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KTVK (known on-air as 3TV) is a full-service, independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, and can be seen across northern Arizona on a network of nearly two dozen translator stations. Per Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, the station identifies itself on television tuners as channel 3 through PSIP. KTVK is owned by the Belo Corporation of Dallas, Texas.

From its sign on in 1955 until 1995, KTVK was affiliated with ABC and was one of that network's strongest affiliates.

History

ABC affiliate

Former Senator Ernest McFarland, author of the GI Bill, was awed by the new medium of television. With a few friends, he formed the Arizona Television Company and applied for a television license. On March 1, 1955—shortly after McFarland was elected governor of Arizona—KTVK signed on as Phoenix's fourth television station. It immediately became an ABC affiliate. McFarland chose the calls "because TV will be our middle name."[1]

KTVK cleared most of ABC's network schedule except lower-rated daytime shows, as well as an occasional show during prime time. It was broadcast across the whole state of Arizona, including Tucson, except on certain hours not to interfere with its local ABC affiliate KGUN (channel 9). Despite the pre-emptions, ABC was generally satisfied with KTVK, one of its strongest affiliates.

KTVK's news department was a very distant second to longtime leader KOOL-TV (channel 10, later KTSP-TV and now KSAZ-TV) for many years, even when KTAR-TV (channel 12)'s 1979 sale to Gannett (and call letter change to KPNX) made it the only locally-owned network affiliate in the market. When McFarland died in 1984, the station's ownership was taken over by his daughter Jewell and her husband Delbert Lewis.

File:KTVK 1982-1996 logo.jpg
KTVK logo used from 1986 to 1996; the circle 3 dates back to 1982 and is meant to be an offshoot of ABC's circle 7 logo, as the circle was used when KTVK was an ABC affiliate.

The station's fortunes began to improve significantly after several news managers from KTSP defected to KTVK in 1986. An aggressive marketing campaign, a new brand ("NewsChannel 3"), and a popular new anchor team finally helped make KTVK a truly competitive player in news. By the late 1980s, KTVK was the top-rated station in Arizona. A Saturday morning newscast (from 7 to 9 am) was launched in 1993.

KTVK's atmosphere was somewhat different from what was typical for a Big Three-affiliated major-market station. McFarland ran his station as a "mom and pop" business, and had an open-door policy which the Lewises continued when they took over the station. Employee turnover was very low, and hugs were very common in the newsroom. This was an outgrowth of the station's longtime slogan, "Arizona's Family".

In the spring of 1994, New World Communications announced an affiliation deal with Fox in which most of its stations became Fox affiliates. One of the stations to switch was KSAZ, Phoenix' longtime CBS affiliate.[2] KTVK anticipated having its affiliation agreement with ABC renewed. However, much to the Lewises' surprise, KNXV-TV's owner, Scripps, forced ABC to switch its affiliation to KNXV (which was to lose its Fox affiliation) as a condition of keeping ABC on Scripps' two biggest stations, WEWS-TV in Cleveland and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. KTVK approached CBS in an effort to secure that network affiliation, but Meredith Corporation, owner of independent KPHO, convinced CBS to move its affiliation there as a condition of keeping CBS on KCTV in Kansas City. KTVK appealed to the Federal Communications Commission on grounds that Scripps had "abused its license power for anti-competitive purposes", but their appeal was denied.[2] After nearly 40 years as a network affiliate, KTVK was to become an independent TV station. KTVK immediately began purchasing more programming and increasing local news production.[2] In August, it dropped Good Morning America and launched Good Morning Arizona in the 6–9 AM slot, featuring anchor Jodi Applegate and meteorologist Royal Norman. The 6–7 AM slot had previously been occupied by a more traditional newscast. Since KNXV was on its way to becoming an ABC affiliate, they began to air Good Morning America beginning in September 1994.

By December 15, 1994, KTVK also dropped Mike and Maty (of which KTVK had only aired 30 minutes daily), World News Now, and Nightline, which were also picked up by KNXV. At that point, ABC's cartoons also moved to KNXV, with KTVK dropping its Saturday morning newscasts and running Fox Kids (which had been turned down by KSAZ) instead. By then, KTVK was only airing prime-time programming, sports, and the major soaps from ABC.

