KDKA-TV
Encyclopedia
KDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network
, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, USA
. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North
neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center
. The facility also houses WPCW
(channel 19, Pittsburgh's CW affiliate). Syndicated
programming on the station includes Dr. Phil
, Pittsburgh Today Live, Extra
and The Insider
.
. It was the 51st TV station in the U.S. and the third and last DuMont-owned station to go on the air, behind WABD (now WNYW
) in New York City
and WTTG
in Washington, D.C.
To mark the occasion, a live television
special aired that day from 8:30pm to 11pm EST on WDTV. The show began with a one-hour local program broadcast from Syria Mosque
in Pittsburgh. The remainder of the show featured live segments from DuMont, CBS, NBC, and ABC
with Arthur Godfrey
, Milton Berle
, DuMont host Ted Steele, and many other celebrities. The station also represented a milestone in the television industry, providing the first "network" that included Pittsburgh and 13 other cities from Boston
to St. Louis. WDTV was one of the last stations to receive a construction permit before the Federal Communications Commission
-imposed four-year freeze on new TV station licenses.
When the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order ended the license freeze in 1952, DuMont was forced to give up its Channel 3 allocation to alleviate interference with nearby stations broadcasting on the frequency. WDTV moved its facilities to Channel 2 on November 23, 1952. Not long after moving, WDTV became the first station in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
These stations were linked together via AT&T's coaxial cable
feed with the sign-on of WDTV allowing the network to broadcast live programming to all the stations at the same time. Stations not yet connected to the coaxial cable received kinescope
recordings via physical delivery.
, Altoona
, Wheeling, West Virginia
and Youngstown, Ohio
. However, Pittsburgh saw two UHF
stations launch during 1953 -- ABC
affiliate WENS-TV (channel 16, later to become WINP-TV), and WKJF-TV (channel 53, later to become WPGH-TV
), an independent. At the time, UHF stations could not be viewed without the aid of an expensive, set-top converter, and the picture quality was marginal at best with one. UHF stations in the area faced an additional problem because Pittsburgh is located in a somewhat rugged dissected plateau
, and the reception of UHF stations is usually poor in such terrain. These factors played a role in both WKJF and WENS being short-lived.
Although Pittsburgh was the sixth largest market in the country (behind New York City
, Chicago
, Los Angeles
, Philadelphia and Washington-Baltimore
), the other VHF stations in town were slow to develop. This was because the major cities in the Upper Ohio Valley
are so close together that they must share the VHF band. After the FCC lifted the license freeze in 1952, it refused to grant any new commercial VHF construction permits to Pittsburgh in order to give the smaller cities in the area a chance to get on the air. As a result, WDTV had a de facto
monopoly
on Pittsburgh television. Like its sister stations WABD and WTTG, it was far stronger than the DuMont network as a whole. According to network general manager Ted Bergmann, WDTV brought in $
4 million a year, which was more than enough to keep the network afloat. Owning the only readily viewable station in such a large market gave DuMont considerable leverage in getting its programs cleared in large markets where it didn't have an affiliate. As CBS, NBC and ABC had secondary affiliations with WDTV, this was a strong incentive to stations in large markets to clear DuMont's programs or risk losing valuable advertising in the sixth-largest market. WDTV aired all DuMont network shows live and "cherry-picked" the best shows from the other networks, airing them on kinescope
on an every-other-week basis.
WDTV's sign-on was also significant because it was now possible to feed live programs from the East to the Midwest and vice versa. In fact, its second broadcast was the activation of the coaxial cable linking New York and Chicago. It would be another two years before the West Coast received live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television.
, which owned a stake in DuMont, veto
ed a merger with ABC who had merged with United Paramount Theaters, Paramount's former theater division, a year before. A few years earlier, the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont and there were still lingering questions about whether UPT had actually broken off from Paramount. Paramount didn't want to risk the FCC's wrath.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation
had been competing with local politicians to acquire the non-commercial
channel 13
license from the FCC, as no other Pittsburgh-allocated VHF station would be signing on for the foreseeable future. After launching WBZ-TV
in Boston
in 1948 and purchasing two other TV stations, Westinghouse was growing impatient with not having a station in its own home market. Westinghouse later offered a compromise plan to the FCC, in which the Commission would grant Westinghouse the channel 13 license; Westinghouse would then "share" the facility with the educational licensee. Finding the terms unacceptable, Pittsburgh attorney
Leland Hazard called Westinghouse CEO
Gwilym Price to ask him if he should give up on his fight for public television. Price said that Hazard should keep fighting for it, giving Westinghouse backing for the station that would eventually become WQED
.
Westinghouse then turned its attention to WDTV, offering DuMont a then-record $10 million for the station in late 1954. Desperate for cash, DuMont promptly accepted Westinghouse's offer. While the sale gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated DuMont's leverage in getting clearances in other major markets. Within two years, the DuMont network was no more. After the sale closed in January 1955, Westinghouse changed WDTV's call letters to KDKA-TV, sistering it to Westinghouse's pioneering radio station KDKA
(1020 AM; and later to 92.9 FM, now WLTJ
). As such, it became one of the few stations east of the Mississippi with a "K" call sign.
