KFOR-TV
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| KFOR-TV | |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | |
| Branding | Oklahoma's NewsChannel4 K-Four (alternate; used on some occasions) |
| Channels | Analog: 4 (VHF) |
| Translators | K18BV May/Gage K53CI Seiling K60ER Cherokee/Alva K61CW Mooreland/Woodward |
| Affiliations | NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2) |
| Owner | Local TV, LLC (Local TV Oklahoma License, LLC) |
| First air date | June 6, 1949 |
| Call letters’ meaning | channel FOuR |
| Sister station(s) | KAUT-TV |
| Former callsigns | WKY-TV (1949-1976) KTVY (1976-1990) |
| Former affiliations | All secondary: CBS (1949-1953) ABC (1949-1956) DuMont (1949-1955) [1] |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 790 kW (digital) |
| Height | 469 m (analog) 489 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 66222 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.kfor.com |
KFOR-TV, channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. KFOR-TV is owned by Local TV, a subsidiary of the private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners, with studios and transmitter are co-located on East Britton Road in Oklahoma City.
KFOR also carries NBC Weather Plus (branded as "4Warn 24/7") on digital subchannel 4.2 and Cox Digital Cable. On cable, KFOR-TV can be seen on channel 3 on Cox Oklahoma City and on channel 4 on other Cox systems in Central Oklahoma. KFOR-TV can also be seen throughout Oklahoma on four translator stations serving northwestern Oklahoma and several cable systems across the state.
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[edit] History
The station began in 1949 as WKY-TV, owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Company, publishers of the Daily Oklahoman, along with WKY radio. The station was affiliated with the four major networks at the time (NBC, ABC, CBS and DuMont). It is Oklahoma's first television station, having signed on a few months before KOTV in Tulsa. Channel 4 took a primary affiliation with NBC due to WKY radio's association with NBC Radio.
Due to an FCC-imposed freeze on station licenses, WKY-TV was the only Oklahoma City television station until 1953 when KTVQ (channel 25, now KOKH-TV) signed on, taking an ABC affiliation. Later that year KWTV (channel 9) debuted as a primary CBS affiliate. WKY-TV continued as a dual NBC/DuMont affiliate until the DuMont network shut down in 1956. KTVQ closed its operations that year as well, and channel 4 picked up ABC once again. In 1958, ABC station KGEO (channel 5) was moved from Enid into Oklahoma City, becoming KOCO-TV, and that allowed WKY-TV to become an exclusive NBC affiliate.
In 1954, when NBC became the first television network to broadcast color programs, WKY-TV subsequently followed as one of the very first local TV stations in the U.S. to broadcast its own color programming many years ahead of most other local stations nationwide, most of whom did not follow suit until the mid-1960s.
In September 1954, not long before he left for rival KWTV, meteorologist Harry Volkman delivered the first tornado warning broadcast on television. WKY-TV station management believed that the FCC's ban on broadcasting tornado warnings (which they feared broadcasting such warnings would cause panic) was responsible for heavy loss of life, such as in the Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence, a year earlier. They figured that giving advanced warning on such storms would save lives. The station bootlegged a Tornado Forecast from Tinker Air Force Base (which was first produced in 1948), in order to warn people of a tornado in the Oklahoma City area. Survivors sent letters of thanks following the storm to WKY-TV and Volkman for the advance warning.
Over the years, Oklahoma Publishing acquired several other television and radio stations, including WTVT in Tampa, Florida (in 1956), WVTV in Milwaukee (in 1966), KHTV in Houston (launched in 1967), and KTVT in Fort Worth, Texas (in 1971). WKY-TV was their flagship outlet, and Oklahoma Publishing called their television subsidiary the WKY Television System. When the Federal Communications Commission disallowed same market co-ownership of newspapers and broadcast licenses in the early 1970s, the combination of the Daily Oklahoman and WKY-AM-TV was grandfathered under the new rule. But in 1976, WKY-TV was sold to Universal Communications, a subsidiary of the Detroit-based Evening News Association. Universal Communications changed channel 4's call letters to KTVY after the sale was finalized. Oklahoma Publishing retained WKY radio, and its television group was rechristened Gaylord Broadcasting, after the family which owned the company.
