KCTV
Encyclopedia
KCTV channel 5 is the CBS
-affiliated television station
for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
that is licensed to the Missouri
side. Owned by the Meredith Corporation
, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV
affiliate KSMO-TV
(channel 62) and the two share facilities on Shawnee Mission Parkway
(a.k.a. U.S. 56
/ U.S. 169
) in Fairway, Kansas
.
It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 24, which maps to virtual channel
5 via PSIP, from a transmitter at the studios of PBS
member station KCPT
(channel 19) on East 31st Street in the Union Hill
section of Kansas City, Missouri. On cable, KCTV can be seen in standard definition on channel 3 on Time Warner Cable
and Surewest
, and in high definition on digital channel 1451 on Time Warner and digital channel 620 on Surewest.
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 24. Through the use of PSIP
, KCTV's virtual channel
is displayed as 5.
(then at 810 kHz now at 710 kHz). It was originally an ABC
affiliate with DuMont
programming. A week after its launch, Meredith Broadcasting bought KCMO-AM-TV and this merger was completed less than two months later. In 1955, it took the CBS affiliation from KMBC-TV
(channel 9). Its call letters were changed to the current KCTV in 1983 when Meredith sold off KCMO-AM-FM
. At the same time, the station moved from it original studios (now occupied by KCPT) next to its landmark tower (see below) to its current facilities in Fairway.
When New World Communications announced its purchase of then-NBC
affiliate WDAF-TV
(channel 4) in 1994 with its intention to switch that station's affiliation to Fox
, NBC briefly wooed KCTV. However, CBS persuaded Meredith to switch two of its stations—KPHO-TV
(channel 5) in Phoenix, Arizona
and WNEM-TV
(channel 5) in Bay City, Michigan
—to that network as a condition of keeping CBS on channel 5. NBC was thus forced to affiliate with the E. W. Scripps Company
-owned KSHB-TV
(channel 41, the soon-to-be-former Fox affiliate) since KMBC-TV was in the middle of a long-term affiliation agreement with ABC. In 2005, Meredith purchased the area's WB affiliate KSMO-TV from the Sinclair Broadcast Group
, creating Kansas City's third duopoly
operation.
KCTV's 1,042-foot (318 m) transmitter tower at its former studios on East 31st Street on Union Hill south of Downtown Kansas City is a widely recognized Kansas City landmark. This is due largely in part to the string lights on the four corners of the tower that can be seen for miles around at night. It is so recognized that for a time the "tall tower" (as it was called on-air) was the official logo of KCTV. For many years, the station flashed the lights on the tower due to inclement weather
in Kansas City and the immediate surrounding communities in three sections:
After the September 11 attacks, KCTV changed the tower to red/white/blue with the top third red and the bottom third blue. The lights on the tower went dark for a period until all of the light bulbs could be changed. On July 1, 2006, it turned the tower back on in all white lights as it had originally been until the 1970s. The lights do not flash as they did before September 11, 2001.
In June 2010, the analog antenna was disassembled and lowered to the ground to allow a new top mounted digital antenna improving coverage of KCTV's digital signal. The tower is similar to the 750 feet (228.6 m) KQTV
tower in St. Joseph, Missouri. Coincidently, that station (which serves as the ABC
network affiliate for the St. Joseph market) had also begun broadcasting on September 27, 1953.
is generally delayed to Sunday late nights; the station also is one of several CBS affiliates to split the network's Saturday morning children's programming to Saturday and Sunday mornings, as one hour of the lineup airs on Sunday mornings before CBS News Sunday Morning
. Syndicated
programming on KCTV includes: Inside Edition
, Ellen
, The Insider
, CSI: NY
, Scrubs
and Live with Regis and Kelly
.
Over the years, the station would preempt moderate amounts of CBS programming such as some morning daytime shows, Sunday morning cartoons, a couple Saturday morning cartoons, an occasional primetime show, and some late night shows prior to David Letterman
's arrival to CBS in 1993. Today, KCTV still runs a large amount of local news along with most every CBS program.
