| KMBC-TV | |
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| Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Branding | KMBC 9 (general) KMBC 9 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Local. Live. Coverage You Can Count On. |
| Channels | |
| Affiliations | ABC (since 1955) The AccuWeather Channel (DT2) |
| Owner | Hearst-Argyle Television (KMBC Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.) |
| First air date | August 2, 1953 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Midland Broadcasting Company (founding owners) |
| Sister station(s) | KCWE |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 9 (1953-2009) - Digital: 7 (2002-2009) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1953-1955) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 85 kW (digital) |
| Height | 357 m (both) |
| Facility ID | 65686 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 39°5′2.8″N 94°30′56.9″W / 39.084111°N 94.515806°W |
| Website | www.kmbc.com |
KMBC-TV, channel 29, virtual channel 9, is a television station located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television, and is affiliated with the ABC Television Network. Its studios and transmitter are located in Kansas City, Missouri. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 29, using its former analog assignment of channel 9 as its virtual digital channel via PSIP.
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History
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.
Cook Paint and Varnish purchased Midland Broadcasting's holdings in April 1954, a move that would bring an end to the split-station arrangement. On June 14, 1954, KMBC-TV took over channel 9 full-time, absorbing WHB-TV's share of the frequency. Cook Paint also sold WHB radio to comply with FCC rules. In September 1955, KMBC-TV swapped affiliations with KCMO-TV (channel 5, now KCTV), becoming an ABC affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1]
KMBC-TV had formerly operated a satellite station in Sedalia (part of the Columbia-Jefferson City market), when Cook Paint & Varnish bought KDRO-TV, channel 6 (now KMOS-TV) on January 28, 1959. KDRO-TV became an ABC affiliate in 1958, but ABC refused to give it a network feed to protect KMBC-TV, instead switching to and from KMBC's signal when ABC network programming was being broadcast.
Over the years, KMBC has pre-empted some ABC programming. The station pass on The Brady Bunch when it debuted in 1969 (the first season of the show was seen instead on now defunct KCIT-TV (now KPXE). KMBC was one of the few ABC affiliates to pass on ABC Evening News (now World News with Charles Gibson) in the late 1960s/early 1970s, it was shown instead on KCIT.
Cook Paint & Varnish then sold the KMBC stations to Metropolitan Broadcasting (later Metromedia) in 1961. Metropolitan did not want KMOS-TV, so it was sold to the Jefferson City News Tribune, then-owner of Jefferson City CBS affiliate KRCG (channel 13) and became that station's satellite. KMOS now operates as a PBS member station after having been donated to the Central Missouri State University (now University of Central Missouri) in 1978. Metromedia sold KMBC radio to Bonneville International in 1967, but kept KMBC-TV until selling it to the Hearst Corporation in 1982. Under Hearst, the station expanded its local news production.
In 1981, KMBC-TV anchor/reporter Christine Craft won a multimillion-dollar judgment against the station and Metromedia. Craft accused station managers of sexual harassment; this was one of the first such cases to be widely publicized in the United States. Craft, however, lost her case on appeal.
KMBC came under common management as upstart WB affiliate KCWB (channel 29, now CW affiliate KCWE) in 1996 under a local marketing agreement. In March 2008, KMBC began a morning newscast for KCWE, the first regularly scheduled news program for the station.
KMBC's broadcasts of ABC programming became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009 at 9:00 AM.[2] 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 their 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 reutilize their analog channel 7 for their digital channel and 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 (241 km) separation between a shared channel [3].
News Operation
KMBC-TV broadcasts a total of 25 hours of local news per week (with 3½ hours on weekdays, four hours on Saturdays and 2½ hours on Sundays).
