KGTV

KGTV
San Diego, California
Branding	ABC 10 (general); 10 News (newscasts)
Slogan	San Diego's news source
Channels	Digital: 10 (VHF)
Subchannels	10.1 ABC10.2 TheCoolTV 10.15 KZSD-LP/Azteca America
Affiliations	ABC (1977–present)
Owner	E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Media, Inc.)
First air date	September 13, 1953
Call letters' meaning	KOGO-TV (previous callsign) without the Os
Sister station(s)	KZSD-LP
Former callsigns	KFSD-TV (1953-1961) KOGO-TV (1961-1972)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:10 (VHF, 1953-2009) Digital: 25 (UHF, 2007-2009)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953-1977)
Transmitter power	20.7 kW
Height	227 m
Facility ID	40876
Transmitter coordinates	32°50′20″N117°14′56″W
Website	www.10news.com

KGTV, digital channel 10, is the ABC television affiliate in San Diego, California. The station can be seen on Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and AT&T U-verse on cable channel 10 instandard definition. Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable carry its high definition signal on cable channel 710, while AT&T U-verse carries its HD signal on channel 1010. The station is also available on its customary channel 10 position (in both standard definition and in high definition) on both of DirecTV and Dish Network's local channels packages.

It is currently owned by McGraw-Hill, which also owns Azteca America affiliate KZSD-LP. KGTV's transmitter is located atop Mount Soledad above La Jolla, California.

History

The station went on the air on September 13, 1953 as KFSD-TV, and was affiliated at the time with NBC.

KFVW/KFSD radio (1220/620/600 AM) was the first full time commercial radio station in San Diego which signed on June 3, 1925. KFBC/KGB signed on July, 14 1922, but was only on the air part time as an amateur station at 833.3 Kilocycles. Channel 10's call letters followed the AM and FM stations to make it a complete combo AM/FM/TV. In 1961, the stations changed their call letters to KOGO, as the format of the AM station changed to MOR (Middle of the Road). As legend has it, they fed information about San Diego and it's people into the new device by IBM called the computer. They asked the computer for the perfect call letters for the new AM station and it responded with KOGO.

The broadcasting division of the Time-Life magazine company purchased the KOGO stations, AM 600 KOGO, KOGO-FM 94.1, Channel 10 KOGO-TV in 1962 from a locally based firm, Fox, Wells & Rogers.

In 1972, McGraw-Hill purchased KOGO-TV (along with the rest of Time-Life's broadcasting properties) and changed its call letters to the present KGTV (to reflect KOGO-TV). The radio stations were sold separately, and AM 600 retained the KOGO call letters, and was sold to Retlaw (which is Walter spelled backwards, and was the broadcast division of Walt Disney Company). 94.1 went back to the KFSD calls, and went through a series of owners. KGTV swapped affiliations with KCST-TV (channel 39, now KNSD) and joined ABC in 1977, after the network chose to disaffiliate itself from KCST.

Famous KGTV alumni include Regis Philbin, who hosted his first talk show on KOGO-TV in the 1960s. In April 2009, KGTV rebranded itself as "ABC 10" and launched new graphics and a new logo.^{[citation needed]}

Digital television

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion on February 17, 2009,^[1] KGTV moved its digital signal from channel 25 to channel 10 following analog shutdown.^[2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers continue to display KGTV's virtual channel as 10. Since KGTV is an ABC network affiliate, it broadcasts in 720p high definition.

Programming

Syndicated programing on KGTV includes Rachael Ray, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Doctors, and Inside Edition.

News operation

KGTV first began to challenge KFMB's dominance in the mid-1970s when anchormen Jack White and Harold Greene, along with popular weatherman "Captain Mike" Ambrose and sportscasters Al Coupee and Hal Clement, led The News to popularity, albeit briefly.

Even with the brief return of Greene following his stints in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the station fell back to second place behind KFMB in the early 1980s. However, management succeeded in acquiring the services of popular anchorman Michael Tuck from KFMB in 1984; the move resulted in KGTV reclaiming first place and giving the station credibility by way of Tuck's infamous nightly commentaries titled "Perspectives."

