KONG (channel 16) is an independent television station licensed to Everett, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate KING-TV (channel 5). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate Center in the SoDo district of Seattle, while KONG's transmitter is located in the city's Queen Anne neighborhood. History The KONG-TV call sign was first granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on April 6, 1984. When it was applied for, it immediately drew a legal complaint from King Broadcasting, then-owner of KING-TV, against Carl Washington's KONG TV, Inc., the first broadcaster to apply for a license for Everett's channel 16. The station had planned to go on the air on June 1 of that year, with studios in Everett and an advertising sales office in Seattle, but kept getting bogged down by years of legal challenges from residents on Cougar Mountain who objected to the electromagnetic radiation from an additional broadcaster. After the legal challenges to the transmitter, KONG lay dormant until broadcasters came up with innovative ways to program additional stations in their area. KONG-TV signed on the air on July 8, 1997. It was locally owned, but managed by KING-TV (which had just been acquired by Belo) through a local marketing agreement. The KONG call letters were retained as a tongue-in-cheek reference to King Kong, which made both stations easily marketable together. Belo bought channel 16 outright in 2000, when the FCC began to permit television station duopolies. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo. The sale was completed on December 23. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KING and KONG were retained by the latter company, named Tegna. Programming Initially, the station ran a general entertainment format with classic sitcoms, westerns, old movies, cartoons, and a 10 p.m. newscast. Along with the newscast and KING's Evening Magazine, the station now airs KING-TV's syndicated shows (such as Dr. Phil) during prime time or other time slots, giving viewers a second chance to watch the shows that day. It also carries a few syndicated programs that KING-TV does not air such as Inside Edition, Extra, and Access Hollywood. KONG also broadcasts certain NBC network programs in lieu of KING, including a repeat of