KPLC

KPLC is an NBC affiliate television station licensed to Lake Charles, Louisiana broadcasting on digital channel 7. It is owned by Raycom Media, and has transmitter facilities located in Fenton, Louisiana.

The station also serves as the default NBC affiliate for the Lafayette, Louisiana market, since that market does not have an NBC affiliate of its own. It operates a "virtual station" for Acadiana and sells advertising in the area.

History
KPLC-TV began broadcasting in the summer of 1954. Owner T.B. Lanford of Shreveport had previously signed on KPLC-AM radio and was eager to expand into television.

The station was later purchased by a St. Louis group headed by investor Elliot Stien. He visited KPLC frequently along with his friend, St. Louis Cardinals baseball legend Stan Musial.

In 1970, G. Russell Chambers purchased KPLC-TV from the St. Louis group and dramatically increased the station's coverage by adding a 1,500-foot (460 m) tower, providing a quality signal for the NBC affiliate as far north as Leesville, as far east as Lafayette and to the Gulf of Mexico. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations required that the radio stations be sold. Perry Sanders purchased the AM/FM combo and changed its call letters to KLCL.

In 1986, Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Liberty Life Insurance Company, took over. KPLC was one of the first television stations in the U.S. to launch its own website in the 1990s.

In 2004, KPLC began broadcasting in digital as well as analog with the launch of KPLC (DT). Later in the year the station launched its first local 24-hour weather channel, "KPLC WeatherPlus." Simultaneously, the station launched a service specifically for cellphones and PDA's, "7 On Your Cell."

In January 2006, Liberty and KPLC were purchased by Raycom Media, which also owns two other Louisiana television stations, KSLA-TV in Shreveport and WAFB in Baton Rouge.

Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels

HD programming
KPLC currently airs all of NBC network programming in high definition and none of its syndicated programming such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Entertainment Tonight in HD.

KPLC does not offer any of its local news in high definition.

As of December 13, 2010, KPLC-TV in the process of completely rebuilding their master control facility including migration to HD for both syndicated and locally produced material.

[edit] Current on-air staff
Anchors Reporters 7 Storm Team Sports team
 * Cynthia Arceneaux - main anchor at 5, 6 and "Nightcast" (10 p.m.)
 * John Bridges - weekday morning anchor, "7 News Sunrise"
 * Agnes DeRouen - noon anchor and managing editor
 * Lee Peck - weekend anchor, Crackdown on Crime reporter
 * Elizabeth Temple - weekday morning anchor, "7 News Sunrise", Healthcast reporter
 * Charlie Haldeman - news director, fill-in anchor
 * Crystal Price - general assignment and education reporter
 * Brandon Richards - general assignment reporter
 * Theresa Schmidt - general assignment and environment reporter
 * Victoria Waterman - general assignment reporter
 * Wade Hampton - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and "Nightcast" (10 p.m.)
 * Kristian Claus - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6 p.m. and weekends at 10 p.m. "Nightcast"
 * Ben Terry - Meteorologist; weekday mornings
 * Joe Downs - sports anchor
 * Sam Gannon - sports reporter/anchor

