KABC-TV

KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from its transmitter on Mount Wilson.

In the few areas of the western United States where viewers cannot receive ABC programs over-the-air, KABC-TV is available on satellite to subscribers of DirecTV.

History
An early KECA-TV logo slide from 1949 to 1954.Channel 7 first went on the air as KECA-TV on September 16, 1949. At the same time, it was the last of Los Angeles' VHF television stations to sign on, and the last of the five original ABC-owned stations to debut, after KGO-TV in San Francisco signed on four months earlier.

The station was named after Los Angeles broadcasting pioneer Earle C. Anthony, whose initials were also present on channel 7's then-sister radio station, KECA (790 AM, now KABC). KECA radio had been an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network. Anthony's other Los Angeles radio station, KFI, was aligned with the Red Network. The Red Network survived the split of the two NBC radio networks ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1943. Edward J. Noble, who bought the Blue Network (beginning its transformation into ABC), purchased KECA radio a year later when the FCC forced Anthony to divest one of his Los Angeles radio stations.

On February 1, 1954 KECA-TV changed its call letters to the present KABC-TV. [1]

From the time of its initial sign-on in 1949, channel 7 was located at the ABC Television Center (now branded as the Prospect Studios), located in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, east of Hollywood. In December 1999, KABC-TV moved from its longtime studios to a new state-of-the-art facility designed by César Pelli in nearby Glendale. [2] The station is currently a short distance from ABC's West Coast headquarters, and from parent Walt Disney Company's headquarters in Burbank.

KABC-TV has used the Circle 7 logo since 1962 (the same year ABC created and implemented its current logo), and augmented its bottom left quadrant with the ABC network logo in 1997. The station's news anchors and reporters wear Circle 7 lapel pins when they appear on camera, a practice that had once been standard at each of the original five ABC-owned stations.

On February 4, 2006, KABC-TV became the first television station in California to broadcast its newscasts in high-definition. Along with the in-house upgrades, the station debuted an upgraded news set and an update to its theme music.

Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Digital channels

ABC7 Plus
ABC7 Plus, branded on-air as ABC7+ with the plus sign, primarily airs programming from the Live Well HD Network, which premiered on channel 7.2 on April 27, 2009. It also airs rebroadcasts of its local news, public affairs programming, and syndicated shows. However, ABC7+ can carry shows that are normally on the main channel (7.1) if KABC has preempted them for breaking news. Two such preemptions occurred in 2007 when ABC7+ aired sports events from ESPN on ABC while KABC had continuous live news coverage of local wildfires: the Subway 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on October 21 and the first round of the Skins Game golf tournament on November 24.

On September 12, 2009 ABC7+ aired live coverage of a memorial service at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for two members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department who died while fighting the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. KABC's Saturday morning ABC Kids children's programming aired as scheduled without preemption.

Analog-to-digital conversion
KABC-TV permanently ceased analog broadcasting over VHF channel 7 on June 12, 2009 at 12:00 noon [3] [4], as part of the DTV transition in the United States. [5] The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF channel 53, but returned to channel 7 for its post-transition operations. [6] KABC broadcasts in 720p high defintion on virtual channel 7.1, since ABC Network programming uses that particular HD format.

After the digital transition commenced, some viewers had difficulty receiving the new signal, despite its current level of 25,000 watts. On March 31, 2009, KABC-TV filed an application to the FCC to upgrade its signal strength to 28,700 watts.[7] It has not been granted.

News programming
KABC-TV first adopted the Eyewitness News format in February 1969, not long after it became a hit at sister station WABC-TV in New York City. Like the other ABC-owned stations, Channel 7 used the "Tar Sequence" cue from the soundtrack of the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke as its theme music, and continued to do so even after the others adopted the Frank Gari-composed "News Series 2000", an updated version of the theme. Later on, the original Cool Hand Luke theme was used only in the news open. The station's newscasts used a synthesized version of the old theme, composed by Frank Becker, during the mid-1980s. KABC-TV picked up the News Series 2000 package in 1990. In 1995 KABC began using Gari's "Eyewitness News" music package, which remains the station's news theme.

