KNDU
KNDU, virtual channel 25, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Richland, Washington, United States and serving the Tri-Cities area. The station is owned by the Spokane-based Cowles Company as part of the KHQ Television Group. KNDU's studios are located on West Kennewick Avenue in Kennewick, and its transmitter is located on Jump Off Joe Butte.
Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KNDU is considered a semi-satellite of KNDO in Yakima. As such, it simulcasts all network and syndicated programming as provided through its parent, and the two stations share a website. However, KNDU airs separate commercial inserts and legal identifications. Local newscasts, produced by KNDU, are simulcast on both stations. KNDU serves the eastern half of the Yakima/Tri-Cities market while KNDO serves the western portion. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. Master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister station, fellow NBC affiliate and company flagship KHQ-TV on West Sprague Avenue in downtown Spokane.
On satellite, KNDU is only available on Dish Network, while DirecTV carries KNDO instead.
History
KNDU first took the air on October 10, 1961 as a primary ABC affiliate, which also carried some NBC programming. In 1965, KNDU became a primary NBC affiliate, but continued to air some ABC programs until 1970 when KVEW went on the air as a full-time ABC affiliate; at that point, KNDU became an exclusive NBC affiliate.For a brief period in 1960, a station called KNBS-TV operated in Walla Walla, Washington, on channel 22. It was an ABC affiliate, which could explain why KNDO waited 2 years before putting KNDU on the air.
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP short name | Programming |
| 25.1 | 1080i | KNDU-HD | Main KNDU programming / NBC | |
| 25.3 | 1080i | SWXKNDU | SWX Right Now |
KNDO and KNDU have been digital-only since February 17, 2009. NBC Weather Plus had been carried on digital subchannel 25.3; the originating national network ceased operation on December 1, 2008.
On September 1, 2010, KNDO and KNDU discontinued broadcasting Universal Sports on digital subchannel 25.2. They will be giving this bandwidth to SWX Right Now to improve the picture of SWX programming.
Programming
In addition to the NBC network schedule, syndicated programming on KNDU includes Hot Bench, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune, among others.In the past, as in many stations not owned and operated by the network, KNDU preempted select NBC shows. For example, the station did not carry Friday Night Videos after it moved to the 1:30 a.m. slot in summer 1987 until 1996, opting to sign off until later in the morning. The station also preempted the entire Bob Costas incarnation and the pre-1996 broadcasts of Greg Kinnear's incarnation of Later from the show's premiere in 1988 until they picked up the show in 1996. From 1991 to 1996, the station preempted NBC Nightside due to the station signing off for the night as a result; Nightside was cleared on the station starting in 1996 until the show's end in 1998, when the station cleared the NBC All Night block that succeeded the program. NBC was far less tolerant of program preemptions during the entire timeframe where the station preempted programming from that network.