KUSA-TV
Encyclopedia
KUSA, channel 9, is an NBC
-affiliated television station
in Denver, Colorado
. KUSA is owned by the Gannett Company
, and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV
affiliate KTVD
(channel 20). Both stations share studio facilities in Denver, and KUSA's transmitter is atop Lookout Mountain
in Golden, Colorado
.
The station also carried Universal Sports
on 9.3 until January 10, 2011, when it moved to KTVD-DT2 to even out the bandwidth between both stations.
, was first by about three months). It was owned originally by Mullins Broadcasting. The station carried programming from CBS
, ABC
and NBC
, but was a primary CBS affiliate. Channel 9 lost CBS to KLZ-TV (channel 7, now KMGH-TV
) in November 1953 and lost NBC to KOA-TV (channel 4, now KCNC-TV
) a month later, leaving it with ABC. ABC was secondary to their foremost affilitation, the Dumont Network. The station struggled in the ratings for some years, in part because ABC was not on par with the other major networks until the 1970s, and because soon Dumont Network would shutdown in 1956.
In 1972, the station was sold along with then sister station KARK-TV
in Little Rock, Arkansas
to Combined Communications, which would be merged into the Gannett Company
seven years later. The station changed its call letters to KUSA-TV on March 19, 1984. Like many Gannett stations, KUSA dropped the "-TV" suffix ten days after the official digital television transition date of June 12, 2009 although KUSA went digital-exclusive nearly two months earlier.
) to CBS in return for WCAU and the channel 6 frequency in Miami (then home to WCIX, which became WFOR-TV
). At the same time, McGraw-Hill
, owner of longtime CBS affiliate KMGH-TV, entered into a network affiliation agreement with ABC, thereby causing KMGH to become an ABC station. Gannett then entered into an affiliation agreement with NBC that included, among others, KUSA, which then became an NBC affiliate in the very early morning hours of September 10, 1995.
KUSA served as the default NBC affiliate for Rapid City, South Dakota
, from 1995, when KEVN (channel 7) flipped to Fox
, until 2000, when KNBN
(channel 21) went on the air.
In April 2004, KUSA became the first television station in the Denver market, the first Gannett-owned station, and the second station nationally to produce newscasts in high definition
. From April 2005 until December 2008, KUSA aired NBC Weather Plus
on its second digital subchannel (9.2) and Comcast
digital cable channel 249. KUSA replaced the NBC Weather Plus network with The AccuWeather Channel on the same broadcast channels after NBC announced Weather Plus would be shut down. The station continues to use the brand "9 NEWS Weather Plus".
In August 2007, KUSA started the "9NEWS High School Hotshots Program", which incorporated twelve Colorado high schools. The "Hotshots" are students from each school, selected by the administration and staff of the school, who filmed the school's football games. The program has since extended to cover winter sports at the schools.
, Entertainment Tonight
, Extra!
and The Doctors
. KUSA airs the fourth hour of Today apart from the first three hours; it airs at 11 a.m., with Colorado & Company airing between the first three hours and the fourth hour. KUSA airs Days of Our Lives
airs out of pattern at 2 p.m., instead of NBC's recommended 1 p.m. time slot; this is because KUSA airs The Doctors at 1 p.m. (the station aired Days at 3 p.m. from when it affiliated with NBC in 1995 until the fall of 2003, when it picked up Ellen and moved Days to its current time slot).
In September 2004, KUSA started broadcasting a lifestyle magazine called Colorado & Company. It airs after the third hour of The Today Show at 10 a.m. MT
. When the show started, it also aired on KPXC-TV
, but that ended when NBC ended its joint ownership of Pax/Ion Television. Colorado & Company is produced live each weekday morning from the KUSA studios and features paid segments by local companies.
KUSA ran the Gannett ID and sounder (The "Death Star") at the end of the 6 p.m. newscasts on weeknights only from 1994 to 2011; in June 2011, KUSA started airing the new Gannett logo/chime after all newscasts, except the weekday morning newscasts.
