KLTV

This article is about the television station in Texas. For the television station in Washington, see KLTV (Washington).

KLTV

Tyler / Longview, Texas
Branding	KLTV 7 (general) KLTV 7 News Telemundo La Vida (on DT3)
Slogan	Caring. Committed. Proud of East Texas. (general) Your East Texas News Leader (news)
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF)
Subchannels	7.1 ABC 7.2 Bounce TV 7.3 Telemundo
Owner	Raycom Media (KLTV/KTRE License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	October 14, 1954
Call letters' meaning	"L" stands for Lucille Buford, a member of the station's founding family.
Sister station(s)	KTRE
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 7 (VHF, 1954–2009) Digital: 10 (VHF)
Former affiliations	ABC/CBS/NBC (joint primary, 1954–1984) DuMont (secondary, 1954–1955) NBC (secondary, 1984–1987) local weather (on DT2, 2006–2009) This TV (on DT2, 2009–2011)
Transmitter power	66 kW
Height	300 meters (980 ft)
Facility ID	68540
Transmitter coordinates	32°32′23″N 95°13′11″W
Website	www.kltv.com

KLTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for East Texas that is licensed to Tyler. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter in Red Springs. KTRE (channel 9) in Lufkin operates as a semi-satellite of KLTV; it clears all of KLTV's syndicated programming, but produces separate weeknight newscasts and airs its own commercials and station identifications. Syndicated programming on KLTV includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Ellen, America Now, and Texas Country Reporter.

The station can also be seen Suddenlink channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 720. Owned by Raycom Media, the channel has studios on West Ferguson Street in Downtown Tyler, located between the Smith County and the United States courthouses.

Digital programming

On KLTV-DT2 and Suddenlink digital channel 247 is Bounce TV. On KLTV-DT3 is Telemundo, which is carried on Suddenlink channel 22.

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
7.1	720p	16:9	Main KLTV programming / ABC
7.2	16:9	4:3	KLTV-DT2 Bounce TV
7.3			KLTV-DT3 "Telemundo La Vida"

History

KLTV went on the air October 14, 1954, and shared primary affiliation time with ABC, CBS, and NBC until the early 1980s. The station also aired programming from DuMont on a secondary basis until 1955. It was originally locally operated by Buford Television, which was owned by Lucille Buford. In 1964, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collapsed Lufkin and Nacogdoches into the Tyler market. Soon afterward, the Buford family bought KTRE and made it a satellite of KLTV. Buford Television owned the stations until 1989 when they were sold to Civic Communications of Jackson, Mississippi. Civic merged with The Liberty Corporation in 2002, which in turn merged with current owner Raycom Media in 2006.

KLTV's studios were near TX 31 and Loop 323 on the east side of Tyler until the late 1990s when it moved to facilities in Downtown Tyler. The old studios were demolished in November 2007. This channel's current studios are in a former savings loan branch and office complex near the Smith County courthouse.

KLTV's studios on West Ferguson Street in Downtown Tyler.

The station installed its digital tower on September 23, 2005 and started broadcasting a high definition signal on VHF channel 10 on December 14 becoming the second East Texas station to do so. It also started airing the "StormTracker 24/7 Weather Channel" on a new second digital subchannel. This consisted of temperatures, weather conditions, and "StormTracker 7 Live Doppler Network" graphics in a rotating schedule.

In the first round of DTV channel elections, KLTV elected to return its digital channel assignment back to channel 7. On June 12, 2009, it ceased analog broadcasting on channel 7 and performed a "flash-cut" from digital channel 10 to channel 7. In December 2009, KLTV changed programming on DT2 to This TV. January 1, 2012, KLTV dropped This TV in favor of Bounce TV on KLTV-DT2.

In January 2011, KLTV started "KLTV in Your Community" on its website as a branch for citizen journalism, or community blogging, with Elizabeth Thomas as its director. "Be the reporter in your neighborhood", by Morgan Chesky announced the new service's beginnings at KLTV's website. Fifteen East Texas communities are listed with Tyler divided into four quadrants.

On September 10, 2012, KLTV news began airing an hour-long newscast beginning at 4 p.m. The news will continue to air at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m.

Tower collapse

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on February 3, 2006, KLTV's 1,078-foot (329 m) broadcast transmitter in Red Springs collapsed taking both its over-the-air analog and digital signals off-the-air leaving customers of Cox Communications as the only customers who could receive the station. The outage also affected the feed of the station to DirecTV and Dish Network. Interestingly, the collapse occurred the day after new owners Raycom Media officially took ownership of the station. Within thirteen hours of the collapse, KLTV re-established analog broadcasts at reduced power from its former station and transmitter location in Eastern Tyler. No injuries were reported as a result. No cause for the collapse has been disclosed to date.

