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| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| The station began broadcasting on July 8, 1954 as '''KWK-TV'''. At its launch, channel 4 was owned by a consortium that included the Convey family and the '']'', |
The station began broadcasting on July 8, 1954 as '''KWK-TV'''. At its launch, channel 4 was owned by a consortium that included the Convey family and the '']'', who jointly operated KWK radio (1380 AM, now ]); the owners of ] (630 AM, now ]) in St. Louis, which had to be sold as a condition of the license grant; and ] of ].<ref>"KWK-TV begins; six others ready." '']'', July 12, 1954, pg. 68. </ref> KWK-TV took the CBS affiliation from WTVI (channel 54, now ] on channel 2). Until 1955, it also aired whatever ] programs that WTVI turned down. | ||
| However, CBS wanted its own television station in St. Louis to run alongside its powerhouse radio station, ] (1120 AM). It originally won the ] for channel 11—the last remaining commercial VHF license in St. Louis—in January 1957.<ref>"FCC acts to clear key market V's." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', January 21, 1957, pp. 35-37. </ref> But CBS decided in August of that year to instead buy KWK-TV for ]4 million.<ref>"St. Louis handshake." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', September 9, 1957, pg. 5. </ref> CBS was then forced to give up its construction permit and license for channel 11, and the FCC transferred it to one of the failed applicants, a group led by St. Louis hotelier ], for no financial consideration.<ref>"New alignment set for St. Louis TV." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', October 28, 1957, pg. 73. </ref> Almost immediately, the deal was held up after the ], one of the original applicants for channel 11, protested to the ] in January 1958.<ref>"Court issues temporary stay in St. Louis ch. 11 situation." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', January 6, 1958, pg. 74. </ref> The ] ultimately upheld the decision in November 1958.<ref>"Supreme Court refuses plea to upset St. Louis TV grant." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', November 24, 1958, pg. 79. </ref> But CBS had already officially took control of channel 4 in March 1958, changing its call letters to '''KMOX-TV''' after its new radio sister.<ref>"CBS-TV takes over KWK-TV." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', March 3, 1958, pg. 10. </ref> The following April, channel 11 signed on as ] (and now ] affiliate) ].<ref>"Pressed into service." ''Broadcasting'', May 18, 1959, pg. 80. </ref> | However, CBS wanted its own television station in St. Louis to run alongside its powerhouse radio station, ] (1120 AM). It originally won the ] for channel 11—the last remaining commercial VHF license in St. Louis—in January 1957.<ref>"FCC acts to clear key market V's." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', January 21, 1957, pp. 35-37. </ref> But CBS decided in August of that year to instead buy KWK-TV for ]4 million.<ref>"St. Louis handshake." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', September 9, 1957, pg. 5. </ref> CBS was then forced to give up its construction permit and license for channel 11, and the FCC transferred it to one of the failed applicants, a group led by St. Louis hotelier ], for no financial consideration.<ref>"New alignment set for St. Louis TV." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', October 28, 1957, pg. 73. </ref> Almost immediately, the deal was held up after the ], one of the original applicants for channel 11, protested to the ] in January 1958.<ref>"Court issues temporary stay in St. Louis ch. 11 situation." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', January 6, 1958, pg. 74. </ref> The ] ultimately upheld the decision in November 1958.<ref>"Supreme Court refuses plea to upset St. Louis TV grant." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', November 24, 1958, pg. 79. </ref> But CBS had already officially took control of channel 4 in March 1958, changing its call letters to '''KMOX-TV''' after its new radio sister.<ref>"CBS-TV takes over KWK-TV." ''Broadcasting - Telecasting'', March 3, 1958, pg. 10. </ref> The following April, channel 11 signed on as ] (and now ] affiliate) ].<ref>"Pressed into service." ''Broadcasting'', May 18, 1959, pg. 80. </ref> | ||
Revision as of 05:38, 23 July 2012
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KMOV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. KMOV is owned by the Dallas-based Belo Corporation, with its studio and office facilities in downtown St. Louis and transmitter located in Lemay, Missouri.
