 that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing examiner recommended Fisher over the Tribune Publishing Company for the channel 2 construction permit. The full commission began drafting paperwork in support of this decision in December 1960, and Fisher received the permit on February 23, 1961.
The public source identifies “KATU” as aBC television affiliate in Portland, Oregon, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around KATU, television and affiliate.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “KATU”, the useful work is to connect “aBC television affiliate in Portland, Oregon, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3191329. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962, 1964, 2013 and 1957.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “KATU” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.