Former on-air staff

 * Rob Marciano Chief Meteorologist from 1994-1997. Currently a meteorologist at CNN.
 * Kellie Hutchinson - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "7 News Sunrise" and noon - Left for family reasons.
 * (Libby White) Former Sunrise reporter and fill-in anchor. She left KPLC in 2006 to work in the Illinois governor's office.
 * (Kiran Khalid) Former reporter and anchor. She is now a producer at CNN.
 * Bonnie Schneider Former meteorologist. Now a meteorologist at CNN.
 * (Butch Alsandor) Former reporter and sports director. He is currently the evening sports anchor at KHOU in Houston, Texas.
 * (Shelley Brown) Former Sunrise anchor and HealthCast reporter. Left August 2005 for WTOL in Toledo, Ohio. Currently a reporter and weekend anchor at WVUE Fox 8 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 * (George Faust) Former sports director. Currently sports director at KLFY-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana.
 * (James Smith) Former news director and evening anchor. Now General Manager at KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana.
 * (Brian Burns) Former evening anchor. Now news anchor for Good Morning Southeast Texas at KBMT Channel 12 in Beaumont, Texas.
 * (Randy Garsee) Former evening anchor. Currently a freelance reporter for the United States Navy.
 * (Paul Murphy) Former reporter and weekend anchor now at WWL-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 * (Adam Hooper) Former reporter. Left in March 2011 to work at KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana.
 * (David Paul) Former anchor. He is currently a meteorologist at KHOU in Houston, Texas.
 * (Garrett Lumpkin) Former sports director left in January 2008. Now hosts 337 Sports on KVHP in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 * (Marty Briggs) Former sports director then news anchor. Left in December 2008. Now a realtor for Century 21 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 * (Rhonda Kitchens) Former reporter and weekend anchor. Now news director for a KYKZ-FM in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 * (Jackie Simien) Former reporter. Currently evening anchor at KBMT in Beaumont, Texas.
 * (Rick Sarro) Former sports director. He is a sports columnist and cable-access host in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 * (Allen Tumey) Former features reporter. Now at WAFB in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 * (Steve Caparotta) Former weekend meteorologist. Now at WAFB in Baton Rouge.
 * (Tiffany Blackmon) Former news reporter and sports reporter/weekend sports anchor. Left in August 2010. Currently a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor at KXXV in Waco, Texas.
 * (Laila Marcos) Former Sunrise anchor, weekend anchor, and HealthCast reporter. Left December 2008. Now a reporter for WGNO in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 * (Cory Kessler) Locally maligned former sports director. He is currently a freelance sports reporter and blogger based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
 * (Britney Glaser) Former Sunrise reporter and anchor and HealthCast reporter. Left April 2010. Currently a reporter and weekend anchor at a KCEN in Waco, Texas.
 * (Mika Highsmith) Former reporter and fill-in anchor. Left in March 2006 for WTOL, Toledo, Ohio. Currently a weekday reporter and weekend anchor for ABC 27 WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida.
 * (Kim Hunter) Former reporter and evening anchor. Left in 1994 to become press secretary for Louisiana governor-elect Edwin Edwards in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 * (Charlie Bartlett) Former news and sports reporter. He left in March 2010 to become weekend sports anchor at KAUZ in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 * (Tom Annino) Former sports director. He left in August 2010 to become weekend sports anchor at WPSD in Paducah, Kentucky.
 * (Jeff Jumper) Former meteorologist/"Does it Work Reporter" left in November 2010. He is now at WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama.
 * (Jason Belk) Former sports anchor. Now at WMBF-TV as the sports director.
 * (Amanda Ward) Former reporter. Left to become a reporter at KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana.
 * (Brandon Troullier) Former sports reporter.
 * (Curtis Atkinson) Former chief meteorologist. Left television news and returned to Alabama to work in the family business.
 * (Janelle MacDonald) Former weekend anchor. Currently weekday anchor at WAVE-TV in Louisville, Kentucky.
 * (Ted Wrenn) Former evening anchor. Now general manager of Relevant Radio Network in Austin, Texas.
 * (Mike Rush) Former weekend anchor. Now weekend anchor at WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama.
 * (Natalie Grise) Former weekend sports anchor. Left in 2008 for WTOL in Toledo, Ohio. Left WTOL in 2010 due to a family illness.
 * (Sal DelCid) Former weekend sports anchor. Currently a real estate agent in Portland, Oregon.
 * (Russell Kinsaul) Former evening anchor in the early 1990s. He is now a weekday reporter and anchor at KMOV in St. Louis, Missouri.
 * (Dan Bubany) Former sports director. Currently morning anchor at WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina.
 * (Jordan Sandler) Former weekend sports anchor. Broadcast a rape victim's address while at WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina. Current whereabouts unknown, but he's probably congratulating himself on how awesome he is.
 * (Miranda Khan) Fromer weekday morning anchor. Works in television in West Palm Beach, Florida.
 * (Amy Giuliano) Former weekday morning anchor.
 * (Jeff Gerbert) Former meteorologist. Last known to have worked at WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama.
 * (Vince Atkinson) Former nightcast reporter.
 * (Scott Flannigan) Former news director. Now at WCBD-TV in Charleston, South Carolina. "Inspect what you expect." --- Scott Flannigan.
 * (Pam Dixon) Former Assignment Education reporter and anchor. She is now a journalism teacher at Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Service interruptions
KPLC's makeshift studio during Hurricane Rita coverageIn March 2004 while workers were installing a new transmission tower in high winds, the old transmission tower fell, causing a service disruption lasting about two weeks to over-the-air viewers in Southwest Louisiana. Service to cable customers was not interrupted due to the station's signal being delivered by fiber lines. A lower-power temporary tower was erected on top the station's broadcast studios a couple of days after the tower fell, allowing viewers within a few miles of the station to again receive the signal over-the-air.

During Hurricane Rita, which struck in September 2005, the station delivered around-the-clock news from a temporary, makeshift studio in a safer location than its normal studios in downtown Lake Charles.