History
The station began broadcasting on July 8, 1954 as KWK-TV. At its launch, channel 4 was owned by a consortium that included the Convey family and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, who jointly operated KWK radio (1380 AM, now KXFN); the owners of KXOK radio (630 AM, now KJSL) in St. Louis, which had to be sold as a condition of the license grant; and Hubbard Broadcasting of Saint Paul, Minnesota. KWK-TV took the CBS affiliation from WTVI (channel 54, now KTVI on channel 2). Until 1955, it also aired whatever ABC programs that WTVI turned down.
However, CBS wanted its own television station in St. Louis to run alongside its powerhouse radio station, KMOX (1120 AM). It originally won the construction permit for channel 11—the last remaining commercial VHF license in St. Louis—in January 1957. But CBS decided in August of that year to instead buy KWK-TV for $4 million. CBS was then forced to give up its construction permit and license for channel 11, and the FCC transferred it to one of the failed applicants, a group led by St. Louis hotelier Harold Koplar, for no financial consideration. Almost immediately, the deal was held up after the St. Louis Amusement Company, one of the original applicants for channel 11, protested to the United States Court of Appeals in January 1958. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the decision in November 1958. But CBS had already officially took control of channel 4 in March 1958, changing its call letters to KMOX-TV after its new radio sister. The following April, channel 11 signed on as independent station (and now CW affiliate) KPLR-TV.
By late 1985 CBS was experiencing rough financial straits, an after-effect of successfully fending off a hostile takeover attempt by Ted Turner the previous year. CBS spent the latter portion of 1985 repurchasing a large portion of its stock to help block the Turner takeover. Once Turner sold his stock, CBS was saddled with significant debt and needed to raise cash. Not long after Laurence Tisch became the company's chairman CBS made the decision to sell KMOX-TV, at the time its smallest owned-and-operated television station. On May 16, 1986, former CBS subsidiary and future parent company Viacom completed its $122.5 million purchase of the station and renamed it KMOV around July 1.
Viacom purchased Paramount Pictures in 1994, and merged its five-station group (KMOV, WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York, WNYT in Albany, New York, WVIT in New Britain, Connecticut, and KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana) into the Paramount Stations Group. However, in 1995, the company decided to divest itself of all stations not affiliated with its fledgling UPN network. Belo Corporation acquired KMOV in a three-way deal also involving two television stations in the Seattle-Tacoma market. As part of the transaction, Belo sold KIRO-TV (included in the deal because Belo had recently acquired that market's NBC affiliate KING-TV) to Cox Enterprises, who concurrently sold its existing Seattle-Tacoma station, KSTW, to Viacom. The deal was consummated on June 1, 1997.
As a CBS-owned station, channel 4 cleared the entire network schedule. When Viacom took over in 1986, this changed rather drastically. KMOV began signing off the air at night, thus pre-empting the overnight news program CBS News Nightwatch. A barrage of scattered primetime pre-emptions later followed that was so rampant, the station earned a mention in Ken Auletta's 1991 book, Three Blind Mice. KMOV randomly replaced CBS prime-time shows with programming such as Billy Graham Crusades and National Geographic specials, syndicated movie packages, and occasional sporting events. According to Auletta, KMOV preempted 103 hours of CBS prime-time programming in 1987, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the network prime-time schedule. In the 1990s, the prime-time pre-emptions eased, and currently, the station only occasionally pre-empts a CBS prime-time program. The station also resumed a 24-hour broadcast schedule in the early-1990s.
In February 2002, KMOV and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch launched the weekly news discussion program Extra Edition hosted by weekday morning news anchor Marc Cox. In 2003 KMOV began producing and airing At the Zoo, a program that gives behind-the-scenes look at the St. Louis Zoo, but is on encore editions currently in 2009, was hosted by meteorologist Kent Ehrhardt. In late 2010, KMOV began producing "At the Center", a program that gives behind-the-science looks at the Saint Louis Science Center. Airings are scheduled to begin in January 2011.
In September 2008, KMOV premiered Great Day St. Louis, a one-hour daytime show, mostly focusing on entertainment and lifestyle topics in the St. Louis area. The show is hosted by Virginia Kerr, Carol Daniel, Matt Chambers and Kent Ehrhardt.
News operation
Currently, KMOV airs 24.5 hours of local news each week (with five hours on weekdays, and an hour-and-a-half on Saturdays and Sundays).
