KBAK-TV

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KBAK-TV
KBAK29.png
Bakersfield, California
Branding KBAK (general)
Eyewitness News (newscasts)
Channels Digital: 33 (UHF)
Virtual: 29 (PSIP)
Subchannels 29.1 CBS (HD)
58.2 Fox
Affiliations CBS (1953-1974 and since 1996)
Owner Fisher Communications, Inc.
(Fisher Broadcasting - California TV, LLC)
First air date August 1953[1]
Call letters' meaning BAKersfield
Sister station(s) KBFX-CA
Former callsigns KAFY-TV (1953-1959)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
29 (UHF, 1953-2009)
Former affiliations ABC (secondary 1953-1959, primary 1974-1996)
Transmitter power 110 kW
Height 1128 m
Facility ID 4148
Transmitter coordinates 35°27′10.1″N 118°35′28.1″W / 35.452806°N 118.591139°W / 35.452806; -118.591139
Website www.bakersfieldnow.com

KBAK-TV, virtual channel 29, is a CBS-affiliate television station serving Bakersfield, California, broadcasting digital-only on UHF channel 33. KBAK also operates the local Fox affiliate, KBFX-CA, from a shared facility in Bakersfield.

Contents

[edit] History

KBAK signed on in August 1953 as KAFY-TV owned along with KAFY radio (AM 550, frequency now occupied by KUZZ). It is Bakersfield's oldest television station; KERO-TV followed a month later. It was a primary CBS affiliate, sharing ABC programming with KERO-TV until KLYD-TV (channel 17, now KGET-TV) signed on in 1959.

Shortly after becoming a full CBS affiliate, channel 29 changed its calls to the current KBAK-TV. In 1974, KBAK swapped affiliations with channel 17, then known as KJTV, and became an ABC affiliate. [1] [2] As a CBS and later ABC affiliate, KBAK had aired all of its color programs in color, and went to full color in 1967.

From the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, KBAK was owned by Chicago-based Harriscope Broadcasting, which also owned WSNS in Chicago (now a Telemundo O&O) and a partial stake in KRQE in Albuquerque (now owned by LIN TV). In the late 1980s, KBAK started signing off only on Fridays, and Saturdays, which as a CBS affiliate it continued to do until May 2008, when the sign-offs on KBAK and KBFX were discontinued and were replaced by a simulcast of the Kern Weather Channel, which is also available on digital cable systems in the Bakersfield area.

In 1986, Harriscope sold KBAK to Burnham Broadcasting, which also owned KHON-TV in Honolulu and would later acquire WVUE in New Orleans, WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama and WLUK in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1995, Burnham sold most of its stations to SF Broadcasting, a joint venture between Fox and Savoy Pictures, but KBAK was not included in the sale to SF Broadcasting, and was instead spun off to Westwind Communications, a locally-based company linked to former Burnham executives.

In 1995, McGraw-Hill cut an affiliation deal with ABC which called for all of its stations, including KERO-TV, to become ABC affiliates. Largely by default, KBAK rejoined CBS when KERO picked up ABC in March 1996.

On August 6, 2007, Westwind Communications announced the sale of KBAK and KBFX-CA to Fisher Communications of Seattle. [3] The deal closed on January 1, 2008. This marked a re-entry to the Central Valley for Fisher, who previously bought and sold KJEO (now KGPE) in Fresno in the late 1990s.

Former KBAK logo, used until 2010.

In mid-May 2010, KBAK became the first station in Bakersfield to begin broadcasting local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition. Then on January 16, 2011, KBAK took it one step further to become the first station in Bakersfield to launch local news in true high definition. [2] The KBFX shows were included in the upgrade to HD; however, they are presented in downconverted standard definition widescreen on KBAK-DT2 (which serves as a full-power companion to KBFX's low-power Class A digital terrestrial signal).