KTVK renewed Oprah and Inside Edition, and purchased all the available King World shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (which was not renewed by KSAZ, and are now seen on KNXV), American Journal (not renewed by KPNX), Rolonda, Branded (for weekends), and The Little Rascals (for weekends). KTVK also affiliated with the WB Network.

As an independent station

File:Album 3tv sub.png
The circle 3 logo in a TV. The TV portion was from 1996 and used to 2003.

KNXV officially became Phoenix's ABC affiliate on January 9, 1995, and KTVK was distinctive for being the first television station formerly affiliate with any Big Three network to become an independent (similiar situations occured in San Francisco and Jacksonville seven years later. The station nominally became the market's WB affiliate but initially, The WB only had one night a week of programming, which KTVK chose to air on Saturday nights. The WB added a second night of programming in mid-1995, which KTVK aired on Sunday. With WB only occupying two nights of programming, KTVK was essentially an independent station. It also broadcast Fox Kids weekend mornings for about a year. The station aired Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and several off-network sitcoms during prime time. A quirk of the Fox Kids schedule on KTVK was that Animaniacs and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers aired on Sundays at 6 and 6:30 p.m. (respectively), after the news and before its 7 p.m. movie.

KTVK owned a substantial programming inventory, but didn't have enough time in its broadcast day to air it all, even after dropping ABC. As such, when the Brooks family launched a new station, KASW (channel 61), in September 1995, KTVK immediately entered into a local marketing agreement with the new station. KASW became the WB affiliate, and KTVK bought the new station's entire broadcast day. KASW also picked up Fox Kids programming soon after and KTVK then reinstated Saturday morning newscasts. On the same day KASW took over the WB affiliation, the Arizona Television Company officially changed its name to MAC America Communications, after its founder's nickname, "Mac." By this time, it had grown to include two FM stations, a magazine and the Arizona News Channel, a joint venture with Cox Communications launched on November 4, 1996.[3]

File:Album 3tv icon.png
KTVK returned to NewsChannel 3 branding in 2003, resulting in this variation used from 2003 - 2005.

In 1998, KTVK briefly aired The Howard Stern Show; after two episodes, it and KJTV-TV in Lubbock, Texas, stopped airing the program. KTVK aired it after its 10pm news.[4]

MAC America decided to sell off most of its media assets, including KTVK, in 1999, but was very selective about a buyer. It wanted to sell to a company that would continue to keep a local presence at the station (particularly important to the Lewises, as KTVK was the last locally-owned station in the market) and allow the station to continue its growth of the last decade. In the end, it sold KTVK, the LMA with KASW and its share of the Arizona News Channel to the Belo Corporation in 1999, ending 44 years of McFarland-Lewis ownership.[5] (Belo eventually bought KASW outright in 2001.)

In 2000, Belo and Cox partnered to produce a new Spanish-language channel, ¡Más! Arizona. It launched October 16 of that year.[6]

Without a network affiliation, KTVK fills primetime with Dr. Phil, Oprah, and an hour-long 9PM newscast (which competes with the 9PM newscast on Fox-owned KSAZ, that started at the same time as KTVK's). Even with the meteoric rise of KPNX after it stayed with NBC and that network rocketed to the top of the ratings, KTVK remained the dominant news station in Arizona well through 2003; KTVK held the evening news crown that year and KPNX led in late news.[7] That year, KTVK's Oprah was also the top syndicated show in the market. The station's newscasts still receive high ratings. Its evening newscast, "Good Evening Arizona," regularly trounces the national networks' newscasts in the ratings. KTVK is one of the nation's most successful independent stations.

File:3TV logo.png
Variation used from 2005 - 2007.

KTVK was the original over-the-air home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, beginning broadcasts when the team joined the National League in 1998. The team remained on KTVK through the end of the 2007 season, when the team opted to move all of its English-language broadcasts (not counting national broadcasts) to FSN Arizona.

On April 26, 2007, KTVK became the third station in Arizona (following KPNX in Phoenix and KVOA in Tucson) to broadcast its news in high definition. The station broadcasts nearly 50 hours of HD news content per week.