As KDKA radio had long been an NBC affiliate (due to corporate ties between Westinghouse and NBC dating back to 1926, when Westinghouse was a co-founder of RCA, NBC's then-parent company), KDKA-TV hoped to become a primary affiliate of NBC television. But the network was seeking to purchase Westinghouse's Philadelphia stations, KYW radio
and WPTZ-TV (now KYW-TV
). When Westinghouse balked, NBC threatened to pull its programming from WPTZ and Boston's WBZ-TV unless Westinghouse agreed to swap its Philadelphia stations for NBC's WTAM-AM-FM
and WNBK
in Cleveland. The decision would lead to an acrimonious relationship between Westinghouse and NBC in later years. Channel 2 became a primary affiliate of the higher-rated CBS network instead. KDKA-TV retained secondary affiliations with NBC until WIIC-TV (channel 11, now WPXI
) signed on in 1957, and ABC until WTAE-TV
(channel 4) signed on in 1958. KDKA-TV became the flagship station of Westinghouse's broadcasting arm, Group W
.
The WDTV
calls now reside on a CBS affiliate located 130 miles south in Weston, West Virginia
, which is unrelated to the current KDKA-TV. That station, which signed on after KDKA-TV adopted its current call signs, did adopt those calls "in honor" of KDKA-TV. On November 22, 1963, newscaster Bill Burns provided almost 3 hours of live coverage after the shooting of President John F. Kennedy
.
Over the years, channel 2 pre-empted moderate amounts of CBS programming. At one point, from the mid to late 1970s, they were not clearing As The World Turns
. At the same time, WTAJ in Altoona, Pennsylvania
, did run the program and was viewable in the eastern part of the Pittsburgh market. Also, CBS affiliate WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia
was viewable in Pittsburgh and to the west. KDKA also preempted the 10 a.m. hour of game shows and reruns from CBS at various points. KDKA also produced plenty of local programs such as Evening Magazine
, People Are Talking, and local news. KDKA TV also occasionally pre-empted primetime CBS programming for a syndicated movie, local news special, or at some points a sports event during the years they had broadcast rights to Pittsburgh Pirates
baseball. Weekend pre-emptions included a small portion of Saturday morning cartoons in favor of syndicated children's programming. Like most CBS affiliates, KDKA never ran the Sunday morning hour of cartoons distributed by CBS as well or Sunday morning religious shows from CBS like Lamp Unto My Feet
. As such, a large amount of network programming was not airing on KDKA. Westinghouse had similar practices at sister station KPIX San Francisco and NBC affiliates WBZ-TV
Boston
and KYW-TV
Philadelphia. During the 1980s, KDKA began running CBS News Sunday Morning.
In 1993, KDKA stopped running CBS This Morning and instead ran Disney's syndicated cartoon block
. Less than a year later, Westinghouse made a long-term deal with CBS to convert the entire five-station Group W television unit to a group-wide CBS affiliation. Part of this agreement included a deal to stop preempting any CBS Shows except for local news emergencies or local news events which would be effective in 1995. KDKA TV continued preempting moderate amounts of programming into 1995. In the fall of 1995, channel 2 began running the entire CBS lineup in pattern, as it, and sister station KPIX-TV
in San Francisco, were already affiliated with the network.
In early 1996, Westinghouse acquired CBS, making KDKA-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station, after four decades as being simply a CBS affiliate. In 1997, Westinghouse became CBS Corporation, which would then merge with Viacom
(ironically Paramount's parent since 1994) in 2000, making KDKA a sister station with Pittsburgh UPN
(now The CW) affiliate WNPA-TV (now WPCW
). Five years later Viacom became CBS Corporation
and spun off a new Viacom
.
In 2001, KDKA-TV began producing a 10 p.m. newscast on UPN Pittsburgh. In 2005, it added a two-hour morning newscast in 2005 on WNPA.
On September 1, 2010, KDKA-TV debuted the same graphics and music package that WCBS-TV
, KYW-TV
and KCBS-TV
have.
KDKA-TV is also available on cable in the Johnstown, Altoona, and Wheeling areas, as well as several other out-of-market cable systems in northwestern Pennsylvania
, northwestern Maryland
, northeastern Ohio
, and North-Central West Virginia
. The furthest south KDKA is carried on cable is in Beverly, West Virginia. This is not far from the Virginia state line near Monterrey.
. The promo features scenes of Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas, as well as three of the station's personalites. In September 2007, the station unveiled another promo featuring the Joe Grushecky
song "Coming Home." Later, a third spot was introduced, called "Long Way Home," and features the voice of Kelsey Friday.
KDKA-TV and sister station WPCW
do not make use of its digital subchannel
s.
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, KDKA-TV shut down its analog transmitter on Friday, June 12, 2009, during the Late Show with David Letterman
.
On Tuesday June 16, 2009, KDKA-TV launched in HD during its noon broadcast, with a new set and weather center. Like rival WTAE
, only the in-studio cameras are in HD while most of the content, including field reports and video footage, are in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition.
In July 2009 the station applied to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to have two repeater signals: channel 31
in Morgantown, West Virginia
and channel 40
in Johnstown
. The Morgantown signal is expected to reach into Forward Township
while the Johnstown signal is expected to penetrate Irwin
.
