KSLA

KSLA, virtual channel 12, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Shreveport, Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex region. Owned by Raycom Media, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 17. The sole transmitter is located in Mooringsport, Louisiana. Alongside KYTX, it is carried on some cable providers in Lufkin and Nacogdoches and it is available on DirecTV in the Oklahoma portion of the Arklatex alongsideLittle Rock affiliate, KTHV, the Shreveport affiliates and other Little Rock affiliates.

History
KSLA is Shreveport's oldest station. It went on the air on October 1, 1954, airing programming from all four networks—CBS, ABC, NBC andDuMont. However, it has always been a primary CBS affiliate. It lost NBC a year later when KTBS entered the Shreveport market. The two stations shared limited ABC programming until 1960, when Texarkana's KTAL-TV took the NBC affiliation after Texarkana was collapsed into the Shreveport market. KTBS then became an exclusive ABC affiliate, leaving KSLA as a sole CBS affiliate. The station's studios were originally housed inside the Washington Youree Hotel in downtown Shreveport. William Carter Henderson, a son of KWKH Radio founderWilliam Kennon Henderson, Jr., was among the original owners of KSLA-TV.[1]

On March 5, 1955, Elvis Presley made his television debut on KSLA on Louisiana Hayride from the Municipal Auditorium. That same year, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._L._Dykes,_Jr. D. L. Dykes, Jr.], who launched a 30-year career as the pastor of the First Methodist Church at the Head of Texas Street in downtown Shreveport, began having his sermons televised on KSLA. Over the years, other churches followed Dykes's lead.

In 1966, Douglas F. Attaway, the publisher of the now defunct Shreveport Journal became the majority owner of the station. During the second half of the 1960s and the early 1970s, KSLA was hence called "The Journal Station." In the late 1970s, Attaway sold to Viacom, which later owned CBS. He had previously sold the Shreveport Journal to Shreveport businessman and philanthropist Charles T. Beaird. In the early 1970s, the station moved to its current Fairfield Avenue studios near Schumpert Medical Center.

KSLA was the first in the market to broadcast in color, to broadcast in stereo sound, and to employ the use of satellites. The station claims to have the highest rated newscast in the entire state of Louisiana. one of its early anchormen, Don Owen served as a member of theLouisiana Public Service Commission from 1985-2003. KSLA was once the home of the Shreveport Captains, the defunct Canadian Football League team, the Shreveport Pirates, and Southeastern Conference sports.

On October 8, 1977, the KSLA 1709' tower in Mooringsport, LA collapsed. No official cause was ever determined, but speculation centered upon a failure in the guy lines. Prior to 1978, Shreveport did not have a PBS member station. During some of this time, KSLA aired Sesame Street on weekday mornings. This arrangement ended when Louisiana Public Broadcasting began full time PBS programming on KLTS. For a brief time in 1995, channel 12 aired UPN programming late at night until KSHV (channel 45, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) picked up the network later in the year.

On September 1, 1995, Ellis Communications bought KSLA from Viacom. It was the first television station not having a primary affiliation with UPN to be sold off by Viacom since UPN's launch. Ellis was folded into Raycom Media in 1997.

Digital television
The station's digital signal is UHF 17, multiplexed:

Digital channels On June 12, 2009, KSLA left channel 12 and moved to channel 17 when the analog to digital conversion completed.[2]

Programming
Syndicated programming on KSLA includes The Doctors, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Seinfeld.

Among its most popular local programming were Al's Coral, a western-themed children's show hosted by Al Bolton, who was station meterologist for many years; Bob & His Buddies, a children's show hosted by longtime sports reporter Bob Griffin; and Hallelujah Train, a Sunday morning program many consider a religious version of Soul Train.

KSLA was among the first 50 television stations in the country to air a local/national lifestyle magazine program concept called PM Magazine from 1979 to 1984. This program franchise license was owned and guided by Group Westinghouse (Group W) and was a cutting-edge program hosted by Chuck Smith and Becky Strickland became one of the consistently highest rated versions in the country, beating popular syndicated programs M*A*S*H, The Newlywed Game and People's Court as it averaged high audience shares, sometimes higher than 30% throughout its 4+ years on KSLA. Despite its local success, PM Magazine was canceled in early 1984. The last rating period for 1984 revealed the program had a 25 rating/39 share (Arbitron 2/'84). Many television analysts agree that the PM Magazine concept was the forerunner to other magazine programs such as Real People, ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_Incredible! That's Incredible!], andEntertainment Tonight''; as well as several other reality-based television spin-off programs and cable network show themes.

