KSHB-TV
 | |
| Kansas City, Missouri- Kansas City, Kansas United States | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Branding | 41 Action News |
| Slogan |
Kansas City's Breaking News Leader (news) Kansas City's Weather Leader (weather) |
| Channels |
Digital: 42 (UHF) Virtual: 41 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels |
41.1 NBC 41.2 Cozi TV |
| Affiliations | NBC (1994–present) |
| Owner |
The E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Media, Inc.) |
| First air date | August 10, 1970 |
| Call letters' meaning |
Scripps Howard Broadcasting (former name of broadcasting division) |
| Sister station(s) | KMCI-TV |
| Former callsigns | KBMA-TV (1970–1981) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 41 (UHF, 1970–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
independent (1970–1986) Fox (1986–1994) |
| Transmitter power | 450 kW |
| Height | 275.8 m |
| Facility ID | 59444 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°58′40″N 94°31′59.5″W / 38.97778°N 94.533194°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.kshb.com |
KSHB-TV, virtual channel 41 (UHF digital channel 42), is an NBC-affiliated television station serving Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas, United States. The station is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, as part of the company's only legal full-power duopoly with independent station KMCI-TV (channel 38). The two stations share studio facilities located on Oak Street and Cleaver Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri; KSHB's transmitter is located at the Blue River Greenway in the city's Hillcrest section.
As the Saint Joseph market does not have an NBC affiliate of its own, KSHB serves as a default affiliate for the area as its transmitter provides a city-grade signal in St. Joseph proper, and it is available on cable and satellite providers in the market.
History
Early history
The station first signed on the air on August 10, 1970 as KBMA-TV (standing for Businessmen's Assurance Company of America, which provided initial funds for the station's founding), and was originally owned by Wilson D. Grant. It originally operated as an independent station. However, it had stronger financing and programming than the city's first independent, KCIT-TV (channel 50, now KPXE-TV). KCIT went off the air in 1971, and for the next 12 years, channel 41 was the only independent station in Kansas City (channel 50 eventually returned to the air in 1978, but as a religious station; it is now an Ion Television owned-and-operated station). The station's original studio facilities were located in the BMA Tower; the first local program on KBMA was an afternoon children's show called 41 Treehouse Lane, which also showcased cartoons. From the early 1970s through the 1980s, it was available on many cable providers in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma – including many large Midwestern cities that did not have independent stations of their own, such as Des Moines, Omaha, Lincoln and Wichita – effectively becoming a regional superstation.
KBMA was sold to Scripps Howard Broadcasting in 1977. To reflect its new ownership, the station later changed its call letters to KSHB-TV in 1981. Channel 41 acquired some strong off-network sitcoms and movie packages, and remained the area's leading independent station. KSHB became a charter affiliate of Fox when that network launched on October 9, 1986,[1] but it remained essentially an independent station since the network provided programming only on weekends early on. By the early 1990s, KSHB rebranded as "Fox 41," and began to add a few talk and reality shows to its schedule.
As an NBC affiliate
On May 22, 1994, New World Communications signed an affiliation agreement with Fox, six months after the network won the rights to the NFL's National Football Conference television package. This resulted in most of New World's various "Big Three" network stations switching their affiliations to Fox. One of the stations involved was Kansas City's longtime NBC affiliate, WDAF-TV (channel 4). NBC eventually signed a deal to affiliate with KSHB on August 1, 1994,[2] on the condition that it carry as much local news programming as WDAF had run as an NBC affiliate. KSHB was not part of Scripps' affiliation deal with ABC (which was struck around the same time) due to ABC's long-term contract with KMBC-TV (channel 9). NBC moved to channel 41 on September 12, 1994 with WDAF taking over the Fox affiliation. Fox Kids programming as well as much of KSHB's syndicated programming inventory was acquired by KSMO-TV (channel 62).
For four years after the switch, KSHB aired most Kansas City Chiefs games as part of NBC's broadcast contract with the American Football Conference; the games moved to KCTV (channel 5) in 1998 when the AFC package migrated to CBS (Chiefs games now only air on KSHB whenever NBC airs a Sunday Night Football telecast featuring the team). Scripps Howard began to manage KMCI (channel 38) in 1996,[3] and moved KSHB's sitcoms to that station; Scripps acquired KMCI outright in 2001.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KSHB-DT | Main KSHB-TV programming / NBC |
| 41.2 | 480i | KSHB-WX | Cozi TV |
Analog-to-digital transition
KSHB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 41, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 42.[5][6] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 41.