A new Harris transmitter was brought in the day after the collapse allowing resumption of high-power broadcasts from the Tyler site though from a tower slightly less than half the height of the destroyed one. This allowed the viewing area to see Super Bowl XL on analog channel 7. Digital broadcasts resumed from the Tyler site several days later. In addition, Christian radio station KVNE-FM was also knocked off as a result of the collapse. On February 7, KVNE held a one-day fundraiser to raise a goal of $70,000 to put the station back on at high-power. The station raised more than $80,000 in its fifteen-hour campaign.

KLTV restored its analog over-the-air signal from its original tower along with its signals to DirecTV and Dish Network and the feeds to all area cable companies. Its analog transmitter equipment was undamaged and was supplemented at the original tower site with a newer transmitter. However, its over-the-air high definition and digital television transmission equipment was a total loss. In March and April 2007, KLTV ran a "Flip the Switch" promotion to promote the completion of the new Red Springs tower. Viewers were urged to submit thirty second videos to show why they should be selected to "Flip The Switch". Winners were selected by popular vote on the station's website. The winner was Jeff Heimer, and on April 17, 2007, at approximately 6:58 p.m., he officially flipped the switch to turn on the new transmitter and tower.

News operation

KLTV news open seen weeknights at 10.

It has been the dominant station in the market for most of its history and news broadcasts on the station routinely garner several times the number of viewers of its nearest competitor. KLTV and its staff have received several awards including seven Lone Star Emmy awards.

The station's most well known slogan is "Proud of East Texas", which has been used since 1985. In a June 2006 article, the Longview News-Journal reported KLTV continued its dominance of the area with an estimated 70,000 households tuning in to its weeknight 10 o'clock broadcast. KETK-TV was second with about 12,000 viewers and KYTX was watched by an estimated 9,000 viewers. The station was nominated in 2008 for eleven Lone Star Emmy Awards including: best morning and evening newscasts, weather, along with several news/sports specials and reporting. KTRE simulcasts KLTV's weekday morning, midday, and weekend newscasts. On June 21, 2010, KLTV-TV became the third station in the market to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• The East Texas News (1954–1971)
• Channel 7 News (1971–1985 and 1998–2004)
• East Texas News 7 (1985–1998)
• KLTV 7 News (2004–present)
  • Good Morning East Texas (2007–present)
  • East Texas News Weekend (2008–present)

Station slogans

• "Proud of East Texas" (1985–2003)
• "Caring. Committed. Proud of East Texas." (2003–present; general slogan)
• "Your East Texas News Leader" (2006–present; news slogan)

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

News team

+ denotes personnel not seen on KTRE

Anchors

• Anissa Centers - Monday-Thursdays at 4 and 6, and Sunday-Thursdays at 10 p.m.
• Taylor Hemness - weekdays at 4 and 10 p.m.; also "Crimefighters" segment producer
• Jennifer Hines - weekdays at 11:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 5 p.m.; also "Gift of Love" segment producer
• Joe Terrell - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.; also assistant news director and "Does It Work?" segment producer
• Dia Wall - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Lane Luckie - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)

StormTracker 7 Weather Team

• Mark Scirto (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Grant Dade (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and weekdays at 11:30 a.m.
• Brett Collar - meteorologist; weekends

Sports team

• + Ryan Peterson - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Coleman Swierc - sports anchor; weekends

Reporters

• Kerri Compton - weekday morning traffic reporter
• Ed Dominguez - Med Team Doctor
• Bob Hallmark - general assignment reporter
• Joan Hallmark - feature reporter
• Annette Falconer - general assignment reporter
• Shaley Sanders - general assignment reporter
• Bethany Moore - general assignment reporter; anchor
• Lauren Callahan - general assignment reporter
• Lexie Cook - general assignment reporter

Former staff

• John Adams - meteorologist (now with KYTX)
• Sandra Brown - weather anchor (now a bestselling author)
• Morgan Chesky (now at KVUE in Austin)
• Robert Hilliard - camera / director / video production / weekend anchor (now IT/webmaster/database admin for Trinity Mother Frances Health System)
• Cynthia Izaguirre - anchor/reporter (now at WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth)
• Steve Lee - sports anchor (left to start a TV production firm)
• Layron Livingston (now at WHIO in Dayton)
• Chuck McDonald - news anchor
• Allen R. Morris - director of operations and creative services (1979–1984; was at KTRE from 1969–1975; National Emmy Award winner)
• Christine Nelson - news anchor and reporter at 5 p.m. (now at WBTV in Charlotte)
• Morgan Palmer - reporter, anchor and meteorologist (1999–2007; now at KIRO-TV in Seattle)
• Bobby Perdue - news anchor (left to start a TV production firm)
• Devin Scillian - news anchor (1986–1989; now at WDIV in Detroit, and also a children's author)
• Sara Story (now at KXAS in Dallas-Fort Worth)
• Roger Wallace - sports anchor (late 1980s; now sports director at KXAN in Austin)
• Clint Yeatts (now at KYTX)

External links

• KLTV.com - Official KLTV-TV Website
• KTRE.com - Official KTRE-TV Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KLTV