KUSA brands its sister websites and sister stations under the "9NEWS Networks" banner; according to a newscast closing from October 18, 2011 the 9NEWS Networks are the station's website 9NEWS.com, KTVD
, 9NEWS Weather Plus (their version of NBC Plus), Metromix.com
, Telemundo affiliate KDEN-TV, Universal Sports
and KTVD's website My20Denver.com. The 9NEWS Networks also include m.9news.com (the mobile website for Palm Pilots and other mobile devices), HighSchoolSports.net and 9NEWS Weather Call. MomsLikeMe.com was shutdown on October 15, 2011, because Gannett interactive wanted to pursue other opportunities. The station's weather forecasts are typically presented outside in the "9 Back Yard". The backyard is simply a courtyard, with a chroma key (bluescreen) wall and a robo cam. Weather forecasts for The Today Show and updates for 9 NEWS Weather Plus are done from a chroma key wall inside the weather center. It uses Enterprise Electronics Corporation’s "DWSR-10001C" radar known on air as "HD-Doppler 9". It uses a maximum of 1,000,000 watts of power and is located east of Elizabeth, Colorado.
For over 30 years, KUSA's newscasts, which are known as 9NEWS, have dominated the ratings in Denver. In February 1976, Ed Sardella and John Rayburn anchored the weekday edition of 9NEWS at 10PM to the top of the ratings, overtaking longtime leader KMGH-TV. Rayburn was succeeded by Mike Landess in 1977. He would remain paired with Sardella as one of Denver's top anchor teams for 16 years until leaving for KUSA's sister station WXIA-TV
in Atlanta in late 1993. Sardella retired from the anchor desk in 2000, but returned briefly to replace Jim Benemann, who left for KCNC. Landess, after anchoring at WTTG
in Washington, D.C.
, returned to Denver on rival KMGH-TV.
The KUSA News Package (created by Third Street Music) was commissioned by KUSA in 1995, making it one of the two Gannett-owned NBC affiliated stations to use a custom news package by Third Street Music. KUSA's sister station, KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul commissioned the KARE 11 News Theme for its newscasts since 1996. On October 15, 2008, KUSA debuted a brand new and standardized graphics package created by the Gannett Graphics Group (G3), and a standardized music package composed by Rampage Music New York, which is used by other Gannett stations. The closing cut of the theme was last used on February 6, 2009; the remastered talent bumper cut is still being used. KARE is also using the new graphics package, but is still using KARE 11 News Theme as of this day.
When NBC partnered with Pax (now ION Television) in the late 1990s, KUSA rebroadcast its weeknight 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on KPXC-TV
(channel 59). This ended in 2005 when NBC ended its agreement with Pax. The station stopped providing weather forecasts for KOA (AM)
, on January 1, 2008 and entered a partnership with Entercom Communications
to provide daily weather forecasts for KALC
, KEZW
, KQMT
, and KOSI
. On March 6, 2009, KUSA started streaming its noon newscast on its website with a live chat room and now steams all newscasts on KUSA and KTVD.
On September 5, 2006, KUSA launched a daily half-hour 9 p.m. newscast on sister station KTVD, to coincide with that station's affiliation switch from UPN
to MyNetworkTV
. On December 5, 2006, KUSA launched a two-hour extension of its weekday morning newscast on KTVD, which airs from 7 to 9 a.m. with the same anchors as its 5 to 7 a.m. morning newscast on KUSA. The station now produces weekend morning newscasts at 6 a.m. on KTVD. In addition to its main studios in downtown Denver, KUSA operates a "Northern Newsroom" out of the offices of the Fort Collins
-based Fort Collins Coloradoan
newspaper. The newsroom is currently staffed on a rotating basis from staff out of Denver. Longtime photojournalist Gary Wolfe died in 2010 and reporter Adam Chodak left the station in early 2011. The station also operates a "Mountain Newsroom" in Silverthorne
staffed by Matt Renoux.
In the November 2007 sweeps, KCNC's 5 p.m. newscast surged over KUSA for the first time in over a decade, and also overtook KUSA in overall sign-on to sign-off numbers. This is partially due to KCNC's recent highlights in investigative reports and human interest stories, though also largely due to CBS
's primetime lineup strengths and NBC
's primetime lineup weaknesses. However, overall, KUSA is still the #1 station for news despite the closest ratings between KUSA
, KCNC, and KMGH ever. Comcasts new ownership of NBC should tip the scales in some matter.
In June 2010, KUSA expanded its morning newscast to 2½ hours with the addition of a 4:30 a.m. newscast, the KUSA-produced 9 p.m. newscast on KTVD will also expand that month to one hour. On the week of February 13, 2011, KUSA relaunched its website with a new look. Since KUSA is the Gannett flagship, this new website is thought to be a precursor to a Gannett system-wide update.
