KEYE-TV
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KEYE-TV | |
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Austin, Texas | |
Branding | CBS 42 |
Slogan | CBS 42 Is Always On |
Channels | Analog: 42 (UHF) |
Affiliations | CBS RTN (on DT2) |
Owner | Four Points Media Group, LLC (Austin Television Licensee Corporation) |
First air date | December 4, 1983 |
Call letters’ meaning | EYEwitness , also to The Eyes of Texas) and the CBS logo |
Former callsigns | KBVO-TV (1983-1995) |
Former affiliations | Independent (1983–1986) Fox (1986–1995) |
Transmitter Power | 5000 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
Height | 380 m (analog) 395 m (digital) |
Facility ID | 33691 |
Transmitter Coordinates | |
Website | www.keyetv.com |
KEYE-TV, channel 42 is a CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group, LLC (which in turn is owned by Cerberus Capital Management). Its studios are located on Metric Boulevard in North Austin (as one of two stations in this part of town; KVUE is other), and its transmitter is located in the city.
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[edit] History
Channel 42 had been the original home of NBC affiliate KHFI-TV, when it signed on in 1965. That station moved to channel 36 in 1973 and is now KXAN-TV. For nine years, the channel was dark. That was until December 4, 1983 when KBVO-TV, Austin's first independent station, took to the airwaves. The calls came from the University of Texas at Austin's mascot, Bevo. It was originally owned by Steve Beard, an Austin advertising executive. In 1987, it became affiliated with the upstart Fox network and began calling itself "Fox42" on-air in the late 1980s. In 1993, Beard sold the station to Granite Broadcasting for $54 million--a handsome return on his original investment.
In 1995, after Fox purchased KTBC, thus moving its affiliation there, KBVO took over the CBS affiliation and changed its calls to KEYE. The callsign is taken from a dual meaning: one refers to the famous CBS Eye Logo; the other refers to the fight song of UT Austin, The Eyes of Texas. It called itself "K-EYE 42, Your Eye on Austin" until 1999, branding was shortened to simply "K-EYE," on account of the fact that it was now available to all Austin area cable subscribers on cable channel 5. In 2000, KEYE became the second O&O of any major network in the market when CBS bought the station from Granite. In 2005 it was rebranded again, strangely enough, to "CBS42 K-EYE" (under the "CBS Mandate") to reflect CBS ownership and for cable subscribers to avoid confusion with San Antonio's CBS outlet KENS-TV, seen on VHF analog channel 5. As of 2006, it is simply branded CBS42 with the K-EYE branding conventions gradually phased out after eleven years (except for a website address reference).
On February 7, 2007, CBS agreed to sell seven of its smaller-market stations to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., for $185 million. Cerberus then formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, who took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements in late-June of 2007.[1] As of January 10, 2008, Four Points officially became the owner of the stations.
KEYE's master controls were located at the studio facilities of WTOG in St. Petersburg (FL) from shortly after Viacom's merger with CBS until the beginning of 2007, when WTOG's master controls were relocated to WGNT in Norfolk (VA). At that point, as part of the preparation of the station to eventually begin producing local newscasts in HDTV, KEYE began handling its own master controls for the first time in several years.
Since 2002, KEYE has been the Austin home for pre-season games of the Houston Texans, in addition to airing CBS' coverage of the AFC package of NFL games. As of April 3, 2006, the station is also the official home of the Dallas Cowboys in Austin and will air pre-season games as well as several Cowboys-related shows during the NFL season.[2]
Some controversy exists over KEYE's selection of Tennessee Titans football games (capitalizing on former University of Texas quarterback Vince Young's popularity in Austin) over those of the Texans.
KEYE has consistently traded third and fourth place in the Austin Neilsens with KTBC since the affiliation switch, unable to capitalize on either its new CBS programming or the buzz generated by the new newscasts. In contrast, KTBC's newscasts and CBS programming were consistently ranked first in the market prior to switching to Fox.[3]) [4]
[edit] Digital Television
Digital channels
Channel | Programming |
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42.1 / 43.1 | Main KEYE programming |
42.2 / 43.2 | Retro Television Network |
KEYE started producing newscasts in high definition on November 1, 2007. The transition made KEYE the first station in the Austin market to produce and air newscasts in HD.[5] It was announced on March 29, 2008 that 42.2 was being turned on and would soon broadcast the Retro Television Network with a customized schedule for the Austin market.
[edit] Newscasts
Before switching networks to CBS, KEYE (then KBVO) had no newscasts with the exception of nightly, three-minute updates aired during Fox prime time from a small closet studio. After the affiliation swap, on July 3, 1995, KEYE immediately launched a full slate of newscasts. Since that time, the only newscast to be dropped is the noon show - the station has also expanded the morning show as well as added three new hours of weekend morning newscasts. KEYE started out with an Eyewitness News format (titled K-EYEwitness News), which was used until 2000. (The newscast title was shorted to KEYE News in late 1998, which was used until the "CBS Mandate" was put in place and the title became CBS 42 K-EYE News and then simply CBS 42 News.)
In contrast to former Fox stations on UHF that are now CBS, ABC or NBC stations—which often have had no success against their better-established news competitors, resulting in several cancellations—KEYE has been successful with their newscasts in a mostly-UHF market, competing with KTBC, KVUE, and KXAN-TV, thus making it one of the fastest growing stations in Central Texas.
[edit] Notable Personalities
[edit] Current On-Air Talent
CBS42 NEWS ANCHORS
- Fred Cantu, Weekday Morning Anchor
- Elizabeth Dannheim, Weekday Morning Anchor/Reporter
- Judy Maggio, 5PM, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
- Ron Oliveira, 5PM, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
- Jason Wheeler, Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter
CBS42 NEWS REPORTERS
- Leslie Coons, General Assignment Reporter
- Bettie Cross, General Assignment Reporter
- Keith Elkins, General Assignment Reporter
- Seema Mathur, General Assignment Reporter
- Julie Simon, General Assignment Reporter
- Rebecca Taylor, General Assignment Reporter
- Gregg Watson, General Assignment Reporter
- Nanci Wilson, General Assignment Reporter
- Alexis Patterson, General Assignment Reporter
CBS42 METEOROLOGISTS
- Byron Webre (AMS Seal of Approval), Chief Meteorologist
- Susan Vessell, Weekday Morning Meteorologist
- Megan Campbell, Weekend Meteorologist
SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS
- Bob Ballou, Sports Director
- Allison Smith, Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- K-EYEwitness News (1995-1998)
- K-EYE News (1998-2005)
- CBS42 K-EYE News (2005-2006)
- CBS42 News (2006-present)
- CBS42 News in HD (2007-present)
[edit] Station Slogans
- Your Eye On Austin (1995-2003)
- Coverage You Can Count On (2003-2007, dropped as ownership transferred from CBS)
- CBS 42 is Always On (2005-present)
- We Are Austin (2005-present)
[edit] Former Austin CBS cluster
- When KEYE was owned by CBS, the Austin CBS Radio (previously Infinity Radio) cluster (consisting of KAMX, KKMJ, KXBT and KJCE at the time) were housed in a separate facility in South Austin. CBS Radio sold the cluster to Entercom Communications in August 2006, with the group deal closing on November 30, 2007.
[edit] References
- "Dallas Cowboys align with KEYE" Austin Business Journal, April 3, 2006
- "KVUE, KXAN hold on in latest ratings" Austin Business Journal, August 30, 1996
- "KVUE sweeps up competition in November" Austin Business Journal, December 20, 1996
[edit] External links
- KEYE-TV CBS42's Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KEYE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KEYE-TV
- AustinTVNews.com :: KEYE
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