KTNV-TV

KTNV-TV

Las Vegas, Nevada
Branding	Channel 13 (general) Channel 13 Action News (newscasts)
Slogan	You Ask, We Investigate (primary) Together Making Las Vegas a Better Place to Live (secondary)
Channels	Digital: 13 (VHF) Virtual: 13 (PSIP)
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Journal Broadcast Group (Journal Broadcast Corporation)
First air date	May 4, 1956
Call letters' meaning	Television Nevada
Former callsigns	KSHO-TV (1956–1980)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 13 (VHF, 1956–2009) Digital: 12 (VHF, –2009)
Transmitter power	30.5 kW
Height	606 m
Facility ID	74100
Transmitter coordinates	35°56′43″N 115°2′32″W / 35.94528°N 115.04222°W / 35.94528; -115.04222
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.ktnv.com

KTNV-TV, channel 13, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The station is owned by the Journal Broadcast Group division of Journal Communications. KTNV's studios are located in the nearby suburb of Paradise, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Arden in Henderson.

History

The station signed on the air for the first time on May 4, 1956 as KSHO-TV. Channel 13 has been an ABC affiliate since its inception, taking the network from KLRJ/KORK-TV (channel 3, now KSNV-DT) and KLAS-TV (channel 8), which shared programming from the network from the January 1955 sign-on of KLRJ (though KLAS had carried a secondary affiliation with ABC since it debuted in 1953) until KSHO signed on.

In 1979, KTNV was purchased by Journal Communications; the acquisition made it Journal's second television station property (and its first television station acquisition outside of the company's headquarters of Milwaukee, Wisconsin). The station changed its callsign to KTNV-TV on March 2, 1980 (the -TV suffix was removed from 1988 to 2009).^[1]

KTNV originally transmitted its signal from a tower located right outside the station at the intersection of Desert Inn Road and Valley View Boulevard, on the quadruple border of city of Las Vegas, Spring Valley, Paradise and Winchester. The tower is a unique and visible landmark throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Digital television

Digital channels

Analog-to-digital conversion

KTNV-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.^[3] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 12 to channel 13. As with all of Journal Communications' television stations, the station also added the "-TV" suffix to its callsign following the transition to become KTNV-TV.

Programming

Syndicated programming seen on KTNV-TV includes The Jeff Probst Show, Access Hollywood, Judge Judy, Castle and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. KTNV presently clears ABC's network programming schedule (primetime, late night, national morning and evening news, and daytime) largely in its entirety, with few preemptions.

Over the past several years, KTNV has been phasing out syndicated programming and replacing it with either news, or more recently, self-produced lifestyle programming. Most notably in 2004, KTNV lost Oprah to rival CBS affiliate KLAS-TV (channel 8), replacing it with a half-hour 4 p.m. newscast and syndicated programming; and in 2009, KTNV declined to renew the local rights to the syndicated morning talk show Live with Regis and Kelly (replacing it with the Morning Blend). On March 5, 2012, the 4 p.m. newscast was moved back to 3:30, in order to make room for Judge Judy (which it acquired from KSNV-DT) in the newscast's former timeslot.

Morning Blend

Following the lead of many Journal stations, KTNV launched a lifestyle-oriented program called The Morning Blend on July 6, 2010. The program, which airs at 9 a.m. on weekdays and is hosted by Dao Vu and Shawn Tempesta, is modeled after the format of Milwaukee sister station (and Journal Broadcast Group flagship) WTMJ-TV's morning program of the same name, and features a mix of paid and unpaid segments. All segments which promote a certain product or company are clearly disclaimed on air. The show is produced through KNTV's sales and advertising departments, with no connection at all to the station's news department. As such, The Morning Blends hosts do not report any news stories, ceding any breaking events to the KTNV news staff, and the show is preempted in occasional cases where breaking news coverage takes up the entire hour.

News operation

KTNV-TV presently broadcasts a total of 38 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours on weekdays and four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the third-largest local newscast output among Las Vegas's broadcast television stations, behind Fox affiliate KVVU-TV's 44½ hours and NBC affiliate KSNV's 44 hours of weekly newscasts. In years past, the station's newscasts have been called News 13, Channel 13 News, News 13 Inside Las Vegas and 13 Inside Las Vegas; the station switched to the current Action News branding for its newscasts in 2003.