Weather team
The weather team also provides daily weather forecasts for the Denver Post and the Fort Collins Coloradoan
newspapers, and KALC
, KEZW
, KQMT
and KOSI
radio.
Sports team
Reporters
Contributors
and Wyoming
. KUSA & NBC serve this vast area with one of the largest translator networks in the country. (All translators on this list are in Colorado unless otherwise listed)
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...
-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...
in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. KUSA is owned by the Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
, and is a sister station 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 KTVD
KTVD
KTVD, virtual channel 20 is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station based in Denver, Colorado, and is owned by the Gannett Company. The station is a sister to KUSA, Denver's NBC affiliate and is housed and operated out of KUSA's high definition studios...
(channel 20). Both stations share studio facilities in Denver, and KUSA's transmitter is atop Lookout Mountain
Lookout Mountain (Colorado)
Lookout Mountain is one of the larger foothills which overlooks Golden, Colorado. The Denver metropolitan area can be seen clearly from the mountain. It is known for its natural scenery and has played a major role in area recreation, transportation, water supply and telecommunications...
in Golden, Colorado
Golden, Colorado
The City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...
.
Digital programming
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | 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 KUSA programming / 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... |
| 9.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | "9 News Weather Plus The Local AccuWeather Channel The Local AccuWeather Channel is a 24-hour, weather-oriented, commercially sponsored broadcast and cable television network in the United States owned and operated by AccuWeather, Inc., which is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania.... " |
The station also carried Universal Sports
Universal Sports
Universal Sports is an American television network that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon.-Programming:...
on 9.3 until January 10, 2011, when it moved to KTVD-DT2 to even out the bandwidth between both stations.
Analog-to-digital conversion
On April 16, 2009, KUSA remained on channel 9 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.As a primary ABC affiliate
The station first went on the air on October 12, 1952 as KBTV, the second television station in Denver (KFEL-TV, now KWGN-TVKWGN-TV
KWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 , is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network...
, was first by about three months). It was owned originally by Mullins Broadcasting. The station carried programming from CBS
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...
, 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...
and 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...
, but was a primary CBS affiliate. Channel 9 lost CBS to KLZ-TV (channel 7, now KMGH-TV
KMGH-TV
KMGH-TV, channel 7, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Denver, Colorado. The station itself is usually branded as "Denver's 7", but its newscasts are branded as "7 News". It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter located in Golden, Colorado...
) in November 1953 and lost NBC to KOA-TV (channel 4, now KCNC-TV
KCNC-TV
KCNC-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated station television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by CBS Television Stations, Inc. KCNC broadcasts on UHF channel 35 from Lookout Mountain near Golden, Colorado.- Digital programming :...
) a month later, leaving it with ABC. ABC was secondary to their foremost affilitation, the Dumont Network. The station struggled in the ratings for some years, in part because ABC was not on par with the other major networks until the 1970s, and because soon Dumont Network would shutdown in 1956.
KARK-TV
KARK, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Arkansas that is licensed to Little Rock. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV and the two share studios on West Capitol Avenue in Downtown Little Rock one block...
in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
to Combined Communications, which would be merged into the Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
seven years later. The station changed its call letters to KUSA-TV on March 19, 1984. Like many Gannett stations, KUSA dropped the "-TV" suffix ten days after the official digital television transition date of June 12, 2009 although KUSA went digital-exclusive nearly two months earlier.
Joining NBC
In 1995, KCNC-TV, then an NBC-owned station, became a CBS owned and affiliated station as a result of a complex ownership deal between Westinghouse Electric Corporation, NBC and CBS. NBC discovered it could not buy Philadelphia'sWCAU outright without going over the FCC's ownership limit of the time. To solve this problem, NBC swapped KCNC-TV and KUTV in Salt Lake City, as well as the channel 4 frequency in Miami (then home to WTVJWTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
) to CBS in return for WCAU and the channel 6 frequency in Miami (then home to WCIX, which became WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV, virtual channel 4.1 , is the CBS owned-and-operated station in Miami, Florida. WFOR shares its TV studio facilities with sister station WBFS-TV in Doral, near Miami International Airport, and its transmitter is located in Miramar.WFOR-TV also previously had two translator stations in the...
). At the same time, McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
, owner of longtime CBS affiliate KMGH-TV, entered into a network affiliation agreement with ABC, thereby causing KMGH to become an ABC station. Gannett then entered into an affiliation agreement with NBC that included, among others, KUSA, which then became an NBC affiliate in the very early morning hours of September 10, 1995.
