KSNV-DT

KSNV-DT
Las Vegas, Nevada
Branding	Channel 3 (general) News 3 (newscasts)
Channels	Digital: 2 (VHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
Subchannels	3.1 NBC 3.2 Untamed Sports TV 3.3 Universal Sports
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group (Southern Nevada Communications)
First air date	January 23, 1955
Call letters' meaning	Southern NeVada
Sister station(s)	KRNV-DT, KENV-DT
Former callsigns	KLRJ-TV (January–September 1955) KORK-TV (1955–1979) KVBC (1979–2009) KVBC-DT (2009-2010)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 2 (VHF, 1955–1967) 3 (VHF, 1967–2009)
Transmitter power	27.7 kW
Height	386 m
Facility ID	69677
Transmitter coordinates	36°0′31.9″N115°0′21.6″W
Website	www.news3lv.com

KSNV-DT, channel 3 (digital channel 2), is the NBC-affiliated television station in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the flagship station of Intermountain West Communications Company (formerly Sunbelt Communications Company). KSNV's studios are in Las Vegas, and its transmitter is located on Black Mountain in Henderson, Nevada.

History[]

The station went on the air as KLRJ-TV on channel 2 on January 23, 1955, licensed to Henderson and owned by the Donrey Media Group (now Stephens Media LLC) along with the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KORK radio (920 AM, now KBAD; and 97.1 FM, now KXPT). Soon after, the station changed its calls to KORK-TV, matching its radio sisters, and moved its license and studios to Las Vegas. It has always been an NBC affiliate, but shared ABC with KLAS-TV (channel 8) until KSHO-TV (channel 13, now KTNV-TV) signed on in 1956. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[1]

In 1967, KORK-TV moved to channel 3 to avoid interference with newly signed-on KTVN (channel 2) in Reno.^{[citation needed]} In 1971, a group of local residents led by Las Vegas attorney James E. (Jim) Rogers began an effort to take control of channel 3. Rogers' group gained more support when Donrey began heavily preempting NBC programming in order to sell more local advertising in the late 1970s. NBC was far less tolerant of this than the other networks at the time. The most notable of these preemptions was the 1978 World Series, angering both NBC and several Las Vegas area viewers, some of whom complained to the Federal Communications Commission. Facing pressure from both NBC and the FCC, Donrey was forced to sell the station to the Rogers group's holding company, Valley Broadcasting Company, in 1979. Donrey retained KORK radio, and as a result on October 1, 1979 the station became KVBC, reflecting the new ownership. Since then, the station has more or less cleared the whole NBC lineup.

For a few years, KVBC used a portion of Styx's 1978 hit "Come Sail Away" and Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" before going to a commercial break.^{[citation needed]}

In the late 1980s, KVBC's sign-on to sign-off ratings climbed to an all-time high, thanks in part to a strong primetime line-up by NBC, in the late 1980s. News anchors Dave Courvoisier, Gwen Castaldi, and Rikki Cheese, weatherman Mike Bradley, and the sports team of Scott Reynolds and Colin Cowherd, supported by a strong team of reporters that included Scott Andrus, Deborah Brada, Dan Burns, Jamie Garcia, Rick Kirkham, Lonni Leavitt, Dan Monson, Darwin Morgan, Denise Rosch, and Laura Stephenson led News 3 when it surpassed KLAS-TV as the market leader.^[2]

Two major "events" aided KVBC's rise to the top. In May 1988 an explosion and fire rocked the Pacific Engineering and Production Company (Pepcon) in Henderson. KVBC was knocked off the air for a few minutes, because its TV tower atop Black Mountain was positioned just above the blast site. Once KVBC was back on the air it was the first local station to continuously broadcast its breaking news coverage. Later that year, CBS produced "48 Hours in Las Vegas," a feature about Las Vegas that portrayed the city as full of gamblers and riddled by crime. In response, KVBC produced a one-hour documentary entitled, "Las Vegas, Beyond 48 Hours," which painted a more realistic picture of "Sin City" and its residents.

KVBC 2002 — KVBC former logo from 2000-2010

KVBC was first to document the Mirage volcano explosion during its initial test in front of an unsuspecting nighttime audience. Overnight coverage, by reporter/anchors Steve Eager and Sarah Hoeveler and photographer Mike Dixon, helped to establish the newscast as #1 in the mornings from its inception in the summer of 1989. Hoeveler and photographer Jeff Lonetree won a regional Emmy award for coverage of breaking news overnight. Businessman Mike Moody later joined the anchor team to report on business news in southern Nevada.^{[citation needed]}

Channel 3 created and hosted a community "EarthFair" in the summer of 1990. The Arts and Environmental Science Expo featured science fair projects, pine tree giveaway, and booths by up to 120 exhibitors. 15,000 people showed up for that first EarthFair at the Sunset Park. The Fair continued annually for several years.