During the 1980s, KABC-TV was one of a few stations in the country to run a three-hour block of local news during weekday afternoons and early evenings from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The station was the first in the region, if not the state, to introduce an hour-long newscast at 4 p.m., first anchored by Jerry Dunphy and Tawny Little in September 1980. [8] Before this the station ran two hours of news from 5–7 p.m.

The station reduced this block by one half hour in 1990, when it moved ABC World News Tonight from 7:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. For a time in the late 1980s, its 6:30 p.m. newscast was branded "Eyewitness Update" and served as a final recap of the day's news, similar in nature to an 11 p.m. newscast.

KABC-TV is one of two ABC stations on the West Coast to air World News at 6:30 p.m.; the only other ABC station to do this is KGTV in San Diego. Most other Western ABC stations run this broadcast at 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. When the network soap opera Port Charles ended its run in 2003, channel 7 expanded its midday newscast to a full hour.

KABC-TV is one of two Los Angeles television stations with a full-time presence in California's state capital, Sacramento. Since late 2003, the station has shared resources with sister stations KGO-TV in San Francisco and KFSN-TV in Fresno to staff a Sacramento bureau following Arnold Schwarzenegger's election to the office of Governor of California, during the 2003 California recall.

Notable on-air staff who have worked for the station's news department include Jerry Dunphy, Christine Lund, Bill Bonds, Lisa McRee, Harold Greene, Tawny Little, Laura Diaz, Paul Moyer, Chuck Henry, Dr. George Fischbeck, Regis Philbin, Judd Rose, and Bill Weir. Former channel 7 sports reporters and anchors include former NFL players Lynn Swann, Gene Washington, Jim Hill and Bob Chandler, and former Major League Baseball player (and current Los Angeles Dodgers radio analyst and play-by-play announcer) Rick Monday.

During the 1970s and 1980s the station's newscasts often included spirited mini-debates and commentaries reflecting various political viewpoints. Several notable politicians and political pundits appeared on these segments including Proposition 13 backer Howard Jarvis, former U.S. Representative and Senator John Tunney, Bruce Herschensohn], Bill Press and Baxter Ward. In addition, like many other stations at the time, KABC-TV aired brief editorials from the station's general manager, most notably John Severino, who served throughout the 1980s. This practice was discontinued in 1990.

Ratings
The introduction of Eyewitness News, followed by the addition of syndicated staples such as The Oprah Winfrey Show (in 1986), Live with Regis and Kelly, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune (all in 1992) has generally allowed KABC to maintain a substantial ratings advantage over its competition.

Leveraging the strength of its sizeable Oprah lead-in at 3:00 p.m, KABC has long held first or second in the ratings for its 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. news block. However, ratings leads for the morning and late news have typically been spirited (and expensive) battles with local stations KTLA and KTTV in the morning, and KNBC (and recently KCBS-TV) at 11:00 p.m.

With its across-the-board ratings success in hand, the station has been known to run quick five-second promos throughout the day that say, "ABC7 – #1 in news, #1 in Southern California." This is a throwback to its openers during the 1980s, when the station proudly proclaimed itself "Number One in Southern California."

Other programming
KABC-TV produces several local shows including Vista L.A.. (which profiles Latino life in Southern California), and Eye on L.A. (which has been on the air in some form since the early 1980s). On weekends, the station airs Eyewitness Newsmakers, hosted by reporter Adrienne Alpert.

The station produces a sports/variety type show branded ABC 7 Sports Zone, which formerly originated from the ESPN Zone in Anaheim. This show airs occasionally following network telecasts of NCAA football and NBA games. Most ABC 7 Sports Zone shows now originate from local sports venues including the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and Staples Center in Los Angeles, and occasionally at the station's studios in Glendale. It is hosted by Rob Fukuzaki, and is joined during the basketball season by former Los Angeles Laker great Michael Cooper. This program is a spin-off of Monday Night Live, which aired on KABC-TV from 1989 until Monday Night Football left the network after the 2005 NFL season. That show was hosted by Todd Donoho until 1997, and later Bill Weir and Rob Fukuzaki and featured an extensive trivia contest.