KDKA-TV presently offers seven-and-a-half hours of live news each weekday, collectively, on channels 2 and 19 (WPCW
). On Saturdays, news is broadcast four-and-a-half hours per day, and there is 90 minutes of news each Sunday.
.
with the NFL to show games involving AFC
teams, KDKA-TV has been the official broadcaster of most Pittsburgh Steelers
games since 1998, and serves as the team's flagship station. The team's preseason games that are not nationally televised are also shown on KDKA.
KDKA began its relationship with the Steelers in 1962, when CBS first started the leaguewide television package. The Steelers are one of three AFC teams that predate the AFC's basis league, the American Football League
, and so KDKA, and not WTAE-TV
or WIIC-TV (now WPXI
), carried Steelers road games (home games were blacked out locally under all circumstances until 1973, when sold-out home games began to be allowed on local television) - the AFL had TV contracts with ABC
, and later, NBC
.
Due to the NFL rules of the time, after the AFL-NFL merger
, KDKA did not broadcast any Steelers games from 1970-72. Beginning 1973, KDKA was allowed to air any Steelers games in which they hosted a team from the National Football Conference
, which contained most of the old-line National Football League
teams. Since the Steelers have sold out every home game starting in 1972, no blackouts have been required. In the meantime, from 1970-97, channel 11 aired most Steelers games.
When the NFC package moved from CBS to Fox
in 1994, WPGH-TV
aired the Steelers games that had before aired on KDKA, leaving the senior station without Steelers games for four years.
Today, and in general since 1970, the only exceptions to all the above are when the Steelers play at night. Their Monday Night Football
games have always aired locally on WTAE, first when the ABC network had the rights, and since 2006, on ESPN
. WTAE also aired simulcasts of their games aired as part of ESPN Sunday Night Football
from 1987 to 2005. The NFL requires games on cable channels be simulcast over-the-air in the markets of the participating teams (again with the home team's broadcast subject to blackout). WTAE has simulcast ESPN-aired games because ESPN is 20% owned by WTAE's owners, Hearst Corporation
- their ABC stations have right of first refusal for these simulcasts. Games on TNT and NFL Network have aired on various stations in the area.
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...
, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North
Perry North (Pittsburgh)
Perry North is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA's north city area. It lies within zip codes 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1...
neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center
Gateway Center (Pittsburgh)
The Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a high-rise building complex with of office space in four buildings. Gateway Center was purchased in 2004 by Hertz Investment Group, a Los Angeles, California based real estate investment company, for US$55 million...
. The facility also houses WPCW
WPCW
WPCW is a The CW-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is licensed to Jeannette. WPCW is owned by the CBS Corporation and serves as an affiliate of The CW Television Network for the television market...
(channel 19, Pittsburgh's CW affiliate). 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 the station includes Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, Pittsburgh Today Live, 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...
and 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...
.
DuMont origins
The station went on the air on January 11, 1949, as WDTV (W DuMont TeleVision) on channel 3, owned and operated by the DuMont Television NetworkDuMont 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...
. It was the 51st TV station in the U.S. and the third and last DuMont-owned station to go on the air, behind WABD (now WNYW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
) in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
To mark the occasion, a live television
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
special aired that day from 8:30pm to 11pm EST on WDTV. The show began with a one-hour local program broadcast from Syria Mosque
Syria Mosque
The Syria Mosque was a performance venue, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1911 and dedicated in January 1912, it was designed by Huehl, Schmidt & Holmes architectural firm of Chicago....
in Pittsburgh. The remainder of the show featured live segments from DuMont, CBS, NBC, and 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...
with Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead...
, Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
, DuMont host Ted Steele, and many other celebrities. The station also represented a milestone in the television industry, providing the first "network" that included Pittsburgh and 13 other cities from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to St. Louis. WDTV was one of the last stations to receive a construction permit before 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...
-imposed four-year freeze on new TV station licenses.
When the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order ended the license freeze in 1952, DuMont was forced to give up its Channel 3 allocation to alleviate interference with nearby stations broadcasting on the frequency. WDTV moved its facilities to Channel 2 on November 23, 1952. Not long after moving, WDTV became the first station in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...
feed with the sign-on of WDTV allowing the network to broadcast live programming to all the stations at the same time. Stations not yet connected to the coaxial cable received kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
recordings via physical delivery.
Dealing with competition
Until the end of the freeze, WDTV's only competition came in the form of distant signals from stations in JohnstownJohnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
, Altoona
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
, Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
. However, Pittsburgh saw two UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
stations launch during 1953 -- 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 WENS-TV (channel 16, later to become WINP-TV), and WKJF-TV (channel 53, later to become WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...
), an independent. At the time, UHF stations could not be viewed without the aid of an expensive, set-top converter, and the picture quality was marginal at best with one. UHF stations in the area faced an additional problem because Pittsburgh is located in a somewhat rugged dissected plateau
Dissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...
, and the reception of UHF stations is usually poor in such terrain. These factors played a role in both WKJF and WENS being short-lived.
Although Pittsburgh was the sixth largest market in the country (behind New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, 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...
, Philadelphia and Washington-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...
