KXTV

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KXTV
Sacramento, California
Branding News10
Slogan Committed to News and Connected to Our Community
Channels Analog: 10 (VHF)

Digital: 61 (UHF)

Subchannels 10.1 HD
10.2 The AccuWeather Channel
Affiliations ABC
Owner Gannett Company
(KXTV, Inc.)
First air date March 20, 1955
Call letters’ meaning X = Roman numeral 10 (for channel number)
TV
Former callsigns KBET-TV (1955-1959)
Former affiliations CBS (1955-1995)
Transmitter Power 314 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
Height 612 m (analog)
593 m (digital)
Facility ID 25048
Transmitter Coordinates 38°14′23.2″N, 121°30′5.8″W
Website www.news10.net

KXTV, channel 10, is an ABC affiliate in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. The transmitter (shared with KOVR) is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown Sacramento. The tower is among the tallest in the world and is likely the tallest structure in California.

Contents

[edit] History

The station went on the air on March 19, 1955 as KBET, owned by locally-based Sacramento Telecasters. Four years later, the call letters became KXTV (the "X" being the Roman numeral for the VHF channel it broadcasts on, channel 10) when Corinthian Broadcasting bought the station. Corinthian became part of Dun & Bradstreet in 1971. The A.H. Belo Corporation bought all of Dun & Bradstreet's television stations (except for two in Indiana, which went to LIN Broadcasting) in February of 1984.

From its founding until 1995, KXTV was an affiliate of CBS. As a CBS affiliate, the station preempted some lower-rated daytime (the 9-10am block in the 1980s and early 90's) and late night (from the late 1980s until the arrival of The Late Show with David Letterman in 1993) programs. KXTV also preempted Sunday morning cartoons that CBS offered from the 60's until the early 80's. In 1991, KXTV dropped Price Is Right, due to the abundance of syndicated programming commitments. After several months of complaints, KXTV reinstated "Price Is Right, but to make room for syndicated programming it was committed to carry, dropped Guiding Light due to low ratings in the early 1990s. While most CBS stations would air The Young and The Restless from 11 a.m.-NOON, KXTV moved it to the 3 p.m. timeslot in 1994 where the soap did well.

Then, on March 6, 1995, in an unprecedented move in local television, KXTV swapped affiliations with KOVR, switching networks from CBS to ABC. As an ABC affiliate, the station preempted the half-hour soap airing in the 12:30 timeslot (Loving/The City/Port Charles), at some point running it on overnights; but when the network axed the programming block outright in the early 2000s; KXTV has aired the entire schedule of ABC programming since then. For the first 6 months as an ABC affiliate, KXTV preempted an hour of ABC Saturday morning cartoons, but since the Fall of 1995 has run the entire Saturday morning block. On another note, KXTV aired All My Children at 3 p.m. in the early years as an ABC affiliate (probably because they previously aired a soap from CBS in that timeslot and to maintain a similar type of show in that slot), before finally following the niche of airing it at Noon alongside majority of the ABC stations -- only after the midday newscast moved an hour earlier from Noon to 11 a.m..

An advertisement for Lex Boyd the morning anchor in 1957
An advertisement for Lex Boyd the morning anchor in 1957

Four years later, in 1999, Belo traded KXTV to Gannett for that company's KVUE in Austin, Texas. That same year, KXTV began digital broadcasts on a new and separate HDTV channel called 10.1. Then, in 2001, to reflect the station's commitment to its news coverage, KXTV decided to become better known as "News10". In 2006 News 10 started broadcasting a 24 hour weather channel on its second HDTV channel called 10.2.

Until recently, KXTV had first choice on all King World programs offered locally--King World has since become CBS Television Distribution and acquisition policies may have now changed. Nevertheless, KXTV holds the local syndication rights to Jeopardy!, Inside Edition, and Wheel of Fortune (all King World-turned-CBS properties). Until 2002, the station also held the local syndication rights to The Oprah Winfrey Show (now another CBS property seen locally on KCRA/KQCA). It is these shows that have made News10 one of the highest-rated local stations in daytime television. Since 2002-2003, KXTV has been the local television home of the Sacramento Kings, the city's National Basketball Association franchise, which coincides with their network's coverage of NBA games. The station picked up the rights to Kings telecasts in the middle of the 2002-03 season due to the contractual dispute between the team and its then-rights holder, ex-UPN station KMAX.

