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KMBC-TV

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This article is about a TV station in Kansas City. For other uses, see KMBC.
Not to be confused with KNBC.

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.

KMBC-TV, channel 9, is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by the broadcasting division of the Hearst Corporation and is one-half of a duopoly with KCWE (channel 29), the area's CW Television Network affiliate. The two stations share studios near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV's transmitter is located in eastern Kansas City, near the Blue River.[1]

KMBC-TV also serves as an alternate ABC affiliate for St. Joseph, Missouri, available over-the-air in most of the market and on local satellite providers and select cable systems such as Suddenlink; this is despite the presence of KQTV (channel 2), which is the market's official ABC affiliate and is carried alongside KMBC on some cable systems in the market.

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
9.1 1080i 16:9 KMBC-DT Main KMBC-TV programming / ABC
9.2 480i 4:3 KMBC-WX Me-TV

KMBC-DT2 began carrying Me-TV on June 21, 2011.[2][3] From 2008 to June 20, 2011, the subchannel was an affiliate of The Local AccuWeather Channel, with just over the minimum amount of FCC-required E/I children's programming; from September 14, 2010 to June 20, 2011, the channel added a general entertainment block on weeknights from 6-11 p.m., under the branding "MOREtv Kansas City" (a branding previously used by sister station KCWE as a UPN affiliate),[4] which included a 6:30 p.m. encore of KMBC's weeknight 6 p.m. newscast.

KMBC is one of several Hearst-owned stations that broadcasts digitally in 1080i, instead of ABC's preferred 720p high definition format. KMBC's Hearst-owned ABC-affiliated sister stations WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, WCVB-TV in Boston and KETV in Omaha also broadcast in this format.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KMBC's broadcasts became digital-only effective June 12, 2009.[5] As the Kansas City "nightlight" station, it aired a loop reminding viewers to get a digital converter box on analog channel 9 until July 12, 2009. On February 19, 2009, the station after receiving permission from the FCC for a Special Temporary Authority permit, moved its digital signal from digital channel 7 to channel 29 which had been vacated by sister station KCWE two months before. The station had received viewer complaints about reception due to a combination of Kansas City being an all-UHF digital market besides channel 9 and to address signal conflicts with Pittsburg, Kansas-based KOAM-TV which was allowed to re-utilize its analog channel 7 for its digital channel. It transitioned on February 17 and would have received interference from KMBC-DT as the stations' transmitters are 131 miles (211 km) away from each other much less than the advised 150 miles (240 km) separation between a shared channel.[6] Through the use of PSIP, KMBC-TV's virtual channel is displayed as 9.

History

Early years: two stations

The Federal Communications Commission awarded the license of Kansas City's third and last VHF station to two locally-based radio station operators who competed heavily for the license. The Cook Paint and Varnish Company, which operated WHB radio (then at 710 AM, now at 810 AM) and the Midland Broadcasting Company, owners of KMBC radio (980 AM, now KMBZ), began shared operation of channel 9 on August 2, 1953. Under the arrangement, the two separate stations would each alternate 90 minutes of airtime, broadcasting from separate studios but using the same channel and transmitter. The combined KMBC-TV and WHB-TV operation also carried programming from CBS.[7][8][9][10]

Cook Paint and Varnish purchased Midland Broadcasting's holdings in April 1954, including KMBC's broadcast facilities in what is now the Lyric Theatre in Downtown Kansas City. On June 14, 1954 KMBC-TV took over channel 9 full-time, absorbing WHB-TV's share of the frequency and ending the split-station arrangement. Cook Paint also sold WHB radio to Storz Broadcasting in order to comply with FCC rules.[11][12][13][14]

In September 1955, KMBC-TV lost CBS programming to KCMO-TV (channel 5, now KCTV), and the station took on KCMO-TV's former primary affiliation with ABC.[15][16] During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[17]

In 1959, Cook Paint and Varnish bought KDRO-TV in Sedalia, Missouri and changed its calls to KMOS-TV on January 28 of that year. KDRO-TV had been the ABC affiliate for the far eastern portion of the Kansas City market, but ABC refused to give it a network feed to protect KMBC-TV, forcing it to switch to and from channel 9's signal during network programming.

Metromedia ownership

Cook Paint and Varnish sold the KMBC stations, KMOS-TV, and KFRM radio in Concordia, Kansas, to Metropolitan Broadcasting (later Metromedia) in 1961;[18] Metropolitan subsequently spun off KMOS-TV and KFRM.[19] Metromedia signed on KMBC-FM (99.7 FM, now KZPT) in the following year, but sold both of the KMBC radio stations to Bonneville International, the broadcasting arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1967.[20]

Over the years, KMBC-TV has pre-empted some ABC programming. Notably under Metromedia ownership, channel 9 passed on The Brady Bunch when it debuted in 1969, but it was picked up a year later. Also, it was one of the few ABC affiliates to pre-empt the ABC Evening News during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Both of these programs were instead broadcast on now-defunct independent KCIT-TV (channel 50, now KPXE-TV). In 1974 Metromedia changed the lease terms of the Lyric Theatre and was given total control of it.

