KHOU (TV)

KHOU is Greater Houston's CBS affiliate television station owned by the Belo Corporation and broadcasting on television channel 11. The studio is near Downtown Houston, along Allen Parkway in the Neartown neighborhood of Houston, Texas,[1] [2] and the transmitter is at an antenna farm located in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County, along with all other Houston broadcast stations.

History
KHOU signed on as KGUL-TV (as in gulf or as in "seagull" ), licensed to Galveston, on March 23, 1953 by Paul Taft of the Taft Broadcasting Co.[3] (not related to Taft Broadcasting Company of Cincinnati, Ohio). It was the second television station to launch in the Houston area after KPRC-TV. One of the original investors in the station was actor James Stewart, along with a small group of other Galveston investors.

In June 1959, it changed its calls to KHOU and moved the city of license to Houston. The FCC license listed both the Houston and Galveston service areas for a time. On April 24, 1960, the station moved to its present location just outside downtown Houston on Allen Parkway. To this date, KHOU is the only TV station in Houston to have its primary studios close to the downtown area.

In 1956, the original owners sold Channel 11 to the Whitney Corporation (later Corinthian Broadcasting) of Indianapolis, which became a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet in 1971. In 1984, D&B sold the Corinthian stations to Belo.

In 1998, it was the first station to sign on with a high-definition signal.

The KHOU studios were flooded during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, resulting in damage to much of the station, including its newsroom. The flooding was so bad, the station had to shut down and air a feed from the station's doppler radar for roughly one hour and 30 minutes.

During Hurricane Ike, which hit the Texas Gulf Coast the weekend of September 12–14, 2008, KHOU's coverage was distributed nationwide via DirecTV and XM Satellite Radio, as well as a live feed on the station's Web site.

Since the June 12, 2009 digital transition, KHOU-DT moved to channel 11, and then by the following week, the station dropped the -TV suffix like most Belo stations.

KHOU tower
KHOU tower is a 602 m (1,975 ft) high guyed mast in nearby Missouri City at 29°33′41″N 95°30′05″W﻿ / ﻿29.56139°N 95.50139°W﻿ / 29.56139; -95.50139. KHOU tower was built in 1992 and is used for TV broadcasting.

Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion
After the analog television shutdown occurred on June 12, 2009 [4], KHOU moved its digital signal to channel 11. [5]

Programming
KHOU has been one of the top-rated CBS affiliates in Texas for over 20 years, aided by a strong programming lineup featuring popular syndicated shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and The Insider.

Preemptions
KHOU has hosted Houston's annual Thanksgiving Day parade, the H-E-B Holiday Parade (formerly the Bank United/Washington Mutual Thanksgiving Day Parade) for well over a decade. As a result, KHOU pre-empts the CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade.

It airs The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson a half an hour later than the network schedule at 12:05 a.m. Episodes of Jeopardy! air in the Late Late Show's normal network timeslot instead at 11:37 p.m. In addition, KHOU exercises CBS's seldom-used option to air The Young and the Restless at 11:00 a.m., a half-hour before most CBS affiliates air the show.

Newscasts
KHOU Studios and Offices in Neartown HoustonKHOU has been widely regarded as a stepping stone for television news anchors reporters, as many of its reporters have gone on to assignments with national networks. The station's best known former staff are former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, NBC News Correspondent Dennis Murphy and newswomen Linda Ellerbee and Jessica Savitch. In sports, there was Jim Nantz, a sports anchor/reporter, now with CBS Sports and Ron Franklin, a sports anchor now with ESPN.

Beginning in the late 1980s, KHOU hired several high-profile people to its news team. The most notable was Neil Frank, the former director of the National Hurricane Center, who was tapped by the station to be the chief meteorologist starting in July 1987. In another key move, the station also hired former KTRK anchor Sylvan Rodriguez away from his job at the West Coast bureau of ABC News to anchor the station's early evening newscasts. KHOU also began to use the "Spirit of Texas" slogan and TM Productions' "Spirit" music package (also used at sister station WFAA in Dallas), and incorporated a redesigned logo.

In January 1989, KHOU revamped the look of its newscasts, with an image campaign that included full-page ads in the Houston Chronicle and Houston Post, as well as an on-air promotional campaign that focused more on ordinary citizens throughout Greater Houston than on its news team. With the lead news team of anchors Steve Smith and Marlene McClinton, chief meteorologist Dr. Neil Frank and sports director Giff Nielsen, along with a new set, graphics and theme music, KHOU began to mount a serious challenge to the other Houston newscasts, leading to a competitive ratings race during the 1990s.