From October 25, 1996 to June 6, 2000, KVBC had its own radio station, KVBC-FM on 105.1 FM dial. One of the shows on the air was called "Nate at Night", and was hosted by KVBC Chief Meteorogist Nathan Tannenbaum.^{[citation needed]}

With the digital transition completed, the station officially added the -DT suffix to its legal call sign on June 23, 2009.^[3]

On June 18, 2010 KVBC announced a call letter change to KSNV, reflecting the renaming of Valley Broadcasting Company (by this time the subsidiary of Sunbelt that held the station's license) to Southern Nevada Communications, as well as better reflecting the station's relationship with sister stations KRNV-DT in Reno and KENV-DT in Elko via the "Nevada Information Network".^[4] The change to KSNV-DTbecame official on July 9, 2010.^[3]^[5]

Digital television[]

KSNV-DT broadcasts multiplexed on digital channel 2. But, through the use of PSIP, digital television display its virtual channel as 3.

Channel	Name	Programming
3.1	KSNV-DT	main KSNV-DT/NBC programming
3.2	Untamed Sports TV	Fishing, Hunting, Etc.
3.3	Universal Sports	Sports

News operation[]

Channel 3's newscasts were called Eyewitness News for many years. That name was changed to the current News 3 in 1982, andEyewitness News was picked up shortly thereafter by KLAS-TV (channel 8). It was the first station to report the deadly Las Vegas Hilton firein February 1981, interrupting regularly scheduled programming to provide live coverage.^{[citation needed]}

KVBC premiered "News 3 at Sunrise," its morning newscast, in 1989 with overnight team coverage by reporter/anchors Steve Eagar (former Detroit Tigers catcher, now with KDFW in Dallas-Ft. Worth), Sarah Hoeveler, traffic reporter Tom Hawley and news photographer and editor Mike Dixon. In June 1991, News 3 at Noon premiered; It later expanded to one hour^[when?]. On April 4, 2006, KVBC began a local 10 o'clock newscast on KVWB (now KVMY). The newscast moved to KVCW until September 2009 when it was cancelled and revived on KTUD on October 26, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

On July 9, 2007, KVBC changed their morning newscast name to News 3 Today, phasing out the long-standing News 3 at Sunrise. With the promotion of Sue Manteris to evenings, and the reduction of Mitch Truswell to just the noon newscast. The morning team consists of husband-and-wife co-anchors Kim and Dana Wagner, chief meteorologist John Fredericks, and traffic reporter Tom Hawley.^{[citation needed]} On August 11, 2007 KVBC became the second TV station in the Las Vegas market to broadcast its local news programming in High Definition.^{[citation needed]}

On January 5, 2009, longtime meteorologist John Fredericks retired from the station after 12½ years at KVBC. According to the anchors, John felt it was hard to say goodbye on the air, therefore he left an audio message for the viewers and the station, as it does with any person that leaves after a long tenure, showed a montage of clips of John's career at KVBC. Dana Wagner was posted as replacing John during the morning and noon newscasts.^{[citation needed]}

Newscasts[]

Weekdays

Wake Up with The Wagners on News 3 – 4:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
News 3 Live at Noon & 12:30 – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
News 3 Live at 3 & 3:30 – 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
News 3 Live at 5 – 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 6 & 6:30 – 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
News 3 Live at 7 – 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 11 – 11:00 p.m. – 11:35 p.m.

Saturdays

News 3 Today – 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
News 3 Live at 5 – 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 6 – 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 11 – 11:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Sundays

News 3 Today – 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
News 3 Live at 5 – 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 6 – 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
News 3 Live at 11 – 11:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Sports Night in Las Vegas – 11:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

News/station presentation[]

Newscast titles[]

Assignment 2/11th Hour News (1960s-1965)
Las Vegas Newsbeat (1965–19??)
Eyewitness News (19??–1982)
Channel 3 News (1982–1986)
News 3 (1986–present)

Station slogans[]

