KMTV-TV

KMTV-TV virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 45), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The station is owned by the The E.W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Mockingbird Drive in southwest Omaha, and its transmitter tower is located on a "tower farm" near North 72nd Street and Crown Point Avenue in north-central Omaha.

History
KMTV began broadcasting on September 1, 1949, as the second oldest television station in Nebraska. It operated as a CBS affiliate, but carried secondary affiliations with ABC and the DuMont Television Network.[1] The station's call letters were originally intended to be KMA-TV, reflecting its first owner, Shenandoah, Iowa-based May Broadcasting, which owned KMA (960 AM) in that community. As Shenandoah was not considered to be part of the Omaha market at the time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied May's petition to utilize the KMA calls for the television station, so the alternate KMTV calls were requested instead. The station originally operated from studios located on 27th and Farnam Streets in downtown Omaha, just south of the studios of KETV (channel 7) (at 2665 Douglas), and seven blocks east of WOW-TV (channel 6, now WOWT) (at 3501 Farnam).

KMTV briefly dropped ABC programming when KOLN-TV signed on from Lincoln in 1953, the network returned to KMTV when the FCC separated Lincoln its own market a year later. In 1956, KMTV switched affiliations with WOW-TV and became an NBC affiliate. It also lost DuMont programming that same year when that network ceased operations. In September 1957, KMTV dropped its secondary ABC affiliation when KETV signed on as an exclusive affiliate of the network.

In 1978, KMTV relocated to its current studio facilities near 108th and Mockingbird Drive; the station's auxiliary transmitter remains at the station's former studio location. In 1986, KMTV and WOWT entered into an agreement which allowed them to return to their original affiliations; as a result, KMTV rejoined CBS after 30 years with NBC on June 29, 1986. A few months after returning to CBS, May sold both of its television stations – KMTV and KGUN-TV in Tucson – to Lee Enterprises after over 37 years of ownership. Lee sold all of its stations to Emmis Communications in October 2000. In 2005, Emmis announced its exit from television station ownership to concentrate on its radio station properties, selling most non-license assets of KMTV as well as outright ownership of KGUN to the Journal Broadcast Group. The sale closed in late December of that year. At that point, Journal took over control of KMTV through a time brokerage agreement.

In late January 2007, Journal announced the sale of radio station KOMJ (1490 AM) to Cochise Broadcasting, LLC[2], in order to purchase KMTV outright. The sale of KOMJ was necessary because Journal already owned the maximum number of broadcasting properties in the Omaha media market as designated by the FCC. The transactions were completed on March 27, 2007.[3] Also in early 2007, KMTV's website was redesigned; like the websites of several other Journal-owned stations, it was maintained by the Local Media Network division of WorldNow until June 2011, when KMTV redesigned their website once again to the current layout. The current layout was designed to be much easier to navigate and provide quicker access to weather and news information.

In late January 2007, Journal announced the sale of radio station KOMJ-AM 1490 to Cochise Broadcasting LLC [2] in order to complete the outright purchase of KMTV. The sale of KOMJ was necessary because Journal already owned the maximum FCC-mandated number of broadcasting properties in the Omaha media market. The transactions were completed on March 27, 2007. [3] Also in early 2007, KMTV's website was redesigned; like the websites of several other Journal-owned stations, it is now operated by the Local Media Network division of WorldNow.

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Analog-to-digital conversion
KMTV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 45,[3][4] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3. Although KMTV never had a "-TV" suffix affixed to its call sign from the beginning, it (along with other Journal-owned television stations which previously did not have a -TV suffix in their calls) officially added one to the callsign on June 19.

Programming
Syndicated programs broadcast on KMTV include Dr. Phil, ''OK! TV, Dr. Phil, CSI: Miami and Entertainment Tonight''. KMTV formerly served as the Omaha "Love Network" affiliate of the MDA Labor Day Telethon, until the organization's 2013 move from a syndicated broadcast to a network telecast on ABC.

Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune both formerly ran on KMTV, which respectively carried the game shows at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekdays until Jeopardy! moved to WOWT and Wheel moved to KETV, both in September 1994 (Jeopardy! initially ran on KETV from 1984 to 1986, when it moved to KMTV; it began airing Wheel in January 1984). ''Live! with Kelly and Michael'' also aired on KMTV (as far back as the Regis & Kathie Lee era) until 2012, when the show moved to KPTM.

KMTV broadcasts a talk show called The Morning Blend, which airs weekday morning at 9:00 a.m. and is based on the program of the same name that originated on Milwaukee sister station and Journal television flagship WTMJ-TV (which syndicated the format to other Journal-owned stations in certain markets); the program maintains a multi-topic format that features paid segments from local businesses. The station ran a long-running children's religious show that debuted in 1961 called Ms. Jean's Storytime, which ended in September 2011 after a 50-year run.

In August 2012, the station began carrying Green Bay Packers preseason football games, as part of a deal made between the team and Journal, which owns two stations in Milwaukee and Green Bay (WTMJ and WGBA-TV).[5]

News operation
KMTV presently broadcasts 22 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with four hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays); in addition, the station's sports department also produces Sports Sound-Off, a weekly live sports call-in program that airs after the 10 p.m. newscast.

Over the years, KMTV underwent many identity changes to keep up with broadcasting trends, as well to keep up in the local ratings race. The station's newscasts were once known as KMTV News; NewsCenter 3; Channel 3 News; KMTV News 3 and most recently KM3 News; today the station's newscasts are known as Action 3 News. Tom Brokaw was a reporter at the station from 1962 to 1965.[3]

In 2002, KMTV dropped its 6 p.m. newscast and replaced it with syndicated tabloid shows. That same year, sports were dropped from its 10 p.m. newscasts, to be replaced with a nightly commentary segment hosted by then sports director Travis Justice. In late 2005, KMTV retired "For What It's Worth," returning to the traditional sports segment.

KMTV relaunched a 6 p.m. edition of Action 3 News on September 5, 2006, the same day as Katie Couric's debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News. The station has also taken on the glossy imaging and graphics packages seen on most other Journal stations, though with differing fonts and colors. On December 22, 2006, the station announced it would not be renewing the contracts of evening news anchors Deborah Ward and Greg Peterson. New anchors Carol Wang and Carlo Cecchetto debuted on January 22, 2007.

On July 11, 2009, KMTV became the first commercial television station in Omaha, and the second commercial station in the state of Nebraska (after KOLN and PBS member station NET, both in Lincoln) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition. On July 15, 2013, KMTV announced that it would launch a weekday half-hour 4:00 p.m. newscast; the program made its debut September 23, 2013.[7] In October 2013, KMTV became the third commercial station in Omaha (after WOWT and KPTM) to broadcast its newscasts in high definition.

Newscast titles

 * All The News (1950s)
 * KMTV News (1959–?)
 * News 3 (1970s–1979)
 * NewsCenter 3 (1979–1990s)
 * Channel 3 News (1990s–1999)
 * KMTV News 3 (1999–2002)
 * KM-3 News (2002–2006)
 * Action 3 News (2006–2017)
 * 3 News Now (2017-present)

Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===On-air staff===
 * Channel 3, Proud as a Peacock! (1979-1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Channel 3, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * We're KM-3, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * KM-3 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Channel 3, Let's All Be There! (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Come Home to KM-3 (1986; final localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Get Ready for KM3 (1989–1991; local version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Midland's NewsChannel (1990s–2000s)
 * In Your Corner (2000–2002)
 * Clearly to the Point (2002–2004)
 * Clear. Accurate. To the Point. (2004–2006; variant of previous slogan)
 * Your Action 3 News Station (2006–present)
 * Breaking News. First Warning Weather. (2006–present; variant of slogan used by sister station WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee)