Many KMOV on-air staff have moved on to jobs in the national spotlight (both Richelle Carey and meteorologist Reynolds Wolf moved to CNN in 2006). While this would initially seem like a positive, the "revolving door" and the unfamiliarity many of the station's personalities have in the market has been one of KMOV's weaknesses. Though this may have initially caused some hiccups for KMOV, the ratings now seem to be increasing. Since the departure of Karen Foss from KSDK in December 2006, Larry Conners assumed the mantle of longest-serving 10 p.m. news anchor in the market.
On January 27, 2008 at 5:30 p.m., KMOV became the second station in St. Louis to broadcast in 1080i High Definition behind KSDK which has been in HD since 2006. With the switch to HD came a new set by FX Group and new graphics which is a red and blue version of the graphics used on sister Belo Stations KING-TV, KREM-TV, KTVB/KTFT, WCNC-TV, KGW-TV, and Northwest Cable News.
In 1976, it was the second station to adopt the "Channel 2 News" theme that eventually became the de facto official theme music for CBS' O&Os. It dropped the tune in 1986 after Viacom took control, but it later used another "Channel 2 News"-derived tune, The CBS Enforcer Music Collection from 2001 to 2008. Ironically, for a time in the late 1980s, it used News Series 2000 - a tune traditionally associated with ABC stations — as its theme song.
Ratings
KMOX-TV led the ratings in St. Louis for most of the time from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, in common with most of its CBS stablemates. From the early 1980s until recently, KMOX-TV/KMOV was a solid, if distant, runner-up to KSDK. However, until the mid-1990s it had to fend off a spirited challenge from KTVI. Although KMOV's newscasts won much critical acclaim, such acclaim was rarely rewarded with a ratings win over long-dominant KSDK. The 10 p.m. newscast regularly won at least a 20% share in viewership, while KSDK averaged about 30% share.
Since 2004, KMOV has seen significant growth in viewership. The station initially beat out KSDK at 10 p.m. in November, 2004--the first time in over a quarter-century that KSDK had lost in any timeslot. KMOV won at 10 p.m. again in May 2006. In November 2006, KMOV's 10 p.m. newscast not only beat out KSDK's, but also became the most-watched late newscast in the country. Most of the 10 p.m. growth can be attributed to CBS' primetime ratings increases and NBC's large drop in viewership. However, KMOV has also seen growth in all of its other newscasts, at times where the station does not benefit from a strong CBS lead-in.
On July 8, 2012, KMOV will debut two Sunday morning newscasts, a one-hour edition airing from 7 to 8 a.m. and a half-hour newscast from 10:30 to 11 a.m., which will follow the first half-hour of Face the Nation (since the test expansion of the program that began in April 2012, KMOV is one of several CBS affiliates that preempt the second half-hour of Face the Nation as CBS does not mandate that all affiliates air the entire program).
Digital television
KMOV's digital signal on UHF 24 is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | Main KMOV programming / CBS |
| 4.2 | 480i | 4:3 (letterboxed) |
Live Well Network |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KMOV shut down its analog signal for the 2009 DTV transition with digital broadcasts remaining on channel 24. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will continue to display KMOV's virtual channel as 4.1.
News/Station Presentation
Newscast titles
- Big 4 News (circa 1968-early 1970s)
- Channel 4 Newsroom (mid 1970s-early 1980s)
- News 4 St. Louis (early 1980s-1992 and 1993–present)
- Channel 4 News (1992–1993)
On-air staff
News 4 Anchors
- Larry Conners - weeknights at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.
- Andre Hepkins - weekday mornings on Awake with News 4 (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Jasmine Huda - Sundays at 5:30 and 10:00 and Mondays-Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.; also reporter at 10:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday
- Claire Kellett - weekday mornings on Awake with News 4 (4:30-7:00 a.m.); also anchor of Extra Edition
- John Knicely - weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. reporter; also Awake with News 4 Sunday anchor (7:00-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 a.m.)
- Russell Kinsaul - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also reporter
- Vickie Newton - weeknights at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.
- Robin Smith - weekdays at noon; also Awake with News 4 reporter
- Diana Zoga - Sunday mornings on Awake with News 4 Sunday (7:00-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 a.m.)
4 WARN Storm Team
In addition to providing forecasts on KMOV, the 4 WARN Storm Team also provides forecasts for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KEZK-FM.
- Steve Templeton (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.
- Kent Ehrhardt (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekdays at Noon and 6:00 p.m.