), the other VHF stations in town were slow to develop. This was because the major cities in the Upper Ohio Valley
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
are so close together that they must share the VHF band. After the FCC lifted the license freeze in 1952, it refused to grant any new commercial VHF construction permits to Pittsburgh in order to give the smaller cities in the area a chance to get on the air. As a result, WDTV had a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on Pittsburgh television. Like its sister stations WABD and WTTG, it was far stronger than the DuMont network as a whole. According to network general manager Ted Bergmann, WDTV brought in $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4 million a year, which was more than enough to keep the network afloat. Owning the only readily viewable station in such a large market gave DuMont considerable leverage in getting its programs cleared in large markets where it didn't have an affiliate. As CBS, NBC and ABC had secondary affiliations with WDTV, this was a strong incentive to stations in large markets to clear DuMont's programs or risk losing valuable advertising in the sixth-largest market. WDTV aired all DuMont network shows live and "cherry-picked" the best shows from the other networks, airing them on kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
on an every-other-week basis.
WDTV's sign-on was also significant because it was now possible to feed live programs from the East to the Midwest and vice versa. In fact, its second broadcast was the activation of the coaxial cable linking New York and Chicago. It would be another two years before the West Coast received live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television.
Westinghouse enters
By 1954, DuMont was in serious financial trouble. Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, which owned a stake in DuMont, veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
ed a merger with ABC who had merged with United Paramount Theaters, Paramount's former theater division, a year before. A few years earlier, the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont and there were still lingering questions about whether UPT had actually broken off from Paramount. Paramount didn't want to risk the FCC's wrath.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
had been competing with local politicians to acquire the non-commercial
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
channel 13
Channel 13
Channel 13 refers to several television stations:* Channel 13, Lithuania* DZTV-TV, the flagship station of the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation in Metro Manila, Philippines* Thirteen WNET, primary public television station of PBS in New York City...
license from the FCC, as no other Pittsburgh-allocated VHF station would be signing on for the foreseeable future. After launching WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1948 and purchasing two other TV stations, Westinghouse was growing impatient with not having a station in its own home market. Westinghouse later offered a compromise plan to the FCC, in which the Commission would grant Westinghouse the channel 13 license; Westinghouse would then "share" the facility with the educational licensee. Finding the terms unacceptable, Pittsburgh attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Leland Hazard called Westinghouse CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Gwilym Price to ask him if he should give up on his fight for public television. Price said that Hazard should keep fighting for it, giving Westinghouse backing for the station that would eventually become WQED
WQED (TV)
WQED is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established April 1, 1954, it was the first community-sponsored television station in the United States as well as the fifth public TV station...
.
Westinghouse then turned its attention to WDTV, offering DuMont a then-record $10 million for the station in late 1954. Desperate for cash, DuMont promptly accepted Westinghouse's offer. While the sale gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated DuMont's leverage in getting clearances in other major markets. Within two years, the DuMont network was no more. After the sale closed in January 1955, Westinghouse changed WDTV's call letters to KDKA-TV, sistering it to Westinghouse's pioneering radio station KDKA
KDKA (AM)
KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
(1020 AM; and later to 92.9 FM, now WLTJ
WLTJ
WLTJ , is an Hot Adult Contemporary music format radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is owned by Steel City Media, broadcasts with an ERP of 43 kW. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh.- History :...
). As such, it became one of the few stations east of the Mississippi with a "K" call sign.
As KDKA radio had long been an NBC affiliate (due to corporate ties between Westinghouse and NBC dating back to 1926, when Westinghouse was a co-founder of RCA, NBC's then-parent company), KDKA-TV hoped to become a primary affiliate of NBC television. But the network was seeking to purchase Westinghouse's Philadelphia stations, KYW radio
KYW (AM)
KYW is a class A AM radio station on 1060 kHz licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW is owned by the CBS Radio unit of CBS Corporation, and has broadcasted an all-news format since 1965. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and it transmitters...
and WPTZ-TV (now KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
). When Westinghouse balked, NBC threatened to pull its programming from WPTZ and Boston's WBZ-TV unless Westinghouse agreed to swap its Philadelphia stations for NBC's WTAM-AM-FM
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
and WNBK
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
in Cleveland. The decision would lead to an acrimonious relationship between Westinghouse and NBC in later years. Channel 2 became a primary affiliate of the higher-rated CBS network instead. KDKA-TV retained secondary affiliations with NBC until WIIC-TV (channel 11, now WPXI
WPXI
WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...
) signed on in 1957, and ABC until WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
(channel 4) signed on in 1958. KDKA-TV became the flagship station of Westinghouse's broadcasting arm, Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
.
The WDTV
WDTV
WDTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for North-Central West Virginia licensed to Weston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter in an unincorporated area between Clarksburg and Arlington. The station can also be seen on Comcast, Suddenlink, and...
calls now reside on a CBS affiliate located 130 miles south in Weston, West Virginia
Weston, West Virginia
Weston is a city in Lewis County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County, and home to the West Virginia Museum of American Glass.-History:...
, which is unrelated to the current KDKA-TV. That station, which signed on after KDKA-TV adopted its current call signs, did adopt those calls "in honor" of KDKA-TV. On November 22, 1963, newscaster Bill Burns provided almost 3 hours of live coverage after the shooting of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
.
