Cocola Broadcasting is a broadcasting company based in Fresno, California. Founded in the early 1980s by Valley broadcasting veteran Gary Cocola, Cocola owns two full-power digital television stations KGMC in Fresno and KKJB in Boise, along with several low-power television stations in Central California and Boise. Cocola was one of the first broadcasters in the US to take advantage of the opportunities of low-powered television after the FCC approved such stations in the early 1980s.
Cocola Broadcasting Companies, LLC are 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 endeavors.
Cocola Broadcasting Companies have always been at the forefront of the broadcast business, testing and using the latest technological advances. With the advent of High Definition Television (HDTV), Cocola Broadcasting is geared to use HDTV to better serve local communities with local programming. Cocola ATSC 3.0 for website Cocola is already planning the next move to ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards and was created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). ATSC 3.0 will support mobile television, 3-D television, 4K UHD high dynamic range (HDR), High frame rate(HFR) and wide color gamut (WCG).
“We’re always exploring new possibilities and new markets that are underserved by local and specialized programming,” says Cocola. “So much of the television business is yet to be explored. Happy to accept these tasks, 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 non-traditional uses of the television medium. Gary Cocola was a forty-year veteran of radio and television when he decided to create an independent television station that would offer viewers local and alternative programming.
Because of the success of Channel 66 (which subsequently became KHSC, Channel 16), Cocola pursued other low-power television permits in Central California. KSDI, Channel 33, 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 – live, local programming.” Channel 33 invited individuals and organizations to produce their own television programs. Virtually everyone – budding entertainers, bands, comics, and talk show hosts became a part of the local programming on Channel 33. KSDI-LP became digital as one of the first Low Power stations in the Country on June 12, 2009, and now is an affiliate of The Family Channel.
With the popularity of Cocola’s low-power television channels, more were expanded to eight streams of video. Channel’s 33.1, 33.2, 33.3, 33.4, 33.5, 33.6, 33.7, and 33.8. Cocola also operates six other Low Power stations in the Fresno area. See the “Our Stations” web page.
Cocola’s proudest launch was in 2000 when Cocola Broadcasting Companies acquired the call letters KJEO for its Channel 32. Those call letters belonged to the CBS affiliate in Fresno for 47 years and Cocola saw the opportunity to keep a little bit of Valley television history from fading into the dust. KJEO Channel 32 is now a digital station featuring seven streams of video on Channel 32.