- Matt Chambers (AMS Seal of Approval; NWA Member) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings on Awake with News 4 (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Kristen Cornett (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also Awake with News 4 Sunday (7:00-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 a.m.)
News 4 Sports team
- Steve Savard - Sports Director; Sundays at 5:30, Mondays-Thursdays at 6:00 and Sundays-Fridays at 10:00 p.m.; also "Sports Friday" and "Sports Sunday" host
- Doug Vaughn - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also sports reporter
- Jeff Abeln - Sports Anchor/Reporter; Saturday & Sunday Fill-in
News 4 Reporters
- Lindsay Bramson- general assignment reporter
- Craig Cheatham - investigative reporter
- Marc Cox - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Maggie Crane - general assignment reporter
- Brian Feldman - St. Charles Bureau reporter
- Chris Nagus - investigative reporter
- Ray Preston - Awake with News 4 reporter (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Mark Schnyder - Awake with News 4 reporter (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Matt Sczesny - general assignment reporter
- Sande Stevenson - traffic reporter (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Nick Zervos - "SkyZoom 4" pilot/photojournalist
Great Day St. Louis Team
- Matt Chambers - Great Day St. Louis host
- Carol Daniel - Great Day St. Louis host
- Kent Ehrhardt - Great Day St. Louis host
- Virginia Kerr - Great Day St. Louis host
Notable former on-air staff
- Roger Grimsby - reporter/news correspondent (1959–1961; deceased)
- Jim Hart - the St. Louis football Cardinals quarterback was a weekend sports anchor at the station.
- Linda Lorelle - reporter (late 1980s; later worked at KPRC-TV in Houston)
- Russ Mitchell - anchor/reporter (late 1980s; later with CBS News and currently at WKYC-TV in Cleveland)
- Regis Philbin - hosted one of his early syndicated shows from the KMOX-TV studios (1972–1975), before moving to Los Angeles (former host "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" on ABC, and syndicated talk show "Live with Regis and Kelly" in NYC)
- Barry Serafin - weekend anchor and reporter promoted to CBS News, Washington in 1971. Later moved to ABC News.
- Laurie Waters - weekend anchor/reporter 1989-2012; part of the team to launch 24-Hour News concept at KMOV
- Reynolds Wolf - meteorologist (2005–2006; currently at CNN)
References
- "KWK-TV begins; six others ready." Broadcasting - Telecasting, July 12, 1954, pg. 68.
- "FCC acts to clear key market V's." Broadcasting - Telecasting, January 21, 1957, pp. 35-37.
- "St. Louis handshake." Broadcasting - Telecasting, September 9, 1957, pg. 5.
- "New alignment set for St. Louis TV." Broadcasting - Telecasting, October 28, 1957, pg. 73.
- "Court issues temporary stay in St. Louis ch. 11 situation." Broadcasting - Telecasting, January 6, 1958, pg. 74.
- "Supreme Court refuses plea to upset St. Louis TV grant." Broadcasting - Telecasting, November 24, 1958, pg. 79.
- "CBS-TV takes over KWK-TV." Broadcasting - Telecasting, March 3, 1958, pg. 10.
- "Pressed into service." Broadcasting, May 18, 1959, pg. 80.
- "The second 50 years of the Fifth Estate." Broadcasting, December 30, 1985, pg. 70.
- "CBS puts KMOX-TV on the block." Broadcasting, October 28, 1985, pg. 110.
- "For the Record." Broadcasting, June 30, 1986, pg. 64. (call letter change from KMOX-TV to KMOV)
- Belo Corp. | Press Releases
- Belo Corp. | Press Releases
- KMOV adds Sunday newscasts, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wednesday, May 30, 2012.
- Digital Television Transition Problematic For Some, Don Corrigan, Webster-Kirkwood Times, January 23, 2009 indicates both KMOV and KNLC as digital-only
- "KMOX News Report, Pruitt–Igoe 1968" news report in the archives of the Missouri Historical Society (link via YouTube), 1968; "Big 4 News" uttered by reporter around 2:00
External links
- KMOV.com - Official Website
- Template:TVQ
- Template:BIA
| Broadcast television in the Greater St. Louis and Metro East Illinois areas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television | |||
| Full-power |
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| Low-power |
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| Outlying areas |
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| ATSC 3.0 | |||
| Cable | |||
| Defunct | |||