Programming
Syndicated programs seen on KSHB include The Doctors, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Jeopardy! (Wheel of Fortune, usually paired with Jeopardy! in most markets, airs in Kansas City on WDAF-TV) and the Scripps-produced Let's Ask America. Although it airs most NBC programs in pattern, KSHB airs the NBC Kids block on a one-hour delay due to its Saturday morning newscast, and runs Early Today 30 to 60 minutes earlier than most NBC stations in the Central Time Zone at 3:30 a.m., in line with the Eastern Time scheduling of the program.
News operation
KSHB-TV presently broadcasts 32 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours on weekdays, four hours on Saturdays and 2½ hours on Sundays). It is one of ten television stations that air consumer reports from John Matarese of ABC-affiliated sister station WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. Although KSHB's newscast ratings are generally lower than WDAF, KCTV (channel 5) and KMBC-TV (channel 9) (and NBC's ratings have been lower than ABC, CBS and Fox since the mid-2000s), the station has seen some slow viewership growth in the last several years. In fact, KSHB is now solidly in second place at 5 and 6 p.m., and has risen to third in the 6 a.m. timeslot. Given NBC's often mediocre to poor performance in primetime in recent years, its late evening newscast at 10 p.m. continues to struggle, consistently ranking in fourth place, and also a close third at a small enough margin to where KSHB competes to an extent with WDAF (which itself competes with KCTV for second place) for third place in the market.
Channel 41 ran news programs in various formats for years prior to joining NBC. As an independent station, KSHB (as KBMA) aired news updates with reports supplied by United Press International over a 41 Newsbreak slide. The station aired a 15-minute local newscast at 10 p.m. as 41 Express during the 1980s, as well as live news updates that ran during prime time until 1991. The current news department began with the August 1993 debut of Fox 41 News at Nine, a half-hour 9 p.m. newscast that was anchored by Jim Condelles and Pam Davis. In September 1994, when it became an NBC affiliate, KSHB added newscasts at 5 p.m. seven nights a week and at 6 p.m. weeknights; the 9 p.m. newscast was also moved to 10 p.m.[7] The 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts were canceled in 1997, in favor of a single half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m.; newscasts were reinstated at 5 and 6 p.m. upon the removal of the 6:30 broadcast in March 1999.[8] In 2000, KSHB began producing a half-hour 9 p.m. newscast for KMCI; by the time it was canceled in 2003, the program was titled 38 News Now and had used different graphics, a different (and drastically smaller) set, and a different all-percussion theme than KSHB's newscasts.
KSHB has since become a more news-intensive operation – to the point where it currently brands itself as 41 Action News. The Action News branding, as a Scripps-owned station, is also shared with sister stations WFTS-TV in Tampa and WXYZ-TV in Detroit (both of which are ABC affiliates). In the case of the Kansas City market, KSHB is the second station to use the branding – dating from when WDAF used it for its newscasts from 1974 to 1990 as an NBC affiliate. The Action News branding on KSHB originated as NBC Action News in 2003, for use as a unified brand for both entertainment programming and newscasts; after station management discovered that most viewers still referred to KSHB as "channel 41," the on-air branding was changed (with very little promotion) to 41 Action News on February 5, 2012 beginning with its 10 p.m. newscast (following NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI and the second season premiere of The Voice).[9]
In September 2005, KSHB debuted a mid-morning talk program, Kansas City Live, which was similar to the Kansas City Today program that aired on the station in the late 1990s, and AM Live which aired in the 1980s; the show was cancelled in early 2008, replaced with an 11 a.m. newscast; a new talk show under the Kansas City Live title debuted in 2012. KSHB became the second station in the Kansas City market (behind KMBC-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition on April 24, 2008, starting with its 11 a.m. newscast; a new high definition set was unveiled on August 8. In November 2009, KSHB-TV introduced a new red and brown standardized graphics package (designed by a graphics hub based out of WFTS-TV) and news theme (composed by Musikvergnuegen) for its newscasts, that became utilized on most of Scripps' stations.[10]
On August 23, 2010, KSHB expanded its morning newscast to a 4:30 a.m. start time (the station had previously started its morning newscast at 4 a.m. from 2005 to 2006); its hour-long Saturday morning newscast was extended to two hours from 8-10 a.m. and an hour-long Saturday 6 p.m. newscast was added on September 4.[11] Earlier on August 19, KSHB announced that former WDAF-TV sports director Frank Boal (who had announced in 2009 that he was retiring from the television industry) would be joining the station as a contributor for its NFL and college football coverage. On August 29, 2011, KSHB debuted a half-hour 4:30 p.m. newscast, which utilizes social media platforms to allow viewers to interact with the program.[12] On April 8, 2013, the station added a 4 p.m. newscast on weekdays.[13]
News/station presentation
Newscast titles
- 41 News Update (1981–1985)
- 41 Express (1985–1988)
- KSHB TV-41 Newsbreak (1988–1991)
- Fox 41 News at Nine (1993–1994)
- 41 News (1994–1999)
- NBC 41 News (1999–2003)
- NBC Action News (2003–2012)[14]
- 41 Action News (2012–present)
Station slogans
- "Kansas City's 41" (1980–1992)
- "Entertainment Around the Clock" (1992–1994)
- "It's NBC on 41" (1994–1996)
- "The Answers You're Looking For" (1996–1999)
- "Kansas City's In-Depth News" (1999–2003)
- "Your Source for Breaking News" (2003–2005)
- "Complete Coverage" (2005–2008; news slogan)
- "Stand Up and Tell 'em You're from KC" (2005; used in image campaign using Frank Gari's "Turn To...")
