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KSTP-TV "Channel 5" (50 digital) is the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It's the flagship station of Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation, which also owns several other TV stations across the United States and some other properties.

The station is licensed to St. Paul (its call letters stand for K ST. Paul), but its studios lie right on the city line between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

First station

The first telecast by KSTP reportedly occurred on December 7, 1947, when Jack Horner hosted a 25-minute program. Channel 5 began regular broadcasts a few months later on April 27, 1948, making it the first commercial television station in Minnesota. However, an experimental mechanical TV station had set up by WDGY station engineers more than a decade earlier. That station's license expired in 1938 as the Federal Communications Commission was not interested in continuing mechanical TV broadcasts. That same year, Hubbard bought the first television camera available from RCA. However, the television blackout brought on by World War II prevented any transmissions from being made.

KSTP has a number of claims for broadcasting "firsts." These include:

KSTP-TV was originally an NBC affiliate, as KSTP-AM 1500 had long been an NBC radio affiliate. The station, however, also aired programming from the DuMont Television Network [1]. However, on March 5, 1979, it became an ABC affiliate, having snatched the affiliation from KMSP, while NBC programming moved to WTCN-TV (now KARE).

A digital TV signal from KSTP started airing in 1999, and it became part of the first TV "duopoly" in the state with the purchase of KVBM-TV, channel 45 (now KSTC-TV) the year after that (though there was a longstanding public television pair: KTCA/KTCI).

Former logos

The "5" from the last 4 logos in this gallery is known as the Groovy font 5. This 5 was first launched in the mid 1970's, when KSTP had still been the Twin Cities longtime NBC affiliate. Though the 5 has been modified a few times (like WCCO changing its old circle 4 logo from blue to red in the late 1980's) it is the Twin Cities longest lived numeric logo.

Programming and personalities

The station is one of many across the country to use the Eyewitness News moniker for newscasts. A notable local program produced each week is At Issue, a political discussion show hosted by Tom Hauser where former state governor Wendell Anderson has been a regular guest. Special sports shows, usually hosted by Anne Hutchinson are also made on a regular basis and On the Road with Jason Davis, a program that follows Minnesotans and Wisconsinites around the globe has recently become a full half-hour program (it was originally a segment produced for newscasts).

From 1982 to 1994 when nationally-syndicated talk shows started ruling the daytime airwaves, KSTP ran a talk program of its own known as Good Company. Married couple Sharon Anderson and Steve Edelman hosted the show. They appeared briefly in the movie Fargo as show hosts. The two continue to be recognized as area celebrities from time to time. Currently, Edelman runs Edelman Productions, a company that produces TV shows for Food Network, HGTV, The History Channel and DIY with his wife Anderson hosting a few of them. Edelman Productions is headquartered in California where both Edelman and Anderson now live, but they have offices both in California and Minnesota where they produce their shows.

File:EWNKSTP2004.jpg
KSTP-TV Eyewitness News open, 2004.

In late 2004, the station became part of the controversies surrounding missing explosives following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Anchor/Reporter Dean Staley and cameraman Joe Caffrey visited the Al Qa'qaa munitions dump on April 18, 2003. By the next year, Staley had moved on to another station, but the tapes still existed and Caffrey was still at KSTP. When reports surfaced that explosive material might have been stolen from the site, the two realized that they had filmed at the facility during an important time.

Despite its extensive news background, the station often finds itself 3rd or 4th in the ratings. News anchors and reporters have been changed quite frequently during the past decade, probably more often than any other area station. Even a shakeup and quirky advertisements featuring Ed Asner (emulating Lou Grant) didn't help out. However, at least a few people have managed to stay at the station. Since October 1976 Jason Davis has produced feature stories for the news and since 2003 has been host and executive producer of a half hour program called "On the Road" which broadcasts on Sunday nights at 10:35.Meteorologist Dave Dahl has been doing on-air reports since 1979. KSTP-TV's current lead anchors are John Mason, Cyndy Brucato & Leah McLean. KSTP also has the Twin Cities largest team of reporters. Dahl is notable and criticized for being a skeptic of global warming (i.e. anthropogenic climate change).

On May 12, 2006, KSTP announced that they were starting up a 4 p.m. newscast. No competitors in the market have one. It competes against WCCO's airing of The Oprah Winfrey Show. They have stopped airing Cheers and rescheduled Judge Judy.

For most of the 1980s KQRS morning show host Tom Barnard was the station announcer.

Newscast Titles

  • Channel 5 Eyewitness News (1970-2004)
  • 5 Eyewitness News (2004-present)

Newscasts

Weekdays

  • 5 Eyewitness News at 5:00AM (5:00AM-5:30AM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 5:30AM (5:30AM-6:00AM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News AM (6:00AM-7:00AM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News Midday (11:00AM-12:00PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 4 (4:00PM-4:30PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News Live at 5 (5:00PM-5:30PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 6 (6:00PM-6:30PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 6:30 (6:30PM-7:00PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 10 (10:00PM-10:35PM)

Saturdays

  • 5 Eyewitness News AM (6:00AM-7:00AM, 8:00AM-9:00AM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News Live at 5 (5:00PM-5:30PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 6 (6:00PM-6:30PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 10 (10:00PM-10:35PM)

Sundays

  • 5 Eyewitness News AM (6:00AM-7:00AM, 8:00AM-9:00AM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 5:30 (5:30PM-6:00PM)
  • 5 Eyewitness News at 10 (10:00PM-10:35PM)

News Anchors

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Weather Team

5 Eyewitness Sports

Eyewitness News Reporters

Former Personalities

KSTP Has a tendancy to go through more anchor teams and reporters than its' competetors. Many of them go on to accept jobs at KSTP's competetors.

Broadcast Center

Entrance to the KSTP studios on University Avenue in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The sidewalk leading to the building lies precisely on the city line, as does the central leg of the tower.

KSTP-TV's studios and offices are located precisely on the Minneapolis-St. Paul border. The sidewalk in the adjacent photo of the building is on the city line. The principal broadcast studios are on the Minneapolis side of the building with most of the rest of the operation being on the St. Paul side. There is a large transmitting tower behind the station, with one leg in each city and a third leg precisely on the city line. This tower is primarily used to relay the station's signal to the Telefarm paired tower setup in Shoreview (shared with KSTP-FM, WCCO, KARE, and WUCW).

Outlying stations and translators

Combined with satellites KSAX Alexandria and KRWF in Redwood Falls, KSTP has the most extensive network of television broadcast translators in the state, reaching much of central Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Listed here are the translators served directly by KSTP:

See also

TV Queries

References


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