In December 1980 KMBC-TV hired Christine Craft as a co-anchor on the station's evening newscasts. Although channel 9 had moved up to number one in the market during this time, a focus group claimed Craft was "too old, too unattractive and not deferential to men." At the time Craft was 36 and her co-anchor Scott Feldman was 31. Craft resigned from the station nine months later after rejecting a demotion to a reporting assignment. She then sued Metromedia, accusing KMBC-TV managers of both fraud and sexual discrimination; this was one of the first such cases to be widely publicized in the United States. Craft initially won her case, though she lost on appeal.[21][22][23][24]

Sale to Hearst

Prior to its legal battle with Craft, Metromedia sold KMBC-TV and the Lyric Theatre to the Hearst Corporation in 1982.[25][26] Under Hearst ownership, the station expanded its local news production. It also built a 343 metres (1,125 ft) high guyed mast broadcast tower in eastern Kansas City on a hill above the Blue River in 1988.[1] Hearst inquired about moving KMBC's operations to a new studio space in 1990, but eventually decided to continue to operate the station out of the Lyric Theatre.

KMBC came under common management as upstart WB affiliate KCWB (channel 29, now CW affiliate KCWE) in 1996 through a local marketing agreement. In March 2008, KMBC began a morning newscast for KCWE, the first regularly scheduled news program for the station. KCWE officially became co-owned with KMBC in May 2010. Although KMBC's licensee name remains "KMBC Hearst Television Inc.," the copyright tag at the end of its newscasts reads "Hearst Stations Inc." which is the licensee name for KCWE.

On August 23, 2007, the station's operations moved from the Lyric Theatre to new studios at 6455 Winchester Avenue, near Swope Park. Although its former radio sisters had changed call signs decades ago, KMBC-TV's legal call sign has retained its "-TV" suffix to this day. Under Hearst KMBC was again the focus of a lawsuit filed by female journalists at the station. Maria Antonia, Peggy Breit and Kelly Eckerman sued Hearst in 2008 alleging age and sex discrimination.[27] The lawsuit was settled in 2010.[28]

KMBC has been the local home of Monday Night Football games involving the Kansas City Chiefs since 2006, airing simulcasts of ESPN-aired games (as was the case when ESPN aired Sunday night games from 1987–2005). This is because ESPN is 20% owned by Hearst, and the company's stations have right of first refusal for simulcasts of ESPN-aired National Football League games (as do ABC's owned-and-operated stations).

Programming

KMBC-TV broadcasts all of the ABC network schedule, including network primetime, daytime talk shows and soap operas, Saturday morning children's shows and sports programming. The station also airs The View, Nightline, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! outside of the network's recommended time slots for all three shows, with the latter two delayed due to KMBC airing a block of syndicated sitcoms after its 10 p.m. newscast. Syndicated programming on the station includes Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, Two and a Half Men, Rachael Ray, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, and Frasier.

From its 1980 debut until 2011, KMBC delayed Nightline to midnight, 90 minutes later than most ABC stations that carry it (with only minor exceptions for major breaking news events), a decision that had been long criticized by some ABC network management and even former Nightline host Ted Koppel; Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which follows it, was also delayed similarly since its January 2003 debut. On January 3, 2011 KMBC pushed Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel ahead a half-hour, starting at 11:37 p.m., citing shifting market conditions making a compelling case to air the two programs a half hour earlier and a request by the network to do so during recent negotiations of KMBC's affiliation agreement with ABC.[29]

News operation

File:Kmbc news.png
KMBC's news open (2007-2011).

Under Hearst, the station expanded its local news production. KMBC currently broadcasts a total of 30½ hours of local news per week (with 3½ hours on weekdays, five hours on Saturdays and 4½ hours on Sundays). During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, KMBC was number one in the area but the station ended the latter decade in second place behind WDAF-TV (channel 4). As soon as that station switched from NBC to Fox in September 1994, KMBC returned to number one. Currently, it generally battles KCTV for first place weeknights at 10 p.m. while continuing to battle WDAF for first place on weekday mornings. In November 2007, KMBC finished the sweeps period first in most newscasts and tying KCTV in the 10 p.m. time period.[30] In February 2008, its newscasts won all of their time periods outright.

