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The station launched its morning program, ''Good Day Oregon'', in 1996 as a three-hour weekday broadcast.<ref>[http://kptv.home.comcast.net/~kptv/timeline/timeline.htm KPTV Timeline]</ref> The program has since been extended, and currently runs from 5 to 9 a.m., KPTV was one of a growing number stations in the country with a morning newscast beginning before 5 a.m. until April 19, 2010, when the 4:30-5 a.m. portion of ''Good Day Oregon'' was cut. KPTV is also one of the few local stations and one of a handful of Fox stations to offer a three-hour newscast on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
The station launched its morning program, ''Good Day Oregon'', in 1996 as a three-hour weekday broadcast.<ref>[http://kptv.home.comcast.net/~kptv/timeline/timeline.htm KPTV Timeline]</ref> The program has since been extended, and currently runs from 5 to 9 a.m., KPTV was one of a growing number stations in the country with a morning newscast beginning before 5 a.m. until April 19, 2010, when the 4:30-5 a.m. portion of ''Good Day Oregon'' was cut. KPTV is also one of the few local stations and one of a handful of Fox stations to offer a three-hour newscast on Saturday and Sunday mornings.


On June 5, 2007, KPTV became the second Portland TV station to broadcast its daily newscasts in [[16:9]] [[widescreen]] [[standard-definition television|standard definition]]. One year later on March 4, 2008, the station expanded its newscast schedule to include a weekday 4 p.m. newscast (which was cancelled in 2011), as well as a weekday 8 p.m. newscast on KPDX, with [[MyNetworkTV]] programming on KPDX airing from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. as a result. The station expanded its 5 p.m. newscast (which had been airing only on Sundays, except when Fox sports programming was scheduled to preempt it) to seven nights a week, now airing on weeknights after its existing 4 p.m. program on September 8, 2008. On April 19, 2010, KPTV began producing a fifth hour of ''Good Day Oregon'' for KPDX called ''More Good Day Oregon'', running from 9-10 a.m.; the show features various entertainment and lifestyles topics from a seasoned panel of experts. In 2011, KPTV began broadcasting an hour-long newscast at 6 p.m. on weeknights.
On June 5, 2007, KPTV became the second Portland TV station to broadcast its daily newscasts in [[16:9]] [[widescreen]] [[standard-definition television|standard definition]]. One year later on March 4, 2008, the station expanded its newscast schedule to include a weekday 4 p.m. newscast (which was cancelled in 2011), as well as a weekday 8 p.m. newscast on KPDX, with [[MyNetworkTV]] programming on KPDX airing from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. as a result. The station expanded its 5 p.m. newscast (which had been airing only on Sundays, except when Fox sports programming was scheduled to preempt it) to seven nights a week, now airing on weeknights after its existing 4 p.m. program on September 8, 2008. On April 19, 2010, KPTV began producing a fifth hour of ''Good Day Oregon'' for KPDX called ''More Good Day Oregon'', running from 9-10 a.m.; the show features various entertainment and lifestyles topics from a seasoned panel of experts. In 2011, KPTV began broadcasting an hour-long newscast at 6 p.m. on weeknights. On August 26, 2013, KPTV began broadcasting its daily newscasts in [[720p]] [[High-definition Television|High-Definition]]. While the station has broadcast commercials and syndicated programming in HD from Meredith's west coast master control hub in recent years, KPTV became the last news operation in the Portland TV market to do so.


===News/station presentation===
===News/station presentation===

Revision as of 14:41, 27 August 2013

For the airport near Porterville, California assigned the ICAO code KPTV, see Porterville Municipal Airport. For the Nampa/Boise, Idaho station formerly known as Fox 12, see KTRV-TV.

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

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

KPTV, VHF channel 12, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Portland, Oregon television market, which includes most of the state of Oregon and portions of Southwest Washington. The station is owned by the Meredith Corporation in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX (channel 49); KPTV's studios are located in Beaverton and its transmitter is located in Portland, while master control operations for both KPTV and KPDX are located at Meredith's West Coast hub facility at the studios of Phoenix, Arizona sister station KPHO-TV.