Over the years, channel 2 pre-empted moderate amounts of CBS programming. At one point, from the mid to late 1970s, they were not clearing As The World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. At the same time, WTAJ in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
, did run the program and was viewable in the eastern part of the Pittsburgh market. Also, CBS affiliate WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
was viewable in Pittsburgh and to the west. KDKA also preempted the 10 a.m. hour of game shows and reruns from CBS at various points. KDKA also produced plenty of local programs such as Evening Magazine
Evening Magazine
Evening Magazine is the name of various news and entertainment style local television shows in different markets.-The original concept:...
, People Are Talking, and local news. KDKA TV also occasionally pre-empted primetime CBS programming for a syndicated movie, local news special, or at some points a sports event during the years they had broadcast rights to Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
baseball. Weekend pre-emptions included a small portion of Saturday morning cartoons in favor of syndicated children's programming. Like most CBS affiliates, KDKA never ran the Sunday morning hour of cartoons distributed by CBS as well or Sunday morning religious shows from CBS like Lamp Unto My Feet
Lamp Unto My Feet
Lamp Unto My Feet is an American religious television program that was produced by CBS and broadcast on Sunday mornings from 1948 to 1979.-Overview:...
. As such, a large amount of network programming was not airing on KDKA. Westinghouse had similar practices at sister station KPIX San Francisco and NBC affiliates WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
Philadelphia. During the 1980s, KDKA began running CBS News Sunday Morning.
In 1993, KDKA stopped running CBS This Morning and instead ran Disney's syndicated cartoon block
The Disney Afternoon
The Disney Afternoon was a created-for-syndication two-hour television programming block which aired from September 10, 1990, until Fall 1999. At that time, it was taken out of syndication, and a new Disney weekday afternoon block was started on UPN. The Disney Afternoon was produced by The Walt...
. Less than a year later, Westinghouse made a long-term deal with CBS to convert the entire five-station Group W television unit to a group-wide CBS affiliation. Part of this agreement included a deal to stop preempting any CBS Shows except for local news emergencies or local news events which would be effective in 1995. KDKA TV continued preempting moderate amounts of programming into 1995. In the fall of 1995, channel 2 began running the entire CBS lineup in pattern, as it, and sister station KPIX-TV
KPIX-TV
KPIX-TV is the CBS owned and operated television station in San Francisco, California. Through its parent company CBS Corporation, KPIX is co-owned with The CW affiliate KBCW-TV ....
in San Francisco, were already affiliated with the network.
In early 1996, Westinghouse acquired CBS, making KDKA-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station, after four decades as being simply a CBS affiliate. In 1997, Westinghouse became CBS Corporation, which would then merge with Viacom
Viacom (1971–2005)
Viacom , stylized as VIACOM in its current logo, was an American media conglomerate. It was the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon & MTV, among others. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation...
(ironically Paramount's parent since 1994) in 2000, making KDKA a sister station with Pittsburgh UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
(now The CW) affiliate WNPA-TV (now WPCW
WPCW
WPCW is a The CW-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is licensed to Jeannette. WPCW is owned by the CBS Corporation and serves as an affiliate of The CW Television Network for the television market...
). Five years later Viacom became CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
and spun off a new Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
.
In 2001, KDKA-TV began producing a 10 p.m. newscast on UPN Pittsburgh. In 2005, it added a two-hour morning newscast in 2005 on WNPA.
On September 1, 2010, KDKA-TV debuted the same graphics and music package that WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-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....
, KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
and KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
have.
KDKA-TV is also available on cable in the Johnstown, Altoona, and Wheeling areas, as well as several other out-of-market cable systems in northwestern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, northwestern Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, northeastern Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and North-Central West Virginia
North-Central West Virginia
North-Central West Virginia is a region of the U.S. State of West Virginia. The region's largest city is Morgantown.- Counties :*Monongalia County*Marion County*Harrison County*Taylor County*Doddridge County...
. The furthest south KDKA is carried on cable is in Beverly, West Virginia. This is not far from the Virginia state line near Monterrey.
Image campaign
In August 2007, KDKA-TV revealed a new image campaign, entitled Your Home, with music and lyrics performed by singer-songwriter Bill DeasyBill Deasy
Bill Deasy is a singer-songwriter, recording artist and author born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the late 1980s Deasy's musical start blossomed at open stages in and around Pittsburgh. Within a few years Deasy and his band, Shiloh, outscored Rusted Root to win the 1991 Graffiti Rock...
. The promo features scenes of Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas, as well as three of the station's personalites. In September 2007, the station unveiled another promo featuring the Joe Grushecky
Joe Grushecky
Joe Grushecky is an American rock musician known for his work with the Iron City Houserockers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and for his works since the late the 1980s with his act Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers and his solo career...
song "Coming Home." Later, a third spot was introduced, called "Long Way Home," and features the voice of Kelsey Friday.
Digital programming
| Virtual Channel |
Physical RF 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 25.1 | 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 KDKA-TV programming / CBS HD |
KDKA-TV and sister station WPCW
WPCW
WPCW is a The CW-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is licensed to Jeannette. WPCW is owned by the CBS Corporation and serves as an affiliate of The CW Television Network for the television market...
do not make use of its digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s.
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, KDKA-TV shut down its analog transmitter on Friday, June 12, 2009, during the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
.
