KDKA-TV

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KDKA-TV is the CBS owned and operated (O&O) television station in Pittsburgh. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 2, and its digital signal on UHF channel 25 from its transmitter in Pittsburgh.

History

As WDTV

The station went on the air on January 11, 1949, as WDTV (W DuMont TeleVision), owned and operated by the DuMont Television Network. It originally broadcast on channel 3, moving to channel 2 in 1952 to alleviate interference with WNBK in Cleveland (now WKYC-TV, which for several years was a sister station to KDKA-TV).

At the time, Pittsburgh was the sixth-largest market in the country (behind New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington). However, WDTV's only competition came from UHF stations, as well as grade B signals from stations in Johnstown, Altoona, Wheeling and Youngstown. Despite its large market size, no other commercial VHF stations signed on in Pittsburgh until 1957 (the only other VHF station in town was educational WQED-TV). This was because the major cities in the Upper Ohio Valley are so close together that they must share the VHF band. At the time, UHF stations were unviewable without a very expensive converter. Even with a converter, the picture quality was marginal at best. UHF stations in the area faced an additional problem because Pittsburgh is located in a somewhat rugged dissected plateau, and UHF stations usually do not get good reception in rugged terrain.

As a result, WDTV had a de facto monopoly on Pittsburgh television. Like its sister stations, WABD in New York (now WNYW) and WTTG in Washington, it was far stronger than the network as a whole. Owning the only viewable station in such a large market gave DuMont considerable leverage in getting its programs cleared in large markets where it didn't have an affiliate. As CBS, NBC and ABC had secondary affiliations with WDTV, this was a strong incentive to stations in large markets to clear DuMont's programs or risk losing valuable advertising in the sixth-largest market. WDTV aired all DuMont network shows live and cherry-picked the best shows from the other networks, airing them on kinescope on an every-other-week basis.

WDTV's sign-on was also significant because it was now possible to feed live programs from the East to the Midwest and vice versa. In fact, its second broadcast was the activation of the coaxial cable linking the two regions. It would be another two years before the West Coast received live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television.

By 1954, DuMont was in serious financial trouble. Paramount Pictures, which owned a stake in DuMont, vetoed a merger with ABC who had merged with United Paramount Theaters, Paramount's former theater division, a year before. Since the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont and there were still lingering questions about whether UPT had actually broken off from DuMont, Paramount didn't want to risk the FCC's wrath.

Desperate for cash, DuMont was forced to sell WDTV to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $9.75 million in late 1954. While the sale gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated DuMont's leverage in getting clearances in other major markets. Within two years, the DuMont network was no more.

After the sale closed in 1955, Westhinghouse changed WDTV's calls to KDKA-TV, after KDKA-AM 1020, the world's first licensed commercial radio station. It became a primary CBS affiliate, retaining secondary affiliations with NBC until 1957 (when WIIC-TV, now WPXI, signed on) and ABC until 1958 (when WTAE-TV signed on). It became the flagship station of Westinghouse's broadcasting arm, Group W. (The WDTV calls now reside on a CBS affiliate in Weston, West Virginia, which is unrelated to the current KDKA-TV.)

As KDKA-TV

As a CBS affiliate, KDKA-TV dominated the ratings. It was not uncommon for newscasts anchored by Bill Burns to draw a 50 percent share of audience (or higher). It is still the market leader today, though WTAE and WPXI have closed the gap in recent years.

The station was known from the 1960s through the 1990s to pre-empt CBS programs that received low ratings, usually replaced by locally produced shows, high-rated syndicated programming, and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games.

Even the daytime soap opera As The World Turns wasn't immune as KDKA pre-empted the serial for a large portion of its still-continuing run, most notably in the 1960s (for movies and The Mike Douglas Show), The Marie Torre Show during the early 1970s, and from 1978 to 1990, where the 2 to 3 P.M. hour usually reserved for the national CBS feed of ATWT was replaced by the popular talk program Pittsburgh 2Day. On November 22, 1963, as CBS broke into ATWT to report shots fired at President Kennedy's motorcade, KDKA was airing The Mike Douglas Show when newscaster Bill Burns broke in with the first bulletin. After Pittsburgh 2Day's cancellation in 1990, KDKA would later give in to pressure from both CBS and ATWT fans to air the show. In September 2006, it moved Guiding Light from its longtime 3pm slot to 10am placing Dr. Phil at 3pm.