Digital television

Digital channel

Channel PSIP Short Name Video Aspect Programming
12.1 KPTV-DT 720p 16:9 Main KPTV programming / Fox

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the June 12, 2009 analog television shutdown,[1] KPTV turned off its analog transmitter and moved its digital signal to channel 12.[2] When KPTV switched away from its temporary DTV transmitter (on channel 30), sister station KPDX immediately switched its signal to that transmitter. Viewers watching KPTV's digital signal saw a cut from the opening of that day's episode of The 700 Club to the cold open of an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (KPDX turned off its analog transmitter at 9:30 a.m.).

History

Early years

KPTV signed on the air on September 20, 1952, as Oregon's first television station. KPTV originally broadcast on channel 27, making it also the world's first commercial TV station to broadcast on the UHF band (the first experimental UHF station was Bridgeport, Connecticut's KC2XAK on channel 24). The station was originally owned by Empire Coil. As Portland's only television station at the time, it carried programming from all four networks of the time: ABC, CBS, NBC and the DuMont Television Network. CBS programming was dropped from KPTV's schedule when Portland's first VHF station, KOIN (channel 6), signed on the air on October 15, 1953. KPTV then became a primary NBC affiliate, and also continued to air some ABC and Dumont programming.

KPTV also aired programs from the short-lived Paramount Television Network during the early 1950s; in fact, it was one of that network's strongest affiliates, carrying Paramount programs such as Time For Beany,[3] Hollywood Wrestling,[3] and Bandstand Revue.[4] During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[5] Empire Coil sold KPTV and its other broadcast property, WXEL-TV (now WJW-TV, channel 8) in Cleveland, to Storer Broadcasting on November 17, 1954.

The VHF channel 12 allocation in Portland was first occupied by KLOR-TV, which signed on March 8, 1955 as a primary ABC affiliate with a secondary DuMont affiliation. However, KLOR's network affiliations were short-lived. In 1956, KLOR lost its affiliations with both networks as the DuMont Television Network ceased operations, and the ABC affiliation moved to KGW-TV (channel 8) when that station signed on the air in December. On April 17, 1957, Detroit businessman George Haggerty purchased KPTV from Storer and KLOR from its local owners. On May 1, the two stations merged under KPTV's license, but using the stronger channel 12 signal (channel 27 was later used by independent station KHTV, which was on the air for less than four months in 1959; more recently, the channel 27 frequency was used by the digital signal of PBS member station KOPB-TV, which returned to its original channel 10 assignment following the analog shutdown).

On April 17, 1959, KPTV swapped affiliations with KGW and became an ABC affiliate. Later that year, KPTV was sold to the NAFI Corporation, which then purchased Chris-Craft Industries in early 1960. The merged companies became known as Chris-Craft Industries. KPTV can boast being the home of the two top children's TV hosts in Portland's history: Rusty Nails, a sweet-natured clown who was the rough inspiration for The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's Krusty the Klown; and "Ramblin' Rod" Anders. While Rusty Nails ran Three Stooges shorts, Ramblin' Rod ran Popeye cartoons. Ramblin' Rod was the longest-running kid's show in Portland TV history, airing from 1964 to 1997. Other KPTV children's hosts included longtime KPTV personality Gene Brendler who played two characters, first "Bent Nails" (Rusty's "brother"), and later "Dr. Zoom." Bob Adkins, better known as "Addie Bobkins," brought his show to KPTV from Eugene's KVAL-TV in 1961. "Addie Bobkins" featured a wise-cracking beatnik hand puppet named "Weird Beard." Both Brendler and Adkins ran a variety of cartoons to entertain the kids.