KGTV also made history by being the first station in San Diego with a female anchor team with its 11 p.m. newscast, featuring Carol LeBeau and Bree Walker. After Walker left in 1987, Kimberly Hunt would team with LeBeau and form the city's longest-running anchor duo at 15 years. During that time, LeBeau and Hunt would anchor alongside Tuck (who left for Los Angeles in 1990, only to return to San Diego on KFMB), Stephen Clark (now at WXYZ-TV in Detroit), Steve Wolford, and a returning Hal Clement (who had switched from sports to news in 1983 while at KFMB).

Eventually, KGTV would decline after Hunt left to anchor the news at KUSI-TV alongside Tuck, at one point falling to third as KNSD rose to number one at 11 p.m. The Hunt-Lebeau team reunited in early 2008, before LeBeau retired the following year. On August 30, 2008, KGTV became the third station, behind KFMB-TV and KSWB-TV, to launch local news in High Definition.

KGTV is among the few United States television stations that broadcast local news programs at 7:00 p.m. on weeknights. In May 2010, the newscast was the top rated early evening newscast in the market in the 25-54 demographic.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

KFSD-TV News (1953–1961)
KOGO News (1961–1965)
Eyewitness News (1965–1970s)
The News (1970s–1981)
10 News (1981–present)

Station slogans

We're Still The One, on Channel 10 (1977–1980; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Channel 10's The One You Can Turn To (1978–1979; local version of ABC ad campaign)
You and Me and Channel 10 (1980–1981; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Now Is The Time, Channel 10 is The Place (1981–1982; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Come On Along with Channel 10 (1982–1983; local version of ABC ad campaign)
That Special Feeling on Channel 10 (1983–1984; local version of ABC ad campaign)
We're With You on Channel 10 (1984–1985; local version of ABC ad campaign)
You'll Love it on Channel 10 (1985–1986; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Together on Channel 10 (1986–1987; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Something`s Happening on Channel 10 (1987-1990; local version of ABC ad campaign)
The Team That Stands for San Diego (1988–1994)
San Diego`s Watching Channel 10 (1990-1992; local version of ABC ad campaign)
If It`s San Diego, It Must Be Channel 10 (1992-1993; local version of "It Must Be ABC" campaign)
The Team You Count On Everyday (1994–1998)
TV is Good, on Channel 10 (1997–1998; local version of ABC ad campaign)
We Love TV, on Channel 10 (1998–1999; local version of ABC ad campaign)
See What Leadership Can Do for You (2000–2004)
San Diego's (Local) News Leader (2004–2008)
San Diego's News Source (2011-present)

News team

Current on-air staff

Anchors

Steve Atkinson - weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also reporter
Virginia Cha - weeknights at 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.; also reporter
Bill Griffith - weekday mornings 4:30-7:00 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Kimberly Hunt - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also reporter
Vanessa van Hyfte - weekend mornings (5:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 a.m.); also weeknight reporter and fill-in anchor
Itica Milanes- weekends at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.
Chris Murphy - weekend mornings (5:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 a.m.); also weeknight reporter and fill-in anchor
Preston Phillips - weekends at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Kaushal Patel - weekday mornings 4:30-7:00 a.m. and 11 a.m.

10 News Pinpoint Weather

Pat Brown - Weather; weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.
Robert Santos - Weather; weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and 11 a.m.
Craig Herrera (AMS Seal of Approval) - weather anchor; weekends at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Craig Herrera - Weather; weekends at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m., also fill-in

10 News Sports

Ben Higgins - Sports Director; Sunday-Thursdays at 6:00 and 11:00 and Sunday 11:30 Sports Extra
Steve Smith - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6, and Friday-Saturdays at 11 p.m.