Another programming gaffe made by the Viacom management was the temporary cancellation of CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt in favor of running infomercials in the same timeslot. Cancellation of this long-term CBS signature program resulted in considerable outrage from local viewers, resulting in a strong letter campaign to the Viacom, the CBS network and local newspapers. The station was even subjected to picketing by some upset viewers who took their disgust to the streets in an effort to get the show reinstated. CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt was reinstated to the original timeslot after a few short weeks.

News operation
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In September 2008, KSLA became the first station in Louisiana (and one of the first in the nation) to air a 9 a.m. newscast. KSLA has the distinction of being one of two stations (KTBSbeing the other), to air an hour-long 6 p.m. newscast in the Shreveport-Texarkana market. On October 15, 2010, KSLA became the second television station in the Shreveport-Texarkana market to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition, rival KTBS upgraded its newscasts to high definition a day earlier.

Newscast titles

 * Channel 12 News (1970s)
 * Channel 12 Eyewitness News (1970s–1980s)
 * Ark-la-tex News 12 (1980s–1990s)
 * (KSLA) News 12 (1990s–present)

Station slogans

 * The Journal Station (mid 1960s-early 1970s)
 * Part of Your Life (1970s)
 * A Breath of Fresh Air! (1979; slogan for local version of PM Magazine)
 * The Ark-La-Tex Station (1980s)
 * Project Pride/Building Pride in the Ark-La-Tex (late 1980s-1997)
 * Coverage You Can Count On (1997–present)
 * Coverage You Can Click On (online slogan)
 * We Track STORMS (weather slogan)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===Notable on-air staff===

Current on-air staff
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">(as of February 11, 2011) Anchors


 * Domonique Benn- weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Jeff Ferrell - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30, and weekends at 10 p.m.; also reporter
 * Summer Knowles - weekday mornings (5-7 and 9-10 a.m.) and noon; also reporter
 * Carolyn Roy - Sunday mornings; also weekday reporter
 * Pat Simon - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Doug Warner - weekday mornings (5-7 and 9-10 a.m.) and noon; also reporter

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">StormTracker 12 Weather Team


 * Stephen Parr (NWA Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Barak Shapiro (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sunday mornings and 5:30, and weekends at 10 p.m.; also fill-in
 * Ron Young - meteorologist; weekday mornings (5-7 and 9-10 a.m.) and noon

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sports


 * Colin McElroy - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Mike Dirmann - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30, and weekends at 10 p.m.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Reporters


 * Tracy Clemons- general assignment reporter
 * Fred Childers - general assignment reporter
 * Adria Goins- general assignment reporter
 * Nick Guillory - general assignment reporter
 * Denise Middleton - general assignment reporter
 * Brittany Pieper- general assignment reporter
 * Barak Shapiro - general assignment reporter
 * Erin Stevenson- general assignment reporter

Previous on-air staff

 * David Begnaud Reporter, now with KTLA in Los Angeles
 * Bob Thompson - News Announcer
 * Don Owen - Evening Anchor
 * Al Bolton - Meteorologist
 * Bob Griffin - Sports (now with KTBS)
 * Mike Staggs - Reporter/Assignments Editor
 * Wray Post - Reporter
 * Ron Casteel - Reporter/Anchor
 * Andy Barton - Reporter / Noon Anchor
 * Jim Serra - Reporter
 * Patsy Carter - Reporter/Weather
 * Christine Negroni - Reporter
 * Roseanne Colletti - Reporter (now with CBS News, New York)
 * Kelly Lane - Reporter/Anchor
 * Frank Simpson - Reporter/Anchor
 * Edward St. Pe' - Weather
 * Robert Hadlock - Anchor (now with KXAN-TV Austin)
 * Margaret Pelley - Anchor (former NBC News Correspondent now at KING-TV Seattle)
 * Tim Larson - Weather
 * Darrell Rebouche - Sports
 * Tony Taglavore - Sports
 * Taylor Henry - Reporter
 * Rhett Smith - Reporter
 * Gerard Braud - Reporter
 * Shari Warren - Reporter/Anchor
 * Sylvia Rachal - Reporter/Anchor
 * Carl Pendley - Reporter/Anchor
 * Chuck Smith - Producer/Co-Host PM MAGAZINE
 * Becky Strickland - Co-Host PM MAGAZINE
 * Christie Walton - Reporter
 * Charles Hadlock - Anchor (Now with NBC News in Dallas/Fort Worth)
 * Karin Adams - Reporter/Anchor
 * Ed Duranzyck - Meteorologist
 * Najahe Hall - anchor/Report (now with KSHB in Kansas City)