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KRON-TV, channel 4, is the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to San Francisco, the station broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 4, and its digital signal on UHF channel 57. The station's transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower in San Francisco. The station is the flagship of Young Broadcasting. The station brands itself as "KRON 4", keeping the station's previous branding while adding "My" to go with the network's naming conventions, only during MyNetworkTV Shows. It is changed again to "KRON 4" during other programming. KRON can also be seen in Ukiah on K41AF channel 41.

From its founding in 1949 until December 2001, KRON was affiliated with NBC, and was one of that network's strongest affiliates.

History

1940s and 1950s

When the channel 4 allocation in the Bay Area (the third and final one licensed by the FCC before that agency placed a moratorium on new television station licenses that would last the next four years) came open for bidding, it soon became obvious that the license would go to either NBC or the deYoung family, publishers of the San Francisco Chronicle. NBC badly wanted an owned and operated station in the Bay Area alongside its radio station in the area, KNBC (AM 680, now KNBR). However, in an upset, the deYoungs won the license. They brought the station on the air on November 15 1949 as NBC affiliate KRON-TV. The station's call letters come from a modification of the paper's nickname in the Bay Area, "The Chron." KRON-TV originally broadcast from studios located in the basement at Fifth and Mission streets (929 Mission) in the same building that housed the newspaper.

KRON-TV originally broadcast from transmitter facilities on San Bruno Mountain; huge white letters "NBC" were placed near the summit of Radio Peak. In August 1959, the Chronicle reported that the tower was severely damaged by an unusually strong thunderstorm, requiring major repairs before KRON could return to the air.

KRON-FM

For many years, the Chronicle had a non-commercial classical music FM station, KRON-FM, at 96.5 on the FM dial, which had a limited broadcasting schedule (evenings only). It first broadcast from July 1947 to December 31, 1954, then it was off the air until 1957. In the 1960s, programming was devoted primarily to classical music and an hour (7 to 8 p.m.) featuring an entire Broadway show album. Since the station had no commercials, no underwriters, and no on-air fund drives, the Chronicle operated the station as a public service. Staff announcers delivered short newscasts on the station's evening broadcasts. In December 1970, KRON-FM began simulcasting a Spanish language newscast from KRON-TV by Terry Lowry.[1] Then, the station was sold in 1975 to Bonneville International and renamed KOIT-FM.

1960s and 1970s

In the 1950s and 1960s, local programs produced by KRON-TV included the award-winning documentary series Assignment Four, Fireman Frank with George Lemont and his puppets (including Scat the Cat and Carl the Carrot), and a live children's program hosted by Art Finley as Mayor Art. Bay Area kids (known as the "City Council") joined Mayor Art in the studio each day. The show featured Popeye cartoons mixed with science demonstrations, a newsreel feature entitled "Mayor Art's Almanac," games, prizes, and a sock puppet named "Ring-A-Ding."

In 1967, KRON-TV and KRON-FM moved to a new studio at 1001 Van Ness Avenue, where channel 4 is still headquartered today. The television transmitter was moved to the Mount Sutro tower on July 4, 1973. The FM transmitter remained on San Bruno Mountain.

Until the late 1970s, KRON-TV was infamous for being very San Francisco-centric in its news coverage and audience targeting, an approach that would become costly to the station as growth in areas outside San Francisco soared. Realizing this enabled KRON-TV to become the dominant station in the Bay Area.

Since the 1970s, KRON-TV has used a logo with the design of the number four based upon the Golden Gate Bridge. The vertical component is a bridge tower, the horizontal component is a portion of the bridge deck, and the curve is a portion of a suspension cable. (This logo was used as early as April 1974, during coverage of a Symbionese Liberation Army bank robbery.) By about 1990-1991, this evolved into the "circle 4" logo in use to this day, with the 4 keeping the bridge-like design. Notably absent from KRON's on-air identity was the NBC Peacock logo, even during its days as an NBC affiliate (the station would use the peacock logo sparingly in select on-air promotions, notably in the late 1980s and 1990's to promote NBC Sports coverage of local teams such as the San Francisco Giants as well as joint news promo spots featuring NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and local anchors Jim Paymar and Sylvia Chase).

