KMBC-TV

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KMBC-TV
Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas
Branding	KMBC 9
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	9 (VHF) analog, 7 (VHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (since 1955)
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	August 25, 1953 (shared with WHB-TV until 1954)
Call letters meaning	K M idland Broadcasting Company
Former affiliations	CBS (1953-1955)
Website	www.thekansascitychannel.com/

KMBC-TV, "KMBC 9" is the ABC affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri (and also for Kansas City, Kansas) owned by Hearst-Argyle Broadcasting. It runs nearly the entire ABC network schedule, along with local news, syndicated talk, and reality shows. Its transmitter is located in Kansas City.

Contents 1 History 2 Personalities 2.1 Current 2.1.1 News Team 2.1.2 Weather Team 2.1.3 Sports Team 2.1.4 Washington, D.C. Bureau Reports 3 Newscasts 3.1 Weekdays 3.2 Saturdays 3.3 Sundays 4 External links

[edit] History

The Channel 9 license in Kansas City was hotly contested between radio stations KMBC and WHB. In 1953, the two parties decided to come to a compromise by operating Channel 9 as a time-share signal, with KMBC-TV and WHB-TV alternating blocks of broadcast time between them. Thus, Channel 9 began operation as a CBS affiliate.

KMBC-TV then bought out WHB-TV in 1954, becoming the sole occupant of the channel. By 1955, the station was solely an ABC affiliate.

Cook Paint & Varnish Company bought the station outright in 1954. The station was then sold to Metromedia in 1961. Metromedia sold off KMBC-AM (now KMBZ), but kept KMBC-TV until selling it to the Hearst Corporation in 1982. Under Hearst, the station expanded its local news production.

In 1981, anchor/reporter Christine Craft won a multimillion-dollar judgment against KMBC. Craft accused station managers of sexual harassment; this was one of the first such cases to be widely publicized in the United States.

During the late 1970s and into the 1980s KMBC was the number one television station in the Kansas City market, but the station ended the latter decade in second place behind WDAF. As soon as WDAF switched from NBC to Fox in 1994, KMBC returned to number one in the market. Currently, KMBC generally battles KCTV for first place at 10:00 p.m., while continuing to battle WDAF for first in other timeslots.

KMBC came under common management as upstart WB affiliate KCWB Channel 29 (now CW affiliate KCWE) in 1996 under a local marketing agreement.

Since its inception, the station has been based out of (what is now) the Lyric Opera building in downtown Kansas City. Currently, the station shares the facilities with the Lyric, and has some business offices in another facility across the street. In 2007, the station plans to move entirely to a new purpose-built facility near Swope Park in Kansas City.

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current

[edit] News Team

• Maria Antonia - reporter/weekend evening anchor
• Martin Augustine - reporter
• Peggy Breit - reporter
• Bev Chapman - reporter
• Kelly Eckerman - 5 and 6 p.m. anchor/Healthwatch reporter
• Jim Flink - weekend evening anchor
• Jere Gish - morning anchor
• Kris Ketz - 5 p.m. anchor
• Micheal Mahoney - reporter
• Larry Moore - 6 and 10 p.m. anchor
• Marcus Moore - reporter
• Lara Moritz - reporter
• Chris Nagus - reporter
• Donna Pitman - morning anchor
• Michele Rooney - reporter
• Johnny Rowlands - chief pilot, NewsChopper 9/traffic reporter
• Brenda Washington - reporter
• Dan Weinbaum - weekend morning anchor
• Robb Yagmin - reporter

[edit] Weather Team

• Bryan Busby - chief meteorologist, weeknights
• Pete Grigsby - weekend evenings
• Erin Little - FirstNews weekends
• Joel Nichols - FirstNews weekdays

[edit] Sports Team

• Len Dawson - sports director, weeknights
• Karen Kornacki - Saturdays
• Bill Pikus - Sundays

[edit] Washington, D.C. Bureau Reports

• Sally Kidd
• Laurie Kinney
• Traci Mitchell

[edit] Newscasts

KMBC produces roughly 25.5 hours of news per week.

[edit] Weekdays

• KMBC 9 First News – 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 5:00 – 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 6:00 – 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 10:00 – 10:00 p.m. to 10:35 p.m.

[edit] Saturdays

• KMBC 9 First News: Weekend Edition – 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 5:00 – 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 6:00 – 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 10:00 – 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

[edit] Sundays

• KMBC 9 First News: Weekend Edition – 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 5:00 – 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• KMBC 9 News at 10:00 – 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Screenshots from KMBC
• Photograph of KMBC's Downtown Studio (c. 1970)
• Fybush.com: Kansas City TV/FM Stations
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KMBC-TV