KCRA-TV
Encyclopedia
KCRA-TV, channel 3, is a television station
in Sacramento, California
, United States
. KCRA-TV is owned by Hearst Television, a subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation
, and is an affiliate of the NBC
television network. The station's studio and offices are shared with sister station
KQCA
(channel 58) at 3 Television Circle in downtown Sacramento
, and its transmitter is based in Walnut Grove, California
.
, and 96.1 FM, now KYMX
). The radio station's call letters were intended to be KRCA, but the letters were tranposed when the license application was filed with the Federal Communications Commission
. By the time KCRA-TV went on the air, the KRCA-TV calls had already been taken by NBC's owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles
(which is now KNBC
). KCRA inherited the NBC affiliation from the now-defunct KCCC-TV (channel 40), the Sacramento market's first station which carried affiliations with all four networks before other outlets went on the air.
The Kelly family bought out the Hansens' share of the KCRA stations in 1962. The radio stations were sold to the Tribune Company
in 1975, and Kelly Broadcasting continued to operate KCRA-TV until January 1999, when it was purchased by what was then known as Hearst-Argyle Television. Channel 3 has always been an NBC affiliate, and along with Fox
affiliate KTXL
(the present-day channel 40), is the only "Big Four" station in the Sacramento market that has never changed its affiliation.
KCRA-TV is best known for its commitment to local news. Early on, the station devoted significant resources to its news operation, resulting in a higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for what was then a medium-sized market. The station's motto, "Where The News Comes First", has become a symbol for its news coverage. KCRA has used the slogan since December 1958 (Kelly filed to trademark the slogan in 1980) and has licensed it out to other television stations. It has been the dominant news station in Sacramento for many years, winning every timeslot during sweeps periods by wide margins. In the May 2010 sweeps period, KCRA had the highest-rated 11 p.m. newscast but trailed KOVR's 10 p.m. newscast in total households.
KCRA has long been an innovator in local news coverage. In 1965, it first used color film in its newscasts. A station press release at that time claimed that KCRA was the first station in Sacramento with video tape, the first NBC affiliate with "network color," and the first station with local film, slide and video tape color. Starting in 1975, it used remote cameras to report the news live. Recent years have brought helicopters and satellite remotes. On September 10, 1966, Bob Wilkins
hosted a late Saturday Night horror movie show called "Seven Arts Theatre". Bob Wilkins later moved his show to KTXL, and then to KTVU
in Oakland
in the 1970s.
Harry Geise was hired by KCRA as its main weatherman in the mid-1960s. While he used information coming out of a weather bureau in Suitland, Maryland; his forecasts were so accurate that almost every farmer in the Sacramento Valley
listened to his forecasts. He developed many techniques which are now taken for granted. Through his weathercasts he taught a couple of generations all about weather from "upper level devils" to looking out the window. On the scantest of data - weather bureaus, out the window, smell in the air, and nut gatherers) but prior to satellite, doppler weather radar, space weather, home weather stations, and little local information - he could look globally and tell what the local weather would be in six weeks or six months.
By the mid-1970s, KCRA established news bureaus throughout the state to broaden its range of reporting, as well as producing its own public affairs programming, and initiating a consumer affairs division to answer the needs of concerned consumers.
Like other local stations, KCRA developed an in-house production facility, with local children's programming, news magazines and talk shows. By the beginning of the 21st century, KCRA became the first station in the Sacramento market to broadcast digitally in HDTV.
In early 2004, KCRA opened the new exhibit, "The KCRA 3 Experience" at local Arden Fair Mall
in Sacramento, California, allowing visitors to see a KCRA newscast produced live. KCRA's noon newscast was broadcast from there until late 2008 when KCRA ended its presence at the Mall.
In February 2010, KCRA introduced a new slogan, "It's how you know." This features local news, weather, and sports that would lead to its website. Hearst sister-stations KSBW
and WMUR also uses this slogan, which is seen at the beginning of each video segment on YouTube.