On February 24, 2009 it was announced that KTVK, KPHO-TV and KPNX will share a helicopter starting March 1, 2009.[8][9][10]

Helicopter crash

Main article: 2007 Phoenix news helicopter collision
Wikinews has related news:

On July 27, 2007 at exactly 12:46:20pm MST, KTVK's News Chopper 3 was involved in a mid-air collision when local ABC affiliate KNXV-TV's helicopter struck it from behind.[11] The collision occurred above Steele Indian School Park, near Third Street and Indian School Road, while both aircraft were covering a police car pursuit in downtown Phoenix.[12] All four people on both helicopters were killed, including KTVK pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox.[13] The cause of the crash is now being investigated.

Digital television

Digital channels
Channel Format Programming
3.1 1080i KTVK-DT
3.2 480i This TV

On June 12, 2009, the day mandated by the US federal government for TV stations to cease analog transmissions across the country, KTVK ended regular analog programming and switched to the nightlight service on channel 3, while continuing digital broadcasts on channel 24, which it chose for its post-transition channel.[14][15] Through the use of PSIP, KTVK's digital broadcast identifies to television receivers as virtual channel 3.

KTVK's "nightlight" service, which was intended to remind TV viewers of the switch to digital, was originally to last 30 days, but was instead ended on June 26 after two weeks.[16]

On September 22, 2009 it was announced that KTVK will be adding This TV to its 3.2 digital subchannel.[17] The subchannel launched one month later, on October 20.

News operation

Good Morning Arizona

Among the station's flagship broadcasts is "Good Morning Arizona," one of the country's original long-format local TV morning newscasts. Running from 4:30am until 9am weekdays (and 7am to 10am on weekends), the show has been a long-time ratings winner and the highest-rated program of its kind in the nation. "GMAZ" has its own budget, writers and air staff. The show is also simulcast on Tucson Belo station KMSB-TV. It features a long-time host, Tara Hitchcock. Jodi Applegate was the host of Good Morning Arizona from 1994 until 1996, when she joined NBC as a weekend Today Show anchor.

On January 14, 2010, it was announced that Good Morning Arizona will be expanding an hour and will run from 4:30-10 a.m. effective January 25, 2010. At the same time, Good Day Arizona at 11 a.m. was discontinued. Current Good Day Arizona anchor Frank Camacho will now host a weekly politics show, Politics Unplugged on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and be the chief political reporter for the station.

Ratings

According to Tess Rafols, weekend anchor of Good Morning Arizona, GMAZ Saturday had the highest ratings in the February 2010 ratings period of any other newscast in Phoenix. Also, KTVK is currently advertising that Good Evening Arizona is #1 in the ratings during the 4:30-6:30 p.m. hours. As such, it has been one of the strongest independent (non-network-affiliated) stations in the country since it dropped ABC in 1995.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

  • TV-3 News (1970-1976)
  • Total News (1976-1980)
  • Eyewitness News 3 (1980-1983)
  • Channel 3 News (1983-1986 and 1996-2003)
  • NewsChannel 3 (1986-1996 and 2003-2004)
  • 3TV News (2004-present)

Station slogans

  • Arizona's First Color Television Station (1966-1970)
  • TV-3 News: Arizona's Most Respected Television News Organization (1970-1974)
  • If It's News, It's On TV-3 News (1974-1976)
  • Arizona's Largest Television News Team (1976-1977)
  • You Know You Can Count on Us (1977-1980)
  • TV-3`s The One You Can Turn To (1978-1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Arizona's Choice for News (1980-1983)
  • Arizona's Very Own (1983-1986)
  • You'll Love it on TV-3 (1985-1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Together on TV-3 (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Arizona's News People (1986-1993)
  • When News Happens, You'll See it Happen on NewsChannel 3 (1993-1994)
  • The Place With More Stuff (1994–2003)
  • Arizona's Family (2003–present, used infrequently until early-2005)
  • Everywhere, Always There (breaking news, developing story) (2005?-present)
  • The Place With More News (2007-2009)
  • The Best Gets Better (2009-present)