The current announcer for KBAK and KBFX is best known nationally recognized voice over, Eric Gordon.[3]

[edit] News operation

[edit] News/station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

  • KAFY Television Newsreel (1953–1959)
  • The Big News (1959–1966)
  • The Night Report (1966–1969)
  • The Television 29 News (1969–1973)
  • The Hal Lafoon News (1973–1974)
  • 29-TV ABC News (1974–1977)
  • The News Today (1977–1979)
  • TeleNews 29 (1979–1981)
  • NewsForce 29 (1981–1985)
  • News 29 (1985–1992)
  • ([Channel/CBS] 29) Eyewitness News (1992–present)

[edit] Station slogans

  • 29-TV's The One (late 1970s; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • We're The One You Can Turn To, 29-TV (1978–1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • 29 is New for You (1980)
  • We're Comin' on Strong (1981)
  • Our Strength is Our People (1982)
  • Come on Along with 29 (1982-1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • That Special Feeling on 29 (1983–1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • We're With You on 29 (1984–1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • You'll Love It on 29 (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • See the Difference (1986)
  • Together on 29 (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Something's Happening on 29 (1987–1990; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • The Hometown Team (1988)
  • The Southern Valley's News Leader (1990s–1997)
  • If It's Bakersfield, It Must Be 29 (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Watched By More Bakersfield, 29, ABC (1993-March 1996; last localized version of ABC ad campaign, before the switch to CBS)
  • Experience You Can Trust (1997–2003)
  • Live, Local, Latebreaking (1999–2000)
  • CBS 29 and You (2001–2003)
  • 29, The Eyewitness News Station (2003–2010)
  • Investigating Stories Others Don't (2006–present)
  • Breaking News, Alerts and Investigations (2008)

[edit] News themes

Package Composer Years Used
Fanfare for the Common Man Aaron Copland, Arrangement by Emerson, Lake & Palmer 1979–1980
Allegro Frank Gari Communications 1989–1997
Millennium 3 Shelly Palmer 1997–2001
Impact (V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4) 615 Music 2001–2003
Right Here, Right Now 615 Music 2003–2008
The Viper 615 Music 2008–Present

[edit] News team

Anchors
Weather team
  • Miles Muzio - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
  • Aaron Perlman - weather anchor; weekday mornings (5-7 a.m.) and noon
  • Anthony Bailey - weather anchor; weekends 5, 6 and 11 p.m., also reporter
Sports team
  • Greg Kerr - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
  • John Franchi - sports anchor; weekends at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter
Reporters

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says August 23, while the Television and Cable Factbook says August 20.
  2. ^ Eyewitness News 1st to air local HD programming
  3. ^ KBAK intends to make DTV switch Feb. 17, KBAX/KBFX, Feb 4, 2009

[edit] External links

Television Stations in the greater Bakersfield area
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
English stations
K08MM/K24GS (3ABN)
KGET (17.1 NBC, 17.2 CW)
K18HD-D/KVPT-LP 34 (18.1 PBS)
K21FP 21 (silent)
KERO (23.1 ABC, 23.3 Cool)
KBAK (29.1 CBS, 58.2 Fox)
KCBT-LD (34.1 Coastal TV, 34.2 HSN)
KBFK-LP 36 (HSN)
KNXT-LP 38 (Ind)
KPMC-LP 43 (JTV)
KUVI (45.1 MNTV)
KBFX-CD (58.1 Fox, 29.2 This TV)
Spanish stations
Adjacent locals
Los Angeles, CA
KTLA (5.1 CW)
KABC (7.1 ABC)
KCAL (9.1 Ind)
KCOP (13.1 MNTV)
KCET (28.1 Public Ind)

California television: Bakersfield • Chico-Redding • Eureka • Fresno • Los Angeles • Medford OR • Monterey • Palm Springs • Reno NV • Sacramento • San Diego • San Francisco • Santa Barbara • El Centro CA / Yuma AZ
CBS Network Affiliates in the state of California
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