. Although NBC shut down their NBC Weather Plus branding after purchasing the Weather Channel in 2008, KCRA continued to use the NBC Weather Plus branding on sub-channel 3.2 until late 2008.
On August 2, 2010, KCRA relaunched their digital subchannel 3.2 as "moreTV Sacramento," a locally-programmed channel that shuffles syndicated programming from KCRA and sister-station KQCA, a branding used by Hearst sister station WMOR-TV
in the Tampa, Florida
market, and previously by KCWE
in Kansas City, Missouri
before their 2006 affiliation with the CW. The channel shows comedies (Roseanne, The Cosby Show
, That 70's Show), dramas (Law & Order: SVU) and talk shows (Maury, Jerry Springer, Dr. Oz, Oprah). moreTV Sacramento also rebroadcasts news from KCRA, including a 7pm rebroadcast of KCRA's 6pm newscast; a rebroadcast of late news on KCRA and KQCA at midnight; and a simulcast of KCRA's news at 12pm. KCRA continues WeatherPlus programming in the early morning hours in lieu of paid programming, however, as of October 15, 2010, KCRA no longer shows Weather Plus. (At the same time, nearby Hearst station KSBW
also started broadcasting an alternate set of primetime programming over on its second digital subchannel branded as "KSBW PrimePLUS+" until February 1, 2011.)
channel 3, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
, and remained on its pre-transition digital channel 35 PSIP is used to display KCRA-TV's virtual channel
as 3.
. That show would reair for a brief time, but was preempted again due to low ratings—this was the case with local counterpart KOVR
, which did not run Guiding Light
due to poor ratings, and had not aired at all in the market since former affiliate KXTV
dropped it in the early 1990s. Given its image as a news-intensive station, KCRA also preempted the weekend version of The Today Show and the T-NBC lineup which aired Saturday mornings for more local news. It also aired a 4:30 pm newscast, pushing Days of our Lives
to air half an hour earlier than the typical practice. That newscast ended with KCRA's acquisition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show
;" in September, 2002. "Days" now airs at 1pm weekdays. However, despite NBC's historically low tolerance towards preemptions, NBC has been more than satisfied with KCRA, given its near-total dominance of the Sacramento market.
Currently, KCRA airs the third hour of The Today Show on a one-hour delay due to Live With Regis and Kelly
airing at that time slot; and does not air the fourth hour. Sister stations WBAL-TV
in Baltimore
and WYFF
in Greenville, South Carolina
do the same thing. In addition, other syndicated programming includes The Real Housewives, Rachael Ray
, The Dr. Oz Show
, Access Hollywood
, and Extra
.
Whenever NBC special programming pre-empt any of its regularly scheduled newscasts, sister station KQCA
(channel 58) will air them at the times KCRA would have aired them.
Like many stations that have long dominated their markets, KCRA tends to take an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. Its original logo—a roman "3" inside a green square—was used from the time the station signed on until the late 1980s, when the current logo was adopted. Also, it refers to its newscasts as "Reports" rather than "News," despite that its newscasts on KQCA are titled as "KCRA 3 News". However in August, 2009, KCRA re-titled its 11 p.m. newscast as "the KCRA 3 Night Team." It removed "11 p.m." from the newscast name, but the mandated Hearst news theme is not used in the opening. In July 2011, the "Reports" branding was phased out and all the newscasts are referred to as "KCRA 3 News".
In late December 2005, KCRA began using a new "Triple Doppler" system for weather reports. In addition to KCRA's own doppler weather radar
system at Walnut Grove, range and accuracy were increased by adding data from NEXRAD
sites. KRGX north of Reno
on Virginia Peak improves the accuracy of Sierra images, KMUX south of San Jose
on Mt. Umunuhm has a great view of storms approaching from the Pacific Ocean
, and KBBX at Beale Air Force Base
gives improved detail in the valley
.
