KTVK

KTVK

Phoenix, Arizona
Branding	3TV
Slogan	Arizona's Family (general) The Place with More News (news) Everywhere, Always There (breaking news)
Channels	Digital: 24 (UHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
Subchannels	See below
Affiliations	Independent This TV (DT2)
Owner	Belo Corporation (KTVK, Inc.)
First air date	February 28, 1955
Call letters' meaning	KTVK - "Because TV will be our middle name"
Sister station(s)	KASW KMSB-TV KTTU
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 3 (VHF, 1955-2009)
Former affiliations	ABC (1955-1995) The WB (January–September 1995) Fox Kids (1994-1995)
Transmitter power	1000 kW
Height	501 m (1,644 ft)
Facility ID	40993
Transmitter coordinates	33°20′0.9″N 112°3′47.9″W
Website	AZFamily

KTVK (known on-air as 3TV) is a full-service, independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, and can be seen across northern Arizona on a network of nearly two dozen translator stations. Per Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, the station identifies itself on television tuners as channel 3 through PSIP. KTVK is owned by the Belo Corporation of Dallas, Texas.

From its sign on in 1955 until 1995, KTVK was affiliated with ABC and was one of that network's strongest affiliates. Syndicated programs broadcast on KTVK include America's Court with Judge Ross, Inside Edition, Everybody Loves Raymond, Dr. Phil and The Dr. Oz Show as well as rights to broadcast other syndicated shows.

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
3.1	16:9	1080i	Main KTVK programming
3.2	4:3	480i	This TV

On June 12, 2009, the day mandated by the US federal government for TV stations to cease analog transmissions across the country, KTVK ended regular analog programming and switched to the nightlight service on channel 3, while continuing digital broadcasts on channel 24, which it chose for its post-transition channel. Through the use of PSIP, KTVK's digital broadcast identifies to television receivers as virtual channel 3.

KTVK's "nightlight" service, which was intended to remind TV viewers of the switch to digital, was originally to last 30 days, but was instead ended on June 26 after two weeks.

On September 22, 2009 it was announced that KTVK will be adding This TV to its 3.2 digital subchannel. The subchannel launched one month later, on October 20.

History

As an ABC affiliate

Former Senator Ernest McFarland, author of the GI Bill, was awed by the new medium of television. With a few friends, he formed the Arizona Television Company and applied for a television license. On March 1, 1955—shortly after McFarland was elected governor of Arizona—KTVK signed on as Phoenix's fourth television station. It immediately became an ABC affiliate. McFarland chose the calls "because TV will be our middle name."

KTVK cleared most of ABC's network schedule except lower-rated daytime shows, as well as an occasional show during prime time. It soon built a translator network stretching across the entire state of Arizona, including Tucson. Occasionally, it pre-empted ABC programming so as not to interfere with Tucson's local ABC affiliate, KGUN (channel 9). Despite the pre-emptions, ABC was generally satisfied with KTVK, one of its strongest affiliates.

KTVK's news department was a very distant second to longtime leader KOOL-TV (channel 10, later KTSP-TV and now KSAZ-TV) for many years, even when KTAR-TV (channel 12)'s 1979 sale to Gannett (and call letter change to KPNX) made it the only locally-owned network affiliate in the market. When McFarland died in 1984, the station's ownership was taken over by his daughter Jewell and her husband Delbert Lewis.

KTVK logo used from 1986 to 1996; the circle 3 dates back to 1982 and is meant to be an offshoot of ABC's circle 7 logo, as the circle was used when KTVK was an ABC affiliate.

The station's fortunes began to improve significantly after several news managers from KTSP defected to KTVK in 1986. An aggressive marketing campaign, a new brand ("NewsChannel 3"), and a popular new anchor team finally helped make KTVK a truly competitive player in news. By the late 1980s, KTVK was the top-rated station in Arizona. A Saturday morning newscast from 7 to 9 a.m. was launched in 1993.

KTVK's atmosphere was somewhat different from what was typical for a Big Three-affiliated major-market station. McFarland ran his station as a "mom and pop" business, and had an open-door policy which the Lewises continued when they took over the station. Employee turnover was very low, and hugs were very common in the newsroom. This was an outgrowth of the station's longtime slogan, "Arizona's Family".

