KOIN

KOIN ("KOIN Local 6") is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Portland, Oregon, United States; it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 40. KOIN's studios are located in the basement of the KOIN Center skyscraper on SW Columbia Street in Downtown Portland.

KOIN has rebroadcasters in Bend (KBNZ-LD channel 7) and in Prineville (K31CR-D). New Vision Television converted the Central Oregon translators to a locally-focused CBS affiliate in 2008.[1]

Radio origins
KOIN began in 1925 as a radio station, KOIN-AM.[2] It became part of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), now known as the CBS Radio Network, in 1930.[2] During the golden years of radio, KOIN-AM was one of Portland's major radio stations, with an extensive array of local programming, including live music from its own studio orchestra.

As a CBS radio affiliate, KOIN-AM was the local home for CBS radio network programs such as the CBS World News Roundup, Lux Radio Theater, and Suspense (KOIN's own history page has omissions and errors in its early days. KOIN radio signed on the air as KQP on November 9, 1925 and changed call sign to KOIN on April 12, 1926. KOIN became a CBS Radio affiliate on September 1, 1929. From: Craig Adams, radio historian).

Television station
KOIN-TV began operating on October 15, 1953 as Portland's first VHF TV station.[2] At the time, it was owned by Mount Hood Radio and Television, a group that included Advance Publications, owner and publisher of The (Portland) Oregonian; local investors and Marshall Field's department stores.[citation needed] The Oregonian also owned KOIN radio (AM 970 and 101.1 FM). Eventually, Marshall Field sold its stake to Advance. KOIN-AM (now KXFD) and KOIN-FM (now KUFO) were sold off when Lee Enterprises purchased KOIN from Mt Hood broadcasting in October 1977. A year later a production company MIRA Mobile Television was founded.

On February 28, 1971, both transmitter towers used by KOIN-FM and KOIN-TV—the 1,000-foot main tower and the 700-foot auxiliary tower—collapsed during an ice and wind storm.[3] The two KOIN (AM) towers, located on the same property, were not damaged. Nine days later, on March 9, 1971, KOIN-FM and KOIN-TV returned to the air when a temporary tower was erected on the site of the collapsed auxiliary tower. During those nine days off the air, CBS programming was provided to the Portland market (and, by extension, most of Oregon) by independent station KVDO-TV of Salem. (Oregon Public Broadcasting later purchased KVDO and moved the station to Bend as KOAB-TV.

During the 1970s, KOIN had a few locally-produced programs on the air, including KOIN Kitchen (cooking show), and public affairs programs such as News Conference Six and Northwest Illustrated.[citation needed] ) In 1976, KOIN-TV became the second TV station in the Portland market (after KPTV) to broadcast Portland Trail Blazers basketball games. Selected Trail Blazer games aired on KOIN-TV until 1996. KOIN-AM was the first flagship station of the Trail Blazers' radio network, beginning in the inaugural 1970-71 season, and ending when the station was sold shortly after the Trail Blazers won the 1976-77 National Basketball Association (NBA) championship.

By the 1980s, one of KOIN's past general managers - Richard M. "Mick" Schafbuch - served one term in 1981 as President of the CBS Network Affiliates Group. During KOIN-TV's 30th anniversary week in 1983, the station aired classic CBS programming from the 1950s and 1960s. By this time, the station had moved into its new location at KOIN Center. In 1984, the station aired the Japanese program From Oregon With Love.[4]

In October 2000, the Lee Enterprises television group, including KOIN, was purchased by Emmis Communications. On January 27, 2006, Emmis sold KOIN (along with KHON-TV/Honolulu, KSNT/Topeka, and KSNW/Wichita) to Montecito Broadcast Group for $259 million. The KOIN Center is the third-tallest skyscraper in Portland.Due to a dispute over fees, Comcast did not offer KOIN in HDTV for over two years after it started offering other local channels in HDTV.[citation needed] After Montecito took ownership, Comcast started carrying KOIN in high-definition on February 28, 2006. KOIN was also in a dispute with DirecTV over HD broadcast, as both sides claimed the other to be the problem.[citation needed] As of August 2008 KOIN HD is now carried on DirecTV.