TV-3, Proud as a Peacock! (1979-1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Come Home, to TV-3 (1980–1982)
TV-3, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
We're TV-3, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign
The Spirit of Las Vegas! (1980s–1986)
TV-3 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
TV-3, Let's All Be There! (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Come Home to TV-3 (1986–1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Turn to a Friend/Turn to a Friend, Turn to 3 (1986–1994; during period station used Frank Gari's "Turn To News")
Come on Home to TV-3 (1987-1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
TV-3, is The Place to Be! (1990-1992; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
It's A Whole New TV-3 (1992-1993; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
The Stars Are Back on TV-3 (1993-1994; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
It's TV-3! (1994-1995; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Where News Comes First (1994–2007)
The Year To Be on TV-3 (1995-1996; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
The Network is You on TV-3 (1996-1997, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Watching Out for You (2007–2009)

KVBC launched a campaign to advertise the new slogan. In late November, KVBC introduced billboards with the phrase "We are WOFY" displayed throughout the city. In December, the station began running commercials featuring WOFY in the shape of Pepperoni, WOFY spelled out in alphabet soup, and even spelled out WOFY in children's blocks. The station also teamed up with Henderson Hyundai by spelling out WOFY in cars in the car dealership's backlot. In late December, early January, KVBC launced the website wearewofy.com (now shut down) to help direct comments about what WOFY may mean. WOFY was later announced as "Watching Out for You," in January onNews 3 Today with Kim & Dana Wagner. In October 2009, KVBC eliminated the "Watching Out for You" slogan from its newscasts.

News team[]

Current on-air staff[]

Anchors[]

Marie Mortera – weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30 and 11:00 p.m.
Evan Schreiber - weekday mornings; Live Desk Anchor for News 3 Today.
Latoya Silmon – weekdays at Noon, 3:00 and weeknights at 6:00 p.m.
Jim Snyder – weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30 and 11:00 p.m.
Dana Wagner – weekday mornings on News 3 Today (4–7:00 a.m.)
Kim Wagner – weekday mornings on News 3 Today (4–7:00 a.m.)

Weather[]

Bill Bellis - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30 and 11:00 p.m.
Chloe Koast – weekday mornings on News 3 Today (4:30–7:00 a.m.)

Sports[]

Jesse Merrick - sports reporter
Bryan Salmond – sports director

Reporters[]

George Acosta – reporter
Cristen Drummond - reporter
Tiffany Lane - reporter
Andrew Nomura - reporter
Khalia Patterson - reporter
Denise Rosch – reporter
Steve Wolford - reporter
Ophelia Young - reporter

Former on-air staff[]