Current on-air staff
Anchors First Warning Weather  Sports team Reporters
 * Deanne Brink - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and weekdays at noon
 * Jennifer Griswold - weekdays at 4:00 and weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Meghan Matthews - Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
 * Craig Nigrelli - weekdays at 4:00 and weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Justin Pazera - Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
 * Jim Flowers (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 4:00 and weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Ryan McPike - meteorologist; Monday-Wednesday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and at noon
 * Matt Monroe - meteorologist; Thursday and Friday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and at noon
 * John Walsh - weather anchor; Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.
 * Chase Williams - sports anchor; weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Garrett Gordon - sports anchor; Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m., also weekday sports reporter
 * Kim Foley - general assignment reporter
 * Dara Newson - weekday morning (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and noon reporter; also fill-in anchor
 * Rebekah Rae - general assignment reporter
 * Emily Szink - general assignment reporter
 * Lindsey Theis - general assignment reporter
 * Jake Wasikowski - senior reporter

[edit] Former on-air staff

 * Joni Ballion - host of Conversations with Joni (1970s)
 * Michelle Bandur - reporter
 * Matt Beha - floor manager (1960s)
 * Tom Bevacqua - chief meteorologist (1980s-early 1990s)
 * Dave Blackwell - sports director (1964–1973)
 * Ronnie Bounds - movie host (mid-1960s)
 * Tom Brokaw - reporter (1960s; now contributor at NBC News)
 * Loretta Carroll - anchor (1985–2001)
 * Carlo Cecchetto - anchor (2006–2008; now anchor at KFMB-TV in San Diego, CA)
 * Bev Chapman - anchor (1979–1983; now at KMBC in Kansas City)
 * Jack Fancher - director (1960s)
 * Dick Fletcher - Meteorologist (late 1970s; moved to WTSP in St. Petersburg in 1980; died February 26, 2008)
 * Dale Hansen - sports reporter (1970s; now sports director for WFAA-TV in Dallas)
 * Mary Hart - anchor (mid 1970s; now co-anchor of syndicated entertainment news show Entertainment Tonight)
 * Tom Henry - news anchor (1960s)
 * John Hlavacek - reporter/foreign correspondent (1960s)
 * John Jones (aka Dr. San Guinary) - producer/director and star of KMTV's late night "Creature Feature" (1971–1983)
 * Travis Justice - sports director and host of "Sports Soundoff" (2002–2010)
 * Floyd Kalber - anchor (1950s)
 * Jon Kelley - reporter (1990–1991; later weekend co-host of syndicated entertainment news show Extra and host of The Mole on ABC)
 * Jim Kelter - sports director (1973–1979)
 * Cal Kirshen (real name: Keevey Kirshenbaum) - news anchor/announcer (1960s-1970s)
 * Chriss Knight - reporter/fill-in anchor (2007–2009; now reporter at WGNO in New Orleans, LA)
 * John Mason - anchor (1986–1994)
 * Mike Moran - sports reporter/photographer (1963–1966)
 * Bob Murray - anchor/reporter (late 1970s-1985)
 * Chuck Roberts - anchor (1975–1981; now at HLN)
 * Greg Peterson - anchor (2001–2006; now anchor at WPMI in Mobile, Al)
 * Jean Schnase - host of Miss Jean's Storytime (began in 1956 and still going in 2009)
 * Carol Scott - weathercaster (1970s)
 * Michael Scott - anchor (1995–1999; previously with KETV)
 * Dick Snodgrass - commercial film editor (1960s)
 * Kerri Stowell - weekend anchor/reporter (2006-2010) now morning traffic and afternoon reporter for KMBC-TV in Kansas City
 * Jace Anderson - commercial film editor; floor manager; now Visual Information Specialist FEMA (1968-69)
 * Bill Talbot - weathercaster (1960s-early 1970s)
 * Deborah Ward - anchor/reporter (1980–2006)
 * Dave Webber - sports anchor (1970s; later sports director at WOWT from 1978–2009)
 * Terry Yeager - sports director (early-mid 1980s)