One of the most common copies of The Star Wars Holiday Special
comes from this station. It can be found as first generation bootleg
copies all the way down to the third generation. Also during the 1970s into the 1980s, it was very active in locally-produced shows such as Saturday Science Fiction Theatre. It was during the Hyatt Regency Tragedy
that one of the station's most popular shows, Friday Fright Night, was preempted for the fear of further traumatizing viewers already in shock. Friday Fright Night was known for its opening sequence of a skull with an announcer giving the lead-in with both a spooky tone of voice and dialogue only to leave the shot with a prolonged sequence of hysterical-sounding laughter. At least two other shows competed in the genre with Friday Fright Night by the early 1980s including Creature Feature
with Crematia Mortem and All Night Live! with "Uncle Ed" and "Caffeina the Cat" and later Dick Wilson. However, "Uncle Ed" Muscare had various spook-shows going back to the 1960s albeit in different markets
.
In 1998, KCTV began airing Kansas City Chiefs
games. The Chiefs are part of the American Football Conference
of the National Football League
. AFC road games are aired on CBS
. This relationship extends to the preseason as well, in which KCTV is the flagship station for non-national telecasts.
In the Fall of 2005, KCTV began producing a nightly 9 o'clock broadcast for KSMO to compete with WDAF's news show. In May 2006, this station acquired a new helicopter called "Chopper 5". During September 2008, it was announced that KCTV would get a new high definition set and become the third station in Kansas City (after KSHB and KMBC) to broadcast local news in HD. The station began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition on October 20, 2008 beginning with its 4 p.m. newscast. The KSMO shows were included in the upgrade.
KCTV and former News Director Regent Ducas came under fire in recent years for bringing what some call tabloid
-style reporting to the market. "Live. Latebreaking. Investigative." became KCTV's new slogan (also the slogan of sister station KPHO in Phoenix
) in September 2002 six months after Regent's hiring. A year later, this station's sports department was shut down and sports news was outsourced to Metro Sports
(a local cable channel operated by Time Warner Cable
) with most of the KCTV former sports personnel making the move; this practice continued until 2009. KCTV had no official sports department; however on March 25, 2010, it announced that sports segments produced in-house would be returning and that a sports director had been hired.
As a result of the station's "new direction", several high-profile anchors and reporters left including Anne Peterson, Russell Kinsaul (who is now working across the state in St. Louis
at CBS affiliate KMOV
), and Dave Helling. A May 26, 2007, article in The Kansas City Star
revealed the turbulence behind KCTV's move to become the #1 newscast producer in the market. A lawsuit filed by a longtime newscast director alleges that the station's owners engaged in systematic harassment and dismissal of older workers. The judge denied KCTV's move to dismiss the suit and the station settled with the plaintiff according to an article in the newspaper.
In April 2010, Greg Adaline and Kelly Jones assumed roles as the new morning anchors for More In The Morning. Adaline moved to his anchor position from his role as a morning news reporter and Kelly Jones joined the morning team from KFMB
in San Diego. On September 13, 2010 KCTV will expand its weekday morning newscast to 4½ hours, becoming the third television station in Kansas City to begin its morning newscast at 4:30 a.m. (ABC affiliate KMBC and NBC affiliate KSHB moved the start time of their morning newscasts to 4:30 a.m. on August 23, 2010). On October 12, 2010, KCTV announced that it would begin airing obituaries
during the noon newscast and the weekday morning newscast on sister station KSMO, citing concerns caused by the decline of newspaper circulation. KCTV and parent Meredith Corporation also launched two websites, ObitMissouri.com and ObitKansas.com to provide online obituaries, detailed information on the deceased and memorial service information to Kansas City-area residents.
On January 4, 2011 KCTV announced that it had formed a news share partnership with Kansas City Star, in which the station and the newspaper will partner together on local news stories and KCTV will provide weather forecasts for the paper. Incidentally, the Star put rival station WDAF-TV
on the air in 1949 and owned it until 1958, and KSHB-TV
already had a news share partnership with the Star until the announcement was made.
