ST. LOUIS — Another St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ· business —Ìýwith about 150 employees and one big eye on the Gateway Arch — plans to ankle the city's downtown area.
KMOV (Channel 4) management told its staff earlier this week that the station is looking to relocate in the near future and currently is considering a location in the Maryland Heights area, sources said.
A specific moving date and location were unavailable Wednesday.
Station general manager J.D. SosnoffÌýdeclined to comment when reached by telephone.
Commercial real estate firm NAI/Desco is representing the station in the planned move, sources said.
The move would also have a negative effect on the office occupancy rate in downtown St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ·, which sat around the 80% mark before the pandemic. As a comparison, the pre-pandemic occupancy rate in Clayton was about 95%.
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KMOV's planned move also would leave only one of the three major-network stations still operating in St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ· city: KSDK (Channel 5) at 1000 Market Street.
In 2009, KTVI (Channel 2) moved from its longtime studios at Hampton and Oakland Avenues to a location in Maryland Heights.
Veteran reporter/anchor Betsey Bruce, who worked for Channel 4 from 1970 to 1989, said news of the pending move was a "sad comment about our region and the city losing population."
Bruce noted, however, that a move makes sense "as a business decision. And as St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ· city kept losing population, the ability to reach people for stories became more difficult."
KMOV started in 1954, with its studios at Cole and 12th (now Tucker Boulevard) streets. The building later served for years as the studios of KDNL (Channel 30).
It was licensed as KWK when it began and then switched its call letters in 1958 to KMOX. It became KMOV in 1986.
The television station, along with KMOX (1120 AM) Radio, relocated in 1968 to the Gateway Tower at 1 South Memorial Drive.
When they moved into the building, both the radio and television stations were owned by CBS; but neither is today. Gray Television owns the television station, although the news operation still is affiliated with CBS. KMOX Radio is owned by Audacy Communications.
KMOX Radio moved out of Gateway Tower in 2012, but stayed in downtown St. ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ·. Its studios are in the Park Pacific Building at 1220 Olive Street, just west of Tucker.
KMOV's imminent departure also takes away the most high-profile tenant of the 21-story building that opened in 1967 on slightly less than one acre of land near the riverfront.
Once a coveted location because of its proximity to Busch Stadium and views of the Gateway Arch, it also was for years the home of advertising giant D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.
KMOV'sÌýdeparture would leave the East-West Gateway Council of Governments and ShipWorks as the buildings most high-profile occupants.
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