News team

Current on-air staff

Anchors
  • Tyler Baldwin - Saturday mornings Good Morning AZ; also weekday and Saturday early evening reporter
  • Tara Hitchcock - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (6-10 a.m.)
  • Beverly Kidd - weeknights at 9 p.m.
  • Patti Kirkpatrick - weekdays Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.)
  • Ryan O'Donnell - Sunday mornings Good Morning AZ; also weekday and Sunday early evening reporter
  • Kaley O'Kelley - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-6 a.m); also 6-9 a.m. reporter
  • Scott Pasmore - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (5-10 a.m.)
  • Carey Pena - Sunday evenings Good Evening AZ, "3 On Your Side" investigative reporter
  • Tess Rafols - weekend mornings Good Morning AZ; also weekday reporter
  • Javier Soto - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-5 a.m.); also 5-10 a.m. reporter
  • Marissa Wingate - Saturday evenings Good Evening AZ, weekday reporter
Weather
  • Royal Norman (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.) and 9 p.m.
  • Britney Shipp - meteorologist; weekend mornings Good Morning AZ, and weekends at 5 and 9 p.m.
  • April Warnecke (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-10am)
  • Kaley O'Kelley - Good Morning AZ fill-in weather forecaster
Traffic
  • Gina Maravilla - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-10 a.m.)
Sports
  • Tim Ring - Sports Director; weekdays Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.) on and 9 p.m.
  • Brad Cesmat - Sports Anchor; weekends at 5 and 9 p.m.
Reporters
  • Steve Bodinet
  • Frank Camacho - host of "Politics Unplugged", chief political reporter
  • Stacey Delikat
  • Jared Dillingham
  • Yetta Gibson - Entertainment reporter, weekday mornings Good Morning AZ, fill-in anchor
  • Bruce Haffner
  • Gary Harper - "3 On Your Side" investigative reporter
  • Kristine Harrington
  • Mike Watkiss
  • Carina Sonn
News Chopper 3 Pilots/Reporters

(As part of a Local News Service the helicopter is shared with KPHO-TV and KPNX and operated by Helicopters Inc.)

  • Scott Clifton - weekday mornings "Good Morning AZ (4:30-9 a.m.)
  • Jimmy Castanza - Backup pilot, weekday mornings "Good Morning AZ" (4:30-9 a.m.)
  • Tammy Rose - weekdays "Good Evening AZ" (4:30–6:30 p.m.)

Former on-air staff

Name Position at KTVK Years Active Whereabouts
Jodi Applegate Good Morning Arizona Anchor 1993-1996 Left to become Today Show anchor. Now anchors the 10PM news on WPIX in New York as of Monday, October 11th.
Scott Bowerbank News Chopper 3 Pilot/Reporter 2004-2007 Killed in collision.[18]
Mike Chamberlin Sports Anchor, later News Co-Anchor Early 1990s-2004 Weekend sports anchor at KPHO Phoenix, retired in 2008 to pursue Christian music career.[19]
Mitch Duncan Evening News Co-Anchor Weekend news anchor at KFMB-TVSan Diego, instructor, San Diego State University, Deceased
Patricio Espinoza Reporter, KTVK and News Anchor, KTVK's ¡Más! Arizona[20] 2000-2003 Moved to Univision's KXLN Houston as Investigative Reporter/Anchor. Winner of several Texas Lone Star Emmys now manages AlamoCityTimes.com and freelances for ABC News
Olivia Fierro Good Morning Arizona Anchor 2003-2009 Left to become evening news anchor at Fox affiliate KVVU in Las Vegas
Jim Cox News Chopper 3 Camera Operator 1996-2007 Killed in collision.[18]
Dan Davis Anchor for Good Morning Arizona 1982-2009 Laid off.[21]
Kim Dillon Meteorologist to 2005 Terminated after being arrested for theft.Found guilty.[22]
Heidi Fogelsong Nighttime Anchor 1985-1992 At KTAR-FM
Jerry Foster News Chopper 3 Pilot/Traffic Reporter Mid 1990s Fired for alleged drug charges after substance fell from the helicopter.[23]
Liz Habib News Anchor; Good Evening Arizona, 10pm News 1994 to 2004 At KTTV Los Angeles, Reporter, Anchor
Cameron Harper Nighttime Anchor 1984-1993 At WPTY-TV in Memphis, Tennessee
Jim Howl Weather Forecaster Mid 1970s-1996 Weathercaster for KFNX-AM Phoenix; ran for Arizona governorship in 1998
Kirsten Joyce Weekend Anchor/Reporter 2006-2010 Weekend Anchor at KCPQ-TV in Seattle/Tacoma
Chera Kimiko Reporter 2000's Main Anchor at KOKI-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cater Lee Weekday Evening Anchor Mid 90's Currently a reporter and anchor for KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV
Brad Perry Reporter/Weatherman for Good Morning Arizona 1998-2009 Laid off. Originally planned to start music career.[21] Now morning reporter for Good Morning San Diego on KUSI.
Rock Rote Sports Director/Anchor/Host/Color Commentator 1980s Managing Director at Weather Central Inc. in Madison, WI
Ray Scott Sports Anchor 1980s Former CBS play-by-play broadcaster, deceased
Ross Shimabuku Sports Anchor 2000s Currently sportscaster for KSWB-TV
Ray Thompson Weekday Evening Anchor Late 1970s Previously at KTAR (KPNX); retired
Gil Tyree Sports Anchor 1986-2001 At WGCL in Atlanta, Georgia
Ray Vaughn Evening News Co-Anchor Lawyer in Edmond, Oklahoma; County Commissioner, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Rebroadcasters