In the spring of 1994, New World Communications announced an affiliation deal with Fox in which most of its stations became Fox affiliates. One of the stations to switch was KSAZ, Phoenix' longtime CBS affiliate. CBS approached KTVK, but the Lewises turned the offer down, expecting a renewed pact with ABC. However, much to the Lewises' surprise, KNXV's owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, forced ABC to switch its affiliation to KNXV (which was to lose its Fox affiliation) as a condition of keeping ABC on Scripps' two biggest stations, WEWS in Cleveland and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. KTVK then approached CBS in an effort to secure that network affiliation, but Meredith Corporation, owner of then-independent KPHO-TV (channel 5), convinced CBS to move its affiliation there as a condition of keeping CBS on KCTV in Kansas City.

The Lewises appealed to the Federal Communications Commission on grounds that Scripps had "abused its license power for anti-competitive purposes", but their appeal was denied. After nearly 40 years with ABC, the Lewises decided to make KTVK an independent station. Channel 3 immediately began purchasing more programming and increasing local news production. In August, it dropped Good Morning America and launched Good Morning Arizona in the 6–9 AM slot, featuring anchor Jodi Applegate and meteorologist Royal Norman. The 6–7 AM slot had previously been occupied by a more traditional newscast. Since KNXV was on its way to becoming an ABC affiliate, it began to air Good Morning America beginning in September 1994.

By December 15, 1994, KTVK also dropped Mike and Maty (of which KTVK had only aired 30 minutes daily), World News Now, and Nightline, which were also picked up by KNXV. At that point, ABC's cartoons also moved to KNXV, with KTVK dropping its Saturday morning newscasts and running Fox Kids (which had been turned down by KSAZ) instead. By then, KTVK was only airing prime-time programming, sports, and the major soaps from ABC.

KTVK renewed Oprah and Inside Edition, and purchased all the available King World shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (which was not renewed by KSAZ, and are now seen on KNXV), American Journal (not renewed by KPNX), Rolonda, Branded (for weekends), and The Little Rascals (for weekends). KTVK also affiliated with the WB Network.

As an independent station

The circle 3 logo in a TV. The TV portion was from 1996 and used to 2003.

KNXV officially became Phoenix's ABC affiliate on January 9, 1995. The station nominally became the market's WB affiliate but initially, The WB only had one night a week of programming, which KTVK chose to air on Saturday nights. The WB added a second night of programming in mid-1995, which KTVK aired on Sunday. With WB only occupying two nights of programming, KTVK was essentially an independent station. It also broadcast Fox Kids weekend mornings and a couple hours weekday afternoons from the time they became an indepednent until September 1995 when KASW signed on. The station aired Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and several off-network sitcoms during prime time. On weekends, KTVK filled time with classic sitcoms and old movies. A quirk of the Fox Kids schedule on KTVK was that Animaniacs and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers aired on Sundays at 6 and 6:30 p.m. (respectively), after the news and before its 7 p.m. movie. (In addition to the situations that happened in San Francisco and Jacksonville, a similar situation occurred in Canada where longtime CTV affiliate CJON-TV in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, known locally as NTV, became an independent station, but still carries news programming from CTV and both news and entertainment programming from the rival Global.)

KTVK owned a substantial programming inventory, but didn't have enough time in its broadcast day to air it all, even after dropping ABC. As such, upon becoming an independent, KTVK entered into an agreement with the Brooks family to program the station, KASW (channel 61), when it signs on in September 1995. KTVK entered into a local marketing agreement with the new station. KASW became the WB affiliate, and KTVK bought the new station's entire broadcast day. KASW also picked up Fox Kids programming soon after and KTVK then reinstated Saturday morning newscasts. On the same day KASW took over the WB affiliation, the Arizona Television Company officially changed its name to MAC America Communications, after its founder's nickname, "Mac." By this time, it had grown to include two FM stations, a magazine and the Arizona News Channel, a joint venture with Cox Communications launched on November 4, 1996.

KTVK returned to NewsChannel 3 branding in 2003, resulting in this variation used from 2003 - 2005.

KTVK ran News from 5 to 9 a.m., talk shows 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., news at 11 a.m., more talk shows until 5 p.m., news 5 to 6:30 p.m., Entertainment Tonight 6:30 p.m., Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy in the 7 p.m. hour, reruns of recent sitcoms in the 8 p.m. hour, Star Trek: Next generation at 9 p.m., news at 10 p.m., and late at night a mix of old sitcoms, old movies, and reruns of talk shows. Weekends had less news and a mix of movies and classic sitcoms. Most of the older shows also ran on KASW at different times.