On February 12, 2007 KCRA started broadcasting all of its news broadcasts in high definition television (HD) and also debuted its news set designed by FX Group
and also LiveCopter 3 HD, becoming the first station in the Sacramento viewing area and first in the Hearst-Argyle family to broadcast the majority of its programming and the first to deliver local newscasts in HD. Upon the launch of its HD newscasts, the KCRA logo made a slight change, adding the NBC "peacock" and "HD" to the current logo. Only in-studio cameras shoot in HD, while the helicopter's camera, field cameras and other station camera feeds are in SDTV and are up-converted to a 16:9 aspect ratio in the control room. In September 2008, KCRA began using a new "Triple Doppler" system with high-definition graphics. As of August 25, 2010, with KSBW
upgrading it's newscasts to HD, both KCRA and KSBW now share resources in this format when covering each other's news. The current weekend news anchor also acts as the sports anchor.
Under Hearst ownership, KCRA has either hosted or co-hosted many gubernatorial debates within California, often with moderator and political reporter Kevin Riggs and one other personality hosting the debate. Many of those debates are simulcasted on KSBW. A notable example of such is the debate between Meg Whitman
and Jerry Brown
.
Note: Some reporters are also feature reporters for nearby Hearst sister station KSBW
.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. KCRA-TV is owned by Hearst Television, a subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
, and is an affiliate of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television network. The station's studio and offices are shared with sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
KQCA
KQCA
KQCA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Sacramento, California, USA. Licensed to Stockton, the station broadcasts a digital-only signal on UHF channel 46. KQCA's transmitter is located northeast of Walnut Grove. The station is owned by Hearst Television as part of a duopoly with...
(channel 58) at 3 Television Circle in downtown Sacramento
Downtown Sacramento
Downtown Sacramento is the central business district of the City of Sacramento. Downtown is generally defined as the area south of the American River, east of the Sacramento River, north of Broadway, and west of 16th Street. The central business district is generally defined as north of R Street,...
, and its transmitter is based in Walnut Grove, California
Walnut Grove, California
Walnut Grove is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
.
History
KCRA-TV was founded on September 3, 1955 by the Kelly and Hansen families, who also owned KCRA radio (1320 AM, now KCTCKCTC
KCTC AM 1320 is a radio station in Sacramento, California, that has been affiliated with ESPN Radio since February 2007.KCTC's history dates back to 1947, although in its glory years when it was an FM stereo radio station at 96.1 MHz, it broadcast a variant of the beautiful music format which they...
, and 96.1 FM, now KYMX
KYMX
KYMX is commercial radio station located in Sacramento, California. The station airs an adult contemporary music format.-History:...
). The radio station's call letters were intended to be KRCA, but the letters were tranposed when the license application was filed with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. By the time KCRA-TV went on the air, the KRCA-TV calls had already been taken by NBC's owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(which is now KNBC
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
). KCRA inherited the NBC affiliation from the now-defunct KCCC-TV (channel 40), the Sacramento market's first station which carried affiliations with all four networks before other outlets went on the air.
The Kelly family bought out the Hansens' share of the KCRA stations in 1962. The radio stations were sold to the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
in 1975, and Kelly Broadcasting continued to operate KCRA-TV until January 1999, when it was purchased by what was then known as Hearst-Argyle Television. Channel 3 has always been an NBC affiliate, and along with Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate KTXL
KTXL
KTXL, channel 40, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Sacramento, California, owned by the Tribune Company. Its studios and offices are located in South Sacramento, and its transmitter is near Walnut Grove, California.-History:...
(the present-day channel 40), is the only "Big Four" station in the Sacramento market that has never changed its affiliation.