In the late '00s, KXTV heavily promoted its weather coverage as part of its "Connected to Our Community" marketing campaign. Over-the-air promotions introduced weather presenters and touted weather coverage on the internet (news10.net), on its dedicated digital weather channel (channel 10.2, referred to as "ten-dot-two"), and "on the 10s" (at :10, :20, :30, etc.) on "News 10 Good Morning," its 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. newscast.

Also in the late '00s, KXTV intensively covered local high school football, especially during Friday news broadcasts. In 2007, for example, the segments were known as "Friday Night Football." The station's helicopter flew from one high school to another to capture aerial shots of the various games. KCRA had its own version called "High School Playbook."

On September 12, 2005, KXTV launched a morning program called Sacramento & Company (common for and number of Gannett stations) hosted by Kristen Simoes and Guy Farris. Sacramento & Co. is a local morning lifestyles and entertainment show that is sponsored by local companies. The show airs weekdays from 9-10 AM and is available online. [1]

News10 Studios in Sacramento at 400 Broadway
News10 Studios in Sacramento at 400 Broadway

KXTV will be the market's only commercial station to remain on the VHF dial once the FCC completes the digital transition on February 17, 2009. [2]

[edit] News10 Weather Tower

The News 10 weather tower was debuted on August 24, 2001, the same day the California State Fair opened. It was completed on October 11, 2000, but News10 decided to debut it later because of the rolling blackouts at that time. It was built and designed by Nacht & Lewis Architects based in downtown Sacramento. The television station, an anchor facility and active proponent of improvements to the Broadway Street Corridor, elected not to construct a conventional broadcast tower, examples of which may be seen throughout Sacramento. The proposed design melds the rather demanding engineering requirements for communications towers with sensitivity to the suggestions of the surrounding residents while creating an icon and gateway for the Broadway Corridor. The top glows Red when the forecast is 100+ Yellow=Sunny Green=Rainy Blue=High Winds White=Cloudy and Purple=The Sacramento Kings or the Sacramento Monarchs won their latest game.

News10 Weather Tower at day time
News10 Weather Tower at day time
News10 Weather Tower at night time
News10 Weather Tower at night time

[edit] Information Center

The web center located in the News10 newsroom debuted in early 2006 is where the News10 Now updates are conducted, online stories are written for the web site and where is Live_Online is conducted. Sometime in late February 2008 News10 is expected to debut a new newsroom anchor desk, similar to CBS 13's newsroom desk.

[edit] Newscasts

Prior to adopting the current News10 newscast branding in 1983; KXTV's newscasts had successively identified as Shell News, The Big News, Channel 10 News, Newservice 10 (in the 1970s), and Eyewitness News (early 80's [3]). For the past couple decades, KXTV has been runner up to KCRA.

An advertisement for the Wilson-Gray Report in 1965
An advertisement for the Wilson-Gray Report in 1965

[edit] Former Notable On-air talent

  • Dick Cable- Was an anchor for News10 since the 70s and retired in 1998. He currently resides in Sacramento County.
  • Dan Adams-Served as a reporter in the Stockton Bureau in March 1981. Later in 1987 he moved to Sacramento as a general assignment reporter until early 2006 when he moved to the inland bay area as a one-man-band multimedia Journalist for News10 and mainly covered stories in the Bay Area. As of March 28th, 2008 Adams retired from the News10 family and now is living on the west side of the countryMexico.