. KCTV aired a seven-part series in February 2004 that exposed the dangers children can face in internet chat rooms. A group called "Perverted Justice" posed as minors in chat rooms and waited for adult men to proposition them for sex. The "minors" then invited the men to meet them at a house where KCTV was waiting. Dateline NBC
later used "Perverted Justice" as the basis for its To Catch A Predator
series. After the series aired, local law enforcement made a new effort to police chat rooms and prosecute men who attempt to meet minors for sex through the internet. None of the people "stung" by KCTV could be charged in these cases because the operation was done without police involvement.
In June 2005, KCTV exposed a doctor's negligent handling of private medical records. A scavenger gave the station a computer found at the curb of a Mission Hills, Kansas
plastic surgeon's home. The plastic surgeon claimed he erased the patients' information from the computer. However, only the computer's random access memory was removed. Its hard drive was intact and contained photos and files on many patients. KCTV attempted to contact several of the patients whose information was found on the discarded computer. The surgeon sued citing that interviewing the patients violated medical confidentiality. The judge ruled in favor of the doctor although KCTV took the case to federal court
in Kansas City, Kansas
. The doctor withdrew his lawsuit and the story aired on June 30. As a result of this, several of the surgeon's patients filed a class action lawsuit against him for negligent handling of their confidential records.
In early 2010 under new management, it was rumored KCTV was closing its entire investigation department. However, in March of the same year, the station hired new investigative reporter Stacey Cameron, a former attorney and reporter at WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina. Later that same month, the investigative unit received several awards for its investigative reporting. KCTV's news team has been honored with the Mid-America
Emmy award for overall news excellence, the Edward R. Murrow Award for overall news excellence, and multiple awards for its investigative reporting.
were Kansas City’s top-rated news anchor team. In November 2004, KCTV won the coveted 10 p.m. news race unseating KMBC for the first time in a decade. However in November 2006, KCTV dropped back to second place at 10. The station remained in third place at 5 and 6 o'clock after KMBC and WDAF-TV. In February 2007, KCTV regained the top spot at 10 o'clock and most of its other newscasts made viewership gains as well.
In the February 2011 sweeps period, KCTV won the noon timeslot ahead of WDAF-TV with a 5.3 household rating, while the station placed second at 10 p.m. with a 9.8 rating behind KMBC. Overall, the station dropped to third place behind WDAF-TV with a total-day quarter-hour household rating average of 4.3.
StormTrack 5 Weather
Sports team
Reporters
format was adopted and continued into the 1980s. When Meredith separated KCMO radio from KCMO-TV, the "KCTV" calls were adopted based on the familiarity of the "TV 5" branding. A font similar to that of co-owned WNEM-TV
was then adopted and a new slogan brought forth: "TV 5 Loves You". The advertised "TV 5" branding ended in 1990 when a new logo was adopted and KCTV took on the "Kansas City's News" slogan simply taking on the "KCTV Kansas City" branding.
Its logo, however, continues to subtly advertise its commonly known former branding, "TV 5", by changing the font of "TV" (as done when the "TV 5" branding was dropped from 1990–1999), bolding the "TV" (as done from 1999–2002), or connecting "T" to "V" (as seen in the current logo). In 1994, KCTV dropped "Kansas City's News" and adopted "In Kansas City, '5' stands for News" as its new slogan. Its newscasts were branded as "News 5". However, it still branded itself as "KCTV Kansas City". The station took on its current "KCTV 5" branding upon a logo redesign in September 1999.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-affiliated television station
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...
for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
that is licensed to the 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...
side. Owned by the Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...
, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV, virtual channel 62, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Independence, Missouri...
(channel 62) and the two share facilities on Shawnee Mission Parkway
Shawnee Mission Parkway
Shawnee Mission Parkway is a stretch of roadway in Johnson County, Kansas and Jackson County, Missouri . Its western terminus at K-7 in Shawnee, Kansas and its eastern terminus at Ward Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri...
(a.k.a. U.S. 56
U.S. Route 56
U.S. Route 56 is an east–west United States highway that runs for in the Midwestern United States. The highway's eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Its western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business in Springer, New Mexico. Much of it follows the Santa Fe...