KCRA has long been an innovator in local news coverage. In 1965, it first used color film in its newscasts. A station press release at that time claimed that KCRA was the first station in Sacramento with video tape, the first NBC affiliate with "network color," and the first station with local film, slide and video tape color. Starting in 1975, it used remote cameras to report the news live. Recent years have brought helicopters and satellite remotes. On September 10, 1966, Bob Wilkins
Bob Wilkins (Television Personality)
Bob Wilkins was a television personality born as Robert Gene Wilkins in the town of Hammond, Indiana. Wilkins was best known as the creator and host of a popular television show named Creature Features that ran on KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 1984, and which premiered with Del...
hosted a late Saturday Night horror movie show called "Seven Arts Theatre". Bob Wilkins later moved his show to KTXL, and then to KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
in the 1970s.
Harry Geise was hired by KCRA as its main weatherman in the mid-1960s. While he used information coming out of a weather bureau in Suitland, Maryland; his forecasts were so accurate that almost every farmer in the Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
listened to his forecasts. He developed many techniques which are now taken for granted. Through his weathercasts he taught a couple of generations all about weather from "upper level devils" to looking out the window. On the scantest of data - weather bureaus, out the window, smell in the air, and nut gatherers) but prior to satellite, doppler weather radar, space weather, home weather stations, and little local information - he could look globally and tell what the local weather would be in six weeks or six months.
By the mid-1970s, KCRA established news bureaus throughout the state to broaden its range of reporting, as well as producing its own public affairs programming, and initiating a consumer affairs division to answer the needs of concerned consumers.
Arden Fair Mall
Arden Fair Mall is a two-level regional shopping mall located on Arden Way in Sacramento, California, USA. It consists of over 165 tenants, encompassing over of retail space. It is anchored by JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom and Sears...
in Sacramento, California, allowing visitors to see a KCRA newscast produced live. KCRA's noon newscast was broadcast from there until late 2008 when KCRA ended its presence at the Mall.
In February 2010, KCRA introduced a new slogan, "It's how you know." This features local news, weather, and sports that would lead to its website. Hearst sister-stations KSBW
KSBW
KSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
and WMUR also uses this slogan, which is seen at the beginning of each video segment on YouTube.
Weather Plus
In early 2005, KCRA introduced its localized version of NBC Weather PlusNBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
. Although NBC shut down their NBC Weather Plus branding after purchasing the Weather Channel in 2008, KCRA continued to use the NBC Weather Plus branding on sub-channel 3.2 until late 2008.
On August 2, 2010, KCRA relaunched their digital subchannel 3.2 as "moreTV Sacramento," a locally-programmed channel that shuffles syndicated programming from KCRA and sister-station KQCA, a branding used by Hearst sister station WMOR-TV
WMOR-TV
WMOR-TV is an independent television station in the Tampa Bay television market . It is licensed to Lakeland, with studios in Tampa. The station is owned by the Hearst Corporation.-History:...
in the Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
market, and previously by KCWE
KCWE
KCWE is the CW-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 from a transmitter at the East 23rd Street/Topping Avenue intersection in Kansas City, Missouri's Blue Valley section...
in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
before their 2006 affiliation with the CW. The channel shows comedies (Roseanne, The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
, That 70's Show), dramas (Law & Order: SVU) and talk shows (Maury, Jerry Springer, Dr. Oz, Oprah). moreTV Sacramento also rebroadcasts news from KCRA, including a 7pm rebroadcast of KCRA's 6pm newscast; a rebroadcast of late news on KCRA and KQCA at midnight; and a simulcast of KCRA's news at 12pm. KCRA continues WeatherPlus programming in the early morning hours in lieu of paid programming, however, as of October 15, 2010, KCRA no longer shows Weather Plus. (At the same time, nearby Hearst station KSBW
KSBW
KSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
also started broadcasting an alternate set of primetime programming over on its second digital subchannel branded as "KSBW PrimePLUS+" until February 1, 2011.)
Digital television
KCRA-TV and its second digital subchannel broadcasts on digital channel 35.| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main KCRA programming / NBC |
| 3.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | moreTV Sacramento |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KCRA-TV ended programming on its analog signal, on VHFVery high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
channel 3, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
, and remained on its pre-transition digital channel 35 PSIP is used to display KCRA-TV's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 3.
