KAKE

KAKE VHF channel 10 is an American Broadcasting Company (ABC)-affiliate television station based in Wichita, Kansas. It's owned by Gray Television. Its transmitter is located near Colwich, Kansas. Its distinctive call sign is pronounced cake.

History
The station signed on the air on 19 October 1954. During its first year on the air, it was Wichita'sNBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. It became a sole ABC affiliate in 1955 after KARD-TV (now KSNW) signed on.

In 1979, the station was sold to the Chronicle Publishing Company of San Francisco, California, run by the de Young family, who also owned KRON-TV in San Francisco and WOWT-TV inOmaha, Nebraska - KRON, a KRON translator, WOWT, and KAKE and its translators all have Facility IDs in the same range (assigned by the FCC circa 1980). Chronicle then bought KLBY in 1987. KLBY had been a separate, independent station with its own programming inventory, but with Chronicle's purchase it was made a satellite of KAKE.

In 1988, KAKE moved all of its translators on channels 70 to 83 (which were being phased out) down to other channel positions; in addition, a select few of the affected translators were simply closed. Chronicle owned the stations until 1999, when KAKE, its satellites, and WOWT were sold to LIN TV in the midst of the de Young family's liquidation of its media holdings. Almost as soon as the sale was finalized, LIN turned around and traded KAKE and WOWT toBenedek Broadcasting for that company's WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts and cash. The acquisition of KAKE and WOWT could be seen as the ultimate undoing for the financially challenged Benedek, which in 2002 declared bankruptcy and sold most of its stations, including KAKE and WOWT, to Gray Television (their current owner). In 2003, another translator shuffle occurred, and many translator channels in service moved on 15 August of that year.

For 30 years, KAKE was the highest-rated station in Wichita, even though it didn't build an extensive translator/satellite network in central and western Kansas until the 1990s. For most of the last quarter-century, it has been runner-up to KWCH-TV which has been the dominant station in the market. KSNW is in third place, just behind KAKE.

KAKE and the BTK case

 * For a more thorough history on the BTK case, see Dennis Rader.

In the 1970s, KAKE received letters, poems and packages from the BTK serial killer. One claimed responsibility for several of the BTK murders; another contained clues about an intended victim (who was not murdered). During an interview with Wichita's police chief in the late 1970s, subliminal messages were broadcast on KAKE to convince BTK to turn himself in. The effort was unsuccessful.

In 2004 and 2005, BTK again sent letters to KAKE. One included a word puzzle—another expressed concern about the colds anchors Susan Peters and Jeff Herndon had at the time. Park City, Kansas resident Dennis Rader was eventually arrested and convicted of the murders.

Digital television
On February 17, 2009, KAKE turned off its analog signal on channel 10 and moved its digital service from channel 21 to channel 10.

KAKEland Television Network
To reach the 69-county audience of the Wichita/Hutchinson-Plus DMA, KAKE extends its over-the-air coverage area through a network of eight full-power, low-power, and translator stations encompassing the majority of Kansas, the KAKEland Television Network.

KUPK, in Garden City, houses the Western Kansas newsroom and studio, originating one segment of the nightly newscasts seen on KUPK and KLBY. The rest of the broadcast is live from the Wichita studio.

The KAKEland WeatherPlex, inside KAKE's Wichita studio, can provide live continuous severe weather coverage to any combination of its five broadcast zones.


 * 1) KAKE and its DTV Replacement translator - South Central Kansas, including Wichita
 * 2) KUPK - Southwest Kansas, including Dodge City and Garden City
 * 3) KLBY - Northwest Kansas, including Goodland and Colby
 * 4) KHDS - North Central Kansas, including Salina
 * 5) KGBD and its K25CV/K38GH translators - North Central Kansas, including Great Bend, Hays, and Russell

For example: If a tornado is in progress near Colby, live continuous coverage will be seen only on KLBY, while normal programming will appear on the rest of the network.[1]

Full-power stations
These stations mostly rebroadcast KAKE. However, their full-power license allows them to broadcast different programming and commercial content, when desired. Notes:


 * 1. The call sign changed from KUPK-TV to KUPK on 13 July 2010.
 * 2. KUPK-DT operated on channel 18 before 17 February 2009.
 * 3. KLBY was an independent station from its 1984 sign-on until it was acquired by KAKE in 1987.
 * 4. KLBY formerly operated analog channel 4 until 19 August 2008, becoming the first digital-only station in the KAKEland Television Network.
 * 5. KLBY had the call letters KBOM in 1983.[2]

"DTV Replacement" digital translator station
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The FCC determined that after the digital transition some full-service stations would not be able to cover their pre-transition analog service areas. It created the “Replacement Digital Television Translator Service” to assist qualifying full-service stations. These are associated with, given the same call letters, cannot be transferred, and are renewed/assigned along with the station’s main license.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[3]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">On February 9, 2010, KAKE filed an application to the FCC for a digital fill-in translator on its pre-transition digital allotment, UHF Channel 21.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[4] The translator serves the city of Wichita and the surrounding areas north and west of the city. Some viewers using indoor "set-top antennas", which by the nature of their compact design perform better with UHF signals, had difficulty receiving the station's digital signal after it "moved" to VHF channel 10. It started broadcasting March 4, 2010.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">This station can ONLY rebroadcast KAKE, due to its translator classification.