If any year proved to be a breakout year for KHOU, it was 1999. During the May sweeps of that year, KHOU reached number one in several timeslots, unseating KTRK at midday, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The station's ratings boost also included an exclusive interview with Serbian and Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic during the Kosovo War just a month before Milosevic's indictment. This news came despite the retirement of longtime anchor Steve Smith, anchor Sylvan Rodriguez's eventually fatal bout with pancreatic cancer and the abrupt resignation of fellow anchor Marlene McClinton during one of the station's newscasts.

On February 4, 2007, following CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XLI, KHOU aired its first newscasts in high definition (HD), branding themselves as 11 News HD, and heavily promotiong the technology.

On September 7, 2009, KHOU-TV launched Houston's third morning newscast to begin at 4:30 a.m., called 11 News First Look. The newscast is anchored by former KIAH (channel 39) anchor Sherry Williams, with meteorologist David Paul. Despite being the last station in the Houston market to launch its early-morning newscast, KHOU was the first station in the market to send a news release announcing its intentions to do so. In a race to capture the lucrative insomniac/very early commuter market, all three major network affiliates in Houston launched 4:30 a.m. newscasts within three weeks of each other in the late summer of 2009.

[edit] 11 News Defenders
KHOU also has gained a reputation for its investigative news team, the 11 News Defenders, which has uncovered numerous stories, the most notable being its 2000 investigation into defective tire designs by Firestone. That investigation led to the mandatory recall of Wilderness AT, Firestone ATX and ATX II tires, as well as numerous lawsuits. The defective tires resulted in a number of deaths, including that of Stephen Gauvain, a reporter for rival ABC affiliate KTRK.

Another investigative report in the early 2000s by former reporter Anna Werner led to the shutdown of the Houston Police Department's crime lab. The 11 News Defenders unit has also exposed allegations of dropout rate fraud in the Houston Independent School District, which resulted in the dismissal of several HISD officials. The unit was briefly rebranded to the name "11 News Investigates" on July 24, 2006, when KHOU unveiled a new look on its newscasts. However, the name was switched back to "Defenders" in 2008 to distinguish the unit after several local stations in the market also began using the "Investigates" label.

[edit] Newscast titles

 * The News with Ron Stone (1953-1968)
 * Newswatch 11 (1968-1974)
 * Newswatch 11 Houston (1974-1975)
 * News 11 (1975–1979)
 * NewsCenter 11 (1979–1984)
 * 11 News (1984–1987 and 1991–present)
 * Channel 11 News (1987–1989)
 * KHOU 11 News (1989–1991)
 * 11 News (1991-present)
 * 11 News HD (2007–present)

[edit] Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===Notable on-air staff=== (Year person joined KHOU in parentheses)
 * Houston's Way of Looking at the World (1980–1983)
 * You and Channel 11, We've Got the Touch (1983–1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Spirit of Texas (1986–present; used as primary slogan since 1999)
 * The Look Of Houston is Channel 11 (1991-1992; local version of CBS ad campaign)
 * It's Time To Choose. 11 News. (1999–2002; news slogan)
 * We Go There (2002–2005; news slogan)
 * Make Sense of Your World (2006–2008)
 * Standing By You (Used since just after Hurricane Ike, 2008-present)

[edit] Current on-air staff
Anchors (In alphabetical order) 11 Weather (In order of rank) Sports team (In order of rank) Reporters (In alphabetical order) 11 News Investigates
 * Vicente Arenas – weekday mornings "11News This Morning" (5-7 a.m.) (2004)
 * Len Cannon – weeknights at 6 p.m. (2006)
 * Shern-Min Chow – Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m. (1996)
 * Greg Hurst – weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. (1999)
 * Lucy Noland – weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m. (2007)
 * Christine Haas – weekday mornings "11News This Morning" (5-7 a.m.) (2008)
 * Allison Triarsi – Saturday mornings; also weekday reporter (2008)
 * Ron Trevino – weekdays at noon; also reporter
 * Sherry Williams – weekday mornings "11News First Look" (4:30-5 a.m.); also reporter
 * Gene Norman (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) – Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. (2008)
 * Mario Gomez (AMS Seal of Approval) – Meteorologist; Saturday mornings and 6 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
 * David Paul (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) – Meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon (1996)
 * Matt Lavine (AMS Seal of Approval) – Meteorologist; fill-in
 * Butch Alsandor – Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m. (1993)
 * Matt Musil – Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m. (1980)
 * Daniel Gotera - on-air and khou.com sports reporter (2009)
 * Lisa Chavarria - general assignment reporter (2010)
 * Tiffany Craig - general assignment reporter (2010)
 * Jeremy Desel – general assignment reporter (1999)
 * Dave Fehling – general assignment reporter (also weekend fill-in anchor) (1989)
 * Leigh Frillici – general assignment reporter (2007)
 * Gabe Gutierrez - general assignment reporter (2010)
 * Angela Kocherga – Mexico City bureau reporter
 * Jeff McShan – general assignment reporter
 * Rucks Russell – general assignment reporter
 * Kevin Reece – general assignment reporter (2007)
 * Alex Sanz – Houston City Hall and Harris County government reporter (2007)
 * Prof. Gerald Treece – legal analyst
 * Brad Woodard – general assignment reporter (2006)
 * Courtney Zubowski – general assignment reporter (2008)
 * Mark Greenblatt – investigative reporter
 * Jeremy Rogalski – investigative reporter (2001)