Programming
Over the years, KCRA preempted some NBC programming, notably the soap opera Another WorldAnother World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
. That show would reair for a brief time, but was preempted again due to low ratings—this was the case with local counterpart KOVR
KOVR
KOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,...
, which did not run Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
due to poor ratings, and had not aired at all in the market since former affiliate KXTV
KXTV
KXTV, channel 10, is an ABC affiliate television station in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. Its transmitter tower is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown...
dropped it in the early 1990s. Given its image as a news-intensive station, KCRA also preempted the weekend version of The Today Show and the T-NBC lineup which aired Saturday mornings for more local news. It also aired a 4:30 pm newscast, pushing Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
to air half an hour earlier than the typical practice. That newscast ended with KCRA's acquisition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
;" in September, 2002. "Days" now airs at 1pm weekdays. However, despite NBC's historically low tolerance towards preemptions, NBC has been more than satisfied with KCRA, given its near-total dominance of the Sacramento market.
Currently, KCRA airs the third hour of The Today Show on a one-hour delay due to Live With Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
airing at that time slot; and does not air the fourth hour. Sister stations WBAL-TV
WBAL-TV
WBAL-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11. It is one of the flagship stations of Hearst Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, which also owns sister radio stations WBAL and...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and WYFF
WYFF
WYFF is the NBC-affiliate television station based in Greenville, South Carolina. It serves a media market which includes Greenville/Spartanburg and Anderson in South Carolina and Asheville/Hendersonville, North Carolina. The market covers large portions of western North Carolina and upstate South...
in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
do the same thing. In addition, other syndicated programming includes The Real Housewives, Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray (TV series)
Rachael Ray, also known as The Rachael Ray Show, is a talk show starring Rachael Ray that debuted in syndication in the United States and Canada on September 18, 2006....
, The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
, and Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
.
Whenever NBC special programming pre-empt any of its regularly scheduled newscasts, sister station KQCA
KQCA
KQCA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Sacramento, California, USA. Licensed to Stockton, the station broadcasts a digital-only signal on UHF channel 46. KQCA's transmitter is located northeast of Walnut Grove. The station is owned by Hearst Television as part of a duopoly with...
(channel 58) will air them at the times KCRA would have aired them.
News operation
In late December 2005, KCRA began using a new "Triple Doppler" system for weather reports. In addition to KCRA's own doppler weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
system at Walnut Grove, range and accuracy were increased by adding data from NEXRAD
NEXRAD
NEXRAD or Nexrad is a network of 159 high-resolution Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of Commerce...
sites. KRGX north of Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
on Virginia Peak improves the accuracy of Sierra images, KMUX south of San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
on Mt. Umunuhm has a great view of storms approaching from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, and KBBX at Beale Air Force Base
Beale Air Force Base
Beale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. Originally known as Camp Beale....
gives improved detail in the valley
California Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...
.
On February 12, 2007 KCRA started broadcasting all of its news broadcasts in high definition television (HD) and also debuted its news set designed by FX Group
FX Group
FX Group is a set design, fabrication and lighting design company based in Ocoee, Florida.FX Group has designed and built sets for broadcast programs across the country, mostly in the area of live news...
and also LiveCopter 3 HD, becoming the first station in the Sacramento viewing area and first in the Hearst-Argyle family to broadcast the majority of its programming and the first to deliver local newscasts in HD. Upon the launch of its HD newscasts, the KCRA logo made a slight change, adding the NBC "peacock" and "HD" to the current logo. Only in-studio cameras shoot in HD, while the helicopter's camera, field cameras and other station camera feeds are in SDTV and are up-converted to a 16:9 aspect ratio in the control room. In September 2008, KCRA began using a new "Triple Doppler" system with high-definition graphics. As of August 25, 2010, with KSBW
KSBW
KSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
upgrading it's newscasts to HD, both KCRA and KSBW now share resources in this format when covering each other's news. The current weekend news anchor also acts as the sports anchor.