[edit] Current Personalities/ Joined Date

Anchors

  • Dan Elliott- News 10 Good Morning Anchor 5-7am, and Midday at 11am Weekdays (1989)
  • Dana Howard- Sunday Anchor 5, 6, and 11pm/ Weekday Reporter Mon-Thurs (1992)
  • Kelly Jackson- News 10 Good Morning Anchor 5-7am (2007)
  • Alicia Malaby- Saturday Anchor 6 and 11pm, Weekday Reporter Mon-Weds (1999)
  • Cristina Mendonsa- Weekday Evening Anchor 5, 6, 11pm (1995)
  • Dale Schornack- Weekday Evening Anchor 5, 6, 11pm (1997)
  • Jennifer Smith- Sunday 11 p.m. anchor Mon - Thurs, News10 Midday Anchor/ Special Assignment Reporter (1980)

Weather

  • Darla Givens - Weekend Evenings, Weds and Fri at 11am on Midday, News10 Good Morning Free Fridays 5-7am (1999)
  • Gregg Lalka - Mon-Tues at 11am/ weekend mornings...& Reports Mon and Tues on News10 Good Morning (2005)
  • Patty Souza- Chief Meteorologist Weekday evenings 5, 6, 11pm (2006)
  • Monica Woods- News10 Good Morning Weekdays 5-7am (2001)
  • Harry Stockman, Former News10 Meteorologist, and Fill-in Weather anchor

Sports

Traffic Team

Video Journalists

  • Cornell Barnard- San Joaquin Valley Reporter Weekdays at 11pm/ Fill-in Anchor (1997)
  • Jon Baird- Freelance Reporter (2007)
  • Marcey Brightwell- Political Reporter (2001)
  • Angel Cardenas- Fill-Traffic anchor/ Sports Reporter (Engineer in 2001, On-air job 2006)
  • Nicole Chavez- News10 Good Morning/ Midday Reporter 5-7am, and Midday at 11am (2005)
  • Tim Daly- San Joaquin Valley Chief reporter (1991)
  • Will Frampton- General Assignment Reporter (2008)
  • Mark Hedlund- Weekday Reporter (1981)
  • Deborah Hoffman- Weekday Reporter (1995)
  • Sharon Ito- Weekday Online Chat room moderator 11 a.m. (1985 and again 1996)
  • Dave Marquis- Sun-Thurs weeknight Reporter (1993)
  • Karen Massie- Educational Reporter/ Weekday Reporter (1987)
  • Nannette Miranda- Freelance State reporter with KGO-TV (2003)
  • Jonathan Mumm- "Mumm @ the Movies" critic, Weekday Reporter, "California Postcard in HD" Segment (1983)
  • Gina Villarreal- Weekend Assignment Editor, Fill-in Reporter (2006)
  • George Warren- Weekday Reporter (1981)

