Bakersfield, California | |
---|---|
Branding | ABC 23 (general) ABC 23 News (newscast) |
Slogan | We Cover Kern County |
Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) Virtual: 23 (PSIP) |
Subchannels | 23.1 ABC (HD) 42.2 Azteca America (SD) 23.3 The Cool TV (SD) |
Affiliations | American Broadcasting Company |
Owner | The E.W. Scripps Company (Scripps Media, Inc.) |
First air date | September 26, 1953 |
Call letters' meaning | KERn County's TV Outlet |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 10 (VHF, 1953-1963) 23 (UHF, 1963-2009) |
Former affiliations | NBC (1953-1984) CBS (1984-1996) |
Transmitter power | 10.8 kW |
Height | 1081 m |
Facility ID | 40878 |
Website | www.turnto23.com/ |
KERO-TV is a television station serving Bakersfield, California. It is an ABC affiliate owned by The E.W. Scripps Company, and transmits its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Syndicated programming on KERO includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Ellen.
Contents[hide] |
KERO went on the air on September 26, 1953, on VHF channel 10 (now home to KERO's digital signal) as an NBC affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] KERO was first owned by a local interest, who sold it to Marietta Broadcasting in 1957. Marietta was absorbed by Transcontinent Broadcasting of Buffalo, New York in 1959.
One of KERO's best remembered shows was Cousin Herb's Trading Post, a local variety series in the 1950s. The show's host, Herb Henson (d.1963), was a country musician, and often featured budding country artists like Buck Owens and Tommy Collins, who would come to popularize the "Bakersfield Sound". Another local favorite was The Uncle Woody Show in the 60s and 70s. Radio and TV personality Casey Kasem also used the KERO studios to tape a weekly musical TV variety show entitled SheBang in the mid to late 1960s, while a disc jockey at KRLA in Los Angeles.
As a result of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) making both the Bakersfield and Fresno television markets all-UHF, KERO moved to channel 23 on July 1, 1963 and simulcasted on channels 10 and 23 for two months, channel 10 being shut off at the end of August of the same year.
Transcontinent's merger with Taft Television and Radio Co., Inc. in 1964 left the newly-merged company two television stations over the FCC's ownership limit of the time. As a result, Taft divested both of Transcontinent's California stations to separate owners, with KERO going to Time-Life Broadcasting. McGraw-Hill acquired KERO in 1972 along with three other Time-Life stations (which were KLZ-TV in Denver, KOGO-TV in San Diego and WFBM-TV in Indianapolis. Of the four, KERO-TV is the only one that retains its pre-1972 callsign). The TV station, along with KERO radio (1230AM) originally broadcast from the lobby of the El Tejon Hotel, which was located at the corner of Truxtun Avenue and Chester Avenue. KERO later moved to its current studios at 321 21st St.
KERO remained as an NBC affiliate until March 1984, when it switched to CBS. In March 1996, as part of a corporate affiliation deal between McGraw-Hill and ABC, KERO picked up the ABC affiliation from cross-town rival KBAK-TV, and in the process became the second television station in the Bakersfield market (after KGET), and one of a handful of television stations in the United States, to have been an affiliate of all three big networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC).
In August 2006 KERO-TV officially became a duopoly with KZKC-LP, an Azteca America affiliate. At this time, KERO-TV does not plan on airing any local Spanish language news on this channel.
In May 2007, KERO along with its sister stations began to use the same news music of the ABC O&O's Eyewitness News New Generation package and branded themselves as "ABC 23", however KERO is not owned or operated by ABC. It is in plans to broadcast their news in high definition for the Bakersfield market by the end of 2011. KERO is the Bakersfield home for Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers pre-season games.
On October 3, 2011, McGraw-Hill announced it was selling its entire television station group to The E.W. Scripps Company for $212 million.[2] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.[3]
KERO news anchors Jackie Parks and Todd Karli, a husband and wife team, currently anchor KERO 23 News at 6. Former news anchor Burleigh Smith (d.1990) is considered by many to be the father of television news in Bakersfield. Smith produced and anchored at KERO from 1954-1960, and again from 1973-1990.
Other longtime KERO news personalilties include Don Rodewald (who hosted the afternoon movie), George Day, and Sunny Scofield. MSNBC "Live & Direct" host Rita Cosby, was a KERO reporter in the 1980s.
Lloyd Lindsay Young joined the station in 2005, as chief weathercaster. His trademark intro is "Hellooooo (insert city name)". He is also known for his outrageous weather pointers which are sent in by viewers. Submissions are usually outrageous & have ranged from a mannequin leg, to a dildo. On September 17, 2008, the Bakersfield Californian reported that Young has departed KERO-TV after more than three years there. No reason was given for his departure, which followed the broadcasts of September 16, 2008. Rusty Shoop, who is known throughout Bakersfield, and was a former KERO weather anchor, replaced Young. Shoop earlier suffered a brain aneurysm and this was his first TV appearance since the illness. Shoop started on October 27, 2008. After being at KERO-TV for a year, Rusty Shoop retired from broadcasting on December 9, 2009 for medical reasons from his brain aneurysm he suffered back in January 2007.[4] On January 18, 2010, Jack Church, who was chief metorologist from 1999-2001 replaced Rusty Shoop and was the chief meteorologist from January 18, 2010 until May 5, 2011.
Anchors
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
|
|
|