Traffic

Phil Konstantin - Sky 10 traffic reporter/photographer
Melanie Mendez - traffic reporter

Reporters

Allison Ash - general assignment reporter
Rachel Bianco - general assignment reporter
Mitch Blacher - "I-Team" investigative reporter
John Carroll - general assignment reporter
Alejandra Cerball - general assignment reporter
Michael Chen - general assignment reporter
Ariana Duarte - general assignment reporter
Steve Fiorina - general assignment reporter
Jennifer Jensen - general assignment reporter
Nina Jimenez - general assignment reporter
Melissa Mecija - general assignment reporter
Bob Lawrence - general assignment reporter
Joe Little - general assignment reporter
Claudia Llausas - KZSD-LP reporter
Itica Milanes - general assignment reporter ; also fill-in anchor
Preston Phillips - general assignment reporter ; also fill-in anchor
Kevin Roy - general assignment reporter (per diem)
Antonio Sánchez - KZSD-LP reporter

Former on-air staff

Adrienne Alpert - Anchor/Reporter (1978–1997, now at KABC-TV in Los Angeles)
"Captain" Mike Ambrose - weather anchor (1973–2001; died in 2008 at age 69)
Fred Blankenship - Evening weekends and 11 p.m., (now at WSB-TV in Atlanta Ga.)
Geni Cavitt - Weathercaster/Reporter, "10 News Leadership Award" (2001–2009)
Herb Cawthorne - Reporter (1990–2002)
Phoebe Chongchua - Anchor/Reporter (1990–2000, now a speaker, fitness host and realtor [1])
Stephen Clark - Anchor (1989–1997, later WCBS-TV New York, now at WXYZ-TV in Detroit)
John Culea - Reporter/Anchor (1975–1977)
Kim Edwards - Reporter/digital [2]
Jim Estrada - Reporter/Anchor (1969–1972)
Bill Gaines - Anchor/Reporter (now runs his own production company, Capital Gaines Productions)
Gene Gleeson - Anchor (1976–1980, now at KABC-TV in Los Angeles)
Roberta Gonzales - meteorologist (1986–1990, now at KPIX-TV in San Francisco)
Harold Greene - anchor/reporter (1974–1977 and 1980–1982, later at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, has since retired.)
Byron Harlan - Reporter (1986–1994, now at WFLD-TV in Chicago)
Gary Kelly - [3] now at KSWB
Brooke Landau - Traffic reporter (2006–2008) (currently at XETV in San Diego)
Lee Ann Kim - Anchor (1995–2008) [4]
Lisa Kim - Anchor (1986–1994), last at KNTV in San Jose/San Francisco)
Lisa Lake - Morning Anchor (1995–2008)
Carol LeBeau - Anchor for 28 years (Retired on 5/20/09)
Marty Levin - Anchor/Reporter (1970s, now at KNSD)
Paul Magers (1981–1983, now at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles)
Mark Matthews (1987–2003, now at KGO-TV in San Francisco)
Susan McBride - Anchor/Reporter (1979–1987, now Susan McPeters at WQPT-TV in Moline, IL)
Loren Nancarrow - Weathercaster (1998–2009) now at KSWB anchor weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
Kent Ninomiya - Reporter (1991–1993)
Regis Philbin - Talk show at KGTV (1961–1964, Now a talk and game show host-- Live with Regis and Kelly, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire)
Sarah Purcell - Talk show host (late 1970s, later co-hosted NBC's Real People)
James Quinones - [5]
Margaret Radford - Reporter (1986–1991, retired)
Lauren Reynolds - "I-Team" investigative reporter (1996–2010)
Salvador Rivera - Reporter/digital correspondent
Larry Roberts - Anchor/Reporter (1982–1989)
Danny Romero - Weathercaster (1994–1995, now at KABC-TV in Los Angeles)
Larry Sacknoff - Sportscaster (1978–1992) [6]
Vic Salazar - Reporter (1983–1984), now President/CEO Vic Salazar Communications in San Diego
Elsa Sevilla - reporter (now at XETV)
Sally Sherry - [7]
Billy Ray Smith - Sportscaster (1993–1997, now at XX Sports Radio)
Mike Smith (1982–1986, now a partner in Ad-Lib Productions)
Michael Tuck - Anchor (1984–1990)
Leonard Villareal - Reporter/Anchor (1976–2004)
Bree Walker - Anchor/Reporter (1980–1987)
Jack White - Anchor (1967–2002)
Melanie Wingo - Reporter (2004–2006, now at KATU in Portland)
Steve Wolford - Anchor (1998–2000, now at KTNV in Las Vegas)
Charisse Yu - Reporter

Station personnel

Jeff Block - Vice President & General Manager
Joel Davis - News Director
Brad McLellan - News Assignment Manager

Gallery

External links

References

[1

[2