On Tuesday June 16, 2009, KDKA-TV launched in HD during its noon broadcast, with a new set and weather center. Like rival WTAE
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
, only the in-studio cameras are in HD while most of the content, including field reports and video footage, are in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition.
In July 2009 the station applied to 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...
(FCC) to have two repeater signals: channel 31
Channel 31
Channel 31 is the frequency currently reserved for free-to-air community television stations in the major Australian capital cities.Each station is a not-for-profit entity and is subject to specific provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act...
in Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
and channel 40
Channel 40
Channel 40 refers to several television stations:...
in Johnstown
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
. The Morgantown signal is expected to reach into Forward Township
Forward Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Forward Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,376 at the 2010 census. The township is named after Walter Forward, U.S...
while the Johnstown signal is expected to penetrate Irwin
Irwin, Pennsylvania
Irwin is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. Some of the most extensive bituminous coal deposits in the State are located here. In the past, iron foundries, flour mills, car shops, facing and planing mills, electrical goods, and mirror factories provided...
.
Local shows
- Hometown High-Q (2000- ): Saturdays at 11 a.m. - "quiz bowl" format show with three teams composed of local high school students
- #1 Cochran Sports ShowdownKDKA Sports ShowdownKDKA Sports Showdown is a weekly Pittsburgh-based sports talk show airing at 11:35 Sunday nights on KDKA-TV Pittsburgh.The show is hosted by Bob Pompeani or Jory Rand, both from KDKA-TV...
(1998- ): Sundays at 11:35 p.m. - sports talk show - KD/PG Sunday Edition: Sundays at 8:30 a.m. - public affairs programming
- The Lynne Hayes-Freeland Show: Sundays at 6 a.m. - public affairs programming
- Pittsburgh Today Live: 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - Kristine Sorensen and Jon Burnett are the hosts, with weather from Dennis Bowman; local general interest program
- The Sunday Business Page: Sundays at 6:30 a.m. - public affairs
KDKA-TV presently offers seven-and-a-half hours of live news each weekday, collectively, on channels 2 and 19 (WPCW
WPCW
WPCW is a The CW-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is licensed to Jeannette. WPCW is owned by the CBS Corporation and serves as an affiliate of The CW Television Network for the television market...
). On Saturdays, news is broadcast four-and-a-half hours per day, and there is 90 minutes of news each Sunday.
Seasonal
- The Children's Hospital Free-Care Fund (1954- ) - (Holiday Season) - yearly pledge drive
- Hometown Holiday Lights - Series aired over the news. ContestCompetitionCompetition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
between local families with ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
displays at their residenceHouseA house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
. - McDonald's Steeler Kickoff - (during the NFL season) - Sundays at 11:30 a.m. - Pittsburgh Steelers pre-game show hosted by Bob Pompeani and Edmund Nelson.
- Steelers Huddle (September 19, 2009 - ) - (during the NFL season) - Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. - Bob Pompeani and a rotating member of the Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
. - Steelers Trivia Challenge (July 16, 2005 - ) - Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. - Bob Pompeani hosts a "quiz bowl" format, modeled after Hometown High-Q, with three teams composed of three Pittsburgh Steelers fans who answer team-related trivia questions. The show runs for 9 weeks (mid-July to mid-September).
- Verizon Extra Point - (during the NFL season) - Pittsburgh Steelers post-game show after CBS broadcasts, hosted by Bob Pompeani and Edmund Nelson.
Former
- Evening MagazineEvening MagazineEvening Magazine is the name of various news and entertainment style local television shows in different markets.-The original concept:...
(August 1, 1977-October 12, 1990) - Giant Eagle High School Sports Advantage
- The Jerome Bettis ShowJerome BettisJerome Abram "The Bus" Bettis is a retired American football halfback who played for the NFL's Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers. Bettis is considered one of the best big backs ever because his footwork and power, and is currently fifth on the National Football League's all-time...
(September 12, 1998-February 4, 2006) - The Hines Ward Show (September 2, 2006-January 31, 2009)
- Mario Lemieux Celebrity Golf Invitational
- Pittsburgh 2Day (1978-January 19, 1990)
- Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
baseball (1957–1994) - Pittsburgh PenguinsPittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
hockey (1989–1997) - Punchline
- Wake Up With Larry Richert (1988–1990)
- Inside Pirates Baseball
Ratings
As of May 2010, KDKA-TV is the most watched news station in the hours of noon, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. However, WPXI is the most watched news program in the Pittsburgh area in the hours of 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and their 10 p.m. show on WPGH-TVWPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...
.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Due to the CBS network having a broadcast contractNFL 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:...
with the NFL to show games involving AFC
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....
teams, KDKA-TV has been the official broadcaster of most Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
games since 1998, and serves as the team's flagship station. The team's preseason games that are not nationally televised are also shown on KDKA.
KDKA began its relationship with the Steelers in 1962, when CBS first started the leaguewide television package. The Steelers are one of three AFC teams that predate the AFC's basis league, the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
, and so KDKA, and not WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
or WIIC-TV (now WPXI
WPXI
WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...
), carried Steelers road games (home games were blacked out locally under all circumstances until 1973, when sold-out home games began to be allowed on local television) - the AFL had TV contracts with ABC
American Football League on ABC
American Football League on ABC is a television program that broadcast professional football games of the then fledging American Football League on the American Broadcasting Company...