Also in the 1970s, KRON used an early NewsCenter 4 logo. At the top of this logo was the "Golden Gate Bridge 4" logo (the "4" was superimposed over the famous Golden Gate Bridge), and on the bottom was the text in a stylized font in capital letters, which read NEWSCENTER. Earlier in this run, the word under the logo read NEWSWATCH. They also used Fred Weinberg's NBC Newspulse as its music theme for NewsCenter 4.

1980s

A 3D animated Golden Gate ID was introduced in June 1984, where some station IDs and newscast openings included animations wherein the "4" logo was superimposed upon a section of the bridge. There were two versions of this station ID: daytime and nighttime. In the early days of this station ID, the same music cue used for the early 80's C Channel station was used. Later that year, a new music cue was used on the ID and was used until 1987. When KRON overhauled their set and debuted the foghorn music package in June 1987, a new updated music cue was used on the ID until 1989.[2]

In addition when "DayBreak" debuted On September 1, 1986, the DayBreak Sun which mirrored that of NBC's Today Show was designed by PDI and was used in the news openings/closings of the program with the Golden Gate Bridge being put on the other side of the DayBreak Sun.

The NewsCenter 4 logo was changed around 1980. The "4" was placed in a square and the bolder NewsCenter text appeared next to it. In 1984, the logo was changed again to feature the word NewsCenter in a new font (same as the font used for NBC News programming in the early-to-mid 1980s). The "4" was italicized and the square was removed. This logo was used until 1988.

When the station signed off, the same text for KRON-TV featured in the Golden Gate station ID was superimposed on the SMPTE color bars. The "4" was placed next to the KRON-TV text.

Also during the 1980s, KRON had a huge amount of #1 syndicated programming as it was the original Bay Area home to the Merv Griffin-produced game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune as well as Entertainment Tonight. (The original NBC daytime versions of both Jeopardy and Wheel aired on KRON.) The game show pair would move to current station KGO-TV permanently in 1992 after KRON-TV experimented early prime that year.

Under NBC

File:KRONGolgenGateID.jpg
KRON's Animated Golden Gate Bridge ID used from 1984-1989. This animated ID open as well as many other KRON ID's and promos are designed by Pacific Data Images of Palo Alto, CA.
File:KRON1987NighgttimeGGB.jpg
KRON's Night Time variation of the GGB ID which includes a sounder used for the 11 PM NewsCenter 4 Update from 1985-1989.

As an NBC affiliate, KRON-TV branded its newscasts using the NewsCenter 4 name from the 1970s until it adopted the KRON 4 News branding scheme in late 2000, early 2001.

Appropriately for a station owned by the Chronicle, KRON-TV was a very news-intensive station. For example, its 6 p.m. newscast was called NewsCenter 4 at 6. However, KRON-TV also had other names for its newscasts. Before KRON 4 Morning News was used for the entire 5-10 a.m. slot on weekday mornings, the 5-7 a.m. newscast was called Daybreak. Its 11:30 a.m. weekday noon-time newscast was called NewsCenter 4 Midday. Its 4 p.m. weekday newscast was called First 4 News when it first premiered in 1996. For much of the 1980s, the 5 p.m. weekday newscast was Live at Five; Bob Jimenez was the solo anchor in the mid-1980s. Its 11:00 p.m. weekday newscast was called NewsCenter 4 Nightbeat. Sometimes anchors would refer the 11 p.m. newscast as The Nightbeat. In the mid-1980s, the 11 p.m. weekday newscast was known as NewsCenter 4 Update; originally it was anchored by Roz Abrams and Jim Paymar. Later after Abrams left for WABC in 1986, Jim Paymar and Sylvia Chase (who had been a correspondent for the ABC-TV newsmagazine 20/20) anchored. In the 1990s, the station branded itself as 24 Hour News, with 30 to 60 second news updates every hour. The station adopted the slogan The Bay Area's News Station in 2001.