Under Hearst ownership, KCRA has either hosted or co-hosted many gubernatorial debates within California, often with moderator and political reporter Kevin Riggs and one other personality hosting the debate. Many of those debates are simulcasted on KSBW. A notable example of such is the debate between Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School...
and Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
.
Newscast titles
- Channel 3 Reports (1960s-1999)
- KCRA 3 Reports (1999–2011)
- KCRA 3 Night Team (2009-present; 11 p.m. newscast)
- KCRA 3 News (2011–present)
Newscast Music
- KCRA 1975 News Theme by unknown composer (19??-19??)
- KCRA 1978 News Theme by unknown composer (19??-19??)
- We Take You There by Peters Productions (1981–1986)
- KCRA And You by Peters Productions (1981–1986)
- Where The News Comes First by L. Earl Grizzell, Jr. (1987–1992)
- KCRA 1992 News Theme by Sam Cardon and Non-Stop Music (1992–2000)
- B Package by Gari Communications, Inc. (2000–2004)
- Hearst TV News Music Package by Newsmusic Central (2004–present)
- KCRA 2009 Night Team Theme by unknown composer (2009–present)
Anchors
- Adrienne Bankert - weekdays at noon; also reporter (2004)
- Gulstan Dart - weeknights at 6, 6:30, 10 (on KQCA) and 11 p.m. (2008)
- Mae Fesai - weekend mornings (2009)
- Deirdre Fitzpatrick - weekday mornings (5-7 a.m. on KCRA, 7-9 a.m. on KQCA); also reporter (1997)
- Walt Gray - weekdays at noon and 5 p.m.; also reporter (1988)
- Edie Lambert - weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m. (1995)
- Chris Riva - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m. (2005)
- Teo Torres - weekday mornings (7-9 a.m., on KQCA); also noon reporter (2008)
- Kellie MacMullan - fill-in anchor (2011)
Weather Team
- Mark Finan (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30, 10 (on KQCA) and 11 p.m. (1991) - Eileen Javora (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon (2005)
- Dirk Verdoorn (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings and weekend evenings at 6 and 11 p.m. (1998)
- Britta Merwin - Meteorologist; weekend mornings and weekday noon show. (2010)
Sports Team
- Del Rodgers - Sports Director; weeknights at 6, 10 (on KQCA) and 11 p.m. (1997)
Reporters
Note: Some reporters are also feature reporters for nearby Hearst sister station KSBW
KSBW
KSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
.
- David Bienick - general assignment reporter (2000)
- Kelly Brothers - morning business reporter (2007)
- Tom DuHain - weeknight reporter (1969)
- Brian Hickey - weekday morning reporter (2003)
- Rich Ibarra - Stockton Bureau reporter (1980)
- Jane King - Bloomberg business reporter (2008)
- Demany Lewis - weeknight reporter (2007)
- Kristin Marshall - traffic anchor (2008)
- Lynsey Paulo - "Call 3" consumer reporter (2002)
- Kevin Riggs - political reporter (1994)
- Sharokina Shams - general assignment reporter (2006)
- Richard Sharp - 10 (on KQCA) and 11 p.m. reporter (2004)
- Mike TeSelle - weekday reporter (1998)
Hearst Television Washington Bureau
- Sally Kidd - Washington Bureau Reporter (2005)
- Laurie Kinney - Washington Bureau Reporter (2005)
- Traci Mitchell - Washington Bureau Reporter (2005)
Notable past on-air staff
- Miguel Almaguer - reporter (March 2003-May 2006; now works in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a West Coast Correspondent for NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
) - Stan AtkinsonStan AtkinsonStan Atkinson was a television news reporter and anchor for over 45 years, mostly in the Sacramento area, including many years as principal news anchor for KCRA, Channel 3, in Sacramento. and then principal news anchor for KOVR from 1994 until his retirement in 1999...