In 1998, KTVK briefly aired The Howard Stern Show; after two episodes, it and KJTV-TV in Lubbock, Texas, stopped airing the program. KTVK aired it after its 10 p.m. news.

MAC America decided to sell off most of its media assets, including KTVK, in 1999, but was very selective about a buyer. It wanted to sell to a company that would continue to keep a local presence at the station (particularly important to the Lewises, as KTVK was the last locally-owned station in the market) and allow the station to continue its growth of the last decade. In the end, it sold KTVK, the LMA with KASW and its share of the Arizona News Channel to the Belo Corporation in 1999, ending 44 years of McFarland-Lewis ownership (Belo eventually bought KASW outright in 2001). In 2000, Belo and Cox partnered to produce a new Spanish-language channel, ¡Más! Arizona. It launched October 16 of that year. In recent years, KTVK expanded newscasts more, added more talk shows, and totally moved away from older shows. KASW made similar changes gradually as well. Eventually KTVK would not renew Wheel and Jeopardy and those shows moved to KNXV.

Without a network affiliation, KTVK fills primetime with Dr. Phil, Oprah, and an hour-long 9 p.m. newscast (which competes with the 9 p.m. newscast on Fox-owned KSAZ, that started at the same time as KTVK's). Even with the meteoric rise of KPNX after it stayed with NBC and that network rocketed to the top of the ratings, KTVK remained the dominant news station in Arizona well through 2003; KTVK held the evening news crown that year and KPNX led in late news. That year, KTVK's Oprah was also the top syndicated show in the market.

Variation used from 2005 - 2007.

KTVK was the original over-the-air home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, beginning broadcasts when the team joined the National League in 1998. The team remained on KTVK through the end of the 2007 season, when the team opted to move all of its English-language broadcasts (not counting national broadcasts) to FSN Arizona.

Helicopter crash

Main article: 2007 Phoenix news helicopter collision

On July 27, 2007 at exactly 12:46:20pm MST, KTVK's News Chopper 3 was involved in a mid-air collision when local ABC affiliate KNXV-TV's helicopter struck it from behind. The collision occurred above Steele Indian School Park, near Third Street and Indian School Road, while both aircraft were covering a police car pursuit in downtown Phoenix. All four people on both helicopters were killed, including KTVK pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox. The cause of the crash is now being investigated.

News operation

Currently, KTVK broadcasts a total of 52½ hours of local newscasts each week (with 8½ hours on weekdays and five hours on weekends); this gives the station the largest local news output of any television station in the state of Arizona, surpassing area Fox affiliate KSAZ's weekly news total by 3½ hours, though the two stations produce an equal amount of local newscasts (8½ hours) on weekdays.

Among the station's flagship programs is "Good Morning Arizona," one of the country's original long-format local TV morning newscasts. Running from 4:30 to 10 a.m. weekdays and 7 to 10 a.m. on weekends, the show has been a long-time ratings winner and the highest-rated program of its kind in the nation. "GMAZ" has its own budget, writers and on-air staff. Jodi Applegate was the original host of "Good Morning Arizona" from 1994 until 1996, when she joined NBC as a weekend Today Show anchor. Currently, April Warnecke and Javier Soto anchor the 4:30 a.m. half-hour, while Kaley O'Kelley and Scott Pasmore co-anchor from 5-8 a.m. to 10 a.m. "Good Morning Arizona" was also simulcast on KTVK's sister Fox affiliate in Tucson, KMSB until February 2012, when Raycom-owned CBS affiliate KOLD-TV began to produce its own morning newscast as part of an overall takeover of its operations.

Even with the station's loss of the ABC affiliation in 1995, the station's newscasts still receive high ratings. Its evening newscast, "Good Evening Arizona," regularly trounces the national networks' newscasts in the ratings. KTVK is one of the nation's most successful independent stations.

On April 26, 2007, KTVK became the third television station in Arizona (following NBC affiliates KPNX in Phoenix and KVOA in Tucson) to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition. On March 1, 2009, KTVK, KPHO-TV and KPNX began to share a news helicopter through a Local News Service agreement.

On January 25, 2010, Good Morning Arizona expanded by one hour, running from 4:30 to 10 a.m., while the 11 a.m. newscast Good Day Arizona was discontinued. Good Day Arizona anchor Frank Camacho will now host a weekly politics show, Politics Unplugged on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and be the chief political reporter for the station. On August 22, 2011, KTVK will launch a weeknight 10 p.m. newscast, bringing the station's weekdaily news output to nine hours each weekday, the addition will also return a local newscast in that timeslot.