In 2007, its news department won seven Edward R. Murrow Awards which is the most by a station in the country. The station won awards in the following categories: news series, feature, news documentary, spot news, continuing coverage, newscast, and overall excellence. KMBC unveiled its new purpose-built facility near Swope Park on August 23, 2007 beginning with the 5 p.m. newscast. The new building includes a news set designed by FX Group. With the relocation, the channel became the first station in the area to air local newscasts in high definition.[31]

For many years, KCWE aired no local newscasts despite being a sister station to KMBC. It cited a fear of cannibalizing the station's audience as a reason not to expand news offerings to KCWE. This changed on March 3, 2008 when that station debuted a two-hour extension of the "FirstNews" morning newscast, from 7-9 a.m. As is the case on KMBC, the KCWE newscast is aired in high definition. On July 30, 2010 like most of its Hearst-owned ABC affiliated sister stations did on that date, KMBC added an hour-long extension of its weekend morning newscast at 8 a.m. On August 23, 2010, this was followed by an expansion of its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours with the move of the start time to 4:30 a.m. (NBC affiliate KSHB, channel 41, also moved the start time of its morning newscast to 4:30 a.m. on the same date).[32] On September 14, 2010, KMBC launched a half-hour weeknight only 9 p.m. newscast on KCWE to compete with WDAF-TV's in-house 9 p.m. newscast and the KCTV-produced 9 p.m. newscast on MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV (channel 62). Management stated the reason behind this was due to The CW's growing ratings.

Ratings

For the February 2011 sweeps period, KMBC was the #1 news station in the Kansas City market with a total-day quarter-hour household rating average of 6.4; the station tied with WDAF-TV during the 6-7 a.m. hour with a 5.4 rating, though WDAF-TV's morning newscast beat KMBC during the 7-9 a.m. slot while Channel 9 aired Good Morning America. The station also placed first among the market's evening newscasts with a 8.1 rating share at 5 p.m., a 9.2 rating at 6 p.m. and a 9.8 rating at 10 p.m. The station's 9 p.m. newscast on KCWE also scored a 1.4 rating for the month ahead slightly above KCTV's primetime newscast on KSMO but well behind longtime 9 p.m. leader, WDAF-TV.[33]

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

  • Your Esso Reporter (1953–1956)
  • The Kansas City Report (1956–1960)
  • The Television 9 Report (1960–1965)
  • Pulse (5 p.m. newscast)/24 Hours (10 p.m. newscast; 1965–c. 1971)
  • Total News (c.1971–1979)[34]
  • The News: The xx:00 Report/Update (1979–1983)[35]
  • KMBC 9 News (1983–present)[36]

News team

Current on-air staff[37]

Anchors

  • Diane Cho - Saturdays at 5:00, 6:00, 9:00 (On KCWE) and 10:00 p.m; also weeknight reporter
  • Jana Corrie - weekend mornings on First News (5:00-6:00 and 7:00-9:00 a.m.); also weeknight reporter
  • Kelly Eckerman - weeknights at 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. (on KCWE); also health reporter
  • David Hall - Fridays 10:00, Saturdays at 5:00, 6:00, 9:00 (on KCWE) and 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
  • Len Jennings - Sundays-Thursdays at 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. (on KCWE) and 10:00 p.m
  • Kris Ketz - weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 on KMBC and 7:00-9:00 a.m. on KCWE); also weeknight reporter
  • Larry Moore - weeknights at 6:00
  • Lara Moritz - Sundays-Thursdays at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Donna Pitman - weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 on KMBC and 7:00-9:00 a.m. on KCWE)

KMBC 9 First Alert Weather

  • Bryan Busby (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; Sundays-Thursdays at 5:00, 6:00, 9:00 (on KCWE) and 10:00 p.m.; also heard on KPRS (103.3 FM)
  • Lisa Teachman (member, AMS) - meteorologist; Fridays & Saturdays at 5:00, 6:00, 9:00 (on KCWE) and 10:00 p.m.
  • Joel Nichols - weather anchor; weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 on KMBC and 7:00-9:00 a.m. on KCWE); also feature reporter and host and producer of Afterwords; heard on KMBZ (980 AM and 98.1 FM)
  • Erin Little (AMS Seal of Approval; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weekend mornings (5:00-6:00 and 7:00-9:00 a.m.)