Starting in 1993, KDKA stopped running CBS This Morning and instead ran syndicated Disney cartoons, an unusual move for a major-market station. It resumed carrying the CBS morning show several years later.

In 1994, Westinghouse made a long-term affiliation deal with CBS to convert the entire Group W television unit to CBS affiliation. As part of the deal, in the fall of 1994 channel 2 began running the entire CBS lineup in pattern, with no pre-emptions except in the case of breaking news.

In early 1996, Westinghouse merged with CBS, making KDKA-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station, after four decades as being simply a CBS affiliate. Viacom merged with CBS in 2000, making KDKA a sister station with Pittsburgh UPN affiliate WNPA-TV (now WPCW). Ironically, in 1994, Viacom purchased Paramount, which figured so prominently in DuMont's collapse, and in fact had announced plans to launch UPN prior to being acquired by Viacom.

In 2001, KDKA began producing a 10 P.M. newscast on UPN Pittsburgh. KDKA added a two hour morning newscast in 2005 on UPN.

To this day, KDKA-AM/TV is the last heritage television/radio cluster in Pittsburgh.

KDKA is also available on cable in Johnstown, Altoona and Wheeling, as well as several other out-of-market cable systems in northwestern Pennsylvania, northwestern Maryland and north-central West Virginia.

CBS 2?

After KDKA dropped the Group W font, it adopted a much plainer logo similar to that of other CBS O&Os. However, it has not fallen into complete compliance with the CBS Mandate as of 2007.

There is one other CBS O&O broadcasting on channel 2 with a different branding than "CBS2"-- KUTV in Salt Lake City, which currently goes by the on-air name of "2News" (though CBS is about to sell it off). WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, WBZ-TV in Boston and WJZ-TV in Baltimore also do not follow any form of the mandate.

Local Programming

• Pittsburgh Today Live: 9 -10 A.M. - with Kristine Sorensen on maternity leave, current hosts include Jon Burnett, Brenda Waters and Keith Jones with weather from Rebecca Hower; local general interest program
• Hometown High-Q: Saturdays at 11 A.M. - Ken Rice hosts a "quiz bowl" format show with three teams comprised of local high school students
• KD/PG Sunday Edition: Sundays at 8:30 A.M. - public affairs programming
• The Lynne Hayes-Freeland Show: Sundays at 6 A.M. - public affairs programming
• KDKA Sunday Sports Showdown: Sundays at 11:35 P.M. - sports talk show
• The Sunday Business Page: Sundays at 6:30 A.M. - public affairs programming

Seasonal

• The Free-Care Fund (Holiday Season)- yearly pledge drive
• The Hines Ward Show: Saturdays at 11:35 P.M. - Bob Pompeani, Hines Ward, Jim Lokay and a rotating member of the Pittsburgh Steelers (during the NFL season)
• Steelers Trivia Challenge: Sundays at 12:00 A.M. - Bob Pompeani hosts a "quiz bowl" format, modeled after Hometown High-Q, with three teams comprised of three Pittsburgh Steelers fans who answer team-related trivia questions

Past

• The Jerome Bettis Show
• Evening Magazine
• Pittsburgh 2Day
• Punchline
• Wake Up With Larry Richert

Newscasts

File:Kdka-pm.jpg

KDKA's Current P.M. Anchor Team.

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Weekdays

• KDKA-TV Morning News (5:00-7:00 A.M.)
  • Anchors: Sonni Abatta and Keith Jones
  • Weather: Rebecca Hower
  • Traffic: Jim Lokay
• KDKA-TV News at Noon (Noon-12:29 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Sonni Abatta and Stacy Smith
  • Weather: Rebecca Hower
• KDKA-TV News at 4 (4:00-4:59 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Stephanie Watson and Stacy Smith
  • Weather: Jeff Verszyla
• KDKA-TV News at 5 (5:00-5:59 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Patrice King Brown and Ken Rice
  • Weather: Jeff Verszyla
  • Sports: Bob Pompeani
• KDKA-TV News at 6 (6:00-6:59 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Patrice King Brown and Stacy Smith
  • Weather: Jeff Verszyla
  • Sports: Bob Pompeani
• KDKA-TV News at 11 (11:00-11:34 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Patrice King Brown and Ken Rice
  • Weather: Jeff Verszyla
  • Sports: Bob Pompeani

