KTVU

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KTVU
Oakland / San Francisco, California
Branding	KTVU Fox 2 (general) KTVU Channel 2 News HD (news)
Slogan	Complete Bay Area News Coverage
Channels	Analog: 2 (VHF) Digital: 44 (UHF)
Subchannels	2.1 HD 2.2 LATV
Translators	K06FA 6 Hopland K39AG 39 Ukiah
Affiliations	Fox
Owner	Cox Enterprises (KTVU Partnership)
First air date	March 3, 1958
Call letters’ meaning	TeleVision for YoU
Sister station(s)	KICU-TV
Former affiliations	Independent (1958-1986)
Transmitter Power	100 kW (analog) 400 kW (digital)
Height	479 m (analog) 433 m (digital)
Facility ID	35703
Transmitter Coordinates	37°45′18.8″N, 122°27′10.4″W
Website	www.ktvu.com

KTVU (Channel 2) is the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox affiliate. Its studio facilities are located in Oakland, California at Jack London Square, and its transmitter is located at Sutro Tower in San Francisco. It has been owned by Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox market size that is not owned and operated by the network. KTVU is also co-owned with KICU which was bought out by Cox in 2000, and as such KICU moved from the original San Jose studios to Oakland where KTVU now shares its studio facilities with KICU. It is also the second largest Cox-owned station (with only Cox sister station WSB-TV in Atlanta in front of it).

KTVU signed on the air as an independent station on March 3, 1958. It was the third station in the Bay Area - after KQED and KNTV - since the FCC lifted the VHF permit freeze. Until the completion of the Mount Sutro television tower, KTVU transmitted from a tower on San Bruno Mountain.

[edit] Programming

Over the years, KTVU aired a schedule of cartoons, off-network sitcoms, old movies, drama shows, talk shows, local news, and religious shows. It was the leading independent station in the San Francisco television market for years. It retained this status when more independents (on UHF) signed on the air over the years by reinventing the station's own image with its former longtime slogan: "There's Only One 2." As a VHF station competitor, KTVU aired The 8 O'Clock Movie as an independent alternative to network prime time programming by KRON, KPIX, and KGO-TV.

[edit] News

The station has been well known in the Bay Area for its locally-produced news, public affairs and children's programming, especially The Ten O'Clock News, which for years had been the only television news broadcast in the Bay Area at that hour. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, The Ten O'Clock News was often referred to as the number one prime time newscast in the country, which was true based on the number of viewers at that hour. KTVU's 10 p.m. newscast was such a force to be reckoned with that KBWB cancelled its own 10 p.m. news in 2002 after having no luck competing with KTVU. KBCW has since debuted a primetime newscast produced by KPIX in March 2008 though.

When KRON-TV became an independent station, it also scheduled its new prime time newscast at 9 p.m. so as to not compete directly with KTVU. In the early 1990s, KRON, along with KPIX (throughout the 1990s), did have 10 p.m. newscasts, which have since been moved back up to the 11 p.m. time slot. During the period, KTVU branded its late newscast as The Original Ten O'Clock News. The retirement of KTVU's long-time news director Fred Zehnder brought changes to the newsroom but in 2000 it was ranked as the highest quality local newscast in the nation by the Project for Excellence in Journalism under his immediate successor while maintaining number one ratings at ten and throughout the noon and morning newscasts. Varying prime time numbers and improvements at competitors have since lead to a decline in the once dominant news operation's ratings.

The Ten O'Clock News is also one of the few syndicated local news shows in the United States. It also airs on co-owned KRXI-TV, the Fox affiliate in Reno, Nevada, and also airs on KRVU-LP, the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Chico/Redding market, and KEMY, the My Network TV affiliate for the Eureka/Arcata market. KRVU and KEMY are not owned by KTVU parent company Cox. Some of the stations also carry KTVU's earlier newscasts and Mornings on 2.

[edit] Newscasts

Today, the station has newscasts at noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., in addition its morning and 10 p.m. broadcasts. Before its current station status, Channel 2 had only the 10 o'clock newscast; this was common of most independent-turned Fox affiliates back then to have more syndicated programming and children's programming than it did news. That changed when the station decided to go head-to-head with competitors KRON, KPIX, KGO-TV and KNTV by leaning more towards a news-intensive format which took years to take effect.

The noon newscast, originally called 2 at Noon, was added in 1986, displacing syndicated game shows. The original morning newscast, Mornings on 2, debuted in January 1991 in the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. slot. Now Fox has no network newscasts, but it still motivated its affiliates to air more local news, including KTVU. An additional morning newscast was added in 1996, which would later expand to two hours from one hour, then a 6:00 p.m. newscast would be added in 2000, and finally in 2005, an hour-long 5:00 p.m. newscast. As a result, KTVU now airs 40 hours of local news a week -- the most local news coverage of any counterpart Fox station in the West Coast.

[edit] Classic television series

For many years KTVU regularly ran reruns of classic, filmed television series from the 1950s and 1960s. An early favorite on the station was the syndicated Topper series with Leo G. Carroll and Lee Patrick.

