In yet another mini-package that will see a pro sports league’s games simulcast on over-the-air television, the St. Louis Blues have come to terms on a multi-year partnership that will see 10 select Blue Note + telecasts appear on the recently launched ABC affiliate in the Gateway City owned by Gray Media.
The 10 games will appear on KDTL-LD, which uses a PSIP of Channel 32 and is a sibling of KMOV-4, the CBS affiliate Gray acquired through its Meredith Local Media deal, which closed in December 2021. KDTL is branded by Gray as “First Alert ABC” and can be found on channel 186 on Charter Communications’ Spectrum MVPD. It gained the ABC affiliation on September 1, after Sinclair Inc. decided not to continue the network’s affiliation on KDNL-TV for business reasons.
Additionally, the ten games will appear in 10 other markets across the team’s five-state broadcast territory via a “Thursday Night Blues” package, featuring games played on Thursday night or afternoon. Specifically, Gray will distribute the simulcasts to Kansas City; Springfield, Missouri; Cape Girardeau, Missouri/Paducah, Kentucky; Quincy, Illinois; Peoria, Illinois; Topeka, Kansas; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; Evansville, Indiana; and Ottumwa, Iowa.
Gray plans to syndicate the games to Morgan Murphy Media in Joplin, Missouri.
This agreement builds on a 2024 accord between the National Hockey League franchise and Gray Media. And, it includes the return of the “Blues Weekly show” and a weekly feature on KMOV-TV news programs.
Blues President/CEO of Business Operations Chris Zimmerman commented, “Our priority in building a robust distribution strategy for Blue Note+ is to provide our fans with wide access and multiple viewing options that enables them to watch Blues hockey on their preferred platform. We strongly value our ongoing partnership with Gray Media and their ability to help us double the number of over-the-area telecasts we are able to deliver to our fans from last year. Their growing network of affiliates in St. Louis and across the region is a great vehicle to help us connect with fans in a variety of ways.”
The following 10 games will air live on First Alert ABC (KDTL-32) in St. Louis.
October 22 vs. Vegas (7 p.m.)
November 6 @ New Jersey (6 p.m.)
November 19 @ Pittsburgh (6 p.m.)
December 17 @ Boston (6 p.m.)
December 31 @ Vegas (2 p.m.)
January 21 @ Montreal (6 p.m.)
January 28 vs. Colorado (7 p.m.)
February 25 vs. Vancouver (7 p.m.)
March 11 vs. San Jose (7 p.m.)
March 25 vs. New York Islanders (7 p.m.)
Viewers in affiliate markets should check local listings or http://www.stlouisblues.com/watch for broadcast windows and channels for each game.
“Expanding our relationship with the St. Louis Blues in a multi-year deal is another history-making milestone for our station and our viewers,” said KMOV and First Alert ABC GM JD Sosnoff. “Airing these 10 Thursday night games on First Alert 4 on ABC solidifies our station as the No. 1 broadcast destination for sports in St. Louis. Gray Media and the Blues have built a tremendous relationship together, collaborating on innovative programming that puts the fans first. We have a winning team both in front of and behind the camera and continuing to grow this partnership is a huge win for Blues hockey fans in the communities we serve.”
It is unclear how viewers in St. Louis would be able to watch any pre-empted ABC network programming at times Blues games would air.
Blue Note+ will continue to handle production of each game, featuring play-by-play announcer Chris Kerber, game analyst Joey Vitale, studio host Andy Strickland, and analysts Bernie Federko, Jamie Rivers, and Cam Janssen.
The simulcasts on “First Alert ABC” will not include the Blues pre or postgame shows that will air exclusively on Blue Note+.
Blue Note+ is the home of Blues hockey this season with the network set to broadcast 73 games during the 2026-27 regular season.
All 84 Blues regular season games this season will be broadcast to a radio audience on 100kw WXOS-FM “101 ESPN Radio” and across the Blues Radio Network; the games formerly aired on KMOX-AM 1120 in St. Louis, audible across much of the nation at night.