KUSA served as the default NBC affiliate for Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
, from 1995, when KEVN (channel 7) flipped 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...
, until 2000, when KNBN
KNBN
KNBN, channel 21, is the NBC affiliate in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is owned by Rapid Broadcasting, and is also the sister station to KWBH-LP...
(channel 21) went on the air.
In April 2004, KUSA became the first television station in the Denver market, the first Gannett-owned station, and the second station nationally to produce newscasts in 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...
. From April 2005 until December 2008, KUSA aired NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
on its second digital subchannel (9.2) and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast 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...
digital cable channel 249. KUSA replaced the NBC Weather Plus network with The AccuWeather Channel on the same broadcast channels after NBC announced Weather Plus would be shut down. The station continues to use the brand "9 NEWS Weather Plus".
In August 2007, KUSA started the "9NEWS High School Hotshots Program", which incorporated twelve Colorado high schools. The "Hotshots" are students from each school, selected by the administration and staff of the school, who filmed the school's football games. The program has since extended to cover winter sports at the schools.
Programming
Syndicated programing on the station includes The Ellen DeGeneres ShowThe 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...
, Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, 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 Doctors
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
. KUSA airs the fourth hour of Today apart from the first three hours; it airs at 11 a.m., with Colorado & Company airing between the first three hours and the fourth hour. KUSA airs Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
airs out of pattern at 2 p.m., instead of NBC's recommended 1 p.m. time slot; this is because KUSA airs The Doctors at 1 p.m. (the station aired Days at 3 p.m. from when it affiliated with NBC in 1995 until the fall of 2003, when it picked up Ellen and moved Days to its current time slot).
In September 2004, KUSA started broadcasting a lifestyle magazine called Colorado & Company. It airs after the third hour of The Today Show at 10 a.m. MT
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time, during the shortest days of autumn and winter , and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn...
. When the show started, it also aired on KPXC-TV
KPXC-TV
KPXC-TV, channel 59, is a television station licensed to Denver, Colorado that broadcasts on UHF channel 43. The station is an affiliate of the ION Television network in Denver, Colorado and is owned and operated by ION Media Networks.-History:...
, but that ended when NBC ended its joint ownership of Pax/Ion Television. Colorado & Company is produced live each weekday morning from the KUSA studios and features paid segments by local companies.
KUSA ran the Gannett ID and sounder (The "Death Star") at the end of the 6 p.m. newscasts on weeknights only from 1994 to 2011; in June 2011, KUSA started airing the new Gannett logo/chime after all newscasts, except the weekday morning newscasts.
News operation
KUSA and KTVD collectively air approximately 47.5 hours of local news a week; KUSA airs 32 hours of local news per week (five hours on weekdays and 3½ hours on weekends), while KTVD airs 15.5 hours of local news per week (2½ hours on weekdays and an hour-and-a-half on weekends).KUSA brands its sister websites and sister stations under the "9NEWS Networks" banner; according to a newscast closing from October 18, 2011 the 9NEWS Networks are the station's website 9NEWS.com, KTVD
KTVD
KTVD, virtual channel 20 is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station based in Denver, Colorado, and is owned by the Gannett Company. The station is a sister to KUSA, Denver's NBC affiliate and is housed and operated out of KUSA's high definition studios...
, 9NEWS Weather Plus (their version of NBC Plus), Metromix.com
Metromix
Metromix is a network of local entertainment websites backed by a joint venture between media companies Gannett and Tribune Co. A guide to local restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies, Metromix is currently available in over 60 markets. In late 2009, the company launched 27 new...
, Telemundo affiliate KDEN-TV, Universal Sports
Universal Sports
Universal Sports is an American television network that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon.-Programming:...
and KTVD's website My20Denver.com. The 9NEWS Networks also include m.9news.com (the mobile website for Palm Pilots and other mobile devices), HighSchoolSports.net and 9NEWS Weather Call. MomsLikeMe.com was shutdown on October 15, 2011, because Gannett interactive wanted to pursue other opportunities. The station's weather forecasts are typically presented outside in the "9 Back Yard". The backyard is simply a courtyard, with a chroma key (bluescreen) wall and a robo cam. Weather forecasts for The Today Show and updates for 9 NEWS Weather Plus are done from a chroma key wall inside the weather center. It uses Enterprise Electronics Corporation’s "DWSR-10001C" radar known on air as "HD-Doppler 9". It uses a maximum of 1,000,000 watts of power and is located east of Elizabeth, Colorado.
