KTUL

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KTUL

Tulsa, Oklahoma
Branding	NewsChannel 8
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	8 (VHF) analog, 10 (VHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Allbritton Communications Company
Founded	1954
Call letters meaning	K Tulsa
Former callsigns	KTVX (1954–1957)
Website	ktul.com

KTUL is the ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma. KTUL broadcasts from its studios on Lookout Mountain in west Tulsa. For many years, KTUL reigned as Tulsa's leading source for news, mainly because of its consistency at the newsdesk. However, in recent years, CBS-affiliated KOTV has eclipsed KTUL as #1.

1 History
2 Don Woods and Gusty
3 Waiting Child
4 Newscasts
5 Personalities
- 5.1 Current On-Air Talent
6 News Presentation
- 6.1 Newscast Titles
- 6.2 Station Slogans
7 Trivia
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

Channel 8 signed on September 18, 1954 as KTVX in Muskogee. It was the second television station to sign on in the Tulsa market, ahead of KJRH and following KOTV.

The first studios of KTUL, then KTVX, was a former grocery store in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The first two TV personalities at the station were news anchor Jack Morris and meteoroligist Don Woods. Sports director Hal O'Halloran would come later. And the first broadcast of the station was a football game between Oklahoma and California, which Oklahoma won. The following year, in 1955, KTVX moved from its first studios into where now-defunct KCEB broadcast for 9 months in 1954, on Lookout Mountain. In 1957, KTVX became KTUL, and in 1965, KTUL built its new antenna, to expand its reach into 4 states. The new tower did not ensure KTUL's success-its people did. Betty Boyd, who joined KTUL from KOTV, hosted her daily talk show, making KTUL #1 with women. And the late John Chick, who joined KTUL in 1955, hosted 2 shows: the John Chick Show, which featured local country music artists and broadcast in the morning until 1979; and Mr. Zing and Tuffy, which broadcast in the afternoon, when ABC went dark, from 1963 until 1970. Both Chick shows made KTUL #1 in the morning, and made KTUL #1 with kids. As for news, first Jack Morris, {who anchored at KTUL from 1954 until he jumped ship to KJRH in 1970), and then Bob Hower (who anchored from 1970 until 1986}, put KTUL at #1, and Don Woods always drew Gusty for KTUL viewers. And after Mr. Zing and Tuffy ended in 1970, Carl Bartholemew introduced KTUL viewers to his new character: Uncle Zeb, and "Uncle Zeb's Cartoon Camp," which ran on Channel 8 from 1970 until 1980, continued to make KTUL #1 with kids.

James C. Leake, the owner of KTUL from 1954 until he sold the station to Allbritton Communications in 1981, did heavy promotion of KTUL with "The Wizard of Oz," "The News Guys," and "8's the Place," a promotional phrase used at KTUL from 1977 until 1983. All these promotions made KTUL #1 in Northeastern Oklahoma for many years.

In 1987, KTUL's broadcast tower was knocked over by an ice storm, and a new one was constructed in 1988. And in 1999, KTUL built new broadcast facilities on Lookout Mountain to accommodate station growth.

The KTVX call letters are now used by channel 4 in Salt Lake City, another ABC affiliate.

In 2005, KTUL introduced First Alert Weather 24/7, a digital/cable channel devoted to 24-hour-a-day weather information.

[edit] Don Woods and Gusty

When KTUL signed on as KTVX in Muskogee, the station was looking for a weatherman who could draw a cartoon character. Don Woods was chosen, and his cartoon character became Gusty. From 1954 until his retirement in 1989, Woods drew Gusty live on TV, and every day, people sent in requests for a Gusty. Gusty always told what the weather was going to be like. He could be drawn waving flags and smiling for fair weather, or he could be drawn holding an umbrella for rainy days, or jumping in his fraidy hole for thunderstorms. After Woods' retirement from KTUL in 1989, Woods continued to draw Gusty from time to time, and he even authored a book entitled The Gospel According to Gusty. In 2005, Gusty was made Oklahoma's State Cartoon Character by the Oklahoma Legislature, and there's even a drawing of Gusty at the Smithsonian Instution in Washington, D.C.