Analog low-power & translator stations
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The following stations will perform a flash-cut when converting to digital. The translators on channels 70 to 83 moved in 1988 and many moved again on 15 August 2003.

Low-power stations
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">These stations mostly rebroadcast KAKE. However, their low-power license allows them to broadcast different programming and commercial content, when desired. <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Notes:


 * 6. Call sign changed from K51GC to KHDS-LP on 13 July 2010.
 * 7. Originally on channel 34 (K34AA), then 22 (K22CP); moved to channel 51 (K51GC) on 15 August 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]
 * 8. Call sign changed from K30GD to KGBD-LP on 13 July 2010.
 * 9. Originally on channel 71 (K71BP); moved to channel 69 (K69DQ) in 1988, then to channel 30 (K30GD) on 15 August 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-2" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]

KGBD-LP translator stations
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">These stations can only rebroadcast KGBD-LP, due to their translator classification.
 * 10. The Hays translator was K70FE channel 70 from the 1970s to 1988.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-w9wi_4-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5]
 * 11. K38GH was K75CB<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-w9wi_4-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5] from the 1970s to 1988, then K20BU channel 20 until 15 August 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-3" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]

Channel 70+ translators no longer in service

 * K70EN channel 70 Manhattan <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-4" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]
 * K71BO channel 71 Herington <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-5" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]
 * K75CH channel 75 Junction City<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fccq1_1-6" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[2]

News operation
KAKE presently broadcasts 34 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5½ hours on weekdays, 3½ hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays). For 30 years, KAKE was the highest-rated station in the Wichita-Hutchinson market, even though it did not build an extensive translator/satellite network in central and western Kansas until the 1980s. For most of the last quarter-century, it has been the #2 station in the Wichita-Hutchinson Market.

In January 2011, KAKE expanded its weekday morning newscasts to 2½ hours, with the addition of a half-hour at 4:30 a.m., becoming the first station in the Wichita-Hutchinson market to expand its morning newscast to a pre-5:00 a.m. timeslot. On July 17, 2011, beginning with its 5:30 p.m. newscast, KAKE became the second television station in the Wichita-Hutchinson market (after KWCH) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition (KSNW remained the only station in the market whose newscasts were not produced in HD, broadcasting them in widescreen enhanced definition until January 27, 2014, with weather segments only broadcasting in high definition prior to that). With the change, the station introduced a new graphics package, a custom news music package (composed by Aircast Custom Music), and a new station logo that emphasizes the long used "KAKEland" sub-branding for its network of satellite and repeater stations. When KAKE made the switch to HD, it also began using automated production for its newscasts. Like other Gray stations at the time, it used Ross OverDrive automation (still in use today). KAKE discontinued its half-hour 4:00 p.m. newscast in September 2011, due to a lack of a solid syndicated programming lead-out for the program. A 4:00 p.m. newscast returned to the schedule on September 9, 2013; later that week on September 15, KAKE debuted an hour-long Sunday morning newscast from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.

In 2018, KAKE ended production of the political talk show This Week in Kansas and the Sunday night legal advice program Lawyer on the Line.

Newscast titles

 * The Scene Tonight (1969–1970s)
 * TV-10 News (1970s–19??)
 * KAKE News (19??–1992 & 1998–present)
 * KAKE News 10 (1992–1998; continues in use as alternate newscast title)

Station slogans

 * The News People (1970s)
 * Come Home To KAKE (1982–1980s; not related to the similarly named NBC campaign)
 * Dedicated, Determined, Dependable (1990-?)
 * Coverage You Count On (mid 1990s–1997)
 * Coverage You Can Count On (1997–1998)
 * On Your Side (1998–2007)
 * The Breaking News and Weather Authority (2009–2011)
 * KAKEland – Everywhere. (2011–2013)
 * Always Tracking. Always Alerting. Always Protecting (2013–present)

On-air staff
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Anchors
 * Deb Farris - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Craig Nigrelli - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Jessica Crawford - weekdays at 11 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
 * Shane Ewing - weekday mornings on Good Morning Kansas (4:30-7 a.m.), Good Morning KAKEland and 11 a.m.; also reporter
 * Alyson Acklin - weekday mornings on Good Morning Kansas (4:30-7 a.m.)
 * Greg Miller - weekdays at 4:00 p.m.; also reporter
 * Annette Lawless -
 * Jamie Jackson -

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">KAKE First Alert Weather Team
 * Jay Prater (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - managing meteorologist; managing meteorologist; weekdays at 4:00 p.m. and weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
 * Frank Waugh - (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings on Good Morning Kansas (4:30-7 a.m.) and Good Morning KAKEland (9:00-10 a.m.)
 * Cat Taylor - meteorologist;
 * Tony Laubach - meteorologist; KAKEland Storm Ranger
 * Jeremy Vogel - meteorologist;

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sports team
 * Chris Frye - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m., also host of KAKE Sports Overtime Live

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Reporters
 * Bri Smith
 * Eli Higgins
 * Hannah Baker
 * Jackson Overstreet

Notable former on-air staff

 * Susan Peters – anchor, from 1996 to 2016; retired
 * Jonathan Coachman – sports anchor/reporter (later with World Wrestling Entertainment, now with ESPN)
 * Steve Doocy – host of PM Magazine (now co-host of Fox and Friends on Fox News Channel)