The Gannett Company bought the Evening News Association in 1986. Gannett had owned KOCO-TV since 1979, and FCC rules of the time forced Gannett to sell KTVY (along with KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona and WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama) to Knight Ridder Broadcasting after just one day of ownership. In 1989, Knight Ridder sold all of its broadcasting properties to separate buyers, with KTVY going to Palmer Communications, owner of fellow NBC affiliate WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa. Palmer changed the station's call letters to the current KFOR-TV in 1990. The New York Times Company purchased the two stations in 1996.
KFOR-TV eventually became the first station in the country to introduce color Doppler weather radar and in the 1990s, becoming the first television station to broadcast pictures and video of severe weather via cell phones.[citation needed]
On the evening of June 13, 1998, a severe thunderstorm which produced several tornadoes in northern Oklahoma City, including one that hit the Frontier City amusement park, destroyed the old WKY-AM-TV tower not far from KFOR-TV's studios, and was caught on tape by KWTV through one of its CityCams.
KFOR became the first television station in Oklahoma City to launch a digital signal in June of 1999.
On September 13, 2006, The New York Times Company announced that it plans to sell off its television stations, including KFOR. [2] On January 4, 2007, the New York Times Company entered into an agreement to sell the stations to affiliates of the private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners. On May 7, 2007, KFOR officially became part of Local TV LLC.
[edit] Ratings
KFOR-TV has waged a high-spirited battle with its rival KWTV in the Oklahoma City metro area for decades. Currently, it continues to run second in the news ratings behind its KWTV in the morning and late news time periods, and behind ABC affiliate KOCO-TV at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
[edit] News operations
KFOR-TV airs 32.5 hours of local news each week (with five hours on weekdays, two hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays), second only to KWTV in the most hours of local news in the Oklahoma City area. The newscasts generally cover more "serious" issues, such as politics, government, crime, the economy and investigative reports, as well as some lighter fare. On election nights, KFOR-TV runs a special extended edition of their 10PM newscast to cover election results. KFOR-TV's newscasts are well known in Oklahoma City for the longevity of its anchors, and based on that experience and serious coverage, it has become one of the most-watched newscasts in the Oklahoma City area.
The station has three radar systems: "4Warn StormTracker", "4Warn SkyTracker" and "4Warn Doppler". KFOR-TV has the characteristic of being only one of two stations in the state with two doppler radars (the other is KJRH in Tulsa), and has the most powerful Doppler radar in Oklahoma at 1 million watts of power (located near Newcastle).
One of the station's principal anchors, Linda Cavanaugh, has been with the station since 1978. The Barrys and the Ogles are the prominent faces at KFOR. Kevin Ogle is a son of Jack Ogle, who was the station's main news anchor during most of the WKY era and the early KTVY years (a period that also included prominent anchor/reporters George Tomek, Ernie Schultz and Jerry Adams). Sportscaster Bob Barry, who is sports anchor for the 5:00PM and 6:00PM newscasts, has been a fixture at KFOR since the 1960s and is also the longtime radio voice of the Oklahoma Sooners. His son Bob Barry Jr. currently is the station's sports director and 10:00PM sports anchor. Kevin Ogle is co-anchor of the 6:00PM and 10:00PM newscasts, while brother Kent is co-anchor of the morning news on weekdays and principal anchor of the Noon newscast.
Mike Morgan has served as KFOR's chief meteorologist since 1993 and had previously worked at rival ABC affiliate KOCO-TV and Tulsa NBC affiliate KJRH, where former KFOR staff meteorologist Dan Threlkeld is now chief meteorologist. For many years, the station's chief meteorologist was Jim Williams (1958-1990), who was among the few on-air personalities to work at Channel 4 under all three callsigns: WKY, KTVY and KFOR.
The station also airs Flash Point, a political talk show focusing on state and national political issues, moderated by weekday evening anchor Kevin Ogle with Burns Hargis and Mike Turpin as panelists at 9:30am Sundays.
Since 1991, KFOR-TV features the segment Is This a Great State or What? with Galen Culver, airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the 5:00PM newscast. The segment, which is lighter fare, features some of Oklahoma's most interesting stories and interesting people.
