KFVS-TV

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KFVS-TV
Cape Girardeau, Missouri/ Paducah, Kentucky/ Harrisburg, Illinois
Branding	KFVS 12 Heartland News
Slogan	Live. Local. Late Breaking.
Channels	Analog: 12 (VHF) Digital: 12 (VHF)
Affiliations	CBS The CW (DT2)
Owner	Raycom Media, Inc. (KFVS License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	October 3, 1954
Call letters’ meaning	FiVe States
Sister station(s)	WQTV-LP & WQWQ-LP
Transmitter Power	316 kW (analog) 246 kW (digital) 6800 watts (after 2009)
Height	610 m (analog) 564 m (digital)
Facility ID	592
Transmitter Coordinates	37°25′44.4″N, 89°30′14″W
Website	www.kfvs12.com

KFVS-TV is the CBS affiliated television station for Cape Girardeau (MO), Paducah (KY), and Harrisburg (IL). Licensed to Cape Girardeau, the station broadcast an analog signal on VHF channel 12 and a digital signal on UHF channel 57. KFVS's transmitter is located near Oriole (MO). Owned by Raycom Media, the station is sister to WQTV-LP & WQWQ-LP, the area's CW affiliates. The three stations share studios that are located on Broadway Avenue (in the Hirsch Tower) in Downtown Cape Girardeau.

[edit] Digital Programming

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

[edit] History

KFVS-TV began broadcasting on October 3, 1954. It was owned by Oscar G. Hirsch, a radio shop operator. Hirsch had signed on the area's first radio station, KFVS-AM 960 (now KZIM) in 1925. At the start, channel 12 did not have any video cameras. Instead, the station's first broadcast showed slides of its new transmitter tower (near Oriole) that was under construction at the time. In 1960, KFVS activated this new 2,000-foot (610-meter) tower. At the time, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world. It is region's highest structure and is still one of the 10 tallest man-made structures in the world. ^[1]

In 1968, Hirsch moved KFVS from the radio station studio to its present location on Broadway Avenue.

Hirsch sold KFVS to Aflac in 1979. In 1997, Aflac sold their broadcast group of television stations, including KFVS, to a group headed by Retirement Systems of Alabama. They, in turn, merged with Ellis Communications a few months later to form what is now Raycom Media.

[edit] Coverage

KFVS serves more than fifty counties in four states including all of Southeastern Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and a portion of Northwest Tennessee. The KFVS calls, which hark back to its radio counterpart, mean "Five States", with the addition of Arkansas. However, KVFS has very little coverage in that state; the areas that are covered are also covered by sister station KAIT. (A portion of the station's signal into the Missouri Bootheel even overlaps the coverage area of Memphis Raycom station WMC-TV.) The station refers to its viewing area as "The Heartland".

The station's over-the-air signal carries into the St. Louis eastern suburb of Belleville (IL). Taller hills between the transmitter and metropolitan St. Louis prevent the signal from reaching into the city proper. KFVS's coverage area overlaps with KMOV, St. Louis' CBS affiliate. Cable outlets in several southern KMOV counties and northern KFVS counties carry both stations.

[edit] News Operation

KFVS produces roughly 25 hours of news per week. The station has used "Heartland News" as its moniker for newscasts for decades. It boasts two of the longest-tenured anchors in the country. Mike Shain started his on-air work as a news anchor in 1972 while Bob Reeves has been delivering weather reports since 1970.

At one point, KFVS produced a nightly, half-hour 9 PM newscast on WQTV-LP & WQWQ-LP, the area's CW affiliates. Known as Heartland News at 9, it had a Southeastern Missouri focus in terms of news coverage. It is unknown when or why it stopped airing. Currently, those two stations rebroadcast three weekday newscasts that air on KFVS.

In addition to their main studios, KFVS operates two newsrooms. The "Southern Illinois Newsroom" is located on East Main Street in Carbondale. The "Western Kentucky Newsroom" is located on Park Avenue in Paducah.

KFVS uses live, NOAA National Weather Service radar data from several regional sites that are presented in a forecasting system on-air. This weather system is called "Storm Team Digital Doppler". The signal comes from the radar located at the NWS Local Forecast Office in Paducah.

The station operates, in partnership with Southeast Missouri State University, a 24-hour local weather channel on its DT4 digital subchannel. Known as the "Storm Team Weather Network" it is also offered on digital cable systems. In Southeastern Missouri, the channel can be seen on Charter channel 113. In Paducah (KY), it is seen on Comcast channel 249.

[edit] News Team

Anchors

• Jim Burns - Weekday Mornings and Noon
  • Weekday Morning Associate Producer
• Lauren Keith - Weekday Mornings and Noon
  • "Does it Work Wednesday" Segment Producer
• Jeff Cunningham - Weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 PM
• Kathy Sweeney - Weeknights at 5 and 6 PM
  • Assistant News Director
• Mary-Ann Maloney - Weeknights 10 PM
• Crystal Britt - Weekend Mornings
  • Reporter
• Ryan Tate - Weekend Evenings
  • Reporter, and Weekend Supervisor

Heartland Storm Team

• Bob Reeves - Senior Meteorologist Weeknights 5, 6, and 10PM
• Brian Alworth (CBM certified) - Weekday Mornings and Noon
• John Dissauer (NWA Seal of Approval) - Weekends and Internet Content Provider
• Laura Wibbenmeyer (AMS certified) - weekends

Sports

• Todd Richards - Director Weeknights at 6 and 10 PM
• Chad Fryman - Weekends

Reporters

• Carly O'Keefe - Southern Illinois
• Arnold Wyrick - Southern Illinois
• Mike Shain - Weekday Evenings
  • Host of Perspective
• Wes Wallace - Weekday Evenings
• Randy Ray - Host of Heartland Business Break
  • Account Executive
• Brad Zaruba - Host of Heartland Business Break
  • National Sales Manager
• Holly Brantley -Weekday Reporter and Weekend Producer
• C.J. Cassidy

Hirsch Tower, home of KFVS's studios.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• KFVS 12
• KFVS Wireless
• WQTV-LP & WQWQ-LP "Heartland's CW"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KFVS
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KFVS-TV