[edit] Past news personalities

Name Position at KXTV Years Active Whereabouts
Dan Adams News10 Reporter 1981-2008 (27 years) Now retired, Living in Mexico
Beth Duncan News10 Good Morning Traffic Anchor 1998-2001 Local Radio Traffic
Justin Allen Fill-in Sports Anchor Few months in late 2005 Now at WTSP in Tampa Bay
Rene Apple Fill-in Traffic Anchor Few months in 2002 Metro Traffic Radio in Sacramento
Cecil King News10 Good Morning pilot 2004- Early 2005 Private Sacramento Pilot
Jim Frazier Sports Anchor 1995-1998 and again freelanced in late 2002 Radio Sports Show Talk Host
Rob Marshall Air 10 Pilot 1990s- Nov. 2003 Now at KDVR-TV in Denver, CO
J.D Maher Weekend Meteorologist January 2000- June 2005 Now at KTXL-40 Freelancing
Kym McNicholas Fill-in Sports Anchor Few months in 2002 Now at Sacramento Comcast Cable Sports
Julie Durda Traffic Anchor/ Air10 Traffic reporter Intern since 2003, on-air job summer 2005- July 2006. Now at KPHO-TV in Phoenix
Will Selva Sports Anchor Mar. 2003-Mar. 2005 Sports Anchor CNN Headline News in Atlanta
Kiran Chetry Morning Anchor/ Reporter 1998-2001 Now at CNN in New York City
John Delatorre Morning Meteorologist 1998-2001 Now President of Deladiep, Inc. & Fun Stix Magnets, Inc.
Jane McCarthy Reporter/ Fill-in Anchor 1999- Apr. 2004 Now at KING-TV in Seattle, WA; Married to former KTXL anchor Tim Robinson
Tom Helmer Fill-in Sports Anchor Few months in 2003 Host of FSN's nationally televised BCS Breakdown and FSN Baseball Report
Dick Cable Anchor 1969-1998 Currently retired in Sacramento
Sande Drew Anchor/ Reporter 1970-1975 Public Relations
Jerome Gray Reporter 1987-1991 Now at KPRC-TV
Dana Jacobson Weekend Sports Anchor 1998- Oct. 2002 Now at ESPN host of Cold Pizza
Elissa Lynn Chief Meteorologist 1996-2006 California Department of Water Resources
Steve Newman Meteorologist 1975-1978 Moved to WFAA 1978-1980 then several San Francisco TV stations until retiring in 2001. Now writes ''Earthweek'' distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.
Beth Ruyak Anchor 1992-1995 Hosts "Pulse" and "Your Health" shows on KCRA
Creighton Sanders Sports Anchor 1960-1980 Jumped ship to KCRA-TV, then retired
Stuart Satow Sports Director Anchor 1980-2002 Now with CPS services in Sacramento
Kim Herlihy Morning Traffic 2000 (6 months) English Elk Grove High Teacher
Hank Thronley First News10 Anchor 1955-1960 Retired
Ken Wayne Morning Anchor 1998-2000 Now at KTVU-TV Oakland, Ca weekend anchor
Alan Frio Anchor 1970s-1997 Now at WSMV-TV
Lex Boyd Anchor 1950s-19?? Now retired
Pamela Tom Freelance Reporter Few months in late 2002-early 2003 Now at KGO-TV Freelancing
Mary Pae Freelance Reporter Few months in late 2002 Unknown
Deborah Pacyna State Reporter 1984-2001 Fleishman Hillard Public Relations in Sacramento
Kelly Brothers Financial Reporter Jan. 2006-Oct. 2007 Now at KCRA again (Morning financial expert)
Monika Diaz General Assignment Reporter Oct. 2003- Nov. 2007 Now at WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas
This film, television, or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] High Definition & Digital TV

News10 (KXTV)produces Friday Night Football highlights, and Jonathan Mumm's California Postcard reports in High Definition.

KXTV recently produced The Future Is HDTV on News 10, an HD produced special, profiling the FCC's imposed transition from an Analog television signal to a Digital television signal. The special also show-cased the HD produced shows from ABC, as well as some syndicated shows.

On KXTV's digital subchannel 61.2 (known as 10.2), The AccuWeather Channel broadcasts live National weather, plus local KXTV weather. It is available online.

Rumors have suggested that KXTV coud be next in line to begin a full HD produced newscast, and following the lead of 8 other Gannett-owned stations, which are now producing their newscasts in high definition. Those stations include KARE (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN - Debuted in April, 2006), KPNX (Phoenix, AZ - Debuted on November 2, 2006), KSDK (St. Louis, MO - Debuted on February 6, 2006), KUSA (Denver, CO - Debuted in April, 2004), WKYC (Cleveland, OH - Debuted in May, 2006), WUSA (Washington, DC - Debuted on May 2, 2005), WXIA (Atlanta, GA - Debuted on February 2, 2006), and WTSP (Tampa Bay, FL - Debuted on January 14, 2008). However, a web producer told Radio Matthew, a local Sacramento blogger, that KXTV's mission was to deliver the news, and that they felt that delivering the news in high-definition wasn't as important as simply delivering the news.

[edit] Digital Television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels

Virtual
Channel
Physical
RF Channel
Cable Video Aspect Programming
10.1 61.1 10 / 910 1080i 16:9 Main News10 Programming
10.2 61.2 480i 4:3 News10 Now

In 2009, KXTV will remain on channel 10 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.[1]

[edit] Other station notes

  • As a CBS affiliate, KXTV's station ID would include an electronic alarm like version of the infamous CBS "ding".
  • KXTV is the third station in Sacramento to affiliate with ABC. Low-performing ABC affiliate KCCC Channel 40 (now the home of KTXL) had it first before shutting down and the network moved to KOVR.
  • Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have aired on KXTV since the mid-80s (back when it was CBS). Until 2002, The Oprah Winfrey Show also aired on KXTV, but it has since moved to KCRA.

[edit] External links