/ U.S. 169
U.S. Route 169
U.S. Route 169 currently runs for 966 miles from the city of Virginia, Minnesota to Tulsa, Oklahoma at U.S. Route 64.-Oklahoma:U.S. Highway 169 is a major south–north highway spanning in Oklahoma. The southern terminus for US-169 is Memorial Drive...
) in Fairway, Kansas
Fairway, Kansas
Fairway is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. The population was 3,952 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Fairway is located at...
.
It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 24, which maps to 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....
5 via PSIP, from a transmitter at the studios of PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
member station KCPT
KCPT
KCPT virtual channel 19 is a Public television station in Kansas City, Missouri serving the greater Kansas City metropolitan area as a Public Broadcasting Service member station....
(channel 19) on East 31st Street in the Union Hill
Union Hill, Kansas City
Union Hill is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. The neighborhood is located between 29th Street and 31st Street and Main Street to Gillham Road....
section of Kansas City, Missouri. On cable, KCTV can be seen in standard definition on channel 3 on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
and Surewest
Surewest
SureWest is a Roseville, CA based telecommunications company, servicing the Greater Sacramento Valley and Kansas City region markets. SureWest was founded in 1914 by William Doyle as the Roseville Telephone Company - SureWest became the official name in 2003...
, and in high definition on digital channel 1451 on Time Warner and digital channel 620 on Surewest.
KCTV-DT
KCTV-DT broadcasts on UHF digital channel 24.| Virtual channel |
Physical 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,... |
Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | 24.1 | 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 ... |
KCTV-DT | main KCTV programming / CBS HD CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
Post-analog shutdown
KCTV ended analog operations at 9 a.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United StatesDTV 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...
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 24. Through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, KCTV'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....
is displayed as 5.
History
The station debuted on September 27, 1953 as KCMO-TV (for Kansas City, MissOuri). The station was owned by the KCMO Broadcasting Corporation along with KCMO-AMKCMO (AM)
KCMO is a Kansas City area conservative talk radio station. It airs mostly syndicated talk shows as those hosted by Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Dave Ramsey, Michael Savage, and Rusty Humphries. It was formerly affiliated with the CBS Radio Network, but then switched to Fox News Radio...
(then at 810 kHz now at 710 kHz). It was originally an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate with DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
programming. A week after its launch, Meredith Broadcasting bought KCMO-AM-TV and this merger was completed less than two months later. In 1955, it took the CBS affiliation from KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
(channel 9). Its call letters were changed to the current KCTV in 1983 when Meredith sold off KCMO-AM-FM
KCMO-FM
KCMO-FM, branded 94-9 KCMO, is a Classic Hits radio station that serves the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station, owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, was acquired from Susquehanna Radio in 2006. Its transmitter is located in Independence, Missouri.-History:...
. At the same time, the station moved from it original studios (now occupied by KCPT) next to its landmark tower (see below) to its current facilities in Fairway.
When New World Communications announced its purchase of then-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...
affiliate WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
(channel 4) in 1994 with its intention to switch that station's affiliation to 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...
, NBC briefly wooed KCTV. However, CBS persuaded Meredith to switch two of its stations—KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV, channel 5, is a CBS-affiliate television station located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. KPHO-TV is owned by the Meredith Corporation, and has its studios located on Black Canyon Highway in the Alhambra Village section of Phoenix, with its transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix...
(channel 5) in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
and WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market in Michigan. It is licensed to Bay City, and broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 . Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station has studios on North Franklin Street in downtown Saginaw, as...
(channel 5) in Bay City, Michigan
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...
—to that network as a condition of keeping CBS on channel 5. NBC was thus forced to affiliate with the E. W. Scripps Company
E. W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American media conglomerate founded by Edward W. Scripps on November 2, 1878. The company is headquartered inside the Scripps Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way."On October 16, 2007, the company...
-owned KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV, virtual channel 41, is the NBC-affiliated television station serving the entire Kansas City metropolitan area; the station is commonly known by its branding NBC Action News. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, alongside independent station KMCI as the company's only existing duopoly...
(channel 41, the soon-to-be-former Fox affiliate) since KMBC-TV was in the middle of a long-term affiliation agreement with ABC. In 2005, Meredith purchased the area's WB affiliate KSMO-TV from the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
, creating Kansas City's third duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
operation.