- anchor (1970s?-1994; later moved to KOVRKOVRKOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,...
in Sacramento, now retired) - Carol Bland - anchor/reporter (1980s?-1994; later moved to KGWKGWKGW is an NBC affiliate television station serving the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 8, from its transmitter in Portland. It also produces segments and serves as the Portland bureau for Northwest Cable News , which is also owned by...
in Portland as Carol Jensen, now retired and lives in San Diego) - Joan BlundenJoan LundenJoan Lunden is an American journalist, author and television host. She was the co-host of ABC's Good Morning America from 1980 through 1997 and is the author of 8 books...
(1970s as first television job; she later changed her surname to Lunden, moved to ABC's Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
) - Lisa Breckenridge - Anchor/Reporter (1991–1997; now at KTTVKTTVKTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
in Los Angeles and with Fox News) - Angela Buchman - meteorologist (1998–2001; now at WISH-TVWISH-TVWISH-TV, virtual channel 8, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Indiana licensed to Indianapolis. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, WISH-TV is part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV and the two share studios on North Meridian Street at the north end of Indianapolis'...
in Indianapolis) - Ryan Disch - traffic anchor (2005–2009)
- Maurice DuBoisMaurice DuBoisMaurice DuBois is an American television journalist.-Early life and education:He was born on Long Island, New York, the son of immigrants to the U.S...
- anchor/reporter (now at WCBS-TVWCBS-TVWCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
in New York, NY) - Jim FinnertyJim FinnertyJim Finnerty is an award-winning American television producer. He worked on all seven seasons of the Peabody Award Winning NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street. He often works with Homicide executive producer Tom Fontana.-Biography:...
- host of local talk show Finnerty and Company (later renamed Look Who's Talking) - Sarah GardnerSarah GardnerSarah Gardner is a television news anchor. She was an anchor for KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California from 1993 to 2007.-Early life and education:...
- 6 and 10 p.m. anchor (1993–2007; now a stay-at-home mother) - Gary GerouldGary GerouldGary Gerould is an American sportscaster, best known as the radio voice of the NBA's Sacramento Kings since 1985 and as a motorsports reporter for ABC and ESPN....
- sports anchor (now radio play-by-play for the Sacramento KingsSacramento KingsThe Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
) - Ron Hyde - Sports Director/Anchor (1992-2006, later News Anchor /Weather Anchor at KOVR 13), Now Anchor/Reporter "California Life" TV show of Los Angeles
- John GibsonJohn Gibson (media host)John David Gibson is an American radio talk show host. As of September 2008, he hosts the syndicated radio program The John Gibson Show on Fox News Radio. Gibson was formerly the co-host of the weekday edition of The Big Story on the Fox News television channel.-Early career:Gibson earned a BA...
- Bay Area correspondent (now at Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
) - Marty Gonzalez - host/reporter/producer (1980–1987; now at KRON as weekend morning anchor in San Francisco)
- David GregoryDavid Gregory (journalist)David Michael Gregory is an American television journalist, and moderator of NBC News' Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press.-Early life:...
(now moderator of Meet the PressMeet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
) - Kristine HansonKristine HansonKristine Hanson is an American television broadcaster who also was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the September 1974 issue...
- sports anchor/weather anchor/entertainment reporter (1980s; former Playboy Playmate) - Ethan Harp - reporter (2000–2003; later at KNTVKNTVKNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
in San Jose/San Francisco, now writer at CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
in New York) - Lois HartLois HartLois Hackbert Hart Walker is a retired journalist. She co-anchored the evening news in Sacramento on KCRA-TV with her husband, Dave Walker, from 1990 through 2008....
- 5 and 6:30 p.m. anchor (1990–2008; retired) - Bob HogueBob HogueBob Hogue is an athletic conference commissioner, author and columnist, sportscaster, and a former Republican member of the Hawaii State Senate representing the 24th district for six years . Hogue was the Republican nominee for U.S...