First stint as an independent station

On March 1, 1964, KPTV lost its ABC affiliation to previously independent KATU (channel 2), which had debuted in March 1962. KPTV sued ABC and KATU owner Fisher Broadcasting for breach of contract; the proceeds from the settlement went to rebuild KPTV into a color-capable station, and to purchase a color mobile unit. KPTV soon became known as one of the top independent stations in the western United States. By the late 1960s, it was picked up on every cable system in Oregon, as well as parts of Washington and Idaho.

In 1967, Portland Wrestling returned to KPTV after a 12-year absence. Frank Bonnema, news reporter and afternoon movie host, served as the voice of Portland Wrestling until shortly before his death on October 5, 1982. KPTV had originated telecasts of professional wrestling in 1953, with commentator Bob Abernathy, but lost the franchise to rival KOIN two years later. KPTV regained the franchise in 1967, and aired wrestling until December 1991. Later wrestling commentators were KISN radio DJ Don Coss and former wrestlers Dutch Savage and Stan Stasiak. Portland Wrestling's chief promoters were Don Owen, and later, former wrestler-referee Sandy Barr. Primary long-time sponsors for the show were Chevrolet dealers Ron Tonkin of Portland and Friendly of Lake Oswego, and the celebrated ever-smiling furniture dealer Tom Peterson. Peterson was also the top sponsor for KPTV's late night movies.

KPTV's studios and offices near the Sunset Highway.

In 1970, KPTV became the first television station in the market to broadcast Portland Trail Blazers basketball games, with sports director Jimmy Jones serving as the team's first play-by-play television announcer; KPTV maintained the broadcast rights to Blazers games until the end of the 1977–78 season. In 1977, Chris-Craft placed its self named television subsidiary underneath a holding company called BHC, Inc.[6]

First Fox affiliation, then back to independent

In October 1986, channel 12 became one of the original charter affiliates of the newly launched Fox network. However, KPTV did not remain a Fox affiliate for very long. By 1988, KPTV was one of several Fox affiliates nationwide (as was the case with its Minneapolis sister station, KMSP-TV) that were disappointed with the network's weak programming offerings. The station subsequently disaffiliated from the network that year and reverted to being an independent station. The Fox affiliation shifted to KPDX, which first took the air in 1983. In 1993, KPTV, along with Chris-Craft's other independent stations, began carrying programming from the Prime Time Entertainment Network, a programming service that Chris-Craft had owned in conjunction with Warner Bros. Entertainment.[7][8]

UPN affiliation

By the early 1990s, Fox gradually rose in popularity as it began to carry stronger programming than those seen during KPTV's stint with the network, with many shows that were starting to rival the program offerings of the "Big Three" networks. In response to this, in late 1994, Chris-Craft/United Television partnered with Paramount Pictures (which was acquired by Viacom that year) to form the United Paramount Network (UPN) and both companies made independent stations that both companies respectively owned in several large and mid-sized U.S. cities charter stations of the new network. UPN launched on January 16, 1995, with channel 12 becoming a UPN owned-and-operated station – the first such O&O station in the Portland market – as a result of Chris-Craft/United's ownership stake in the network.[6] KPTV would eventually be stripped of its status as a UPN owned-and-operated station in 2000, after Viacom exercised a contractual clause to buy out Chris-Craft's stake in the network, although the station remained with UPN as an affiliate for another two years.

Return to Fox

Chris-Craft sold most of its stations to the News Corporation's Fox Television Stations division in 2001, with the sale closing on July 31 of that year. However, instead of keeping the station, Fox traded KPTV to the Meredith Corporation for Orlando's WOFL and Gainesville's WOGX) a deal which was finalized on June 17, 2002. The KPTV purchase gave Meredith, which already owned KPDX, the first television station duopoly in the Portland market.