For over 30 years, KUSA's newscasts, which are known as 9NEWS, have dominated the ratings in Denver. In February 1976, Ed Sardella and John Rayburn anchored the weekday edition of 9NEWS at 10PM to the top of the ratings, overtaking longtime leader KMGH-TV. Rayburn was succeeded by Mike Landess in 1977. He would remain paired with Sardella as one of Denver's top anchor teams for 16 years until leaving for KUSA's sister station WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV, virtual channel 11.1 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Atlanta, Georgia. Popularly known by its 11 Alive moniker, WXIA is owned by the Gannett Company in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL...
in Atlanta in late 1993. Sardella retired from the anchor desk in 2000, but returned briefly to replace Jim Benemann, who left for KCNC. Landess, after anchoring at 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....
, returned to Denver on rival KMGH-TV.
The KUSA News Package (created by Third Street Music) was commissioned by KUSA in 1995, making it one of the two Gannett-owned NBC affiliated stations to use a custom news package by Third Street Music. KUSA's sister station, KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul commissioned the KARE 11 News Theme for its newscasts since 1996. On October 15, 2008, KUSA debuted a brand new and standardized graphics package created by the Gannett Graphics Group (G3), and a standardized music package composed by Rampage Music New York, which is used by other Gannett stations. The closing cut of the theme was last used on February 6, 2009; the remastered talent bumper cut is still being used. KARE is also using the new graphics package, but is still using KARE 11 News Theme as of this day.
When NBC partnered with Pax (now ION Television) in the late 1990s, KUSA rebroadcast its weeknight 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on KPXC-TV
KPXC-TV
KPXC-TV, channel 59, is a television station licensed to Denver, Colorado that broadcasts on UHF channel 43. The station is an affiliate of the ION Television network in Denver, Colorado and is owned and operated by ION Media Networks.-History:...
(channel 59). This ended in 2005 when NBC ended its agreement with Pax. The station stopped providing weather forecasts for KOA (AM)
KOA (AM)
KOA is a clear channel, news/talk radio station serving the Denver-Boulder and Colorado Springs, Colorado markets. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is nicknamed "the Blowtorch of the West" for its 50,000 watt signal.KOA was originally owned by General Electric and began...
, on January 1, 2008 and entered a partnership with Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
to provide daily weather forecasts for KALC
KALC
KALC is a commercial radio station located in Denver, Colorado, USA. KALC airs an Adult Top 40 music format branded as "Alice 105.9".-History:...
, KEZW
KEZW
KEZW is a radio station serving the Denver, Colorado, area. It is owned by Entercom Broadcasting. The signal is also available 24/7 on sister station KOSI HD-2 at 101.1 FM. Local musical programing is presented by disc jockeys and via computer automation. Local news and weather is supplemented...
, KQMT
KQMT
KQMT is a Album Rock/Classic rock station serving the Denver area and is owned by Entercom Communications Corp.-History:In 1969 the station signed on as KVOD with a classical music format....
, and KOSI
KOSI
KOSI is a commercial radio station located in Denver, Colorado, broadcasting on 101.1 FM. KOSI airs a soft adult contemporary music format branded as "KOSI 101". As of 2011, airplay extensively uses radio edit versions of songs; usually 2-3 min of length, and emphasizing the...
. On March 6, 2009, KUSA started streaming its noon newscast on its website with a live chat room and now steams all newscasts on KUSA and KTVD.
On September 5, 2006, KUSA launched a daily half-hour 9 p.m. newscast on sister station KTVD, to coincide with that station's affiliation switch from 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...
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...
. On December 5, 2006, KUSA launched a two-hour extension of its weekday morning newscast on KTVD, which airs from 7 to 9 a.m. with the same anchors as its 5 to 7 a.m. morning newscast on KUSA. The station now produces weekend morning newscasts at 6 a.m. on KTVD. In addition to its main studios in downtown Denver, KUSA operates a "Northern Newsroom" out of the offices of the Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
-based Fort Collins Coloradoan
Fort Collins Coloradoan
The Coloradoan is a daily newspaper in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Coloradoan's website is updated throughout the day with breaking news and video coverage of community news. A portion of the paper's newsroom serves as Northern Newsroom for 9News....
newspaper. The newsroom is currently staffed on a rotating basis from staff out of Denver. Longtime photojournalist Gary Wolfe died in 2010 and reporter Adam Chodak left the station in early 2011. The station also operates a "Mountain Newsroom" in Silverthorne
Silverthorne, Colorado
The Town of Silverthorne is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous town in Summit County, Colorado. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,610.-Geography:...
staffed by Matt Renoux.