Daybreak debuted as a half-hour program (6:30 a.m.-7 a.m.) on September 1, 1986 (Labor Day), leading in to NBC's Today program. Anchored by Lloyd Patterson and Lila Petersen, it was then the only morning newscast in the San Francisco television market (aside from local cut-ins into network programs). Daybreak successively expanded to earlier timeslots until it ran from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. The name Daybreak pre-dated the newscast that began in 1986; KRON had earlier used the Daybreak name with its five-minute news briefs at 6:45, 7:25, and 8:25 a.m.

KRON-TV newscasts in the mid- and late-1980s ran commentaries by Wayne Shannon in a segment called "Just 4 You." Shannon's name received billing in newscast introductions along with the anchors and weather and sports presenters.

Another staple of KRON-TV newscasts in the 1980s was live traffic reports and news coverage from the station's helicopter "Telecopter 4." Bob McCarthy, Rita Cohen, and Janice Huff were among the personalities who reported from Telecopter 4. Their traffic reports appeared regularly in the Daybreak cut-ins during Today and during Live at Five.

In the 1980s, KRON-TV produced lengthy analysis pieces for the "Cover Story" segment of its 6 p.m. newscast. Many had an investigative journalism focus. The station re-ran some of these segments in a weekly program called Cover Story Magazine.

T.G.I.Four was a one-hour light local news program which ran at 4 p.m. in the early-1980s. It began with shots of various landmark Bay Area clocks (such as on the San Francisco Ferry Building and on Sather Tower at UC Berkeley) chiming four o'clock. In the mid-1980s, KRON-TV produced and aired a talk program called Bay City Limits, which ran in the afternoon. (Rival TV stations also produced talk programs in that era: A.M. San Francisco at KGO-TV and People Are Talking at KPIX.)

In the late 1980s, KRON was among the few TV stations in the United States that produced a game show. Claim to Fame was a weekly half-hour show hosted by Patrick Van Horn. It usually ran on Saturday evenings. In that era, KRON also produced a Saturday morning children's program called Buster and Me[3][4].

Scheduling oddities

Despite its status as NBC's second-largest affiliate (and largest on the West Coast), KRON occasionally pre-empted NBC programming, usually during daytime (most notably the soap opera Another World, which would since re-air on the station in the early 1990s). Two NBC daytime game shows, 50 Grand Slam and Just Men!, never aired an episode on KRON-TV. Also, the station did not air NBC soap operas in the traditional pattern. For example, KRON-TV aired Days of our Lives after Another World instead of the standard network programming -- at 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. depending on the season and time slot. KRON-TV also pre-empted some prime time programming on NBC. Like NBC counterpart KCRA-TV in Sacramento, KRON-TV stopped airing the T-NBC lineup on Saturday mornings in the early 1990s. NBC has been far less tolerant of preemptions than the other networks(though they have since eased their standards), and even had to buy stations to switch affiliates to NBC in the mid-1990s because of this or find alternate independent stations to air NBC programs that the main affiliate did not air. However, despite losing valuable advertising in the nation's fifth largest(now sixth) market, NBC was very satisfied with KRON-TV, which was one of its strongest affiliates.

For the years 1992-1993, KRON-TV participated in the "Early Prime" experiment in which prime time programs were aired an hour earlier, with the 30-minute late night newscast moved from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. While KRON-TV moved prime time NBC programming back to its normal time, KPIX-TV continued its experiment with an hour-long newscast at 10 p.m. until 1998, when it moved its CBS newscast back to 11 p.m. for 35 minutes. KTVU has dominated the 10 p.m. newscast for decades and continues to do so to this day.