Meredith then decided to swap the market's Fox and UPN affiliations; on September 2, 2002, Fox programming moved to the higher-rated KPTV – returning the network to channel 12 after a 14-year absence – while KPDX joined UPN. As part of the switch, KPTV dropped its longtime moniker of "Oregon's 12" in favor of branding itself as "Fox 12 Oregon." Although KPTV is the senior partner in the duopoly, KPTV left its studio facilities in East Portland and moved its operations into KPDX's facility in suburban Beaverton. KPTV also absorbed KPDX's news department, resulting in the cancellation of KPDX's 10 p.m. newscast (KPDX now airs an 8 p.m. newscast that is produced by KPTV). The Fox affiliation switch coincided with a realignment of the National Football League that brought the market's most popular NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks, into the NFC West conference. As a result, KPTV became an unofficial secondary station for the Seahawks, airing most of that team's games through the Fox network's rights to air games from the NFL's National Football Conference.

On October 27, 2012, KPTV revived Portland Wrestling after a 21-year absence from the station and renamed the program Portland Wrestling Uncut. The program had been brought back on the air with the help of Rowdy Roddy Piper; Don Coss has also returned to announce the matches along with special guests. The wrestling matches are taped at the KPTV's Beaverton studios.[9] Two months later on December 29, Portland Wrestling Uncut moved to KPTV's sister station KPDX, retaining the Saturday night timeslot that the program held when it was revived on KPTV.

Programming

KPTV clears most of Fox's programming schedule (nightly primetime, Saturday late night, and Fox Sports programming, along with the political talk show Fox News Sunday) – however it preempts the network's Saturday morning infomerical block, Weekend Marketplace, which instead airs on KPDX. Much like the stations that were affected by the Fox/New World affiliation switches of 1994, KPTV chose not to air Fox's children's programming (4Kids TV; formerly Fox Kids) after the 2002 affiliation switch to Fox; the lineup remained on KPDX until 4Kids TV was discontinued by Fox in December 2008.

The institution of Perry Mason at noon

In 1966, KPTV began airing reruns of Perry Mason on weekday evenings. In 1970, KPTV shifted Perry Mason to a new time, weekdays at 12 noon – the start of a longtime Portland TV tradition, as the program would air in that timeslot each weekday until 2012 (save for a 10-month period from 1974 to 1975, when it aired at 12:30 p.m.). By the late 2000s, KPTV audience research indicated that 1 out of every 11 people in the Portland market who were watching TV at 12 p.m. weekdays were tuned into Perry Mason on Channel 12. The noon tradition was so solid that when Meredith Corporation named Patrick McCreery as KPTV's general manager in August 2008, McCreery was granted the power to make any local programming move he saw fit with one exception – that he could not drop Perry Mason from the schedule or move it off the 12 p.m. timeslot.[10]

The tradition ended however in August 2012 as Perry Mason ended its 46-year run on KPTV, and moved to sister station KPDX on September 4 in an earlier 8 a.m. timeslot (Rachael Ray replaced Mason in the 12 noon timeslot on KPTV) – the program's relocation from the noon slot (and from KPTV) was the result of decreased viewership of Perry Mason in recent years on channel 12 and programming shifts in daytime television towards more first-run syndicated talk and court programs.[11][12] Because KPTV and KPDX hold the broadcast rights to Perry Mason in the Portland market, KATU does not air the program on its Me-TV subchannel, replacing it with other programs carried by that network.

News operation

File:KPTV open.png
KPTV newscast title card.

KPTV presently broadcasts a total of 50 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 8½ hours on weekdays, and five hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output of any television station in the state of Oregon (KPTV's Saturday and Sunday 5 p.m. newscasts are subject to preemption or delay due to sports coverage provided by Fox); in addition, the station produces a half-hour sports wrap-up show called Oregon Sports Final that airs on Sundays at 11 p.m. KPTV is also one of the few Fox affiliates that produces newscasts for another television station in the same market, as it produces 10 hours of local newscasts each week for sister station KPDX.