Since 2006, KFOR-TV also featured The Rant with Kevin Ogle running Monday through Thursdays during NewsChannel 4 at 10:00, a segment similar to brother Kelly Ogle's My Two Cents segment on KWTV. The main difference is every edition of The Rant is a comment by viewers who submitted an e-mail on their take on the selected topic on the station's website. Each Thursday night's edition is an Open Topic forum which features comments from viewers on various subjects.
[edit] In Your Corner
Since 1973, KFOR-TV has featured its In Your Corner investigative reports, which help people solve various problems with businesses who have ripped people off. Then-anchor Brad Edwards began In Your Corner in 1973, and did the segment until a few months prior his death in 2006 from a brain hemorrhage which came after an unexpected illness whose symptoms included bronchitis and inflammation of the lungs but were otherwise unknown. Reporters Lance West, Cherokee Ballard, Ali Meyer and Scott Hines have done the segments on a rotating basis since June 2006.
[edit] Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4 on OK43
On June 5, 2006, KFOR debuted a half-hour 9:00 newscast produced for KAUT Channel 43, entitled Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4 at 9:00 on OK43 airing Monday through Friday nights. This newscast runs directly against the Fox Primetime News @ 9:00 on KOKH. The newscast is anchored by Cherokee Ballard (who previously anchored the weekend evening news for rival KOCO before joining KFOR in 2005) and Ernie Paulsen (who previously worked for Little Rock NBC affiliate KARK).
[edit] Personalities
[edit] Current On-Air Talent
NEWSCHANNEL 4 ANCHORS
- Meg Alexander, 5PM and 6:30PM Anchor/Fill-in 4:30PM Anchor/Reporter
- Cherokee Ballard, 9PM Anchor (KAUT)/General Assignment Reporter
- Tara Blume, Weekend Morning Anchor/Reporter
- Linda Cavanaugh, 4:30, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
- Ali Meyer, Weekday Morning Anchor/Investigative Reporter/"In Your Corner" Reporter
- Kent Ogle, Morning, Noon Anchor/Reporter
- Kevin Ogle, 4:30, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/"Flash Point" Moderator/Reporter
- Ernie Paulson, 9PM Anchor (KAUT)/General Assignment Reporter/Fill-in Anchor
- Lance West, 5PM and 6:30PM Anchor/Reporter/"In Your Corner" Reporter
NEWSCHANNEL 4 REPORTERS
- Lauren Brown, General Assignment Reporter
- Russell Carter, General Assignment Reporter
- Galen Culver, "Is This A Great State or What?" Feature Reporter
- Ed Doney, General Assignment Reporter/Fill-in Anchor
- Shane Faulkner, General Assignment Reporter/Managing Editor, seen weekday mornings, BMF
- Jim Gardner, Chopper 4 Pilot Reporter
- Burns Hargis, Political Analyst/"Flash Point" Commentator
- Scott Hines, General Assignment Reporter/"In Your Corner" Reporter
- Marika Lorraine, General Assignment Reporter
- Tina McGarry, General Assignment Reporter
- Bobbie Miller, General Assignment Reporter
- Mike "Road King" Rogers, "Time Saver Traffic" Reporter
- Mike Turpin, Political Analyst/"Flash Point" Commentator
- Jesse Wells, General Assignment Reporter
4WARN STORM TEAM METEOROLOGISTS
- Mike Morgan (AMS Certified), 4:30, 5, 6, 6:30 and 10PM Chief Meteorologist
- David Payne (NWA Certified), Weekday Morning and Midday Meteorologist/Fill-in Meteorologist
- Jonathan Conder, Weekend Morning Meteorologist/Fill-in Meteorologist
- Grant Johnston, Weekend Evening Meteorologist/Fill-in Meteorologist
SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS
- Bob Barry, Sr., 5PM and 6PM Sports Anchor
- Bob Barry, Jr., Sports Director/10PM Sports Anchor/Fill-in 6PM Sports Anchor/"Friday Night Heroes" and "Friday Sports Overtime" Host
- Brian Brinkley, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
- Matt Reese, Fill-in Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter
- Damon Fontenot, Sports Reporter
[edit] Former On-Air Talent
- Jerry Adams, Anchor/Reporter (1970s-1980s)
- Curt Autry, Anchor/Reporter (1982-1991; now at WWBT in Richmond, Va.)