KRON-TV was at one time the flagship station of the Oakland Athletics baseball team from 1993-1998. This caused a problem in 1996, when the final day of the USA Olympic track and field trials conflicted with a scheduled Athletics broadcast, as KRON-TV's contract required them to show the baseball game, and, as a result, KRON-TV broadcast the trials at midnight.

The end of the NBC era

In 1999, the deYoung family, owners of the parent corporation Chronicle Publishing, decided to liquidate their assets. KRON's longtime newspaper partner, the San Francisco Chronicle would be sold to its current owner, Hearst Corporation.

NBC had made many offers for channel 4 over the years, but the deYoungs had rebuffed them each time. It finally saw a chance to get an O&O ("owned and operated") in the Bay Area, and quickly jumped into the bidding war for channel 4. It was seen as the frontrunner until it was outbid at the last second by New York City-based Young Broadcasting (then-owner of KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and several medium-small market stations). Young's purchase price for the station ($750 million (U.S.) at the outset rose to $820 million by closing) was a record price for a single station that stands to this day. For the down payment, Young was forced to sell WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin to Morgan Murphy Stations.

NBC responded with a list of demands that would have required Young to run the station under the conventions of an NBC O&O. For example, NBC wanted Young to rebrand KRON as "NBC 4," and run the entire NBC schedule in pattern with no pre-emptions except for local news emergencies. Rather than give in to NBC's demands, Young decided not to renew Channel 4's affiliation contract with NBC when it ran out in 2002. Granite Broadcasting's KNTV in San Jose later approached NBC with a proposal to pay $37 million annually for the rights to broadcast NBC programming, and NBC accepted the deal. In December of 2001, however, NBC purchased KNTV for a fraction of KRON's sale price — $230 million in cash. That makes NBC the only network in the Bay Area to switch from one local station to another.

The affiliation switch became official at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day 2002, ending KRON-TV's 52-year affiliation with NBC.

BayTV

Also from July 4, 1994 until August 30, 2001 KRON-TV operated a 24-hour news cable and local programming channel, BayTV. BayTV, on channel 35, was co-operated with then AT&T Broadband, now Comcast. BayTV ceased operations in 2001. KRON-TV's NewsCenter 4 newsroom also offered news updates on MSNBC and CNN Headline News on the cable systems around the Bay Area. KRON 4 News at 9 actually started on BayTV in the 1990s and when BayTV went off the air and KRON became an independent, the newscast officially went to channel 4 in 2002 and stayed there until September 5, 2006. The channel's daily Silicon Valley news recap New Media News also aired nationally on Jones Media Group cable channel Mind Extension University/Knowledge TV until that channel ended broadcasting in 2000.

Adopting the VJ model

KRON was one of the first major market stations in the U.S. to adopt the controversial videojournalist, or VJ[5], model. In smaller markets, this is called one-man banding, a cost-saving practice in which journalists shoot, report, and edit their stories themselves, instead of having a cameraperson/tape editor in the production van with the reporter.[6] Most, if not all, tape editor positions have been eliminated and the union editors typically given the choice to become VJs or leave. Some media watchers have criticized the move as a shift towards "reality programming" such as MTV's The Real World.[7] Many staff and critics have charged the move to "videojournalism" was done simply to cut costs, eliminate long-time staffers, and break the unions by pitting them against one another. Since KRON instituted the "VJ" scheme in 2005, scores of long-time employees have left -- including editors, producers, writers, reporters, photographers, and operations staff. However, some photographers and producers have welcomed the transition to telling the story themselves.[8]

MyNetworkTV

Main article: MyNetworkTV

KRON-TV is the largest MNTV station that did not lose a WB or UPN affiliation.