- sports director (early 1980s, former Hawaiian State Senator) - Ron Jones - anchor/reporter (1998–2001; now anchor/reporter at KOVRKOVRKOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,...
/KMAXKMAX-TVKMAX-TV, channel 31, is the CW affiliate serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California broadcast area. The station is owned by CBS Television Stations along with the local CBS station, KOVR; the two stations are two of the 3 English network O&Os in the market, along with Ion Television...
) - Rob MayedaRob MayedaRob Mayeda is currently a meteorologist, reporter, storm chaser, and segment producer for KNTV in San Jose, California.- Education :...
- meteorologist/anchor/reporter (1999–2000; now at KNTVKNTVKNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
in San Jose-San Francisco) - Leyna NguyenLeyna NguyenLeyna Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American television anchor and reporter from Los Angeles, California.- Biography :Leyna Nguyen was born in Dong Ha, South Vietnam. She grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota, and graduated from Apple Valley High School in Apple Valley, Minnesota in 1988...
- anchor/reporter (now at KCALKCAL-TVKCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
in Los Angeles) - Suzanne Phan - reporter (later at KXTV as a multimedia journalist)
- Jeff RanieriJeff RanieriJeff Ranieri is a Chief Meteorologist for NBC O&O station KNTV in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ranieri previously reported for NBC NEWS on Early Today, and MSNBC weekday mornings & afternoons. He was also a NBC Weather Plus Meteorologist for Weekend Today Saturday...
- meteorologist (2000–2005; later at MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
/NBC Weather PlusNBC Weather PlusNBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
, now chief meteorologist at KNTVKNTVKNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
in San Jose-San Francisco) - Sam Shane - reporter (1996–1999; now anchor/reporter at KOVRKOVRKOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,...
/KMAXKMAX-TVKMAX-TV, channel 31, is the CW affiliate serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California broadcast area. The station is owned by CBS Television Stations along with the local CBS station, KOVR; the two stations are two of the 3 English network O&Os in the market, along with Ion Television...
) - Bianca SolorzanoBianca SolorzanoBianca Solorzano is a correspondent for CBS News. Prior to joining CBS News, Solorzano was an anchor on MSNBC....
- weekend morning anchor/reporter (1999–2003; now a CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
correspondent in New York City) - Kaity TongKaity TongKaity Tong is a Chinese-born American broadcast journalist who has been a television news anchor in New York City since 1981.Born in Qingdao in the Peoples Republic of China to George and Anita Tong, Tong came to the United States with her family at age four. Growing up in Washington D.C., Tong was...
- anchor/reporter (1979–1981; now at WPIXWPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in New York City) - Roy Walkenhorst - anchor/reporter (1969–1980; now CEO of Lightbridge Media)
- David WalkerDavid Walker (journalist)David Edward Walker was an award-winning television news anchor at KCRA 3 in Sacramento.Walker first worked at WESH-TV in Orlando, Florida, before moving to Sacramento in the 1970s with KOVR and KCRA. In 1980, Walker and co-anchor Lois Hart left Sacramento to join CNN and co-anchored CNN's first...
- 5 and 6:30 p.m. anchor (1990–2008; retired) - Julie Watts - weekend morning weather anchor (2005–2008; now fill-in weather anchor and Consumer Watch reporter at KPIX in San Francisco)
- Pamela WuPamela WuPamela Cynthia Wu, was born March 5, 1974 in Arcata, California. She joined KCRA 3 in October 2001 as a General Assignment reporter. When Bianca Solorzano left to MSNBC, Wu became the weekend morning news anchor and three day weekday reporter in 2003. Later in early 2006 she switched to the...
- weekend anchor/reporter (2001–2009; now director of marketing and communications at the University of California, Davis School of Law (King HallKing HallKing Hall may refer to*Charles King Hall, a British composer;*UC Davis School of Law ; and*The mess hall at the United States Naval Academy....
)