Krystal Allen - anchor
Sergio Avila – reporter
Dan Ball – anchor and reporter
Debbie Bledsoe - reporter
Rachel Boesing - meteorologist
Deborah Brada - reporter
Mike Bradley - meteorologist
Rich Britton - meteorologist
Jerry Brown – meteorologist (now at KLAS)
Karen Brown - anchor
Terry Care – reporter (now retired)
Bruce Casela - sports anchor
Gwen Castaldi - anchor/reporter
Antonio Castelan – reporter
Kori Chambers - anchor (now at WPIX)
Hetty Chang – reporter (now at KNBC)
Rikki Cheese - anchor (later at KTNV)
Sophia Choi – 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. anchor (2007–2010) now at WSB-TV
Lauren Clark - reporter
Bob Clausen - reporter
Ashley Conroy - reporter
Justin Cooper – meteorologist
Jason Corona - reporter
Ben Correa - anchor/reporter
Dave Courvoisier - anchor (later at KLAS and KTNV)
Reed Cowan – anchor (now at KPIX)
Colin Cowherd – sports anchor (1988–1996; later with ESPN and Fox Sports)
Steve Crupi – reporter
Luis Cruz - anchor/reporter
Kelly Curran – meteorologist and traffic reporter (now at KCRA)
Max Darrow - reporter (now at KPIX)
Mike Davis - meteorologist
Gregg Deacon - Sky 3 reporter
Bob DeCastro - reporter (now at KTTV)
Tiffany De Leon - fill-in traffic reporter
Kay Dimanche - reporter
Amber Dixon – sports anchor
Elizabeth Donatelli – reporter
Steve Eagar - anchor (now at KDFW)
Stacey Escalante – reporter
Craig Fiegener – reporter (now at KNX)
Jack Finn – reporter
Beth Fisher - anchor (later at KTNV)
John Fredericks – meteorologist (now deceased)
Brett Forrest - reporter
Laura Garcia - reporter
Dana Gentry – host of Vegas Inc on Saturdays (6:30–7:00 p.m.)
Jeff Gillan – political reporter
Sandra Gonzalez – reporter
Vicki Gonzalez – reporter
Alexis Goree - reporter
Trace Gallagher - reporter (now at Fox News)
Kurt Goff - anchor/reporter
Carol Hames - meteorologist and reporter
Scott Hanson - reporter
Gabby Hart - reporter (later at KRIV)
Tom Hawley – traffic reporter (deceased)
Scott Haws - anchor
Lisa Hidalgo - meteorologist
Sarah Hoeveler - anchor (deceased)
Randy Howe – sports director
Alicia Jacobs - entertainment reporter
Kevin Janison – chief meteorologist (later at KTNV)
Jeff Jaeger - reporter
Faith Jessie - reporter
Christine Kim - anchor/reporter
Kyndell Kim - reporter
Chera Kimiko - anchor/reporter
Rick Kirkham - reporter
Rebecca Klein - reporter
Matt Kozar – reporter
Helen Kumari – reporter (later at KCBS and KNBC)
Ian Lash – fill-in traffic anchor and reporter
Lonni Leavitt - reporter
Ann Lim - reporter
Kerstin Lindquist - reporter
Jeff Maher - anchor
Dan Manson - reporter
Sue Manteris – anchor and reporter (1989–2011; now with 10e Media)
Angela Martin - anchor
Paul Matadeen – reporter
Lynn Mathis - reporter
Katie McCall - reporter
Rob McMillan - reporter (now at KABC-TV)
Glen Meek - investigative reporter
Marissa Mike - reporter
Ben Mohr – reporter
Heather Mills - reporter (now at KLAS)
Mike Moody - business reporter
Anqunette Moon - anchor/reporter
Jessica Moore – anchor and reporter (now with WCBS-TV)
Rob Munoz - reporter
Paige Novodor - anchor/reporter
Kyndell Nunley – reporter
Nathan O'Neal – reporter
Anjuli Porter - reporter
Randy Prewitt - anchor
Jon Ralston – host of Ralston Reports on weeknights (6:30–7:00 p.m.); later with KTNV
Gerard Ramalho - anchor
Nina Radetich - anchor (later at KTNV)
Scott Reynolds – sports anchor
Gina Riggi - reporter
David Riggleman - anchor/reporter
Karen Roberts - meteorologist
Mitch Roberts – sports anchor
Anita Roman – reporter
Robert Santos - meteorologist
Alex Savidge – reporter
Steve Schorr - reporter (later at KTNV) deceased
Colette Shelton - reporter
Dr. Jim Siebert - meteorologist
Maria Silva - anchor/reporter (later at KVVU)
Alan Sloane - meteorologist
Fred Snyder - business reporter
Darcy Spears - investigative and consumer reporter (now at KTNV)
Denise Spidle - reporter
Rick Strasser - sports anchor and reporter
Laura Stephenson - anchor/reporter
Randy Swallow - sports reporter
Mary Tan - reporter
Nathan Tannenbaum - meteorologist (now at KLAS)
Kendall Tenney – anchor and reporter (now retired)
Kelsey Thomas – reporter
Trevor Thompson – reporter
Venise Toussaint – reporter
John Treanor – reporter
Mitch Truswell - anchor
Michelle Velez – reporter
Jen Wahl – meteorologist and reporter
Mackenzie Warren – anchor and reporter
Kevin West – sports director
Katherine Whaley - meteorologist
Collette Wieland - reporter
Christy Wilcox - reporter
Kyle Wilcox - reporter
Jack Williams - anchor (later at WBZ-TV) retired
Mike Woolfolk - sports anchor

Satellites and translators[]

KSNV's signal is rebroadcast on the following translators:

K11CN Caliente, Nevada
K40CQ Laughlin, Nevada
K07CM Panaca, Nevada
K40CQ Pioche, Nevada
K03CM Ursine, Nevada
KVBT-LP (channel 41) Santa Clara, Utah

KSNV, as KVBC, also previously maintained two full-power satellite stations. KVNV (channel 3) in Ely served as a KVBC satellite from its sign-on in 2001 until it was sold to PMCM TV, LLC in 2008, while KMCC (channel 34) in Laughlin was a KVBC satellite from its sign-on in 2003 until it was sold to Cranston II, LLC in 2005. Additionally, the signal for KVBC was to have been relayed over KBMO-TV (channel 9) inTonopah, Nevada, but construction of this station was not completed before the FCC construction permit expired in 2002.