Throughout its entire history, as a network affiliate and as an independent station, KPTV has always operated a local news department. Future Oregon governor Tom McCall, a longtime journalist before entering politics, joined KPTV in 1955 as a newscaster and political commentator. McCall left KPTV in late 1956 for KGW-TV, where he was a member of the original news team for seven years before leaving to run for Oregon's secretary of state. The station's long-running primetime newscast, known as The 10 O'Clock News, first aired in 1970. KPTV was also one of the first television stations in the country to run a mid-afternoon newscast, as the station aired a 3 p.m. news bulletin from 1974 to 1978. Since then (especially after switching to Fox), KPTV has begun to go head-to-head with competitors KGW, KATU and KOIN by taking on a more news-intensive format, which took years to take effect.

The station launched its morning program, Good Day Oregon, in 1996 as a three-hour weekday broadcast.[13] The program has since been extended, and currently runs from 5 to 9 a.m., KPTV was one of a growing number stations in the country with a morning newscast beginning before 5 a.m. until April 19, 2010, when the 4:30-5 a.m. portion of Good Day Oregon was cut. KPTV is also one of the few local stations and one of a handful of Fox stations to offer a three-hour newscast on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

On June 5, 2007, KPTV became the second Portland TV station to broadcast its daily newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition. One year later on March 4, 2008, the station expanded its newscast schedule to include a weekday 4 p.m. newscast (which was cancelled in 2011), as well as a weekday 8 p.m. newscast on KPDX, with MyNetworkTV programming on KPDX airing from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. as a result. The station expanded its 5 p.m. newscast (which had been airing only on Sundays, except when Fox sports programming was scheduled to preempt it) to seven nights a week, now airing on weeknights after its existing 4 p.m. program on September 8, 2008. On April 19, 2010, KPTV began producing a fifth hour of Good Day Oregon for KPDX called More Good Day Oregon, running from 9-10 a.m.; the show features various entertainment and lifestyles topics from a seasoned panel of experts. In 2011, KPTV began broadcasting an hour-long newscast at 6 p.m. on weeknights. On August 26, 2013, KPTV began broadcasting its daily newscasts in 720p High-Definition. While the station has broadcast commercials and syndicated programming in HD from Meredith's west coast master control hub in recent years, KPTV became the last news operation in the Portland TV market to do so.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

  • Newspaper of the Air (1953–1956)
  • Journal Headlines (1955)
  • Morning Newsreel (morning newscast; 1950s)
  • News Central/Newsroom (1956–1960s)
  • The Ten O'Clock News (10 p.m. newscast; 1970–present)[14]
  • Coffee Break News (3 p.m. newscast; 1960s-1974)
  • The Three O'Clock News (3 p.m. newscast; 1974–1978)
  • Oregon's News 12 (1996–2002)
  • Good Day Oregon (morning newscast; 1996–present)[15]
  • Fox 12 News (2002–present; all evening newscasts branded as The (time) O'Clock News)

Station slogans

  • "Just the Ticket in Portland" (early 1960s)
  • "The Northwest Personality Station" (mid-1960s–1978)
  • "Your Best Choice" (1978–1980)
  • "A Northwest State of Mind" (1981–1983)
  • "The Entertainment's On Us" (1983–1991)
  • "KPTV, Oregon's 12" (1997–2002; also used as station branding)
  • "First. Live. Local." (2002–present)

News team

Current on-air staff[16]

