Fresno Stations - Bakersfield Stations - Sacramento Stations Omaha Station - Santa Maria/Arroyo Grande Stations
KHST has been providing Central Valley television viewers with the Home Shopping Network for the past 11 years and remains one of the top stations in the market. Visit them online at www.hsn.com.
Watch America's Stores for jewelry, collectibles and more! Visit them online at www.hsn.com.
TV 34 is the one and only station in the Fresno area that has The Box: music television you control. Call the number on the screen or request videos online at www.thebox.com.
KMCF is the home of the American
Independent Network providing classic movies and great entertainment in the Fresno area. Check them out on-line at www.aini.com
Check out Channel 68 for the new Shop at Home or check them out online at www.shopathomeonline.com.
The B-Movie Channel showcases original and classic B-Movies and videos from all over the world. From cult horror films and silent classics to rare animation and original BMC productions, The B-Movie Channel is your source for B-Movies 24 hours a day. Visit them online at www.b-moviechannel.com
KVHF broadcasts Hispanic music videos for Central Valley viewers in a format similar to The Box. Look for hot videos from Ricky Martin and Enrique Igleséis. Tune in and check it out! Visit them online at www.htv.com
Tune in to KJBC TV 55, America's Collectibles Network and experience the great new network for collectible shopping. Visit them online at www.acntv.com
Watch America's Voice on TV13 for the one television network that keeps Washington in touch with America, providing an interactive forum for the American people and their elected officials. Check it out online at www.americasvoice.com
Tune in to KJOI TV 33, America's Collectibles Network and experience the great new network for collectible shopping. Visit them online at www.acntv.com
Watch America's Stores for jewelry, collectibles and more! Visit them online at www.hsn.com.
Tune in to Channel 53 and watch Hispanic television including movies, novellas and more!
Tune in to KSAO TV 49, America's Collectibles Network and experience the great new network for collectible shopping. Visit them online at www.acntv.com
KXVO is home of the WB network in the Omaha area. Watch for popular shows like Dawson's Creek and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Visit them online at www.thewb.com
Watch America's Stores for jewelry, collectibles and more! Visit them online at www.hsn.com.
Cocola Broadcasting
History - Present - Meet Gary Cocola
Cocola Broadcasting Companies is poised to define how television will serve its audiences in the new millennium. The company has already proven its position and importance in the industry by creating new and innovative uses of the medium. It continues to develop and nurture the dream that brought it into existence and is always looking for new opportunities and new avenues.
"One of my main goals," says Cocola, "is to never stop thinking of new ideas and then implementing those ideas into reality."
Cocola Broadcasting Companies has always been in the forefront of the broadcasting business, testing and using the latest technological advances. With the advent of High Definition Television, HDTV, less than a decade away, Cocola Broadcasting is geared to use HDTV to better serve local communities with local programming.
"We're always exploring new possibilities and new markets that are under-served by local and specialized programming," says Cocola. "So much of the television business is yet unexplored, and our company will be charting new and innovative territories for years to come."
Cocola Broadcasting Companies began as a dream -- one man's dream to explore the non-traditional uses of the television medium. Gary Cocola, the founder of Cocola Broadcasting, was a forty-year-veteran of radio and television when he decided to create an independent television station which would offer viewers local and alternative programs.
"I wanted to give Fresno television viewers something different to watch," says Cocola. "I have always believed that providing local television programming to a local audience will always win over any national network."
The dream came into fruition when Cocola was approached by Lowell "Bud" Paxson, now president of PAX-TV, the nation's seventh network. At the time Paxson owned the "Home Shopping Network," and Cocola owned and operated KMSG, Channel 59, which serves the Central San Joaquin Valley's large Hispanic community with programming from the Telemundo Network. Paxson was looking for an affiliate in Fresno to carry HSN; but since launching a second high-power television station was an impossible financial risk at the time, Cocola devised a way to broadcast HSN by using lower-power signals, which were readily available and not used.
"In the early 80's," says Cocola, "I saw low-power television as the wave of the future. As network television began to lose its dominance, I realized broadcasting to a specific audience was the way to go, and low-power television was the vehicle. That's how KHST, Channel 66 in Fresno, was born."