Sports team

  • Len Dawson - sports director emeritus; seen during Kansas City Chiefs season and fill-in weeknight anchor
  • Johnny Kane - sports director; weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Karen Kornacki - sports anchor; Weekends at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.; also sports reporter

Reporters

  • Martin Augustine - general assignment reporter
  • Peggy Breit - general assignment
  • Haley Harrison- general assignment reporter
  • Cliff Judy - general assignment reporter
  • Micheal Mahoney - general assignment reporter
  • Stephanie Ramos- general assignment reporter/ mornings
  • Johnny Rowlands - "NewsChopper 9" helicopter pilot, weekday morning traffic (4:30-7:00 on KMBC and 7:00-9:00 a.m. on KCWE) and 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. breaking news reporter
  • Kerri Stowell - weekday morning traffic (4:30-7:00 on KMBC and 7:00-9:00 a.m. on KCWE) and weeknight 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. reporter; also weekday, weekend and holiday fill-in anchor
  • Brenda Washington - general assignment reporter/ mornings

Hearst Washington Bureau

  • Kate Amara - Washington D.C. Bureau reporter
  • Sally Kidd - Washington D.C. Bureau reporter
  • Laurie Kinney - Washington D.C. Bureau reporter

Notable former on-air staff

References

  1. ^ a b http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=111818
  2. ^ Abundance of local newscasts pushes Fox 4 to No. 2 in KC, Kansas City Star, April 13, 2011.
  3. ^ KMBC Launches New TV Channel, Me-TV On Tuesday Retrieved 6-21-2011
  4. ^ http://www.tvbarn.com/tv-barn/kcwe-adds-9-p-m-news-kctvs-super-early-starts-913/
  5. ^ City, Kansas (February 6, 2009). "KC TV stations will delay digital-only switch".
  6. ^ http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/02/kmbc-dt-moves-t.html
  7. ^ "Second VHF outlet for Kansas City as FCC grants share-time bid." Broadcasting - Telecasting, June 29, 1953, pp. 61-62. [1][2]
  8. ^ "Share-time stations can share identification spot." Broadcasting - Telecasting, August 3, 1953, pg. 9.
  9. ^ KMBC-TV advertisement. Broadcasting - Telecasting, September 14, 1953, pg. 139.
  10. ^ advertisement. Broadcasting - Telecasting, October 5, 1953, pg. 128.
  11. ^ "WHB-AM-TV buy's Church's KMBC-AM-TV; WHB acquired by Storz family," and "Storz family of Omaha acquires WHB Kansas City in merger deal." Broadcasting - Telecasting, April 26, 1954, pp. 62, 64. [3][4]
  12. ^ "Cook takes over KMBC-AM-TV, KFRM." Broadcasting - Telecasting, June 14, 1954, pg. 95.
  13. ^ "For the record." Broadcasting - Telecasting, July 19, 1954, pg. 93.
  14. ^ KMBC-TV advertisement. Broadcasting - Telecasting, June 14, 1954, pg. 128.
  15. ^ "Five Meredith stations become CBS affiliates." Broadcasting - Telecasting, January 24, 1955, pg. 62.
  16. ^ KMBC-TV advertisement. Broadcasting - Telecasting, October 17, 1955, pg. 132.
  17. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956Template:Inconsistent citations{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  18. ^ "Metropolitan buying KMBC." Broadcasting, December 26, 1960, pp. 51-52. [5][6]
  19. ^ "$9.65 million sale of KMBC." Broadcasting, July 31, 1961, pp. 45-46. [7][8]
  20. ^ "OK given to sale of KMBC, KMBR-FM." Broadcasting, May 8, 1967, pg. 60.
  21. ^ "Newsroom issue goes to court." Broadcasting, August 1, 1983, pp. 24-25. [9][10]
  22. ^ "Craft decision leaves questions." Broadcasting, August 15, 1983, pp. 28-30. [11][12][13]
  23. ^ "Craft case continues." Broadcasting, December 23, 1985, pg. 69.
  24. ^ "Christine Craft wins two, loses big one." Broadcasting, March 10, 1986, pp. 74-75. [14][15]
  25. ^ "Hearst to buy Kansas City VHF for $79 million." Broadcasting, September 14, 1981, pg. 81.
  26. ^ "In brief." Broadcasting, May 17, 1982, pg. 88.
  27. ^ Christine Craft II, in 3-D: Trio of KMBC female stars sue, claiming age, gender discrim
  28. ^ KMBC changes weather channel, settles discrim lawsuit, adds 9 p.m. news
  29. ^ KMBC boss: Earlier ‘Nightline’ is ‘probably indefinite’, Kansas City Star, January 4, 2011. Retrieved 1-5-2010.
  30. ^ http://www.bottomlinecom.com/latestnews/kctvisratingschamp.html
  31. ^ http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/08/kmbcs-new-digs-.html
  32. ^ http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kmbcnowstarting430.html
  33. ^ KMBC's frosty, fabulous February, Kansas City Star, March 3, 2011.
  34. ^ [16]
  35. ^ [17]
  36. ^ [18]
  37. ^ KMBC-TV News Team
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