In the November 2007 sweeps, KCNC's 5 p.m. newscast surged over KUSA for the first time in over a decade, and also overtook KUSA in overall sign-on to sign-off numbers. This is partially due to KCNC's recent highlights in investigative reports and human interest stories, though also largely due to CBS
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...
's primetime lineup strengths and 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...
's primetime lineup weaknesses. However, overall, KUSA is still the #1 station for news despite the closest ratings between KUSA
Kusa
Kusa or KUSA may refer to:* Kusa, Russia, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia* Kusa, Latvia, a village in Madona District, Latvia* Kusa, Afghanistan* KUSA-TV, a television station licensed to Denver, Colorado, United States...
, KCNC, and KMGH ever. Comcasts new ownership of NBC should tip the scales in some matter.
In June 2010, KUSA expanded its morning newscast to 2½ hours with the addition of a 4:30 a.m. newscast, the KUSA-produced 9 p.m. newscast on KTVD will also expand that month to one hour. On the week of February 13, 2011, KUSA relaunched its website with a new look. Since KUSA is the Gannett flagship, this new website is thought to be a precursor to a Gannett system-wide update.
Newscast titles
- KBTV NEWS (1960–1970)
- 9 KBTV NEWS (1970–1976)
- KBTV Action Center--9NEWS (1976–1977)
- 9 NEWS-Action Center (1977–1984)
- 9 NEWS (1984–present)
Station slogans
- "#1 In Colorado" (1977–1992)
- "Colorado's News Leader" (1976–2008)
- "It's All Right Here on Channel 9" (1988–1992; used during period station used Frank Gari's It's All Right Here)
- "Colorado's 24-Hour News Source24 Hour News SourceThe 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
" (1992–1995) - "9NEWS & PAX TV, Colorado's News Leaders" (1999–2005, used for KPXCKPXC-TVKPXC-TV, channel 59, is a television station licensed to Denver, Colorado that broadcasts on UHF channel 43. The station is an affiliate of the ION Television network in Denver, Colorado and is owned and operated by ION Media Networks.-History:...
rebroadcasts of 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts) - "Where News Comes First" (2004–2011)
- "Colorado's High Definition News Leader" (2008–present)
- "The 9NEWS Networks, Colorado's Information Center" (2008–present; used on newscast reopens)
- "9NEWS, Everywhere." (2011–present; used to close out the newscast and used in promos for health segments, E-Block and the weekday noon newscast)
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Adele ArakawaAdele ArakawaAdele Arakawa is an American evening news anchor for NBC affiliate station KUSA-TV of Denver, Colorado. She was the first female radio disc jockey in Knoxville, Tennessee...
- weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. - Kim Christiansen - weekdays at 4 p.m. and weeknights at 9 p.m. (on KTVD); also reporter
- Kyle Clark - weekends at 9 p.m. (on KTVD); also reporter
- Kyle Dyer - weekday mornings
- Matt Flener - weekend mornings
- Eric Kahnert - weekends at 5, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Mark Koebrich - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.; also consumer reporter
- Cheryl Preheim - weekends at 5, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Corey Rose - weekend mornings
- Gary Shiparo - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and noon
Weather team
The weather team also provides daily weather forecasts for the Denver Post and the Fort Collins Coloradoan
Fort Collins Coloradoan
The Coloradoan is a daily newspaper in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Coloradoan's website is updated throughout the day with breaking news and video coverage of community news. A portion of the paper's newsroom serves as Northern Newsroom for 9News....
newspapers, and KALC
KALC
KALC is a commercial radio station located in Denver, Colorado, USA. KALC airs an Adult Top 40 music format branded as "Alice 105.9".-History:...
, KEZW
KEZW
KEZW is a radio station serving the Denver, Colorado, area. It is owned by Entercom Broadcasting. The signal is also available 24/7 on sister station KOSI HD-2 at 101.1 FM. Local musical programing is presented by disc jockeys and via computer automation. Local news and weather is supplemented...