Shortly after Cocola launched Channel 66, the station became one of the largest revenue generating stations for the Home Shopping Network nationwide, and it remains one of the most successful to date. "Home shopping is a fascinating business." says Cocola, "The viewers of the Home Shopping Network will stay and watch the station all day long, while viewers of network programs will tune in and out to catch their favorite shows. Home Shopping viewers are very loyal."
Because of Channel 66's success, Cocola pursued other low-power television permits in Central California. KSDI, Channel 34, went on the air in 1992, and it reintroduced a classic form of television to Fresno -- locally produced programs. "I wanted to revive the broadcasting concept that launched television in the 1950's -- local, live programming."
Channel 34 invited individuals and organization to produce their own television programs, and virtually everyone -- budding entertainers, bands, comics, talk show hosts -- all became a part of the local programming which aired on Channel 34. In addition to local programs, Channel 34 also offered viewers the second Home Shopping Channel then-called "Spree;" the station currently offers viewers The Box Music Network.
The popularity of Cocola's low power television retail channels prompted the company to launch KQJA, Channel 68, which offers viewers the Shop at Home Network. Cocola then expanded his television retailing services to the Southern San Joaquin Valley with KBFK, Channel 36 in Bakersfield, which airs Home Shopping Network's second channel, America's Store, and KJOI, Channel 33, a second Bakersfield station, which offers The American Collectibles Network.
KJKZ, Channel 28 in Fresno is now proud to introduce the B-Movie Channel. From cult horror films and silent classics to rare animation and original productions, the B-Movie Channel is your source for B-Movies, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Keeping Cocola's vision to better serve the Valley's ethnic communities, the company also launched KVHF, Channel 4 in Fresno, a station which offers "HTV," Hispanic music videos around-the-clock.
"All of these channels," says Cocola, "are free over-the-air television stations. You don't have to pay high cable television subscription rates to watch these programs." With that belief, Cocola also launched KMCF, Channel 32 in Fresno, a station that offers viewers classic television shows and movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Channel 32 broadcasts the American Independent Network which also features Westerns and nostalgia programs."
Currently, Cocola Broadcasting is programming two more low-power stations in the North Valley - KSAO, Channel 49, the America's Collectibles Network, and KSTV, Channel 53, the Gems Spanish Television Network, both out of Sacramento. In addition, Cocola Broadcasting has donated the use of its Channel 57 in Bakersfield to the Catholic Diocese of Fresno, so that the Church can rebroadcast its Fresno station, KNXT, Channel 49, to residents of the South Valley. Most recently Cocola Broadcasting is acquiring KKSM Channel 62 and KAGP Channel 8 on California's Central Coast.
While gaining ownership of most of the low-power television permits in the Central Valley, Cocola also decided to refocus his energies back into the high-power television station business. The only remaining unused television permit available at the time was for KGMC, Channel 43, assigned to the city of Clovis. Cocola acquired the highly coveted station and decided to make it the true independent voice of the Valley.
"In my home town," says Cocola, "I wanted to be different. Everyone in town was affiliated with a network, and I wanted to have an independent voice." Channel 43 now offers viewers a mix of programming including shopping, local news, lifestyle based programming and family entertainment like movies.
The Cocola Broadcast Companies soon expanded to Nebraska with the acquisition of KXVO, Channel 15. "I saw an opportunity too good to pass up," says Cocola. Channel 15 is now Omaha's home of the popular Warner Brothers television network.
With more than a dozen popular stations, Cocola Broadcasting enters the new millennium with confidence -- confidence in its belief that the goal of broadcasters should not be how many people they are able to capture in an audience, but how well that audience is served.
Cocola Broadcasting
NOW..
MORE CHANNELS THAN EVER BEFORE!!
Did You Know That You Can Receive
These Stations Listed Below... FREE!