When KRON-TV began carrying MNTV programming, it eliminated the hour-long 9 p.m. newscast.[9] However, KRON-TV is not following the standard practice of airing MNTV programming from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. like most Pacific Time Zone affiliates. Instead, it airs "KRON 4 News" during the 8 p.m. hour, and MNTV programming from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., one hour later than most affiliates. Oregon Affiliates KPDX in Portland and KEVU in Eugene also air MyNetworkTV programming in this slot. The MyNetworkTV affiliate in Sacramento, KQCA-TV, along with Seattle's affiliate, KMYQ, and Salt Lake City's station, KJZZ-TV, also deviates from the standard My Network TV programming schedule, airing it from 7-9 p.m. As for KJZZ-TV, they air their My Network TV schedule from 11 p.m.-1 a.m.

On September 17, 2007, KRON started producing their newscasts in 16x9 widescreen format, making it the third station to do so behind KGO and KTVU. In September 2008, KRON moved the Dr. Phil program to 5 p.m. Dr. Phil had been broadcast at 8 p.m. since its premiere in 2002. As a result of the move the station eliminated its 5pm newscast and started an 8pm newscast.

Retro Television Network

In October 2007, Retro Television Network, a network owned by Equity Media Holdings which specializes in airing classic sitcoms and dramas, was expected to launch as a digital subchannel on KRON-DT2 as part of a test of the network by Young Broadcasting, along with sister stations WBAY in Green Bay and Albany's WTEN.[10] However, as of October 2008 KRON's 4.20 digital subchannel is simply reserved for the high definition version of normal broadcasting[11], with a third subchannel (4.3) being a split screen of a live Bay Area traffic map and traffic cameras for certain freeways; this is despite RTN still listing KRON as an affiliate[12].

Young Broadcasting sale of KRON

After the New York-based Young Broadcasting Inc.'s historic purchase of KRON-TV in 2000, the station was stripped of its NBC network affiliation after Young disagreed with NBC's terms. Consequently, it ended the 52-year affiliation of KRON with NBC. Young Broadcasting Inc. decided to make the station independent. Focusing and putting on more hours of local programming and adopting the "VJ model" in its news programs, the station had undergone a major makeover. However, that strategy failed.

On January 10, 2008 Young Broadcasting announced it would sell KRON-TV. It retained Moelis & Company as the financial advisors on the deal. Young hoped to close the sale by the end of the first quarter of 2008,[13][14][15] but no buyer had emerged as of late May 2008. Analysts suggest that the station would be very attractive, especially to the major networks as they are beginning to be geared to owning their affiliates in the top 10 markets. Fox is one of the buyers looking at purchasing KRON. The Bay Area television market is currently the sixth largest in the nation; it is the largest market where Fox does not own a station and its contract with KTVU ends in a few years.

Another potential buyer is NBC. Although KNTV in San Jose was bought by NBC in 2002, NBC may pursue KRON again because of Channel 4's 52-year history with the Peacock network, and move its Telemundo property KSTS to channel 11 from channel 48. KNTV began identifying itself as NBC Bay Area on July 20, 2008, perhaps signifying further interest in bringing NBC back to Channel 4.

A third potential buyer is CBS. Although they already own KPIX-TV, they may move their CW affiliation to KRON and sell KPIX sister station KBCW.

The decision to sell comes amid declining ratings for the station. Under NBC network affiliation, Channel 4 had been the top-rated station in the Bay Area for almost 40 years at the time of the purchase, but is currently in 6th place (behind KGO-TV, KPIX, KNTV, KTVU and KBCW). As a result of plummeting ratings, Young lost $373 million from 2001 to 2006. Despite the decision to sell its biggest station, Young still considers KRON a "jewel."[16]

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels
Subchannel Programming
4.1 / 57.1 Main KRON/MyNetworkTV programming (standard definition)
4.2 / 57.2 Main KRON/MyNetworkTV programming (high definition)
4.3 / 57.3 Bay Area traffic map/cameras

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 [17], KRON will move its digital broadcasts to channel 38. [18] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display KRON's virtual channel as 4.