- "Always On" (2005–2008; general slogan)
- "Kansas City's Breaking News Leader" (2008–present)
- "Kansas City's Weather Leader" (weather slogan; 2008–present)
News team
Current on-air staff
- Anchors[15]
- Mark Clegg - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Christa Dubill - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.
- Patrick Fazio - weekday mornings on 41 Action News Today (4:30-7 a.m.)
- Amy Hawley - weekend evenings
- Cynthia Newsome - weekdays at 11 a.m.; also medical reporter
- JiaoJiao Shen - weekday mornings on 41 Action News Today (4:30-7 a.m.)
- Lindsay Shively - weekend mornings on 41 Action News Today (8-9 a.m.); also weekday morning multimedia journalist
- Jadiann Thompson - weeknights at 6 p.m.; also reporter
- 41 Action Weather[15]
- Gary Lezak (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Michelle Apon - weather anchor; weekend mornings on 41 Action News Today (8-9 a.m.)
- Kalee Dionee (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings on 41 Action News Today (4:30-7 a.m.) and weekdays at 11 a.m.
- Jeff Penner (AMS Seal of Approval) - fill-in meteorologist; also weather producer
- JD Rudd (AMS Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings
- 41 Action Sports[15]
- Jack Harry - sports director; Sunday-Thursdays at 5 and 10, and Monday-Thursdays at 6 p.m.
- Frank Boal - sports contributor; also fill-in sports anchor
- Dee Jackson- sports reporter
- Reporters[15]
- Lisa Benson - general assignment reporter
- Brendaliss Gonzalez - general assignment reporter
- Andres Gutierrez - general assignment reporter
- Garrett Haake - general assignment reporter
- Jenna Hanchard - general assignment reporter
- Sarah Hollenbeck - general assignment reporter
- Ryan Kath - general assignment and investigative reporter
- Keith King - "Call For Action" reporter
- Syed Shabbir - general assignment reporter
- Mitch Weber - general assignment reporter
- Melissa Yeager - investigative reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Najahe Sherman - weekend morning anchor (2010–2013)
References
- ↑ Fox Broadcasting Co. reaches affiliate agreements with 79 TV stations to exclusively broadcast offered programming, PR Newswire (via HighBeam Research), August 4, 1986.
- ↑ THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Scripps Deal With NBC, The New York Times, August 1, 1994.
- ↑ Scripps to Run TV Station in Lawrence, Kan., The Cincinnati Post (via HighBeam Research), March 28, 1996.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KSHB
- ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ↑ KC TV stations will delay digital-only switch, Kansas City Business Journal, February 6, 2009.
- ↑ Starting from scratch: in the wake of sales and affiliation changes, stations face the challenge of creating a news department, Broadcasting & Cable (via HighBeam Research), September 4, 1995.
- ↑ Kansas City reshuffle, Broadcasting & Cable (via HighBeam Research), March 8, 1999.
- ↑ KSHB Re-Brands Itself
- ↑ Dickson, Glen. "Scripps' Graphics Overhaul.", Broadcasting & Cable, February 9, 2009. HighBeam Research, February 16, 2011.
- ↑
- ↑ Local News Periods Keep Expanding in Kansas City
- ↑
- ↑ KSHB 41 News Open (2010)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Meet the Team, KSHB.com.
External links
- KSHB-TV "41 Action News"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KSHB
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KSHB-TV
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