Channel:
Call:
Programming:
Channel:
Call:
Programming:
4**
KVHF
Spanish Videos
34**
KSDI
The Box Music Videos
5
3 Angels
Christian
36**
KBFK
America's Store
7
Mas
Musica
Spanish
Videos
39*
KABE
Univision (Sp)
12
3 Angels
Christian
40*
KMPH
FOX
13**
KCWB
America's Voice
42*
Trinity
Christian
14*
KAZV
Nostalgia Net
43**
KGMC
Independent
15*
Family
Christian/Shopping
45*
KUZZ
UPN
15*
Trinity
Christian
47
KJEO
CBS
16*
Mas Musica
Spanish Videos
48**
KGMC
Independent
17*
KMPH
FOX
49
KNXT
Educational
18
KVPT
PBS
51
KNSO
WB
19*
KUNV
Univision (Sp)
52*
KSUV
Spanish Videos
20*
KKAK
America
One Network
53
KAIL
UPN
21
KFTV
Univision (Sp)
55**
KJBC
America's
Collectibles Network
23
KERO
CBS
56
Trinity
Christian
23*
KBSV
Variety
57*
Trinity
Christian
24
KMPH
NBC
58*
KBFX
FOX
26
KMPH
FOX
59
KMSG
Telemundo
(Sp)
27*
Trinity
Christian
61
KPXF
PaxTV
28**
KJKZ
B-Movie
Channel
61*
Telemundo
Spanish
29*
KBAK
ABC
65*
KVPT
PBS
30
KFSN
ABC
66**
KHST
Home Shopping Network
32**
KMCF
American
Independent Network
67*
KCET
PBS
33**
KJOI
America's
Collectibles Network
68**
KQJA
Shop
At Home
For more information regarding FREE RECEPTION
of the above stations call 1-800-891-0066
Ask your nearest RADIO SHACK
about Antenna TV.
This ad is published
as a public service by Cocola BroadcastingCompanies
706 W. Herndon, Fresno CA, 93650 - (559) 435-7000
- www.cocolatv.com
*Not available in all areas.
**Cocola owned stations
Cocola Broadcasting
Our People - Meet Gary Cocola
Contact Information:
Cocola Broadcasting Companies
706 West Herndon Avenue
Fresno, CA 93650
Corner of Palm and Herndon Avenues in Fresno, California
Corporate Line: (559)435-7000
Fax Line: (559)435-3201
E-Mail address: info@cocolatv.com
Cocola Broadcasting
Antenna Information
You may or may not need an inside or outside antenna. It depends upon your line-of sight relationship to, and the distance from, the television station. Cocola Broadcasting Companies' stations broadcast from surrounding mountaintops which gives valley residents sharp and clear pictures. Many viewers report they receive our stations perfectly without any antenna at all, not even "rabbit ears."
Be prepared to refer to the owner's manual for your particular TV set.
If an antenna is necessary, connect it to the back of the TV set. Some sets have screw terminals while some have a 75-ohm coaxial cable connection. If using an outdoor antenna, you will need a splitter to connect to the UHF and the VHF terminals. Coax (round) lead-in is better than flat lead-in wire.
If using an indoor loop, bowtie or "rabbit ears," connect directly to the UHF or VHF terminals on your TV set.
You can still receive Free Over the Air Television even if you are connected to a cable system. Most cable companies only use the VHF terminal on your TV set. If your set only has one coaxial terminal, installing an "A/B" switch will allow you to switch the incoming signal from cable to any Free Over the Air Television station.
Once connected to an antenna (if necessary), tune your TV set to the proper channel. If your TV set has two dials, turn the VHF dial to "U" and the UHF to the proper channel.
If your TV set has a digital tuner, tune the proper channel or adjust the pre-set dials on your TV set or VCR to the proper UHF or VHF channel.
If your TV set has an on screen display, select the "setup" function. Then choose "air" or "broadcast" to receive the channel you want to watch.
If all else fails, ask for help from a knowledgeable friend or acquaintance or seek help at a local electronics store.
Cocola Broadcasting
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Cocola Broadcasting
Gary Cocola, the Valley's king of free TV, had a different plan for his life in 1963, 35 years before he would end up owning 11 television stations in Fresno, Bakersfield and Omaha, Neb.
"I wanted to be a game-show host," says Cocola, owner of Channel 43 and numerous other TV stations.
It wasn't as if Cocola awakened one morning with the burning desire to quiz strangers in exchange for money and prizes.
He has been fanatical about television since watching it blink to life here in 1953.
Cocola struggles with a mound of papers and envelopes that have been casually stacked inside a manila folder. Finally, he stops and slips a black-and-white print from a protective covering. It is a print of the test pattern of Fresno's first TV station - KMJ-TV Channel 24 (now KSEE) - that greeted TV viewers nearly 45 years ago.