Tower
Weather beacon
A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
in Kansas City and the immediate surrounding communities in three sections:
- top third flashing = thunderstorm watch / tornado watch / winter weather advisory
- two thirds flashing = thunderstorm warning / winter weather warning
- all lights flashing = tornado warning / highly threatening weather
After the September 11 attacks, KCTV changed the tower to red/white/blue with the top third red and the bottom third blue. The lights on the tower went dark for a period until all of the light bulbs could be changed. On July 1, 2006, it turned the tower back on in all white lights as it had originally been until the 1970s. The lights do not flash as they did before September 11, 2001.
In June 2010, the analog antenna was disassembled and lowered to the ground to allow a new top mounted digital antenna improving coverage of KCTV's digital signal. The tower is similar to the 750 feet (228.6 m) KQTV
KQTV
KQTV, digital channel 7 , is the ABC-affiliated television station in St. Joseph, Missouri. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, it is the only local commercial broadcast television station serving the St. Joseph area; though TBN affiliate KTAJ , which primarily serves the northern portion of...
tower in St. Joseph, Missouri. Coincidently, that station (which serves as the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network affiliate for the St. Joseph market) had also begun broadcasting on September 27, 1953.
Programming
KCTV currently carries all CBS network programming, though due to the Sunday morning edition of KCTV 5 News This Weekend, Face the NationFace the Nation
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
is generally delayed to Sunday late nights; the station also is one of several CBS affiliates to split the network's Saturday morning children's programming to Saturday and Sunday mornings, as one hour of the lineup airs on Sunday mornings before CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on KCTV includes: Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, Ellen
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
, Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
and 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...
.
Over the years, the station would preempt moderate amounts of CBS programming such as some morning daytime shows, Sunday morning cartoons, a couple Saturday morning cartoons, an occasional primetime show, and some late night shows prior to David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
's arrival to CBS in 1993. Today, KCTV still runs a large amount of local news along with most every CBS program.
One of the most common copies of The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star Wars spin-offs, and was directed by Steve Binder. The show was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, November 17, 1978, on the U.S...
comes from this station. It can be found as first generation bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
copies all the way down to the third generation. Also during the 1970s into the 1980s, it was very active in locally-produced shows such as Saturday Science Fiction Theatre. It was during the Hyatt Regency Tragedy
Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
The Hyatt Regency hotel walkway collapse was a collapse of an interior suspended skywalk system that occurred on July 17, 1981, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, killing 114 people and injuring 216 others during a tea dance. At the time, it was the deadliest structural collapse in U.S...
that one of the station's most popular shows, Friday Fright Night, was preempted for the fear of further traumatizing viewers already in shock. Friday Fright Night was known for its opening sequence of a skull with an announcer giving the lead-in with both a spooky tone of voice and dialogue only to leave the shot with a prolonged sequence of hysterical-sounding laughter. At least two other shows competed in the genre with Friday Fright Night by the early 1980s including Creature Feature
Creature Features
Creature Features was a generic title for a genre of horror TV format shows broadcast on local U.S. television stations throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s...
with Crematia Mortem and All Night Live! with "Uncle Ed" and "Caffeina the Cat" and later Dick Wilson. However, "Uncle Ed" Muscare had various spook-shows going back to the 1960s albeit in different markets
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
.
In 1998, KCTV began airing Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
games. The Chiefs are part of the American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. AFC road games are aired on CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
. This relationship extends to the preseason as well, in which KCTV is the flagship station for non-national telecasts.
News operation
KCTV currently broadcasts a total of 32½ hours of local news per week (with five hours on weekdays, 4½ hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays), second only to WDAF in the most hours of local news in the Kansas City market. KCTV also produces 8½ hours of local news per week for sister station KSMO with an hour-long extension of More in the Morning weekday mornings from 7-8 a.m. and a half-hour primetime newscast at 9 p.m.In the Fall of 2005, KCTV began producing a nightly 9 o'clock broadcast for KSMO to compete with WDAF's news show. In May 2006, this station acquired a new helicopter called "Chopper 5". During September 2008, it was announced that KCTV would get a new high definition set and become the third station in Kansas City (after KSHB and KMBC) to broadcast local news in HD. The station began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition on October 20, 2008 beginning with its 4 p.m. newscast. The KSMO shows were included in the upgrade.