Prior to ABC's annual telecasts of the Academy Awards, KABC-TV produces a live pre-awards show, An Evening at the Academy Awards: The Arrivals, featuring red carpet interviews and fashion commentary. This show also airs on the network's other owned stations and is syndicated to several ABC affiliates and other broadcasters outside the country. The station also produces and broadcasts post-ceremony show called An Evening at the Academy Awards: The Winners.

In the past, KABC-TV featured various locally produced shows such as AM Los Angeles; a morning talk show which at various times featured personalities Regis Philbin, Sarah Purcell, Ralph Story, Tawny Little, Cristina Ferrare, Cyndy Garvey, and Steve Edwards as hosts. Edwards also hosted a short lived afternoon show in the mid-1980s branded 330, which aired after the network airing of the soap opera The Edge of Night. (Live with Regis and Kelly, co-hosted by Philbin and produced at corporate sister station WABC-TV in New York, now occupies the former time slot of AM Los Angeles.)

On April 30, 1954, KABC-TV aired a preview, Dig Me Later, Vampira, hosted by Maila Nurmi at 11:00pm. The Vampira Show premiered on the following night, May 1, 1954. For the first four weeks, the show aired at midnight, and it moved to 11:00pm on May 29. Ten months later, the series aired at 10:30 p.m., beginning March 5, 1955. As Vampira, Nurmi introduced films while wandering through a hallway of mist and cobwebs. Her horror-related comedy antics included talking to her pet spider Rollo and encouraging viewers to write for epitaphs instead of autographs. When the series was cancelled in 1955, she retained rights to the character of Vampira.

In 1964, Pinky Lee attempted a return to kids TV by hosting a local children's comedy program on KABC-TV. The series was also seen in national syndication for the 1964 and 1965 TV seasons. But the program fell prey to creative interference from the show's producers and from station management. Lee tried to fight off the creative interference, but his efforts were for naught. The 1960s version of "The Pinky Lee Kids TV Show" went off the air after one season.

Dispute with Time Warner Cable
In July 2010, ABC's parent company, Disney, announced that it is involved in another carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable for the first time in ten years. This dispute involves four ABC owned-and-operated stations (including KABC-TV), Disney Channel and the networks of ESPN. If a deal is not reached by September 2, 2010 when Time Warner's agreement with Disney expires, the entire Disney cluster will no longer be carried on Time Warner and Bright House cable systems nationwide.

Anchors

 * Phillip Palmer – weekdays 4:30 a.m.-7 a.m. and 11 a.m.
 * Leslie Sykes – weekdays 4:30 a.m.-7 a.m. and 11 a.m.
 * David Ono – late afternoons 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
 * Ellen Leyva – late afternoons 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
 * Marc Brown – weeknights 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
 * Michelle Tuzee – weeknights 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
 * John Gregory – weekend mornings and Saturday noon
 * Lisa Hernandez – weekend mornings and Saturday noon
 * John Hartung – weekend evenings 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
 * Jovana Lara – weekend evenings 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Weather

 * Garth Kemp – weekdays 4:30 a.m.-7 a.m. and 11 a.m.
 * Dallas Raines (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) – Chief Meteorologist; weeknights 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
 * Indra Petersons – weekend mornings & Saturdays noon
 * Danny Romero – weekend evenings 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Traffic

 * Scott Reiff – weekday mornings AIR7HD
 * Alysha Del Valle – weekday mornings
 * Kalyna Astrinos – weekday afternoons

Sports

 * Rob Fukuzaki – sports director seen weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
 * Curt Sandoval – weekends at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and reporter
 * John Hartung – reporter

