The station began as K22DP in 1992 and aired programming from the Video Jukebox Network and American Independent Network. It was acquired by KXXV owner Drewry Communications in 1998 and was relaunched as KRHD-LP, a separate ABC affiliate for the Brazos Valley with the ability to add local programming. In 2001, KXXV began producing a Bryan and College Station–specific newscast for KRHD.
Drewry sold its stations to Raycom Media in 2015; when Raycom merged with Gray Television, KXXV and KRHD were divested and sold to Scripps. Scripps relaunched the Bryan newsroom in 2020 and today produces 22+1⁄2 hours of weekday newscasts for the Brazos Valley.
K22DP began broadcasting on channel 22 on December 10, 1992. The station was owned by Shelley Media of Fort Worth; it was the second low-power TV station in the Bryan–College Station area and broadcast the Video Jukebox Network.[3] The outlet was described by 1996 as airing programming from the American Independent Network, with "sporadic" hours of operation.[4] Meanwhile, KXXV's hold on the eastern part of the market had at times been tenuous. In 1991, TCA Cable, which at the time operated the main cable system serving the area, threatened to drop the station from its lineup altogether; it reversed course when KXXV threatened to take away the system's ability to air any ABC programming from the other affiliate it carried, Houston's KTRK-TV.[5][6]
Centex Television Limited Partnership, the subsidiary of Drewry Communications that owned KXXV, purchased K22DP from TV Channel 22, Inc.[7] In February 1998, the station became KRHD-LP. Initially, it rebroadcast KXXV with local commercials and later localized weather reports.[8] It moved to channel 34 during the course of 1999 as part of a signal upgrade.[9][10][11]
KXXV/KRHD added a secondary affiliation with The WB on January 11, 2002, following the sale of the market's previous WB affiliate, KAKW (channel 62), to Univision. KXXV/KRHD aired The WB's prime time lineup after ABC's late night programming, as well as two hours of Kids' WB programming on Sunday mornings.[12][13] In July 2002, KXXV/KRHD ceded the secondary WB affiliation to Fox affiliate KWKT (channel 44) and its Brazos Valley satellite KYLE (channel 28), which would air the network's prime time programming in an earlier time slot but did not pick up Kids' WB.[14]
In December 2002, Cox Communications, which owned the cable system in Bryan and College Station, announced its intent to drop KRHD from its lineup and replace it with KXXV from Waco at year's end. Drewry Broadcasting vigorously objected to this maneuver and denied it retransmission consent approval to carry KXXV directly, having invested $2.5 million since 1999 to station three news reporters, a sports reporter, and two advertising sales representatives in Bryan.[15] Cox never dropped KRHD, continuing to carry the station in its lineup on a series of short-term extensions;[16] a long-term agreement was reached in April 2003, under which Cox also began broadcasting Telemundo on its system.[17] In 2003, KRHD moved from channel 34 to channel 40.[18]
Drewry had planned to sell its stations to London Broadcasting in 2008;[19] however, by January 2009, the deal fell through,[20] and London instead bought KCEN-TV. It was another six years before Drewry sold its broadcasting portfolio to Raycom Media for $160 million in 2015.[21] The sale was completed on December 1.[22]
On May 30, 2001, KXXV began producing Nightbeat, a local newscast for the Brazos Valley area, for air on KRHD-CA. The newscast had three Bryan-area local reporters, though it was presented from Waco. It was the first competition to KBTX-TV in the Bryan–College Station area.[31]Nightbeat ceased airing on January 5, 2015.
KXXV relaunched KRHD as an independent news operation in the Brazos Valley on September 1, 2020, and added 10 more hours of news with newscasts airing at 11:30 a.m., 5 and 10 p.m., and a 60-minute program, 25 News at 6, airing at 6 p.m.[32] KRHD launched a local version of Good Morning Texas on January 11, 2021, with morning newscasts airing at 5 and 6 a.m.[33] This brought the news output by September 2023 to 4+1⁄2 hours a day, five days a week.[34]
^Riecher, Anton (December 12, 1992). "Pay video network beams into B-CS". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. A9. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Low-powered Television Stations". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 21, 1996. p. TV Magazine 3. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Walley, Teri (March 17, 1991). "TCA Cable plans to drop KXXV on April 1". Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. 1C. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Walley, Teri (March 31, 1991). "KXXV puts kink in Ch. 3's cable plans". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. 1A, 6A. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Public Notice". Bryan-College Station Eagle. August 17, 1997. p. E6. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"KRHD-TV to show News of Texas". Bryan-College Station Eagle. January 8, 1999. p. A9. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Workers to begin TV signal repairs". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 25, 2001. p. A7. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Hoover, Carl (June 27, 2002). "WB to get earlier slot on KWKT". Waco Tribune-Herald. pp. 1B, 3B. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^LeBas, John (December 31, 2002). "Extension buys time in Cox-KRHD rift". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A11. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Look Who's Turning 40!". Bryan-College Station Eagle. July 17, 2003. p. A11. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Eggerton, John (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
^Levey, Kelli (May 27, 2001). "TV station to cover B-CS area". Bryan-College Station Eagle. pp. A1, A6. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
