KHOU

KHOU (channel 11) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States. It shows programs from CBS. The station is owned by Tegna, which is part of Nexstar Media Group. Tegna also owns another station called KTBU (channel 55) and a CW station named KIAH (channel 39).

KHOU and KTBU share their studios on Westheimer Road near Uptown Houston. The station's transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County. Houston is the biggest television market where the CBS station is not owned directly by the network.

History

The television station KHOU first started broadcasting on March 22, 1953, as KGUL-TV. It was founded by Paul Taft and was originally based in Galveston. It was the second TV station in the Houston area, bringing the CBS network to the region. Actor James Stewart was one of the original investors.

In 1956, new owners changed the station’s name to KHOU-TV. By 1959, it moved its license to Houston. In 1984, Belo Corporation bought the station and made big improvements, adding popular shows and improving news coverage. By the 1990s, KHOU had become one of CBS’s strongest stations.

In 2013, Gannett Company bought Belo, and later that year, Gannett split into two companies, with KHOU joining the broadcast and digital side called Tegna. In 2026, Nexstar Media Group acquired Tegna, but legal issues stopped them from fully combining the stations.

Belo ownership

Belo Corporation bought KHOU in 1984 and made many improvements. They added popular shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, as well as The Oprah Winfrey Show. They also updated the news department and used themes from their Dallas station, WFAA. These changes helped KHOU become one of CBS’s strongest stations by the 1990s. In 1998, KHOU was the first in Houston to start broadcasting in high definition.

Hurricane Harvey

KHOU’s studios near Buffalo Bayou were often at risk of flooding. During Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, flooding damaged the station’s offices and newsroom, forcing them to interrupt regular programming. During Hurricane Ike in 2008, KHOU’s storm coverage was shared nationwide.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought huge amounts of rain to Houston. On August 27, floodwaters forced KHOU to leave its studios. The station’s new news set, weather center, and equipment were destroyed. KHOU’s broadcast signal went off the air, and the station moved to temporary locations, using help from other stations to continue coverage. KHOU returned to broadcasting later that night from the University of Houston’s facilities. The station resumed normal programming by August 31.

Move to Westheimer studios

In November 2017, KHOU announced it would not return to its old studios, which were later demolished. In March 2018, KHOU signed a lease for new studios on Westheimer Road near Uptown Houston. The station moved into these new studios on February 17, 2019. In January 2020, KHOU gained a sister station, KTBU, which moved into the same facilities.

Programming

KHOU has always been a CBS station, showing the full CBS schedule. Besides news, it airs Great Day Houston, a local talk show hosted by Deborah Duncan, and covers the annual Thanksgiving Day parade, the H-E-B Holiday Parade.

Jeopardy! aired on KHOU from 1986 to 2015, and Wheel of Fortune has been on the station since 1986. Both shows air on different stations in Houston, which is rare for most markets.

In 1987, KHOU chose not to air a TV show based on the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards because of concerns about violence and making fun of people with disabilities.

Sports programming

When the Houston Texans joined the NFL in 2002, KHOU became the local home for most of their games, especially away games against certain teams. The station also showed games like Thursday Night Football and sometimes Monday Night Football.

KHOU has shown important basketball games involving the Houston Rockets and the University of Houston men's basketball team, as well as other local sports events.

News operation

KHOU broadcasts over 36 hours of news each week. It includes morning news, afternoon news, and evening news on weekdays, plus news on weekends.

The station is known for launching the careers of many famous news anchors and reporters. It also does investigative reporting, uncovering important issues in the community.

History

KHOU has always included news, even when it was based in Galveston in the 1950s. In 1961, anchor Dan Rather showed one of the first radar images of a hurricane on TV, helping save many lives during Hurricane Carla.

The station faced tough times in the 1970s and 1980s but began to improve in the late 1980s with new talent and a fresh image. By 1999, KHOU’s news became the most-watched in several time slots.

In 2007, KHOU started broadcasting its news in high definition, becoming the first station in Houston to do so. The station has continued to grow its news programming over the years.

Notable former on-air staff

• Steve Edwards – anchor/talk show host (1972–1975)
• Linda Ellerbee – reporter (1972–1973)
• Dr. Neil Frank – chief meteorologist (1987–2008)
• Ron Franklin – sports director (1971–1980)
• John Hambrick – anchor/reporter (1960s)
• Joanne Herring – host of The Joanne King Show (1950s–1974)
• Dennis Murphy – reporter/assignment editor (1975–1978)
• Jim Nantz – sports anchor/reporter (early 1980s)
• Chau Nguyen – anchor/reporter (2003–2007)
• Giff Nielsen – sports director (1984–2009)
• Dan Patrick – sports director (1979–1984)
• Dan Rather – anchor/reporter (early 1960s)
• Rick Sanchez – reporter (1986–1988)
• Jessica Savitch – anchor/reporter (1971–1972)
• Janet Shamlian – anchor/reporter (1987–1995)
• Ron Stone – anchor (1961–1972)

Criticism

In 2022, KHOU interrupted a Thanksgiving Day football game for a tornado warning with only 23 seconds left. Viewers in Houston missed the final moments of the game, including a last-second field goal, because the station did not show the game and the weather alert at the same time. The station did not publicly apologize for this decision.

Technical information and subchannels

KHOU’s transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County. The station’s signal is shared with other channels.

On September 26, 2011, KHOU began showing Bounce TV on one of its digital channels. In 2015, it added programming from the Justice Network to another channel. In 2018, it added Quest to a third channel, which later changed to show its sister station KTBU. In February 2021, this channel became affiliated with Twist. In 2020, a fifth channel called Circle launched. In January 2022, Bounce TV moved to another station. By the end of 2023, Twist and Circle were no longer shown. In February 2024, the fourth channel started showing programming from the Comet network.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KHOU stopped its regular analog broadcasts on the morning of June 12, 2009, as part of the switch from analog to digital television. Its digital signal moved from UHF channel 31 to VHF channel 11.