Reporters
{| sizcache="0" sizset="8"
 * - sizcache="0" sizset="8"
 * sizcache="0" sizset="8" valign="top"|
 * Adrienne Alpert
 * Lori Corbin ("Food Coach" / food/nutrition/exercise)
 * Denise Dador ("Health Specialist")
 * Eileen Frere (Orange County Bureau Chief)
 * Sid Garcia
 * Carlos Granda
 * Rob Hayes
 * Miriam Hernandez
 * Robert Holguin
 * Dave Kunz ("Automotive Specialist")
 * Rob McMillan
 * Leslie Miller
 * Nannette Miranda (Sacramento Bureau Chief)
 * John North (politics)
 * George Pennacchio ("Entertainment Guru")
 * Amy Powell
 * Subha Ravindhran
 * Ric Romero ("Consumer Specialist")
 * Leo Stallworth
 * Leanne Suter

AIR7HD
Pilot reporters:
 * }
 * Scott Reiff – AM traffic/breaking news
 * Bill Thomas – afternoon/evening/breaking news
 * J.T. Alpaugh – fill-in

Newscast titles

 * The Southern California/Los Angeles Report (1950–1962)
 * Channel 7 News (1962–1969)
 * Channel 7 Eyewitness News (1969–1997)
 * ABC-7 Eyewitness News (1997–February 2006)
 * ABC-7 Eyewitness News HD (February 2006–present)

Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.
 * The Southland's #1 News Team (mid 1970s-early 1980s)
 * Let us be the one on Channel 7 (1976-1977; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * We're still the one on Channel 7 (1977-1978; 1979-1980; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * We're the One You Can Turn To, Channel 7 (1978–1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * You and Me and Channel 7 (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Now it's the time, Channel 7 is the place (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Come on Along with Channel 7 (1982-1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * That special feeling on Channel 7 (1983-1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * We're with you on Channel 7 (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Number One in Southern California (early 1980s–1985)
 * You'll Love It on Channel 7 (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Together on Channel 7 (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Something's Happening on Channel 7 (1987-1990; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Los Angeles is Watching Channel 7 (1990-1992; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * If It's Los Angeles, It Must Be Channel 7 (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Watch by more Southern Californias, Channel 7, ABC (1993-1996; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Southern California's News Leader (2000–present; general slogan)
 * Number One in News, Number One in Southern California (2006–present; alternate news slogan)
 * Southern California's First High Definition News (2006–present; news slogan)

Movie umbrella titles

 * The Big Show (1960s)
 * Movie 7 (1969–1990)
 * The 6:00 Movie (1967–1971)
 * The 6:30 Movie (1971–1974)
 * The 3:30 Movie (1974–1980)
 * ABC7 Movie Special (1996, 2005–present)
 * ABC7 Prime Movie Special (2003–2004)
 * Channel 7 Midnight Movie (1993–1995)
 * Channel 7 Late Movie (1995–1998)
 * The Vampira Show (1954–1955)
 * The Saturday/Sunday Afternoon Movie (1969–1980s)
 * Hollywood Theatre (1980s–1998)
 * ABC7 Weekend Afternoon Movie (1998–2007)
 * The Saturday/Sunday Night Movie (1969–1996)
 * The Monday Night Movie (1970–1981)
 * The ABC7 Saturday/Sunday Night Movie (1996–2007)
 * Insomniac Theatre (1992–2004)
 * Classic Theatre (1988–1995)

Rebroadcasters
KABC is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:
 * K48IP 48 Daggett – Baker area.
 * K19BT 19 Lucerne Valley – Victor Valley area.
 * K67AO 12 Palmdale – Antelope Valley area.
 * K08IA 8 Newberry Springs – Barstow area.
 * K07NH 7 Ridgecrest – Eastern Kern County, California.
 * K41GO 41 Ridgecrest – Inyo County, California.

[edit] See also

 * Circle 7 logo
 * KABC (AM) (790 kHz.)
 * KLOS-FM (95.5 MHz.)