, and later, NBC
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
.
Due to the NFL rules of the time, after the AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
, KDKA did not broadcast any Steelers games from 1970-72. Beginning 1973, KDKA was allowed to air any Steelers games in which they hosted a team from the National Football Conference
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
, which contained most of the old-line 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...
teams. Since the Steelers have sold out every home game starting in 1972, no blackouts have been required. In the meantime, from 1970-97, channel 11 aired most Steelers games.
When the NFC package moved from CBS to Fox
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
in 1994, WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...
aired the Steelers games that had before aired on KDKA, leaving the senior station without Steelers games for four years.
Today, and in general since 1970, the only exceptions to all the above are when the Steelers play at night. Their Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
games have always aired locally on WTAE, first when the ABC network had the rights, and since 2006, on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
. WTAE also aired simulcasts of their games aired as part of ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football is the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January 1, 2006....
from 1987 to 2005. The NFL requires games on cable channels be simulcast over-the-air in the markets of the participating teams (again with the home team's broadcast subject to blackout). WTAE has simulcast ESPN-aired games because ESPN is 20% owned by WTAE's owners, 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...
- their ABC stations have right of first refusal for these simulcasts. Games on TNT and NFL Network have aired on various stations in the area.
Anchors
- Jennifer Antkowiak (1993–2006; 2009–present) - 4:30-7 a.m. & 7 a.m. on WPCW
- Rick Dayton (2009–present) - 4:30-7 a.m. & 7 a.m. on WPCW
- Kimberly Gill (2011-present) - noon & 4 p.m.; Reporter
- Susan Koeppen (2011-present) - 6 & 11 p.m.; Consumer Reporter
- Ken Rice (1994–present) - KDKA at 5 & 11 p.m.; WPCW at 10 p.m.
- Stacy SmithStacy SmithStacy Smith is a news anchor at CBS owned and operated KDKA-TV, the market leader in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also a contributor to , the Emmy-winning television news magazine program that airs on WQED-TV.-Education and career:...
(1983–present) - noon, 4 & 6 p.m.; host, KD/PG Sunday Edition - Kristine Sorensen (2003–present) - 5, p.m. host Pittsburgh Today Live
Anchor/reporters
- Brenda Waters (1985–present) - anchor, Saturday mornings from 6-8 a.m.
- Paul Martino (1984 - present) Weekend Evenings
- Trina Orlando (2008 - present) Fill-in Weekend Mornings
Weather
- Dennis Bowman (2008–present) - 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...
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...
meteorologist: KDKA from 5-7 a.m., noon, & Pittsburgh Today Live; WPCW from 7-8 a.m. - Jon Burnett (1982–present) - weathercaster: weekends; also, host, Pittsburgh Today Live
- Dave Trygar (2008–present) - 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...
freelance meteorologist: fill-in basis - Jeff Verszyla (1996–present) - chief meteorologist: weekdays at 4, 5, 6, & 11 p.m. on KDKA; 10 p.m. on WPCW
- Ashley Dougherty (2010–present) - meteorologist (also at WTRF in Wheeling, WV)
Sports
- Bob Pompeani (1982–present) - sports director - weekdays at 6 & 11 p.m. on KDKA; host, KDKA Sunday Sports Showdown & The Nightly Sports Call on WPCW
- Jory Rand (2008–present) - sports anchor/reporter - weekends
- Mike Zappone (2007–present) - fill-in sports anchor/reporter/producer - various times
Reporters
- Heather Abraham (2010-present)
- Bob Allen (2000–present)
- Dave Crawley (1988–present) - "KD Country" Reporter
- Jon DelanoJon DelanoJon Delano is the Money & Politics Editor for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.A graduate of Haverford College and University of Pennsylvania Law School, Delano spent 14 years working as a Congressional staffer. In 1994, he became a political analyst for KDKA-TV. He is also a professor at the H....
(1994–present) - Money and Politics Editor - Kym Gable (2007–present) - freelance reporter (also a spokeswoman for ComcastComcastComcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
) - Jon Greiner (2010-present) - Field reporter
- Marty Griffin (1998–2001; 2003–present) - KDKA Investigator
- Ross Guidotti (2001–present)
- Harold Hayes (1979–present)
- Lynne Hayes-Freeland (1977–present)
- David Highfield (1993–present)
- Ralph Iannotti (1982–present)
- Mary Robb Jackson (1980–present)
- Paul Martino (1984–present)
- Trina Orlando (2008–present) - Westmoreland County Bureau Chief
- Andy Sheehan (1992–present) - KDKA Investigator
- John Shumway (1988–present) - also on KDKA RadioKDKA (AM)KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
- Dr. Maria Simbra (2002–present)
Notable former on-air staff
- Susan BarnettSusan BarnettSusan Barnett is anchor at KYW-TV for the 5, 6, and 11 P.M. newscasts and is a former beauty queen from Levittown, Pennsylvania who competed at Miss Teen USA 1990 and Miss USA 1996.-Pageantry:...
- anchor (1999–2003); now at KYWKYW-TVKYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
in Philadelphia. - Bill BurnsBill Burns (anchor)William M. "Bill" Burns was an American journalist and news anchor.Burns anchored the news for over three decades in Pittsburgh for KDKA, which was the largest station in the market.- Career :...