Ratings

According to Tess Rafols, weekend anchor of Good Morning Arizona, GMAZ Saturday had the highest ratings in the February 2010 ratings period of any other newscast in Phoenix. Also, KTVK is currently advertising that Good Evening Arizona is #1 in the ratings during the 4:30-6:30 p.m. hours. As such, it has been one of the strongest independent (non-network-affiliated) stations in the country since it dropped ABC in 1995.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• Your Esso Reporter (1955–1962)
• KTVK News (1962–1970)
• TV-3 News (1970–1976)
• Total News (1976–1980)
• Eyewitness News 3 (1980–1986)
• Channel 3 News (1983–1986 and 1996–2003)
• NewsChannel 3 (1986–1996 and 2003–2004)
• 3TV News (2004–present)

Station slogans

• Arizona's First Color Television Station (1966–1970)
• TV-3 News: Arizona's Most Respected Television News Organization (1970–1974)
• If It's News, It's On TV-3 News (1974–1976)
• Arizona's Largest Television News Team (1976–1977)
• You Know You Can Count on Us (1977–1980)
• Arizona's Choice for News (1980–1983)
• Arizona's Very Own (1983–1986)
• Arizona's News People (1986–1993)
• When News Happens, You'll See it Happen on NewsChannel 3 (1993–1994)
• The Place With More Stuff (1994–2003)
• Arizona's Family (2003–present, used infrequently until early-2005)
• Everywhere, Always There (breaking news, developing story) (2005?–present)
• The Place With More News (2007–2009)
• The Best Gets Better (2009–present)

News team

Current anchors

• TBD - weeknights at 9 p.m.
• Patti Kirkpatrick - weeknights Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.)
• Fields Moseley - weeknights at 10 p.m.
• Ryan O'Donnell - weekend mornings Good Morning AZ; also early evening reporter
• Kaley O'Kelley - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (5-10 a.m.)
• Scott Pasmore - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (5-10 a.m.)
• Carey Pena - weeknights at 10 p.m.
• Tess Rafols - weekend mornings Good Morning AZ; also weekday morning reporter
• Steve Ryan - Saturday evenings at 5 and 9 p.m.; also weekday reporter
• Marie Saavedra - Sunday evenings at 5 and 9 p.m.; also weekday reporter
• Javier Soto - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-5 a.m.); also 5-10 a.m. reporter
• Allison Alexander - weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-5 a.m.); also 5-10 a.m. reporter

The Forecasters

• Royal Norman (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.), 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• Britney Shipp - meteorologist; weekend mornings Good Morning AZ, and weekends at 5 and 9 p.m.
• April Warnecke (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Good Morning AZ (4:30-10 a.m.); co-anchor (4:30-5 a.m.)
• Kaley O'Kelley - weather anchor; Good Morning AZ fill-in

Sports team

• Tim Ring - sports director; weekdays Good Evening AZ (4:30–6:30 p.m.), 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• Tyler Baldwin - weekend sports anchor/reporter

Reporters

• Steve Bodinet - general assignment reporter
• Frank Camacho - chief political reporter and host of "Politics Unplugged"
• Stacey Delikat - general assignment reporter
• Jared Dillingham - general assignment reporter
• Yetta Gibson - Good Morning AZ entertainment reporter; also fill-in GMAZ anchor
• Gary Harper - "3 On Your Side" investigative reporter
• Kristine Harrington - general assignment reporter
• Gina Maravilla - Good Morning AZ weekday traffic reporter
• Carina Sonn - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
• Mike Watkiss - general assignment reporter
• Steve Ryan - general assignment reporter
• Crystal Cruz - general assignment reporter

News Chopper 20 (as part of a Local News Service agreement, the helicopter is shared with KPHO-TV and KPNX and operated by Helicopters Inc. News 20 because when you add 3,5,12 together you get 20)

• Scott Clifton - pilot/reporter; weekday mornings
• Jimmy Castanza - backup pilot; weekday mornings
• Tammy Rose - pilot/reporter; weekday evenings