Anchors
  • Pete Ferryman - weekday mornings on Good Day Oregon (4:30-9:00 a.m.)
  • Wayne Garcia - weeknights at 8:00 (KPDX), 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
  • Debra Gil - weekend mornings on Good Day Oregon (6:00-7:00 Saturdays and 7:00-9:00 a.m. weekends); also reporter
  • Kimberly Maus - weekday mornings on Good Day Oregon (4:30-9:00 a.m.); also "Dirty Dining" feature reporter
  • Shauna Parsons - weeknights at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
  • Ben Senger - weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
  • Amy Troy - weeknights at 8:00 (KPDX) and 10:00 p.m.
FOX 12 First, Live, Local Weather
  • Mark Nelsen (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 8:00 (KPDX), 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
  • Andy Carson - weather anchor; weekday mornings on Good Day Oregon (4:30-9:00 a.m.)
  • Stephanie Kralevich - meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
  • Brian MacMillan - meteorologist; weekend mornings on Good Day Oregon (6:00-7:00 Saturdays and 7:00-9:00 a.m. weekends), also general assignment reporter
  • Sophie Soong - weather anchor; weekends at 10:00 p.m., also general assignment reporter
Sports team
  • Dan Sheldon - host of Oregon Sports Final (Sundays at 11:30 p.m.) and Friday Night Lights
  • Brooke Carlson - sports reporter; also Better Portland lifestyle correspondent
Reporters
  • Kaitlyn Bolduc - general assignment reporter
  • Nicole Doll - weekday morning reporter (per-diem; 4:30-9:00 a.m.)
  • Marilyn Deutsch - general assignment reporter
  • Chloe Houser - PDX TV Report hostess
  • Jim Hyde - general assignment reporter
  • Tony Martinez - weekday morning traffic reporter (4:30-9:00 a.m.)
  • Andrew Padula - general assignment reporter
  • Kai Porter - general assignment reporter
  • Laura Rillos - general assignment reporter
  • Joe Vithayathil - general assignment reporter
  • Jamie Wilson - general assignment reporter

Notable former on-air staff

  • Lars Larson - 10 p.m. news anchor/reporter (-1999; Northwest Reports host/producer)
  • Tom McCall - political commentator (and former Oregon governor)

Repeater stations

KPTV, like all other Portland stations, has low-power repeater stations throughout Oregon and Washington. Some of the repeaters are owned by KPTV, while others are owned by local translator districts.

List of translators
Portland market translators
City Callsign
Astoria K21DE-D
Baker City K40AJ-D
Enterprise K40IK-D
Hood River K28CQ-D
Imbler K41MU-D
La Grande K33FS-D
Rainier / Longview, WA K17GV
Milton-Freewater K35FO-D
Newport / Lincoln City K15DS-D
Rockaway Beach K20HT-D
Pendleton / Hermiston / Umatilla K49MI-D
The Dalles / Goldendale, WA K51EH-D (virtual 12.1)
Tillamook K35CR-D
Eugene market translator
Cottage Grove K44JP-D (virtual 44.1)
South Lane Television combines the KPDX and KPTV signals on their channel 44 translator.

NOTE: By FCC mandate, low-power stations on UHF channels 52 through 69 must vacate those channel frequencies by December 31, 2011.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Portland TV stations backtrack, delay digital transition". The Oregonian. February 6, 2009.
  2. ^ CDBS Print
  3. ^ a b "TV Film Purchases". Billboard: 16. October 18, 1952. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ "The Nation's Top Television Programs". Billboard: 10. July 30, 1955. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b "BHC Communications, Inc. Companies History". Company Histories. Funding Universe. 1997. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  7. ^ Susan, King (January 23, 1994). "Space, 2258, in the Year 1994". Los Angeles Times. p. 4. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  8. ^ Whiteside, Lee (April 6, 1995). "B5: Babylon 5 TV Station List/Times updated!". rec.arts.sf.tv. Google Groups. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
  9. ^ Portland Wrestling Uncut at KPTV
  10. ^ Tom Hallman Jr., "Like rain or the MAX, 'Perry Mason' a part of Portland", The Oregonian, February 28, 2009.
  11. ^ Fox 12 Webstaff, "After 46 years on KPTV, Perry Mason making the move to KPDX", Fox 12 News Website, August 27, 2012
  12. ^ "'Perry Mason' move: KPTV general manager says, 'I've agonized over this,'" from The Oregonian, 8/27/2012
  13. ^ KPTV Timeline
  14. ^ KPTV Fox 12 10 O'Clock News Open
  15. ^ KPTV Fox 12 Good Day Oregon 2009 Open
  16. ^ News Team, KPTV.com, Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  17. ^ FCC Sets Deadlines for LPTV, TV Translator and Class A Stations To Convert to Digital - And Gives Hints When Television Spectrum May Be Reclaimed for Broadband Broadcast Law Blog July 19, 2011

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