KTLA
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KTLA-TV (Channel 5) is the flagship station of the Warner Brothers television network. the station's signal covers the Southern California region, as well as being available as a superstation via satellite. The Tribune Company bought KTLA in 1985.
Technical Information
- Frequency: Channel 5
- Name: KTLA The WB
- Radius: 85 miles (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties)
- Slogan: KTLA The WB : Where L.A. Lives
- Start of Operation: January 22, 1947
- Transmitter Location: Los Angeles, California (34° 13' 36.00" N Latitude, 118° 3' 56.00" W Longitude)
- Transmitter Power: 44.7 kW
History
The station first broadcast on January 22, 1947, becoming the first commercial television station to be broadcast west of the Mississippi River. It is based on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
According to the historical archives of the Los Angeles fire department[1], KTLA received its commercial license on February 22, two days after the station covered the February 20 explosion at O'Connor Electro-Plating, and it had formerly been W6XYZ. But according to KTLA's own historical timeline [2], the explosion occurred on February 27, a little over a month after the station's January 22 founding.
In 1964, KTLA was purchased by singer and actor Gene Autry and merged with his other radio properties into an umbrella company, Golden West Broadcasters. From 1964 to 1995, the station was the broadcast TV home of the Angels baseball team. Also, KTLA also carried selected Los Angeles Lakers games, from the early-to-mid 1970s.
In the 1960's and 1970's, KTLA ran a mix of syndicated westerns, drama shows, first-run talk shows, movies, and pro sports. It also launched a 10 PM newscast in the 1960s, simply titled News at Ten (now KTLA Prime News). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the station added syndicated sitcom reruns into the mix.
They continued with this format into the 1980's. In 1982, Golden West sold KTLA to an investment firm, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. for $245 million dollars. KKR and Co. in turn sold KTLA to Tribune Broadcasting in 1985. Under Tribune, they continued to acquire high rated off-network sitcoms as well as talk shows. In July 1991, KTLA added an early morning newscast, The KTLA Morning News.
In March 1991, KTLA was the first station to air the infamous video of the Rodney King beating by Los Angeles police. From 1994 to 1995 the station aired near gavel to gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson Trial.
In January 1995, KTLA became a charter affiliate of the WB Network, in which KTLA's parent company Tribune holds a 25% stake. That fall, KTLA added an afternoon cartoon block from Kids WB, entering the kids business for the first time in years. Channel 5 also broadcasts the annual Tournament of Roses Parade live from the city of Pasadena as well, with Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards as the commentators since 1978. The station has aired the Rose Parade since 1948, and while other local stations also broadcast the parade (most notably, one-time Sunset Boulevard neighbor, KTTV) over the years, KTLA remains the sole English-language outlet in the Los Angeles area to continuously broadcast the Rose Parade.
Today, KTLA is a typical WB affiliate running the usual blend of syndicated shows such as first-run talk and reality shows, off-network sitcoms and dramas, cartoons from Kids WB, first-run prime time programming from WB, morning and 10PM newscasts, and sports. KTLA is the over-the-air home of the Los Angeles Clippers: the station carried Clippers games from 1984 to 1991, and picked them up again in 2002. Although not as wide-spread in national carriage as its Chicago sister station, WGN-TV, KTLA is available via satellite as a superstation, through out North America on Ku-Band, C-Band, and Dish Network systems, as well as on cable systems in selected cities throughout the Southwestern United States. The station is also carried on many Canadain subscription services.
The station launched a new branding campaign in January 2005, which omitted all references to its Channel 5 position. It adopted a new logo, and became known on the air as KTLA The WB: Where L.A. Lives.
News operation
Several of its well-known evening news anchors include Hal Fishman and the late Larry McCormick, who died after a long illness in September 2004. Its veteran field reporters are Stan Chambers and Warren Wilson. Stu Nahan and Ed Arnold (who now anchors KOCE's Real Orange) were formerly the sports anchors. Accompanying his news anchoring career, McCormick also hosted KTLA's own public affairs production called MAKING IT!, which featured stories on the entrepreneurial successes of ethnic minorities.
KTLA News has a special partnership with the Los Angeles Times, which has been co-owned with the station since 2000.
Previous Owners
- 1947-64: Paramount Pictures Corporation
- 1964-82: Golden West Broadcasters
- 1982-85: Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co.
- 1985-present: The Tribune Company, via its Tribune Broadcasting division