, KQMT
KQMT
KQMT is a Album Rock/Classic rock station serving the Denver area and is owned by Entercom Communications Corp.-History:In 1969 the station signed on as KVOD with a classical music format....
and KOSI
KOSI
KOSI is a commercial radio station located in Denver, Colorado, broadcasting on 101.1 FM. KOSI airs a soft adult contemporary music format branded as "KOSI 101". As of 2011, airplay extensively uses radio edit versions of songs; usually 2-3 min of length, and emphasizing the...
radio.
- Kathy Sabine (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...
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...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m. - Ashton Altieri (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,...
and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings - Marty Coniglio (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 5, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m.
- Becky Ditchfield (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and noon
Sports team
- Drew SoicherDrew SoicherDrew Soicher , the evening sports reporter for KUSA-TV, joined KUSA in January 2000. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has a bobblehead doll museum in his basement. In fact, he owns more than 500 of the spring-loaded figures. He also coaches The Mighty Bobbleheads Little League baseball team. ...
- sports director; weeknights at 5, 6, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m. - Rod Mackey - sports anchor; weekends at 5, 9 (on KTVD) and 10 p.m., also weeknight sports reporter
- Susie Wargen - sports anchor; weekday mornings (5-7 a.m.)
- Aaron Matas - prep sports reporter
Reporters
- Anastasiya Bolton - general assignment reporter
- Dave Delozier - general assignment reporter
- Amelia Earhart - weekday morning traffic reporter
- Matt Flener - general assignment reporter
- Nelson Garcia - education and technology reporter
- Jeremy Jojola - investigative reporter ("9 Wants to Know")
- Jace Larson - investigative reporter ("9 Wants to Know")
- Heidi McGuire - host of Metromix.com TV
- Nick McGurk - Northern Newsroom reporter
- Kirk Montgomery - entertainment anchor; seen weekdays at 4 p.m.
- Gregg Moss - business reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Matt Renoux - Mountain Newsroom reporter
- Will Ripley - general assignment reporter ("9 Wants to Know")
- Corey Rose - general assignment reporter
- Jennifer Ryan - weekday morning reporter
- Brooke Thacker - weekday morning reporter
- TaRhonda Thomas - general assignment reporter
- Dr. John Torres - medical reporter
- Kevin Torres - general assignment reporter ("Backpack Journalist")
- Chris Vanderveen - general assignment reporter
- Jessica Zartler - weekday morning and evening reporter
Contributors
- Floyd Ciruli - political analyst
- Greg Feith - aviation expert
- Scott Robinson - legal analyst
- Dr. James Rouse - nutrition expert; now featured only on 9NEWS.com
- Steve SpanglerSteve SpanglerSteve Spangler is an author, professional speaker, Emmy Award winner, listed in the public Time 100 poll, science teacher, founder of two companies, toy maker and a trained magician...
- science experiments; featured on the weekday morning and 4 p.m. newscasts
Notable former on-air staff
- Kevin CorkeKevin CorkeKevin Corke is a news anchor at WTVJ-TV NBC in Miami. Previously, Corke was a national news correspondent based in Washington D.C. for NBC from 2004-2008. Most of his work there involved coverage of the Bush administration, where he traveled with the White House Press Corps. He also did some...
- sports anchor; (1994-2000; now with WTVJWTVJWTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
in Miami) - Tom CostelloTom Costello (journalist)Tom Costello is an American journalist and correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C. His reports appear on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, and CNBC...
- reporter (early 1990s; now with NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
as a correspondent for NBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
and MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
) - Frank Currier - anchor/reporter (1970–1978; longtime CBS News correspondent, now a journalism professor at Syracuse UniversitySyracuse UniversitySyracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
) - Fred Dressler - political reporter and station editorial director (later an executive with Time Warner CableTime Warner CableTime Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
; deceased) - Bazi Kanani - anchor (2003-2011; now with ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
) - Bob Kendrick - news anchor (2003-2008; now with WSYXWSYXWSYX, channel 6, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Fox affiliate WTTE through a local marketing agreement...
/WTTEWTTEWTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight...
in Columbus, Ohio) - Bill KusterBill KusterBill Kuster was an American television meteorologist. He was a weather forecaster at KYW-TV in Philadelphia from 1963 to 1979 and KUSA in Denver from 1979 to 1996.-Early life and education:...
- weather anchor (1979-1996; deceased) - Cristina MendonsaCristina MendonsaCristina Mendonsa is a local television news anchor for KXTV. She joined the station in December 1995....