Saturday

• KDKA-TV Saturday Morning (6:00-7:59 A.M.)
  • Anchor: Brenda Waters
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
• KDKA-TV News at 6 (6:00-6:29 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Don Cannon and Stephanie Watson
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
  • Sports: John Steigerwald
• KDKA-TV News at 7 (7:01-7:29 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Don Cannon and Stephanie Watson
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
  • Sports: John Steigerwald
• KDKA-TV News at 11 (11:00-11:34 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Don Cannon and Stephanie Watson
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
  • Sports: John Steigerwald

Sundays

• KDKA-TV News at 6:30 (6:30-6:59 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Don Cannon and Stephanie Watson
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
  • Sports: John Steigerwald
• KDKA-TV News at 11 (11:00-11:34 P.M.)
  • Anchors: Don Cannon and Stephanie Watson
  • Weather: Jon Burnett
  • Sports: John Steigerwald

Ratings

Pittsburgh is a perennially competitive market for local news, with news ratings usually differing by less than a full ratings point.

KDKA is the most-watched local news station at noon, 4, 5, 6 and 11 P.M., according to the Nielsen February 2007 ratings period.

Personalities

Anchors

• Sonni Abatta - KDKA from 5 to 7 A.M.; WPCW from 7 to 8 A.M.
• Patrice King Brown - 4, 6, and 11 P.M.
• Keith Jones - 5 to 7 A.M.
• Ken Rice - KDKA at 5 and 11 P.M.; WPCW at 10 P.M.
• Stacy Smith - Noon, 4, and 6 P.M.
• Kristine Sorensen - Pittsburgh Today Live and 5 P.M.

Anchor/Reporters

• Don Cannon - anchors weekends at 6, 7, and 11 P.M.
• John Cater - anchors weekdays from 7 to 8 A.M. on WPCW
• Brenda Waters - anchors Saturday mornings
• Stephanie Watson - anchors KDKA weekends at 6, 7, and 11 P.M.; WPCW at 10 P.M.

Weather

File:ACCU.JPG

KDKA uses AccuWeather from State College.

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An editor has nominated the above file for discussion of its purpose and/or potential deletion. You are welcome to participate in the discussion and help reach a consensus.

• Jon Burnett - weathercaster: weekends
• Rebecca Hower - meteorologist: weekday mornings from 5 to 7 A.M. and Noon on KDKA; 7 to 8 A.M. on WPCW (will exit May 31, 2007)
• Jeff Verszyla - chief meteorologist: weekdays at 4, 5, 6, and 11 P.M. on KDKA; 10 P.M. on WPCW
• Dennis Bowman - meteorologist: freelance/fill-in basis

Sports

• Bob Pompeani - sports director - weekdays at 5, 6 and 11 P.M. on KDKA; 10:35 P.M. on WPCW
• John Steigerwald - sports anchor/reporter - various times (will exit August 2007 )
• Mike Zappone - fill-in sports anchor/reporter - various times

Health Team

• Dr. Paul Nemiroff - medical correspondent
• Dr. Maria Simbra - medical correspondent

Reporters

• Bob Allen
• Mary Berecky - Westmoreland County bureau chief
• Dave Crawley - "KD Country" reporter
• Jon Delano - money and political editor
• Marty Griffin - investigative reporter
• Ross Guidotti - Butler/Beaver/Lawrence Co. bureau chief
• Harold Hayes
• Lynne Hayes-Freeland - general assignment reporter/host
• David Highfield
• Ralph Iannotti
• Mary Robb Jackson
• Jim Lokay - traffic and transportation reporter
• Paul Martino - general assignment/investigative reporter
• Alison Morris
• Andy Sheehan - investigative reporter
• John Shumway
• Yvonne Zanos - consumer editor