KCTV and former News Director Regent Ducas came under fire in recent years for bringing what some call tabloid
Tabloid television
Tabloid television, also known as Teletabloid, is a form of tabloid journalism. Tabloid television newscasts usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories.Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime, stories with good video, and celebrity news...
-style reporting to the market. "Live. Latebreaking. Investigative." became KCTV's new slogan (also the slogan of sister station KPHO in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
) in September 2002 six months after Regent's hiring. A year later, this station's sports department was shut down and sports news was outsourced to Metro Sports
Metro Sports
Metro Sports is a regional sports network serving the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, Lawrence, Kansas, and the state of Nebraska. It launched on December 12, 1996, and is currently available on cable systems including Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Knology....
(a local cable channel operated by Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
) with most of the KCTV former sports personnel making the move; this practice continued until 2009. KCTV had no official sports department; however on March 25, 2010, it announced that sports segments produced in-house would be returning and that a sports director had been hired.
As a result of the station's "new direction", several high-profile anchors and reporters left including Anne Peterson, Russell Kinsaul (who is now working across the state in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
at CBS affiliate KMOV
KMOV
KMOV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KMOV is owned by the Dallas-based Belo Corporation, with its studio and office facilities in St...
), and Dave Helling. A May 26, 2007, article in The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...
revealed the turbulence behind KCTV's move to become the #1 newscast producer in the market. A lawsuit filed by a longtime newscast director alleges that the station's owners engaged in systematic harassment and dismissal of older workers. The judge denied KCTV's move to dismiss the suit and the station settled with the plaintiff according to an article in the newspaper.
In April 2010, Greg Adaline and Kelly Jones assumed roles as the new morning anchors for More In The Morning. Adaline moved to his anchor position from his role as a morning news reporter and Kelly Jones joined the morning team from KFMB
KFMB
KFMB may refer to:* KFMB , a radio station licensed to San Diego, California, United States* KFMB-FM, a radio station licensed to San Diego, California, United States...
in San Diego. On September 13, 2010 KCTV will expand its weekday morning newscast to 4½ hours, becoming the third television station in Kansas City to begin its morning newscast at 4:30 a.m. (ABC affiliate KMBC and NBC affiliate KSHB moved the start time of their morning newscasts to 4:30 a.m. on August 23, 2010). On October 12, 2010, KCTV announced that it would begin airing obituaries
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
during the noon newscast and the weekday morning newscast on sister station KSMO, citing concerns caused by the decline of newspaper circulation. KCTV and parent Meredith Corporation also launched two websites, ObitMissouri.com and ObitKansas.com to provide online obituaries, detailed information on the deceased and memorial service information to Kansas City-area residents.
On January 4, 2011 KCTV announced that it had formed a news share partnership with Kansas City Star, in which the station and the newspaper will partner together on local news stories and KCTV will provide weather forecasts for the paper. Incidentally, the Star put rival station WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
on the air in 1949 and owned it until 1958, and KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV, virtual channel 41, is the NBC-affiliated television station serving the entire Kansas City metropolitan area; the station is commonly known by its branding NBC Action News. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, alongside independent station KMCI as the company's only existing duopoly...
already had a news share partnership with the Star until the announcement was made.
Investigative reporting
The station has not shied away from reporting on controversial topics two of which were featured nationally by CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. KCTV aired a seven-part series in February 2004 that exposed the dangers children can face in internet chat rooms. A group called "Perverted Justice" posed as minors in chat rooms and waited for adult men to proposition them for sex. The "minors" then invited the men to meet them at a house where KCTV was waiting. Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
later used "Perverted Justice" as the basis for its To Catch A Predator
To Catch a Predator
To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine program Dateline NBC. It is devoted to impersonating underage youth and detaining adults who contact them over the Internet for sexual liaisons...
series. After the series aired, local law enforcement made a new effort to police chat rooms and prosecute men who attempt to meet minors for sex through the internet. None of the people "stung" by KCTV could be charged in these cases because the operation was done without police involvement.