- anchor (1953–1989). He died in 1997. - Patti BurnsPatti BurnsPatricia Jeanne Burns was an American journalist and news anchor.Burns was a familiar face to television audiences in Pittsburgh, where she worked for many years for KDKA, a station that her father, Bill Burns, was also a journalist and anchor for...
- anchor/reporter (1974–1997). She died in 2001. - Don CannonDon Cannon (news anchor)Don Cannon was a prominent television news anchor in Pittsburgh.He worked at WTAE-TV from 1969-94. During that time, he became a "fixture of Pittsburgh broadcasting," and was partner with Paul Long and meteorologist Joe DeNardo. Later, he was teamed with Sally Wiggin. In 1999, he returned to...
- anchor/reporter (1999–2008) - Donna HanoverDonna HanoverDonna Hanover is an American journalist, radio and television personality, television producer, and actress, who appears on WOR radio in New York City and the Food Network. From 1994 through 2001 she was First Lady of New York City, as the then-wife of Rudy Giuliani...
- hosted Evening Magazine (1977–1980) and her first major market television experience. She later hosted the news in New York and married Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, becoming First Lady of New York City, when Giuliani was twice elected as the city's mayor. She and Giuliani divorced and both remarried. - Patrice King BrownPatrice King BrownPatrice King Brown is a former news anchor who worked at CBS owned & operated KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. Patrice now hosts the infomercial for Procera AVH brain enhancer.- Life at KDKA-TV :...
- anchor and former Pittsburgh 2Day host (1978–2011). She retired on January 28, 2011. - Ron KlinkRon KlinkRonald "Ron" Klink is a Democratic politician and former United States Representative from Pennsylvania.Klink was born in Canton, Ohio, and graduated from Meyersdale High School in Pennsylvania in 1969. Klink originally worked behind the scenes at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania...
- weekend anchor/reporter (1977–1991). Was elected as a United States Representative (D-PA), but lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. Now running a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. - Vic MilesVic MilesVictor Miles Levy, Jr. , known professionally as Vic Miles, was an American reporter and news anchor for WCBS-TV from 1971 until his retirement in 1995. Educated at City College of New York, he served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War...
- weekend anchor/reporter (1966–1971), later worked 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....
(NYC). Miles died on October 12, 2011. - Dennis MillerDennis MillerDennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
- contributor and guest host of Evening Magazine, got his first on air experience with KDKA. - Paul MoyerPaul MoyerPaul Moyer is a veteran television news broadcaster in Southern California. He co-anchored the 5 PM and 11 PM weekday editions of KNBC-TV's Channel 4 News with Colleen Williams. Moyer has worked primarily in the two major television markets—New York and Los Angeles—in addition to briefly working...
- anchor/reporter (1971); later worked 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...
at KNBCKNBCKNBC, 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...
. - Ron OlsenRon OlsenRon Olsen is a veteran cross-platform journalist based in Los Angeles, California, United States.-Early life:Olsen attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and Bemidji State University, Bemidji , MN...
- reporter/talk show host (1976-1979) Later went to KTLA, Los Angeles, where he was awarded a Peabody for coverage of the Rodney King beating story; reported internationally on the O.J. Simpson trial for KTLA & Sky TV. - Jay ScottJay ScottJay Scott was the pen name of Jeffrey Scott Beaven , a Canadian film critic.Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Scott fled to Canada in 1969 as a draft dodger. He settled in Calgary, and began writing film reviews for the Calgary Albertan a few years later...
- anchor (1976-1978); later went on to anchor at KTTV/L.A. - Paul SteigerwaldPaul SteigerwaldPaul Steigerwald is an American sports announcer.-Minor leagues:Steigerwald became a hockey fan growing up in Pittsburgh's South Hills. One of his neighbors was Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jack Riley, who would provide tickets for the poorly-attended games...
- sports reporter (1987–1998), later the play-by-play announcer for the PenguinsPittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
on FSN PittsburghFSN PittsburghRoot Sports Pittsburgh is a regional sports network owned and operated by DirecTV Sports Networks. The channel first aired in the Pittsburgh metro area on April 24, 1986 as KBL with the season opener of the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Mets from Three Rivers Stadium and expanded close to its modern day...
. - Dick StocktonDick StocktonDick Stockton is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by Fox Sports and Turner Sports as a football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play announcer.-Early life and career:...
- sports reporter (1967–1971), play-by-play man for NFL on FOX. - Brian SussmanBrian SussmanBrian Sussman is an American Emmy Award-winning television journalist and conservative talk radio host in the San Francisco Bay area. He currently hosts the Morning Show on radio station KSFO.- Personal background :...
- weatherman - Marie TorreMarie TorreMarie Torre was a television personality who appeared on KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1962-77. She was the station's first woman anchor and one of the first female anchors in the United States...
- anchor/reporter (1962–1977). Torre died on January 3, 1997. - Jim LokayJim LokayJim Lokay is a television news reporter and anchor who worked at CBS owned and operated KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. He now is a weekday general assignment reporter and weekend anchor at Hearst Television's WCVB-TV in Boston, Mass. - Career :...
- Traffic and Transportation Reporter (2005-2011)