[edit] Notable former on-air staff

 * Reggie Aqui – reporter (2005–2006; currently anchor for cnn.com Live)
 * Amanda Arnold – 6 and 10 PM anchor (1980–1984)
 * Bill Balleza – anchor noon and 5 PM (1973–1980; currently evening anchor KPRC-TV)
 * Susan Banks – anchor noon and 6 PM (1988–1990; later WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York)
 * Karla Barguiarena – reporter (2000s)
 * Chris Barnes – Air 11 traffic reporter (2007–2008)
 * Michael Barnes – reporter (late 1990s; now public relations Reliant Energy)
 * "Utah" Carl Beach – host and performer of local music show (1953–1967)
 * Al Bell – noon and 6 PM anchor (1960s)
 * Tonia Bendickson – morning anchor (1997–2000; now anchor WBTV-TV, Charlotte, NC)
 * Bob Brown – anchor (1973–1975, now at ABC News)
 * Doug Brown – talk show host/weather anchor (mid 1970s; later KTRK-TV)
 * Phillip Bruce – reporter (later news director KCET Los Angeles)
 * Bebe Burns – anchor morning and noon (mid-late 1970s; later KTVI-TV St. Louis and KPRC-TV)
 * Keith Calkins – sports anchor/reporter (1989–1992; now KRIV-TV)
 * Carolyn Campbell – reporter (1970s–2008)
 * Nancy Carney – reporter/producer (1970s)
 * Clare Casademont – noon and 6 PM anchor, later morning co-anchor (1989–1999)
 * Ginger Casey – anchor (1986–1987)
 * Penny Crone – reporter (1982–1988)
 * Dann Cuellar – reporter (1980–1983; now WPVI-TV Philadelphia)
 * Deborah Cutter – news anchor
 * Joanne King Herring Davis – noon show host (1960s) (See Charlie Wilson's War)
 * Darby Douglas – traffic anchor (1997–2009)
 * Mitch Duncan – anchor
 * Mike Dunston – weekend anchor/reporter (2000), morning anchor (2000–2002)
 * Ed Edwards – sports anchor
 * Steve Edwards – anchor/talk show host (1972–1975; now KTTV Los Angeles)
 * Wendell Edwards – reporter (2000s; currently weekend anchor/reporter KOCO-TV Oklahoma City)
 * Linda Ellerbee – reporter (mid 1970s; later NBC News now Nick News)
 * Terry Elliott – reporter
 * Melvin Epps – weather
 * Eileen Faxas – consumer reporter
 * Rosa Flores – general assignment reporter (2007-2010; now at WDSU in New Orleans)
 * Lisa Foronda – noon and 6 PM anchor, later 5 and 10 PM anchor (1997–2006)
 * Dr. Neil Frank – chief meteorologist (1987–2008; now retired)
 * Ron Franklin – sports anchor (1971–1980; currently at ESPN, college football, men's basketball play-by-play)
 * Dan Garcia – reporter
 * Nick Gearhart – anchor and reporter (1960s)-later "Gearhart At Large" on channel 26 in Houston
 * John Getter – NASA reporter (1981–1997)
 * Sandra Gin-Tynan – anchor/reporter weekend (1994–2002; now with the ReMain Company)
 * Bob Gist – news anchor
 * Annette Gonzales – reporter (1993–1998)
 * David Grant – chief meteorologist (1980s)
 * Jerome Gray – anchor (1991–2006; currently anchor KPRC-TV)
 * Roger Gray – host of AM Houston (1980s)
 * Charles Hadlock – weekend anchor/reporter (1985–1999; later KTBS-TV Shreveport, LA, now NBC News)
 * Jake Hamilton – "Great Day Houston" entertainment reporter
 * Paul Harasim – "Paul's People" feature reporter (1980–1995)
 * Nancy Holland – NASA reporter (1980s–2007)
 * Bill Jeffreys – City Hall reporter (1983–1997)
 * Felicia Jeter – anchor (1984–1988)
 * Dick John – anchor (late 1960s-early 1970s)
 * Leticia Juarez – reporter (2007–2009; now KIAH-TV)
 * Nesita Kwan – weekend anchor (1992–1994; now WMAQ-TV in Chicago)
 * Sid Lasher – weather (1960s; deceased)