News / Station Presentation

Newscast title

Known slogans

  • We're Friends 4 You. (1977-1979). The jingle music was also used on WKYC.
  • The Bay's 4... Proud as a Peacock (1979-1981, local version of NBC campaign)
  • KRON is coming home. This slogan was used around 1980. [4]
  • If it happens in <INSERT COMMUNITY NAME>, it happens on 4. - slogan said by viewers during a KRON-TV promotional campaign circa 1990. These usually took the form of five-second promotions before programs.
  • It's _____ o'clock and the news is next. - how KRON-TV anchors ended pre-newscast teasers in the mid-1980s.
  • Proud to be Independent. - slogan used in KRON promos during the loss of NBC affiliation from January 1 2002 – September 4 2006.
  • KRON 4 - The Bay Area's News Station.
  • KRON 4 - The Bay Area's News and Weather Station.

Current personalities

Local Shows

Anchors

Weather team

Sports

Video Journalists

  • Jonathan Bloom
  • Jeff Bush
  • Charles Clifford
  • Christine Connolly
  • Terisa Estacio
  • Eric Johnston
  • Mark Jones Transportation Reporter
  • Holly Juscen - VJ & Sports Anchor
  • Maureen Kelly - Real Estate
  • Michelle Kennedy
  • Dan Kerman
  • Toan Lam
  • Da Lin
  • Gabriel Slate - Technology
  • Kate Thompson - Real Estate
  • Will Tran
  • Stanley Roberts - People Behaving Badly
  • Daniel Villareal

Former personalities

KRON-TV and numerology

According to SF Weekly, the station changed KRON-4's building number from 1001 to 1001552 in January 2006, based on advice from the station manager's "astro-numerologist", Jesse Kalsi.[26] Business for the station had previously been abysmal. Young's station management claims the numerology improved business. They claim one of the results was the station's deal to become a MyNetworkTV affiliate. "Obviously, there are skeptics who think it's a bunch of hooey, but I can tell you things seem to have improved since the change," said Pat Patton, KRON-TV's programming director. "Morale is better, people are happier," he said. Many staffers saw the numerology as one more indication that station management was "nuts" and in far over their heads. Plans are being made to give Kalsi his own show on the station.

Past logos

References

  1. ^ Broadcast Legends - Terry Lowry
  2. ^ [1] KRON's July 14, 1987 news update with the DayBreak Sun and Nighttime GGB Legal ID.
  3. ^ Gone But Not Forgotten: "Buster and Me"
  4. ^ Buster and Me (1977) at IMDb
  5. ^ How a once-proud San Francisco television station became ground zero in the nation's most controversial experiment in local TV news.
  6. ^ San Francisco - News - KRON's Last Gasp
  7. ^ Grade the News
  8. ^ [2][dead link]
  9. ^ TVWeek - Special Reports - Print Edition
  10. ^ [3]
  11. ^ KRON programming guide @ TitanTV
  12. ^ List of Retro Television Network affiliates
  13. ^ "Young Broadcasting Inc. to Sell KRON-TV in San Francisco" (press release)
  14. ^ KNTV: "KRON Goes Up For Sale"(1/10/2008)
  15. ^ KPIX: "Young Broadcasting To Sell KRON-TV" (1/10/2008)
  16. ^ "Young Broadcasting puts Bay Area's KRON-TV up for sale"
  17. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  18. ^ CDBS Print
  19. ^ Mary Civiello & Civiello Communications Group
  20. ^ Fred LaCosse, keynote addresses, keynote speakers, speakers, public speakers, patriotic speeches, patriotic speakers
  21. ^ DaveMalkoff.com | Television News Reporter
  22. ^ Malou Review
  23. ^ Paymar Communications Group is a leading edge consulting, media training and presentation training firm working with executives, government officials and spokespersons so they become competent communicators
  24. ^ Karna Bodman-Home
  25. ^ AMS List of TV Seal Holder
  26. ^ Russell, Ron (May 3 2006). "But Can He Predict the Weather?". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2006-06-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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