KTVU frequently showed classic movies, especially week nights from 8 to 10 p.m. and on Sunday afternoons. In the early 1960s KTVU began televising Warner Brothers films, mostly from the 1950s and mostly in color, on Sundays at 7 p.m. They were the first Bay Area television station to present such films as A Star Is Born (1954) with Judy Garland and James Mason, East of Eden (1955) with James Dean and Julie Harris, and Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean and Natalie Wood. KTVU exercised discretion and limited commercial interruptions during the movies, and often offered interesting comments, either by a studio host or via slides. The station even televised MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929 with some of the original two-strip Technicolor sequences.

[edit] Children's programming

During the 1960s and 1970s the station aired an afternoon children's show called Captain Satellite. The show's host was Bob March.

Up until the 1980s, the station produced a series of classic children's public service shorts under the title Bits and Pieces. Bits and Pieces often featured a number of talking puppets, Charley and Humphrey, and were aimed at delivering positive messages to children. Pat McCormick, had brought his puppets from KGO. The shorts often aired during children's programming. Shots of KTVU children's programming appear in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, portions of which were shot in the KTVU studios and film library. It was also the Bay Area origination of Romper Room, a children's television show which was franchised, instead of syndicated.

[edit] Other programming

Other programs included:

• Creature Features, hosted by Bob Wilkins from 1971 to 1979 and was replaced by John Stanley from 1979 until 1984
• Dialing for Dollars, hosted by Pat McCormick, the voice of Charley and Humphrey and later the station's weatherman
• National All-Star Wrestling, telecast on Friday nights during the early and mid-1960s from the KTVU studios or San Francisco's Cow Palace, hosted by Walt Harris

[edit] 50th anniversary

On March 3, 2008, KTVU celebrated its 50th anniversary of broadcasting. Fifteen promos of KTVU's 50th anniversary aired which included "Bits & Pieces", "Romper Room", "Captain Satellite" as well as sports like wrestling and Roller Derby, Innovation, Technology and personalities/faces just to name a few. Many promos are available on KTVU's website.

[edit] Sports

San Francisco Giants baseball games were televised by KTVU from 1958 – when the team moved to San Francisco from New York City – to 2007. On November 1, 2007, it was announced that KNTV will broadcast Giants games beginning with the 2008 MLB season.^[1] Beginning in 1996, some Giants Saturday afternoon games have been carried via the Fox Network, which had won broadcast rights to Major League Baseball. KTVU has also been the home of most San Francisco 49ers games since 1994, when Fox won the contract to carry the National Football Conference games.

[edit] Affiliation

[edit] As a superstation

For a brief time in the early-1980s, KTVU was a nationwide superstation, seen mostly on parent Cox's cable systems. However, unable to compete with WTBS, WGN and WOR, KTVU left the national scene and merely became a regional superstation, seen on cable systems in northern California, Nevada and Oregon.

[edit] As a Fox affiliate

On October 9, 1986, the station became a charter Fox affiliate serving the Bay Area. It launched a morning newscast called Mornings on 2 in 1991 (and, as such, became the fourth Fox affiliate or station to air weekday morning newscasts). It began to air an afternoon cartoon block known as Fox Kids by 1991. It also added more syndicated talk shows, court shows, and reality shows over the years. It still runs some off-network sitcoms. The station continued to run the Fox Kids block on weekdays until Fox ended weekday kids programming in early 2002, but still retained the Saturday lineup, of which is now 4Kids TV.

[edit] Fox branding

In the early years as a Fox affiliate, KTVU still referenced itself as Channel 2 and rarely called itself Fox 2 as other Fox affiliates did and still do, but it has done Fox promos as Fox Channel 2. In 1996, the Fox logo was encrypted into the longtime Circle Laser 2 logo (used since 1975), and when the network tightened its station standardizations, the station branded itself as KTVU Fox 2 today -- only to revert to KTVU Channel 2 during newscasts.

[edit] Programming deviations

Fox airs fewer hours of network programming than its three main rivals (CBS, NBC and ABC). KTVU has generally aired the entire Fox lineup with no pre-emptions, except for San Francisco Giants baseball during the term of its contract with the team. At first KTVU delayed pre-empted programming to the weekends, but with the growth of Fox and viewer demand the station eventually aired the delayed primetime shows following The Ten O'Clock News. The Bay Area has always been one of the largest Nielsen ratings markets and Fox naturally wanted to have a network owned-and-operated station in the area. Through the network's parent, News Corporation, it tried several times to buy KTVU, but Cox turned down every offer. When Cox purchased KICU, the pre-empted Fox programming would be moved to that station to air in its normal timeslot in lieu of KTVU. The issue over Giants baseball and pre-emptions became moot when the team announced that NBC O&O KNTV would be the flagship station for the Giants beginning with the 2008 season.

[edit] Technology

[edit] Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels

[edit] Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 ^[2], KTVU will move its digital broadcasts to channel 44. ^[3] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display KTVU's virtual channel as 2.