 * Dan Lauck – reporter (1994–2007; left station due to Parkinson's Disease)[6]
 * Susan Lennon reporter (1991–1993; now KSWB-TV San Diego)
 * Lee McGuire reporter (August 2006-January 2010)
 * Steve Mark – sports anchor/reporter (1984–1988; currently PR Director Houston Dynamo soccer team)
 * Jim Marsh – reporter (1984–1989)
 * Deborah Martine – reporter
 * Angie Martinez – morning anchor
 * Marlene McClinton – 5 and 10 PM anchor (1988–1999; now Public Information Officer, Houston Airport System)
 * Judd McIlvain – consumer and investigative reporter (1968–1986; later a talk radio host in Los Angeles)
 * Dan Meador – weekend meteorologist (2009; deceased)
 * Doug Miller – political reporter (now executive story editor)
 * Dana Millikan – reporter (mid 1970s)
 * Chip Moody – 6 and 10 PM anchor (1984–1987; died December 26, 2001)
 * Michael Morgan – 6 and 10 PM anchor (mid 1970s)
 * Mr. Caboose – early morning children's program
 * Carolyn Mungo – reporter (2000s)
 * Dennis Murphy – reporter/assignment editor (1975–1978; now NBC News)
 * Jim Nantz – sports anchor/reporter (1981–1983; now CBS Sports)
 * Alma Newsome – reporter (mid-late 1970s; later press secretary for U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland)
 * Bob Nicholas – anchor/reporter (1971–1979; later KPRC-TV)
 * Giff Nielsen – sports director (1984–2009)
 * Knox Nunnally – sports anchor/reporter
 * Pam Oliver – weekend sports anchor/sports reporter (early 1990s); now Fox Sports
 * Dan Patrick – sports anchor (1980s; later conservative talk show host KSEV-AM; now Republican State Senator from Houston)
 * Kevin Peters – morning reporter
 * Dan Rather – anchor/reporter (early 1960s; former anchor CBS Evening News)
 * Fred Rhodes – reporter (late 1970s; later KTVI-TV, St. Louis and Editor Houston City Magazine, now an attorney in Houston)
 * Sandy Rivera – AM Houston anchor/reporter
 * Sylvan Rodriguez – Noon and 6 PM anchor (1987–1999; died April 6, 2000 of pancreatic cancer)
 * Bert Rozell – 6 and 10 PM anchor (mid 1970s; later anchor WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, Florida)
 * Rick Sanchez – reporter (1986–1988; now CNN)
 * Sam Saucedo – reporter (1986–1999)
 * Jessica Savitch – anchor/reporter (1971–1972; later KYW-TV and NBC News, deceased)
 * Janet Shamlian – anchor/reporter (1987–1995; now NBC News)
 * Tom Siler – weather anchor
 * George Smith – weekend anchor/reporter (now with ESPN)
 * Steve Smith – 5 and 10 PM anchor (1976–1999, retired)
 * Mike Snyder – anchor/reporter (1975–1980; now KXAS-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth)
 * Alexis South – weather (1970s)
 * Susan Starnes – health reporter
 * Marty Stebbins – reporter/weather anchor (1977–1987)
 * Ron Stone – 6 and 10 PM anchor (1961–1972; later KPRC-TV, deceased)
 * Johnny Temple – sports anchor (mid 1960s; deceased)
 * Kathie Turner – reporter/weathercaster (1995–1998)
 * Norm Uhl – reporter (1985–1998)
 * Johnathan Walton – "Walton's World" feature/morning reporter
 * Craig Weber – weather anchor (1984–1987)
 * Anna Werner – investigative reporter (1999–2004; currently KPIX-TV in San Francisco)
 * Jason Whitely – reporter (now WFAA-TV in Dallas)
 * Janice Williamson – reporter

Station branding
KHOU-TV's branding is Channel 11 and its secondary branding is "The Spirit of Texas." The "11 News" branding is used during news broadcasts, and the "11 Spirit of Texas" branding is used for community activities and station events.