KATU
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| KATU | |
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| Portland, Oregon | |
| Branding | KATU (pronounced as "K-2") |
| Slogan | On Your Side. |
| Channels | Analog: 2 (VHF) |
| Translators | (see article) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Fisher Communications, Inc. (Fisher Broadcasting - Portland TV, LLC) |
| First air date | March 15, 1962 |
| Call letters’ meaning | sounds like "K-2" |
| Sister station(s) | KUNP |
| Former affiliations | independent (3/15/1962-2/29/1964) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 475 m (analog) 524 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 21649 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.katu.com |
KATU is a television station in Portland, Oregon, USA. An ABC affiliate, it broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 2 and its digital signal on UHF channel 43. Its transmitter is located in Portland. It is currently owned by Fisher Communications of Seattle, Washington, owner of the Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO-TV.
KATU also owns and operates local Univision affiliate KUNP-LP channel 47.
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[edit] History
A construction permit for Channel 2 was issued to Fisher's Blend Station, Inc. (now Fisher Communications) as early as 1958. It was assigned the call letters KATU. However, the station did not take to the airwaves until March 15, 1962, initially as an independent station.
On January 19, 1964 KATU moved its transmitter site 21 miles (34 km), to Portland's West Hills to improve coverage. The site had previously been on Livingston Mountain [1]. A little over a month later it took over the ABC affiliation from KPTV on March 1, 1964. This made KATU the fourth station in the Portland market in less than a decade to have affiliated with ABC full-time (after KLOR, KGW and KPTV). It is also Portland's longest-tenured ABC affiliate to date. KATU is the only one of the first five television stations in Portland to have operated out of the same studio (at 2153 N.E. Sandy Blvd.) since it went on the air, although the building had previously operated for many years as a laundry.
KATU is also one of the few television stations in the country (not counting owned-and-operated stations) that has had the same call letters, the same owner and the same channel number throughout its history. This distinction will likely end with the conversion to digital-only television broadcasting in February 2009, as KATU tentatively elected to use its current digital channel number (channel 43) at the end of the conversion period.
In the November 2006 and February 2007 sweeps periods, KATU finished in third place overall in the local newscast ratings, behind KGW and KPTV.
In 2006, KATU won two Edward R. Murrow Awards, including an investigative piece reported by Anna Song on a newborn that was left severely brain damaged by OHSU hospital. Song also won dual 1st place (2006) Associated Press Awards in Best Writing, and Best Investigative Reporting.
On October 11, 2007 KATU became the Third Portland TV Station to broadcast its daily newscasts in widescreen.
[edit] On-air personalities
[edit] KATU News Anchors
[edit] KATU Storm Tracker Weather
[edit] KATU Sports
[edit] AM Northwest
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[edit] KATU Reporters
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[edit] Former personalities
Bill O'Reilly, one of the original anchors of Inside Edition and now of Fox News, came to KATU in 1984 as an anchor and reporter. He left the station in 1986 to join ABC News, and was replaced by reporter and weekend weathercaster Jeff Gianola. At the time of O'Reilly's departure, KATU's "Channel 2 News" held the top spot in the Portland TV market ratings.
Lou Gellos was a former Sports Director at KATU in the early 1990s. Prior to joining KATU, he also held that position briefly at Seattle's KING-TV. He is now spokesman and communications director for Microsoft.
KATU's "Channel 2 News" was also the highest-rated news program in Portland under the anchor team of Jeff Gianola and Julie Emry. Julie Emry left in the mid-1990s for family reasons, and Gianola left in 1997 after being suspended for apparently getting into an argument with a female reporter. Incidentally, Gianola and Emry were back anchoring the news together on rival TV station KOIN-TV Channel 6 from September 2002 until late 2005, when she left the station (also for family reasons). Gianola appeared as himself in the film The Hunted starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro.
Jeffrey Babcock appeared regularly in the early 1990s as a commentator on capital markets and personal finance, but left to become an investment manager. Formerly he was a correspondent at WABC-TV's Good Morning New York, as well as a reporter at KIRO-TV in Seattle and WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio.
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Channel 2 News (1990-1998)
- KATU 2 News (1998-Present), Pronounced as "K2 News"
[edit] Newscast Slogans
- No Newscast Slogan (19??-2003)
- The Spirit Of The Northwest (2003-2007)
- On Your Side (2007-Present)
[edit] Newscast Music
- ABC World News Tonight: Synthsized Version, Score Productions (1978-19??)
- Spirit (of Texas), TM Productions (1990-1996)
- ABC News Affiliate Music Package, Score Productions (1998-2003)
- Pinnacle, Stephen Arnold Music (2003-2006)
- Breakthrough, FirstCom (2006-2007)
- K2 News, FirstCom (2007-Present), Used to be called "KATU 2007 News Theme"
[edit] Digital Television
in 2009, KATU will leave channel 2 and move to channel 43 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.[1]
[edit] Translators
KATU is rebroadcast on the following translator stations.
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[edit] See also
- Exploding whale - KATU's claim to fame as the station that aired footages of the Oregon Highway Division's attempt to dispose of a dead whale. Longtime KATU Anchor (and current KEX Morning Host) Paul Linnman is the face of the report.
- Bumpity - A local children program produced by KATU from 1971-1985.
- KATU Heliport
[edit] External links
- KATU Channel 2 Official website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KATU
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KATU-TV
[edit] References
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