- Troy Bridges, Weekend Morning Meteorologist (2001-2005; now chief meteorologist at KLRT-TV in Little Rock)
- Uze Brown-Washington, Anchor/Reporter (1988-1995)
- Steve Carano, Meteorologist (1998-2001; now at KOCO-TV)
- Brad Edwards, Anchor/Investigative Reporter (1973-2006; deceased)
- Lee Evans, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1992-1997; died in a car accident)
- Bob Frier, Anchor/Reporter (1998-2001; now at WKMG-TV in Orlando)
- Tarra Haskins,Producer/Reporter (1983 - 1985)
- Heather Holeman, Sunday Evening/Weekday morning Anchor/Reporter (2000-2007)
- Van Shea Iven, Sports Reporter (1992-2004; now host of Oklahoma High School Sports Express for KAUT-TV)
- Kathy Jones, Anchor and Reporter (Early 1990s, killed in plane crash while on assignment 1994)
- Herbert Kershaw, Jr., Meteorologist (1960s-1970s; deceased)
- Ronald Leary, (1991-1993)
- Peter Maize, Reporter (1980s; now an author in Hong Kong)
- Jack Ogle, Anchor/Reporter (1960s-1970s; deceased)
- Lara O'Leary, Reporter (1994-1996; now spokesperson for EMSA)
- Tammy Payne, Anchor/Reporter (1980s-1994, 1997-2003)
- Devin Scillian, Anchor/Reporter (1989-1995; now at WDIV in Detroit and a children's book author)
- Ernie Schultz, Anchor/Reporter (1960s-1970s)
- Dan Threlkeld, Meteorologist (1984-2001; now at KJRH-TV in Tulsa)
- George Tomek, Anchor/Reporter (Late 1970s-1987; now at OETA)
- Quin Tran, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1994-2005; now media freelancer)
- Heather Unruh, Anchor (1995-2001; now at WCVB-TV in Boston)
- Ed Stewart, Reporter (1980s)
- Jim Williams, Chief Meteorologist (1958-1990)
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- The Esso Reporter (1950s-1960s)
- 24 Hours (Late 1960s-Early 1970s)
- News Center 4 (Mid-Late 1970s)
- Action 4 News (Late 1970s-Mid 1980s; presented on air simply as Action 4)
- News 4 Oklahoma (Late 1980s-1990)
- NewsTeam 4 (1990-1993)
- NewsChannel 4 (1993-1997) while KFOR has since reverted its branding to Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4, some reporters still occasionally sign off their reports with "(reporter's name), NewsChannel 4." Currently, the only reporter who does this is Galen Culver.
- Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4 (1996-present (used interchangeably with NewsChannel 4 branding from 1996 to 1997))
[edit] Station slogans
- It's a New 4 (early 1980s)
- 4's the One (early/mid 1980s)
- Going All Out 4 Oklahoma (mid/late 1980s-1990)
- 4 Strong (1990-1994)
- The Strength of Oklahoma (1990-1994)
- Where The News Comes First (1994-1997)
- Expect The News First (1997-2001)
- Oklahoma's NewsChannel (1994-present)
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[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- KFOR-DT 4.2, which broadcasts weather information from NBC Weather Plus and features local weather forecasts and severe weather updates from KFOR's 4Warn Storm Team, is branded as "4Warn 24/7," making it one of the few Weather Plus affiliates not to use its parent branding. KFOR-TV also does not simulcast 4Warn 24/7 on its website or on NBC Weather Plus' website, unlike most NBC affiliates that carry NBC Weather Plus on its digital signal.
- When this station was KTVY, it aired one-hour edited replays of Oklahoma Sooners football games co-hosted by then-head coach Barry Switzer. This program was also syndicated on other stations, like KDOC in Orange County, California, at the same time that OU was challenging the NCAA's rules restricting the number of college football telecasts. The United States Supreme Court lifted the restrictions in 1984.
[edit] Office location
KFOR's studios are located at 444 East Britton Road. The transmitter facility is located across the street from KOCO-TV at 1400 E Britton Road.
[edit] External links
- KFOR-TV's Webpage
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KFOR-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K18BV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K53CI
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K60ER
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K61CW
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KFOR-TV
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