- anchor/reporter (1991-1995; now at sister station KXTVKXTVKXTV, channel 10, is an ABC affiliate television station in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. Its transmitter tower is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown...
in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
) - Leon "Stormy" RottmanStormy RottmanLeon "Stormy" Rottman was an American weather forecaster and television host. After his experience with reporting weather conditions for the U.S. Air Force during World War II and the Korean War, Rottman began a civilian career as a weather presenter on both television and radio...
- meteorologist (1969-1988; deceased) - Ed SardellaEd SardellaEd Sardella is a retired news reporter who currently resides in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California 1962. During his four years of undergraduate studies he spent some time at San Diego State University working in the Broadcasting Department. He received...
- anchor (1974-2000; now retired and living in Denver) - Phil KeatingPhil KeatingPhil Keating is a national correspondent for the Fox News Channel based in the Miami bureau. During his career at Fox, Keating has covered major breaking news stories including the death of Anna Nicole Smith, Caylee Anthony, and the trial of Jose Padilla.Keating also covers NASA stories for Fox...
- lead reporter (1994-2000; went to KDVRKDVRKDVR, , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Denver, Colorado designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, under a local marketing agreement with Tribune-owned CW affiliate KWGN . Its transmitter is...
, now at Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
)
Trivia
- KUSA's 1996-2004 news set was seen in the NBC made-for-TV movie Asteroid.
- KUSA along with four other Denver stations can be seen on Carnival cruise ships in the Caribbean and South Pacific.
- KUSA was the only non NBC owned-and-operated station to air the NBC Daily ConnectionDaily ConnectionThe Daily Connection was a news program produced by NBC News and the affiliates that aired it, it was all pre-produced reports from NBC News Channel, and other platforms of NBC including CNBC, MSNBC, The Weather Channel, & Access Hollywood. Breaking local or national news was also aired. Most of...
, it aired on sister station KTVDKTVDKTVD, virtual channel 20 is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station based in Denver, Colorado, and is owned by the Gannett Company. The station is a sister to KUSA, Denver's NBC affiliate and is housed and operated out of KUSA's high definition studios...
.
Translators
The Denver market includes large portions of Colorado, NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. KUSA & NBC serve this vast area with one of the largest translator networks in the country. (All translators on this list are in Colorado unless otherwise listed)
- K41EV - Akron
- K49EX - Anton
- K02FW - Ashcroft
- K19FH - Ashcroft
- K06HU - Aspen
- K06BX - Axial Basin
- K07KR - Basalt
- K59BZ - Broadmoor
- K59AP - Bethune/Burlington
- K10LW - Carbondale
- K48IC - Carbondale
- K24CH - Cortez
- K55KN-D - Cortez
- K03CK - Craig
- K04GS - Crested Butte, ETC
- K58AA - Crystal, ETC
- K02GJ - Delta, ETC
- K02JD - East Elk Creek
- K08OF-D - Estes Park
- K61AA - Estes Park
- K69AX - Flagler-Seibert
- K39BT - Fraser, ETC
- K02IK - Gateview, ETC
- K12KP - Glen Haven
- K09DC - Glenwood Springs
- K07JM - Grand Vally, ETC
- K04DH - Gunnison
- K64AQ - Hartsel, ETC
- K41IT - Haxtun
- K28FX - Idalia & S. Yuma Cty
- K55JC - Julesburg
- K13GI - Leadville
- K11LM - Lower Frying Pan River
- K50AS - Marvine Creek Campground
- K48CL - Meeker
- K06JJ - Meeker,ETC
- KXHD-LP - Montrose
- K11JZ - New Castle, ETC
- K09QA - Paonia, ETC.
- K63CX - Parlin, ETC.
- K64AV - Piceance Creek
- K08JZ - Pitkin-Ohio, CO
- K18GM - Pleasant Valley
- K12LX - Powder Horn Valley
- K04HP - Red Stone
- K09XN - Red Stone (NBC / Universal-Owned Translator)
- K06HF - Salida, ETC.
- K46DB - Sapinero
- K57CS - Sargents
- K04HH - Snowmass-At-Aspen
- K10KK - Somerset
- K56GL - Sterling ETC.
- K39HE - Woody Creek
- K44GQ - Woody Creek (NBC/Universal-Owned Translator)
- K11LW - Woody Creek
- K52FZ - Wray
- K07GK - Yampa
- K38AD - Yuma