Since its inception (from 1957-2007), the station has been based out of (what is now) the Lyric Opera building in downtown Kansas City. The station unveiled its new, purpose-built facility near Swope Park in Kansas City on August 23, 2007, beginning with KMBC 9 News at 5:00. The new building includes a news set designed by FX Group. With the relocation, channel 9 also became the first station in Kansas City to produce and broadcast its local programming in high definition. [1]
Ratings
During the late 1970s and into the 1980s KMBC was the number one television station in the Kansas City market, but the station ended the latter decade in second place behind WDAF-TV (channel 4). As soon as WDAF switched from NBC to Fox in 1994, KMBC returned to number one in the market. Currently, KMBC generally battles KCTV for first place at 10:00 p.m., while continuing to battle WDAF for first in morning timeslots. In November 2007, KMBC finished the sweeps period first in most newscasts, and tying KCTV at 10 p.m. [2] In February 2008, KMBC's newscasts won all of their time periods outright.[citation needed]
Awards
KMBC-TV's news department won seven 2007 Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, which is the most Murrow awards won by a television station in the country. The station won awards in the following categories:
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- News Series
- Feature
- News Documentary
- Spot News
- Continuing Coverage
- Newscast
- Overall Excellence
24 Hour Weather Channel
KMBC has recently launched a new digital weather channel that gives up-to-the-minute weather information 24 hours a day on their digital subchannel 2 (DT9.2).
KMBC 9 Notable Personalities
Current On-Air Talent
(as of June 21, 2009)
Current Anchors
- Jana Corrie - weekend mornings "FirstNews" (also reporter)
- Kelly Eckerman - weekdays at 5PM (also reporter)
- Jim Flink - weekdays at 5PM
- Kris Ketz - weekday mornings "FirstNews"
- Dion Lim - weekday mornings "FirstNews" (7-9AM; on KCWE) (also reporter)
- Larry Moore - weeknights at 6 and 10PM
- Lara Moritz - weeknights at 6 and 10PM
- Donna Pitman - weekday mornings "FirstNews" (5-7AM)
- Dan Weinbaum - weekend mornings "FirstNews"
Reporters
- Maria Antonia - general assignment reporter
- Martin Augustine - general assignment reporter
- Peggy Breit - general assignment reporter
- Bev Chapman - general assignment reporter
- Micheal Mahoney - general assignment reporter
- Marcus Moore - general assignment reporter
- Chris Nagus - general assignment reporter
- Justin Robinson - general assignment reporter
- Johnny Rowlands - traffic reporter and NewsChopper 9 pilot
- Brenda Washington - general assignment reporter
Hearst Washington Bureau
- Sally Kidd - Washington D.C. bureau reporter
- Laurie Kinney - Washington D.C. bureau reporter
KMBC 9 First Alert Weather
- Bryan Busby (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM
- Erin Little (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6 and weekends at 5 and 10PM
- Joel Nichols - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "FirstNews"
- Lisa Teachman (NWA Member; AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings "FirstNews"
KMBC 9 Sports
- Len Dawson - Sports Director Emeritus (Len scaled back his role in April 2009 to part-time during Chiefs' season)
- Nick Griffith - Sports Anchor; Fridays at 6 and 10PM
- Karen Kornacki - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6 and 10PM (also sports reporter)
Notable alumni
- Cheryll Jones
- Bob Evans
- Crystal Jackson
- Michelle McCormack
- Emily Aylward
- Dave Dusik
- Dave Eckert
- Dick Hocter
- Christine Craft
- Don Fortune
- Fred Broski
- Zan Anderson
- Walt Bodine
- David Bodden
- Jonathan Coachman
- Drew Dimmel
- Laurie Everett
- Andy Fales
- Steve Grant
- Jeremy Hubbard
- Bruce Jones
- Susan Miller
- Natalie Moultrie
- Bill Pikus
- Dave Stewart
- Ted Texter
- Robb Yagmin
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 – 1978) [3]
- The News: The xx:00 Report (1978 – 1983) [4]
- KMBC 9 News (1983 – Present) [5]
Station Slogans
- Only on Channel 9 (Early 70's)
- Kansas City Turns Us On (Mid-Late 70's)
- The Spirit of Kansas City (c.1982-83)
- So Good To Turn To (1983-c. 1985)
- Where the News Comes First (1986-2000)
- Coverage You Can Count On (2000-2007)
- Local. Live. Coverage You Can Count On (2007-present)
References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
- ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/02/02/daily59.html
- ^ http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/02/kmbc-dt-moves-t.html
External links
- Official Website of KMBC-TV
- Screenshots from KMBC
- Fybush.com: Kansas City TV/FM Stations
- Pioneer Radio History: KMBZ
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KMBC-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KMBC-TV
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