[edit] Converting to HDTV

On October 10, 2006 KTVU debuted a new state-of-the-art high definition (HD) studio for production of their newscasts in HD. This follows sister stations WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia and WFTV in Orlando, Florida which were already airing their newscasts in HD.

[edit] On satellite

Until the late 1990s, KTVU was seen nationally on PrimeStar and C-Band satellite systems.

[edit] News/Station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

• The Ten O'Clock News (March 3, 1958-1970's, 1980-present)
• The Tuck and Fortner Report (1970's)
• Action News (1970's-1980)

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current

Anchors

• Tori Campbell - Mornings on Two and Noon
• Pam Cook - Morning News
• Dave Clark - Morning News and Mornings on 2
• Julie Haener - 6 and 10 p.m. weeknights
• Heather Holmes - weekends
• Gasia Mikaelian 5 p.m. weeknights and Bay Area News at 7 on TV 36
• Ross McGowan - Mornings on Two
• Frank Somerville - 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weeknights
• Ken Wayne - Weekends

Weather

• Bill Martin - weeknights
• Steve Paulson - weekday mornings, Mondays - Thursdays noon
• Byron Miranda - Fridays noon and weekends

Sports

• Joe Fonzi - weekend anchor
• Mark Ibáñez - sports director
• Fred Inglis - reporter/fill-in anchor

Reporters

• Sal Castaneda - traffic
• Rosy Chu - Community Affairs director/Bay Area People host
• Kraig Debro (also fill-in anchor)
• John Fowler - health/science editor
• Robert Handa - San Jose Bureau
• Craig Heaps
• Renee Kemp - freelance
• Jana Katsuyama - freelance
• Lloyd LaCuesta - South Bay Bureau chief
• Amber Lee (primarily seen evenings)
• Bob MacKenzie - feature reporter
• Mike Mibach
• Maureen Naylor - freelance reporter
• Rob Roth - San Francisco Bureau
• John Sasaki - also fill-in anchor
• Randy Shandobil - political editor
• Bob Shaw - movie critic/entertainment reporter
• David Stevenson
• Tom Vacar - consumer editor
• Rita Williams
• Claudine Wong (primarily seen mornings and noon)

[edit] Former

• Marilyn Baker - Reporter
• Brian Banmiller - Business editor for KTVU, former host of Banmiller on Business
• Larry Beil - Now at KGO-TV and KBWB on ABC7 News at 11 p.m.
• Marcia Brandwynne - Anchor
• Brian Copeland - Feature AM reporter, currently on KGO-AM
• Elaine Corral - 10 O'Clock News anchor
• Mark Curtis - Anchor/Reporter, now a political analyst
• Priya David - Reporter
• Ysobel Duran - Reporter
• Diane Dwyer - Anchor/reporter, now at KNTV
• Faith Fancher - Reporter (deceased)
• Ron Fortner - co-anchor on The Tuck and Fortner Report (deceased)
• Eric Greene - 2 at Noon host and Mornings on 2 anchor
• Leslie Griffith - 10 O'Clock News anchor
• Judd Hambrick - Anchor
• Walt Harris - Staff announcer and host of live Friday night wrestling from KTVU's studios and Roller Derby announcer at live San Francisco Bay Bomber games that were taped from Kezar Pavilion on Sunday afternoons until 1973.
• Kim Hunter - Reporter
• Jennifer Jolly - Reporter
• Greg Liggins - Reporter
• Terry Lowry - Morning and noon anchor
• Claude Mann - Former Reporter and Weekend Anchor (deceased)
• Bob March - Host of Captain Satellite children's show, Host of Dialing for Dollars, and weather reporter
• Pat McCormick - Host of Dialing for Dollars, Charlie and Humphrey children's show
• Lee McEachern - Reporter
• Steve Physioc - Sports director, now with Fox Sports
• Gary Park - Sports director
• George Redding - Anchor
• Dennis Richmond - KTVU 2 News at 6 & The 10 0'Clock News - Anchor (retired May 21, 2008)
• Ted Rowlands Reporter, now at CNN
• Julia Sandstrom - Meteorologist
• Don Sherwood - Talk show host, late 1950s (deceased)
• Sara Sidner - Reporter and fill-in anchor, moved to CNN New Delhi bureau [1] [2]
• John Stanley - Final host of Creature Features
• Dan Springer - Morning reporter/fill-in anchor, now at Fox News
• Thuy Vu - Anchor/reporter, left to anchor at KGO-TV, now at KPIX
• Steve McPartlin
• Mark Pitta
• Michael Tuck - co-anchor on The Tuck and Fortner Report; later worked at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and San Diego's KFMB-TV, KGTV, and KUSI
• George Watson - Reporter and anchor
• Bob Wilkins - Original host of Creature Features, Captain Cosmic children's show
• Kevin Wing - Reporter now at KRON-TV

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• KTVU Website
• Station History KTVU.com
• Project for Excellence in Journalism reference
• KTVU Mention at TVParty.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTVU
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for K06FA
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for K39AG
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTVU-TV