In 1994, Cathy Ray joined the station as primary anchor and was well liked until her departure in 2007 for health reasons.^[4] For much of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, KTNV's style leaned toward a more tabloid format; this style struggled to catch on with viewers and hurt the station's credibility, often leaving KTNV at last place in the ratings among the market's newscasts.

This trend has seen a major shift in recent years, however. In 2007, general manager Jim Prather ordered a major restructuring of the news department, bringing in new management to coincide with the station's move to a brand new HD complex in December of that year. In what was seen at the time as a coup for the station, longtime KSNV anchor Nina Radetich was brought on board and was paid to sit out a one-year non-compete clause in her contract.^[5] KSNV chief investigative reporter Darcy Spears was also brought on board. The 2007 shakeup began the current ratings gains seen by KTNV. In recent years the station is consistently rated number one in key demographics at 11 p.m. The station's early evening news programming has also seen viewership gains. In 2008, the news department launched its "You Ask, We Investigate" franchise, which has proved hugely successful. Coupled with the popular consumer brand "Contact 13", this helped give KTNV a reputation for fighting on behalf of viewers.

On December 15, 2007, KTNV became the third television station in Las Vegas (behind, KVBC, channel 3 and KLAS-TV, channel 8) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. The station also unveiled its new digital production facilities and news set on the same day.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• KSHO-TV News (1956–1970s)
• The 5 O'Clock Report/The 10 O' Clock Report (1960s)
• NewsWatch 13 (general)/NightWatch 13 (11 p.m. newscast; 1970s–1981)
• News 13 (1981–1987)
• Channel 13 News (1987–1992)
• News 13: Inside Las Vegas (1992–January 2003)^[6]
• 13 Inside Las Vegas (January–August 2003)
• Channel 13 Action News (August 2003–present)^[7]

Station slogans

• "Las Vegas' Television is Channel 13" (early 1970s)
• "If It's News, It's On NewsWatch 13" (mid-late 1970s)
• "Las Vegas Turns Us On" (late 1970s)
• "13 Belongs" (early 1980s)
• "We're the Team" (mid-1980s)
• "You'll Love It On Channel 13" (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)^[8]
• "People You Can Count On"^[8] / "Turn to the Channel 13 News" (late 1980s)
• "Count on 13" (late 1980s–1992)^[8]
• "Inside Las Vegas" (1992–2003)^[6]
• "Breaking News. Solving Problems." (2003–2008)
• "You Ask, We Investigate" (2008–present)
• "Together, Making Las Vegas a Better Place to Live" (2011–present; secondary slogan)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team

Current on-air staff

KTNV-TV's primary news anchors are Rikki Cheese (weekdays at 3 p.m.; fill-in 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m. anchor), Beth Fisher (weekday mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 5-7 a.m.; also features reporter), Don Guevara (Sundays at 5 and weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also reporter), Jessica Janner (weekday mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 4:30-5 and weekdays at 11 a.m.; also 5-7 a.m. features reporter), Tricia Kean (weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m.; also consumer reporter), Casey Smith (weekday mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 4:30-7 and weekdays at 11 a.m.), Steve Wolford (weekdays at 3 and weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m.) and TBD (weekend mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 5-7 and 8-9 a.m.).^[9]

The 13 Action News Weather First team includes chief meteorologist Bryan Scofield (weekdays at 3, and weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 11 p.m.), and meteorologists Greg Bennett (weekend mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 5-7 and 8-9 a.m., Sundays at 5 and weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.) and Mike Tsolinas (weekday mornings on Good Morning Las Vegas from 4:30-7 and weekdays at 11 a.m.).^[9]

The station's reporting staff includes Katie Crowther (general assignment reporter), Michael Lopardi (general assignment reporter), Spencer Lubitz (general assignment reporter), Micah Manalo (general assignment reporter), Darcy Spears (chief investigative reporter, "Contact 13 Problem Solvers"), Victoria Spilabotte (general assignment reporter), Marco Villarreal (general assignment reporter), Denise Wong (general assignment reporter) and Makayla Zurn (weekday morning reporter from 4:30-7 a.m.).^[9]

Hosts for the locally produced lifestyle program The Morning Blend (weekdays at 9 a.m.) are Shawn Tempesta and Dao Vu.^[9]

Translator stations

KTNV's signal is relayed throughout portions of Nevada and Arizona on the following translator stations:

References

External links

• KTNV.com - Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTNV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTNV-TV
• http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/02/12/ap6044561.html