[edit] Waiting Child

Since 1980, KTUL has featured its Waiting Child segment, which highlites children who are in state custody and looking for an adoptive family. Then-anchor Bob Hower began Waiting Child in October of 1980, and did the segment until his retirement in 1986. Former anchor Rea Blakey and then sports director John Walls followed in Hower's footsteps. Anchor Carole Lambert has hosted the segment since 1990, and it has resulted in more than 4000 children being adopted. The segment airs Wednesdays at 5:00 and Saturdays at 10:00.

The song "(I'm a) Waiting Child," which plays during the Waiting Child news segment, was composed by former anchor Bob Hower and is sung by Oleta Adams.

[edit] Newscasts

[edit] Weekdays

News Channel 8 Morning 5 - 7 AM
- anchored by Keith Taylor, D.C. Roberts and Kristin Dickerson with Mike Collier on weather
Good Day Tulsa 9 - 10 AM
- anchored by Keith Taylor, D.C. Roberts and Kristin Dickerson with Mike Collier on weather
News Channel 8 @ 4:00: 4:00 - 4:30 PM
- anchored by Carole Lambert and Mark Bradshaw with Clint Boone on weather
News Channel 8 @ 5: 5 - 5:30 PM
- anchored by Mark Bradshaw and Cindy Morrison with Frank Mitchell on weather
News Channel 8 @ 6: 6 - 6:30 PM
- anchored by Carole Lambert and Charles Ely with Frank Mitchell on weather
News Channel 8 @ 10: 10 - 10:35 PM
- anchored by Carole Lambert and Charles Ely with Frank Mitchell on weather

[edit] Saturday

News Channel 8 @ 6: 6 - 6:30 PM
- anchored by Yvonne Harris and Jerry Giordano with Taft Price on weather
News Channel 8 @ 10: 10 - 10:30 PM
- anchored by Yvonne Harris and Jerry Giordano with Taft Price on weather

[edit] Sunday

News Channel 8 @ 5:00: 5 - 5:30 PM
- anchored by Yvonne Harris and Jerry Giordano with Taft Price on weather
News Channel 8 @ 10: 10 - 10:35 PM
- anchored by Yvonne Harris and Jerry Giordano with Taft Price on weather
You Make the Call (sports/ call-in): 10:35 - 11:05 PM

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current On-Air Talent

NEWSCHANNEL 8 ANCHORS

Mark Bradshaw, 4 & 5PM Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (1996-present)
Charles Ely, Anchor/General Assignment Reporter/Managing Editor (1984-present)
Jerry Giordano, Weekend Evening Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (1996-present)
Yvonne Harris, Weekend Evening Anchor/General Assignment Reporter
Carole Lambert, 4, 6 & 10PM Anchor/"Waiting Child" Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (1982-present)
Cindy Morrison, 5PM Anchor/"8 on Your Side" Investigator/General Assignment Reporter (1997-present)
D.C. Roberts, Morning Anchor
Keith Taylor, Morning Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (2001-present)

NEWSCHANNEL 8 REPORTERS

Abby Ross, General Assignment Reporter (2006-present)
Bill Mitchell, Senior News Reporter
Burt Mummolo, General Assignment Reporter (2004-present)
Elizabeth Kinney, Glorified Intern
Kim Jackson, Education Reporter
Kristen Dickerson, Glorified Intern (2004-present)

FIRST ALERT WEATHER METEOROLOGISTS

Frank Mitchell, Chief Meteorologist (1992-present)
Clint Boone, 4PM Meteorologist (2005-present)
Mike Collier, Weekday Morning Weathercaster (2001-present)
Taft Price, Weekend Evening Meteorologist (1996-present)

[edit] News Presentation

[edit] Newscast Titles

News 8 (1971-1975)
Total 8 Tulsa (1975-1982)
News 8 (1982-1992)
Oklahoma's News 8 (1992-1999)
Oklahoma's NewsChannel 8 (1999-2006)
NewsChannel 8 (2006-present)

[edit] Station Slogans

8's The Place (1977-1983)
8's Your Place (1983-1988)
Celebrate Oklahoma with 8 (1988-1989)
8's The Place (1989-1992)
Coverage You Can't Count On (1992-2006)
On Your Side (2006-present)

[edit] Trivia

The current studios on Lookout Mountain were built for television station KCEB. Former owner James C. Leake moved the KTVX operation to Tulsa from Muskogee.

Frank Mitchell was promoted to Chief Meteorologist in February 2005, succeeding Travis Meyer, who left KTUL after 23 years to go to competing station KOTV.