Former Personalities

• Kym Gable - freelance reporter - (2006)
• Sheila Hyland - freelance morning anchor - (2006)
• Jennifer Antkowiak - anchor - (1993-2006), now working with Leslie Sansone's In Home Walking Program
• Kelli Olexia - anchor - (2001-2005, now director of communications at Weirton Medical Center)
• Bruce Pompeani - anchor - (1996-2005)
• Susan Barnett - anchor/reporter - (1999-2003, now morning co-anchor at KYW in Philadadelphia)
• Gabrielle DeRose - weekend anchor/reporter - (2001-2003)
• Wayne Van Dine - reporter - (1978-2003, retired)
• Bob Kudzma - meteorologist - (1968-2002, retired)
• Bill Flanagan - business reporter - (1982-2003, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations, Allegheny Conference on Community Development and host of "Our Region's Business" on WPXI)
• Larry Richert - weather - (1990-2001, host of KDKA Morning News on KDKA-AM)
• Jacque Smith - weekend anchor/reporter - (1995-2000, now morning co-anchor at WKYC in Cleveland)
• Stu Emry - reporter - (1989-1999, retired)
• Ray Tannehill - anchor - (1976-1999, retired)
• Lynn Sawyer - consumer reporter - (1977-1999, now a contributor for OnQ on WQED)
• Paul Steigerwald - sports - (1987-1998, now the play-by-play annoucer for the Penguins on FSN Pittsburgh)
• Patti Burns - anchor/reporter - (1974-1997, passed away on October 31st, 2001)
• C.S. Keys - meteorologist - (19??-1995, now the Sports Director/Anchor at XETV in San Diego, also an actor)
• Al Julius - commentator - (1973-1978; 1981-1991, passed away on June 28, 2002)
• Ron Klink - weekend anchor/reporter - (1977-1991, former Congressman who now runs a lobbying firm)
• John Sanders - sports - (19??-1990, now play by play announcer for Cleveland Indians games)
• Bill Burns - anchor - (1953-1989, died in 1997)
• Alan Cutler - sports - (1984-1987, is a motivational speaker based in Lexington, KY)
• Dick Stockton - sports - (1967-1971, play-by-play man for NFL on FOX)
• Marie Torre - anchor/reporter - (1962-1977, died in 1997)
• Eddie Alexander - sports - (?-?)
• Jessica Borg - anchor/reporter - (2001-2004, now the weekend morning co-anchor at WPVI in Philadelphia)
• Bill Currie - sports - (?-?)
• Ken Meese - sports - (?-?, now communications officer for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development)
• Steve Talbot - sports - (?-?)

Slogans/Brandings

• Eyewitness News
• Hometown Advantage
• Local News First - KDKA slogan from 2005-present

Logos

• KDKA logo pre-1999, features Stylized "Group W Font"
  KDKA logo pre-1999, features Stylized "Group W Font"
• KDKA logo from 1999 to 2003, features Stylized "Group W Font"
  KDKA logo from 1999 to 2003, features Stylized "Group W Font"
• KDKA logo from 2003 to 2005, changed to meet CBS standards
  KDKA logo from 2003 to 2005, changed to meet CBS standards
• KDKA logo from 2005-present, inspired by WBBM
  KDKA logo from 2005-present, inspired by WBBM

Trivia

• Pop singer Christina Aguilera made her first TV appearance on KDKA-TV.
• In the early 1980s Dennis Miller hosted The Trolley Show, a Saturday-afternoon newsmagazine for teenagers on KDKA. ^[1] He also produced humorous essays for the syndicated PM Magazine television program.
• KDKA is credited with the first "network" TV feed in world history.
• The station had the world's first father-daughter broadcast team. Beginning in the 1970s, KDKA's noon news broadcast was anchored by veteran Pittsburgh anchorman Bill Burns and his daughter Patti Burns, often referred to as the "Patti and Daddy show."
• The station is only one of two television stations, east of the Mississippi River, (the other being KYW-TV) whose call letters begin with "K."
• KDKA is one of only five CBS O&O stations (in addition to KUTV in Salt Lake City, WCCO in Minneapolis, WJZ in Baltimore, and WBZ in Boston) that doesn't use the "CBS Mandate" for the on-air name (CBS [channel #] [city/market descriptor]).

External links

• KDKA-TV Homepage
• Template:TVQ