"I would stare at it (the test pattern) for hours. That's how fascinated I was with television," he says.
Cocola went from staring at the tiny glowing tube to owning 11 television stations that feature programming from home shopping to pay-per-view music videos. Except for Channels 43 and 15, the stations are low power, reaching only a limited viewing area.
The music video programming comes as no shock to those who know Cocola. As a child, he would pretend to be a disc jockey broadcasting from his bedroom.
At 17, he got his big TV break when Al Radka picked him to be on his "Open House" TV show. The program aired from 5 to 6 p.m. weekdays on KFRE-TV (now KFSN). In 1962, Cocola took his music and TV show on the road, hosting TV dance programs based on "American Bandstand" here and in Bakersfield.
Cocola hosted the show "Anything Goes," from 1963 to 1964. At the mention of the weekday afternoon show, Cocola thumbs through the folder. He removes a small white envelope containing black-and-white photos.
One photo shows a dapper young man with a pompadour. He's smiling at a young blond woman in the seat next to him.
"That's me," Cocola says. He flashes the same huge smile as his younger version in the picture. "It really was 'anything goes.' We had bands on and students. I would bring in the latest record album and we would show the album cover while we played a track."
His local TV success convinced Cocola that being a game show host was the right move. He met with an agent in Los Angeles.
"The agent asked me where I wanted to be in my life at 40," Cocola says. "I had never thought about that. He told me this was a tough business and eventually I would only have myself as a commodity. Was I certain I was good enough to be doing this at 40 when all the new talent was trying to get started?"
Cocola returned to Fresno and considered his options. At 22, he could either chase a TV dream or go into the family farming business. He decided that while he couldn't predict where he would be in television at age 40, he knew where he would be in produce.
Cocola became so successful at the produce business, he eventually opened his own company - Cocola Fruit. He married Diane Dostinich in 1976, but he soon realized he wanted to return to broadcasting.
He even had a new idea. Although it would be five years before the launch of MTV, Cocola was certain music videos were a gold mine. He believed record companies would give away the videos as promotional material that could be aired with local commercials.
Cocola told his wife their options were to spend millions to buy an existing station or apply for a permit for a new channel through the Federal Communications Commission.
They decided to go for the new channel. Seven years and $350,000 later, Cocola had a permit to build Channel 59.
"I wish I had the permit here," Cocola says. "After all that work and all that money, they just gave me this 8-1/2 by 11 piece of paper."
That piece of paper became the foundation for Cocola's TV empire.
A few years after Channel 59 launched, Cocola and his wife divorced. His wife wanted Channel 59, so she bought out his half.
He used the money to launch local television stations Channels 66 (Home Shopping Network), 34 (The Box), 43 (Fresno's Independent Station), 68 (Panda America Shopping Network), 4 (HTV-Hispanic Music Videos), 28 (Video Catalog Channel), plus Channels 36 (American Store Shopping Network) and 33 (Video Catalog Channel) in Bakersfield and 15 (WB Network) in Omaha, NE. There are two other stations pending for Fresno.
Recently, Cocola attention has been on refining Channel 43 by adding syndicated programs - such as "Extreme Wrestling" - to what was exclusively infomercials.
"We have done well with the infomercials, but I believe we aren't getting viewers who stay and watch. They click through until they see a product they want to buy. We want to give them a reason to watch."
Fresno Bee article by Rick Bentley reprinted with permission
Cocola Broadcasting
More Contact Info. - Meet Gary Cocola
The strength behind Cocola Broadcasting Companies lies in the people who have made the company what it is. You can contact them via email:
Gary M. Cocola
President/Chief Executive Officer
garyc@psnw.com
Meet Gary Cocola
George Cooper
Account Executive
gcooper@forpromark.com
Carol Covert
Business Manager
info@cocolatv.com
Shawn Covert
Administrative Assistant
shawnc@psnw.com
Steve LeBel
Chief of Engineering
goldensierra@psnw.com
Todd A. Lopes
Vice President /Chief Operation Officer
todd@psnw.com
Kevin Mosesian
National Sales Manager
infoman@mediaone.net
Marlene Mosesian
Office Manager
marlene@psnw.com
James K. Zahn
Vice President /Operations & Programming
jimz@psnw.com