In June 2005, KCTV exposed a doctor's negligent handling of private medical records. A scavenger gave the station a computer found at the curb of a Mission Hills, Kansas
Mission Hills, Kansas
Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,498. The city is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, which is adjacent to the east, across the aptly named State Line Road. Mission Hills was originally developed by noted Kansas...
plastic surgeon's home. The plastic surgeon claimed he erased the patients' information from the computer. However, only the computer's random access memory was removed. Its hard drive was intact and contained photos and files on many patients. KCTV attempted to contact several of the patients whose information was found on the discarded computer. The surgeon sued citing that interviewing the patients violated medical confidentiality. The judge ruled in favor of the doctor although KCTV took the case to federal court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
in Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
. The doctor withdrew his lawsuit and the story aired on June 30. As a result of this, several of the surgeon's patients filed a class action lawsuit against him for negligent handling of their confidential records.
In early 2010 under new management, it was rumored KCTV was closing its entire investigation department. However, in March of the same year, the station hired new investigative reporter Stacey Cameron, a former attorney and reporter at WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina. Later that same month, the investigative unit received several awards for its investigative reporting. KCTV's news team has been honored with the Mid-America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Emmy award for overall news excellence, the Edward R. Murrow Award for overall news excellence, and multiple awards for its investigative reporting.
Ratings
From 1979 to 1994, KCTV's Anne Peterson and Wendall AnschutzWendall Anschutz
Wendall Anschultz was a television newsman for KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri from 1966 until he retired in 2001.Anschultz was born in Russell, Kansas...
were Kansas City’s top-rated news anchor team. In November 2004, KCTV won the coveted 10 p.m. news race unseating KMBC for the first time in a decade. However in November 2006, KCTV dropped back to second place at 10. The station remained in third place at 5 and 6 o'clock after KMBC and WDAF-TV. In February 2007, KCTV regained the top spot at 10 o'clock and most of its other newscasts made viewership gains as well.
In the February 2011 sweeps period, KCTV won the noon timeslot ahead of WDAF-TV with a 5.3 household rating, while the station placed second at 10 p.m. with a 9.8 rating behind KMBC. Overall, the station dropped to third place behind WDAF-TV with a total-day quarter-hour household rating average of 4.3.
Newscast titles
- The Ford News (1953–1956)
- Your Esso Reporter (1956–1962)
- National News (1962–1966)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1966–c. 1985) - Kansas City's News (c. 1985–1994)
- News 5 (1994–1999)
- KCTV 5 News (1999–present)
Station slogans
- "Move Closer to Your WorldMove Closer to Your WorldMove Closer to Your World is a television news music package composed by jingle writer Al Ham under his Mayoham Music label. In the 1970s it was considered an anthem for local television news, and is considered the anthem of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia for its Action News programs to the current day...
" (1972-1974) - "We're Part of Your Life" (1974-1980)
- "Hello Kansas City, TV-5 Loves You" (1980–1983; used during period station used Frank GariFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
's "Hello News") - "Great Moments on TV-5" (1982–1983; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Gimme 5" (1983)
- "We've Got the Touch, KCTV 5" (1983; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Kansas City's Television" (1983–1994)
- "The Team That Always Takes You One Step Further" (c. 1985–1989)
- "In Kansas City, 5 Stands For News" (1994–1997)
- "KCTV, The New Channel 5" (1997–1999)
- "News That Makes a Difference" (1999–2002)
- "Live. Latebreaking. Investigative." (2002–2010)
- "Always Digging" (2010–2011)
- "It's Your News" (2011–present)
Current on-air staff (as of October 2011)
Anchors- Amy Anderson - Saturdays at 5 and 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m.; also weekday reporter
- Mark Boyle - Saturdays at 5 and 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m.; also weekday reporter
- Jonathan Carter - weekend mornings "KCTV5 News This Weekend"; also weeknight reporter
- Karen Fuller - weeknights at 5, 6, 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m.
- Kelly Jones - weekday mornings It's Your Morning and noon
- Carolyn Long - weekdays at 4 p.m.