KTVK is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

List of translators

KTVK is available on cable in Yuma, the Imperial Valley, California and Coachella, California Country Cable services. [citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NewsChannel 3 History". Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  2. ^ a b c Meisler, Andy (August 29, 1994). "Murdoch's Raid Brings a Shuffling of TV Stations in Phoenix". New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  3. ^ "Cox, KTVK team for news channel." Electronic Media 18 Nov. 1996: 30.
  4. ^ Spring, Greg. "King of all media loses some subjects." Electronic Media 7 Sep. 1998: 2-3.
  5. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; BELO TO ACQUIRE $315 MILLION IN ASSETS FROM MAC". New York Times. July 3, 1999. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  6. ^ "Dallas, Atlanta-Based Firms to Launch Spanish-Language Cable Channel." Dallas Morning News 29 Sep. 2010.
  7. ^ Miller, Mark K. "Tough Fight in News". Broadcasting and Cable 16 June 2003: 15.
  8. ^ "3 TV stations to share helicopter to cover the news". azcentral. February 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  9. ^ "Channels 5, 3, 12 To Share Chopper". KPHO. February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  10. ^ "Phoenix TV stations to share news helicopter". KTAR. February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  11. ^ Preliminary report from the NTSB, retrieved 07/17/2008
  12. ^ "4 Dead As 2 Helicopters Tracking Police Pursuit Collide". KPHO-TV. 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  13. ^ "Two helicopters crash while covering chase". AZFamily.com. 2007-07-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  14. ^ CDBS Print
  15. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  16. ^ "Phoenix TV goes digital, can you still see our signal?". KNXV-TV. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  17. ^ "Belo's WFAA, KTVK Add This TV". Broadcasting & Cable. September 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  18. ^ a b Clark, Amy (28 July 2007). "4 Killed In TV News Helicopter Collision". CBS News. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  19. ^ "The Singing TV Guy -- Mike Chamberlin Retires From TV". Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  20. ^ "Dallas, Atlanta-Based Firms to Launch Spanish-Language Cable Channel." Dallas Morning News 29 Sep. 2010.
  21. ^ a b Nilsen, Richard (11 March 2009). "KTVK lays off Brad Perry, Dan Davis". Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  22. ^ Gardo, Garry (31 October, 2005). "Media experts spinning their view of news". East Valley Tribune. Freedom Communications Inc. Retrieved 2008-09-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) [dead link‍]
  23. ^ Hostetler, Darrin (18 July 1990). "JERRY FOSTER: STILL LETTING IT FLY". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 15 June 2010.

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