Fort McDowell News Chopper

• Bruce Haffner - pilot/reporter; weekday mornings

Former on-air staff

Name	Position at KTVK	Years Active	Whereabouts
Jodi Applegate	Good Morning Arizona Anchor	1993–1996	Left to become Today Show anchor. Now anchors the 10PM news on WPIX in New York as of Monday, October 11.
Scott Bowerbank	News Chopper 3 Pilot/Reporter	2004–2007	Killed in collision.
Mike Chamberlin	Sports Anchor, later News Co-Anchor	Early 1990s-2004	Weekend sports anchor at KPHO Phoenix, retired in 2008 to pursue Christian music career.
Mitch Duncan	Evening News Co-Anchor		Weekend news anchor at KFMB-TVSan Diego, instructor, San Diego State University, Deceased
Patricio Espinoza	Reporter, KTVK and News Anchor, KTVK's ¡Más! Arizona	2000–2003	Moved to Univision's KXLN Houston as Investigative Reporter/Anchor. Winner of several Texas Lone Star Emmys now manages AlamoCityTimes.com and freelances for ABC News
Olivia Fierro	Good Morning Arizona Anchor	2003–2009	Left to become evening news anchor at Fox affiliate KVVU in Las Vegas
Jim Cox	News Chopper 3 Camera Operator	1996–2007	Killed in collision.
Dan Davis	Anchor for Good Morning Arizona	1979–2009	Hosts the show "AAA Presents Highroads with Dan Davis" on KPNX TV 12 (NBC) in Phoenix at 6:30pm Saturdays, at a 4pm on KVOA TV, NBC4 in Tucson.
Kim Dillon	Meteorologist	to 2005	Terminated after being arrested for theft.Found guilty.
Heidi Fogelsong	Nighttime Anchor	1985–1992	At KTAR-FM
Jerry Foster	News Chopper 3 Pilot/Traffic Reporter	1994–1996	Fired after an associate was indicted on drug charges. http://www.sky12.tv/
Liz Habib	News Anchor; Good Evening Arizona, 10pm News	1994 to 2004	At KTTV Los Angeles, Reporter, Anchor
Cameron Harper	Nighttime Anchor	1984–1993	At WPTY-TV in Memphis, Tennessee
Jim Howl	Weather Forecaster	Mid 1970s-1996	Weathercaster for KFNX-AM Phoenix; ran for Arizona governorship in 1998
Kirsten Joyce	Weekend Anchor/Reporter	2006–2010	Weekend Anchor at KCPQ-TV in Seattle/Tacoma
Chera Kimiko	Reporter	2000s (decade)	Main Anchor at KOKI-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cater Lee	Weekday Evening Anchor	Mid 1990s	Currently a reporter and anchor for KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV
Brad Perry	Reporter/Weatherman for Good Morning Arizona	1998–2009	Laid off. Originally planned to start music career. Now morning weather anchor for Good Morning San Diego on KUSI.
Rock Rote	Sports Director/Anchor/Host/Color Commentator	1980s	Managing Director at Weather Central Inc. in Madison, WI
Ray Scott	Sports Anchor	1980s	Former CBS play-by-play broadcaster, deceased
Ross Shimabuku	Sports Anchor	2000s (decade)	Currently sportscaster for KSWB-TV
Ray Thompson	Weekday Evening Anchor	Late 1970s	Previously at KTAR (KPNX); retired
Gil Tyree	Sports Anchor	1986–2001	At WGCL in Atlanta, Georgia
Ray Vaughn	Evening News Co-Anchor		Lawyer in Edmond, Oklahoma; County Commissioner, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Tara Hitchcock	Morning News Co-Anchor	1997–2011	Plans not announced

Rebroadcasters

KTVK is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

List of translators 

• K26FS Blythe, California
• K12OF Bullhead City
• K16EV Bullhead City
• K49HP Camp Verde
• K02PE Carrizo
• K02PF Cibecue
• K27EJ Colorado City
• K38AI Cottonwood
• K47DA Duncan/Clifton/Morenci
• K54GI Flagstaff
• K15DX Fredonia
• K48FC Fort Apache
• K14NA-D Globe/Miami
• K23FV Kingman
• K29FD Lake Havasu City
• K25DH Meadview
• K11LC Prescott
• K53GM Williams

KTVK is available on cable in Yuma, the Imperial Valley, California and Coachella, California Country Cable services.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Jane Dornacker, a reporter who died in a helicopter accident while being on air.
• Jim Carr, Director of Digital Media for KTVK, Inc.
• List of news aircraft crashes

External links

• KTVK Website
• The McFarland Collection - KTVK-TV (Photo gallery maintained by Pinal County, Arizona)
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTVK
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTVK-TV
• Program Information for KTVK at TitanTV.com