- Brad Stephens - weeknights at 5, 6, 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m.
- Matt Stewart - weekday mornings It's Your Morning and noon
StormTrack 5 Weather
- Chris Suchan (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,...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6, 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m. - Gary Amble (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings It's Your Morning and noon
- Iris Hermosillo - meteorologist; weekend mornings "KCTV5 News This Weekend", also reporter and co-host of "Que Pasa, KC?"
- Tom Wachs (AMS 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) - meteorologist; Saturdays at 5 and 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 9 (on KSMO) and 10 p.m.
Sports team
- Michael Coleman - sports director; Sundays at 5:30, and Monday-Thursdays at 6 and 10 p.m., also host of "Off the Bench"
- Neal Jones - sports anchor; Friday-Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m.; also sports reporter
Reporters
- Stacey Cameron - investigative reporter
- Eric Chaloux - general assignment reporter
- Jeanene Kiesling - general assignment reporter
- Bonyen Lee - general assignment reporter
- Sandra Olivas - general assignment reporter
- Heather Staggers - general assignment reporter
- Justin Schmidt - general assignment reporter
- Betsy Webster - 10 p.m. reporter
- Dana Wright - chief investigative reporter and Your Kansas City host
Notable former on-air staff
- Wendall AnschutzWendall AnschutzWendall Anschultz was a television newsman for KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri from 1966 until he retired in 2001.Anschultz was born in Russell, Kansas...
- anchor/reporter (1966–2001; died in January 2010) - Karen FossKaren FossKaren Foss, born Karen Colleen Graham in Kansas City, Missouri on February 2, 1944, was a television anchorwoman on KSDK in St. Louis, Missouri from 1979 until December 28, 2006. Foss won six Emmys, two for best anchor, named media personality of the year, and acquired the highest “Q” rating as the...
- 6 and 10 p.m. anchor (1978–1979; later at KSDKKSDKKSDK, Channel 5, is the NBC-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KSDK is owned and operated by Gannett Company, and the station's transmitter is located in Marlborough, Missouri. The station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its former analog channel assignment...
in St. Louis, now retired) - Don HarrisonDon HarrisonDon Harrison was an anchor on CNN Headline News from 1982 until his death from renal cancer in 1998. He was a member of the original team of anchors when Headline News went on the air for the first time as "CNN2" in 1982....
- 6 and 10 p.m. anchor (later 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...
and Headline News) - Katie Horner - chief meteorologist (1994–2011)
- Michael ScottMichael ScottMichael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to:* Michael Scott , former regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton in the U.S. TV series The Office-Academics:...
- 5, 6 and 10pm anchor - Ash-har QuraishiAsh-har QuraishiAsh-har Quraishi is an Emmy Award-winning American broadcast journalist who reports for WTTW-TV in Chicago and for the Chicago News Cooperative...
- chief investigative reporter
Branding
As featured in news footage from the 1960s, KCMO branded itself as "Television 5". The branding was simplified to "TV 5" when the Eyewitness NewsEyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
format was adopted and continued into the 1980s. When Meredith separated KCMO radio from KCMO-TV, the "KCTV" calls were adopted based on the familiarity of the "TV 5" branding. A font similar to that of co-owned WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market in Michigan. It is licensed to Bay City, and broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 . Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station has studios on North Franklin Street in downtown Saginaw, as...
was then adopted and a new slogan brought forth: "TV 5 Loves You". The advertised "TV 5" branding ended in 1990 when a new logo was adopted and KCTV took on the "Kansas City's News" slogan simply taking on the "KCTV Kansas City" branding.
Its logo, however, continues to subtly advertise its commonly known former branding, "TV 5", by changing the font of "TV" (as done when the "TV 5" branding was dropped from 1990–1999), bolding the "TV" (as done from 1999–2002), or connecting "T" to "V" (as seen in the current logo). In 1994, KCTV dropped "Kansas City's News" and adopted "In Kansas City, '5' stands for News" as its new slogan. Its newscasts were branded as "News 5". However, it still branded itself as "KCTV Kansas City". The station took on its current "KCTV 5" branding upon a logo redesign in September 1999.