KOIN updated its website in September 2006[5] as part of a partnership with WorldNow.[6] KOIN expects the switch to lead to over $1 million in revenue during its first year; the switch was characterized by Bob Singer, KOIN's general sales manager, as a "creative new way" to boost revenue for a station with a "somewhat average ratings position."[7]

On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced the sale of all of its stations (KOIN, plus KHON-TV in Honolulu and its satellites, KSNW in Wichita and its satellites, and KSNT in Topeka) to New Vision Television. The sale closed on November 1, 2007.[8]

In March 2008, KOIN relaunched its website through Newport Television subsidiary Inergize Digital Media, replacing the old World Now-powered site. The Web sites of several of its sister stations in other markets also joined the Inergize Digital Network in late December 2008 and early January 2009.

On December 30, 2008, one of the 15 guy wires on the main transmitter tower snapped, putting the tower in danger of collapsing. (As with the 1971 tower collapse, this incident followed a prolonged snow and ice storm.) The Portland Police Bureau evacuated about 500 local residents and closed several roads around the tower, including a portion of Skyline Boulevard, the main north-south road through the West Hills of Portland. At first, officials feared that the wire itself—which is over 1000 feet long and weighs several tons—had snapped. If the wire had snapped, it would take several weeks to manufacture and install a replacement. Upon inspection it was revealed that one of the high frequency insulators incorporated into the guy wire assembly had shattered. Repair crews replaced the insulator by 4:00 p.m. the next day and the surrounding neighborhood was reopened to residents and car traffic. KOIN had to pay $1,500 to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

News operation
On February 1, 2007, KOIN became the first Portland station to broadcast its daily newscasts in 16:9 widescreen.[9] According to Oregon Media Insiders, during Montecito's ownership of KOIN, its local news ratings declined in all time periods; among the four stations producing local news in the Portland area, KOIN had the greatest loss in audience share.[10]

For the first time in ten years, KOIN finished in first position in the 11 p.m. news in the May 2008 NSI sweeps.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from May 2008">[citation needed] KOIN News 6 at 11 — unlike a year earlier when it lost over twenty percent of its CBS lead-in share — held its prime time share throughout its 11 p.m. newscast in the May 2008 NSI sweeps.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from May 2008">[citation needed] In January 2008, KOIN's owners, New Vision Television, fired news director Jeff Alan and replaced him with Lynn Heider. Afterwards, KOIN was dropped its slogan "Bringing News Home" as Jeff Alan had trademarked it under his name in 2000 before he worked at KOIN.

Under new News Director Lynn Heider and long-time Creative Services Director Rodger O'Connor, KOIN News 6 at 11 increased its household ratings from May 2007 to May 2008 by twelve percent and its household share by nineteen percent. It increased its household ratings by 30% from February 2008 to May 2008 and its household share by 33%.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from May 2008">[citation needed] According to General Manager Christopher Sehring, "The defining moment for KOIN News came in the third week of the sweeps. Up until then, we were having a strong ratings run against some terrific competition. Unfortunately, we then lost two straight nights—and I was worried that these losses might shake our new-found confidence. Fortunately, our team roared back on Thursday night, delivering an 8 household rating by increasing Without A Trace’s 19 share lead-in to a 21 share. This type of comeback is indeed the sign of a station that refuses to toss in the towel—and will go a long way to helping us continue New Vision's plan to reenergize this great operation."<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from May 2008">[citation needed] This was the first time in a decade that KOIN has won any newscast.

On September 9, 2009 KOIN launched a new local program on weekdays at 4 p.m., called Keep It Local. The show's explore local neighborhoods and highlighted events taking place in Portland. Priya David hosted, with Mike Donahue and Araksya Karapetyan reporting for the show. In 2010, Keep It Local was reformatted into Studio 6, a product and lifestyles magazine, hosted by Jenny Hansson, Anne Jeager, Hayley Platt, and Jake Byron.

On Monday, July 26th, 2010, KOIN became the third major network-affiliated station in the Portland market to broadcast newscasts in high definition. It is also the first in the market with all aspects of the operation, including field reporting, studio and weather operations completely in the format. Two other stations, KGW and KATU, broadcast their newscasts from the studio in high definition but continue to present live field pieces in widescreen standard definition. This leaves KPTV as the only station to broadcast local news in 16:9 widescreen standard definition.

[edit] Newscast titles

 * KOIN Television Newsreel (1953–1961)
 * The Six O'Clock Report/The Eleven O'Clock Report (1961–1967)
 * Newscene (1967–1973)
 * Channel 6 News (1973–1976)
 * Newsroom 6 (1976–1994)
 * NewsCenter 6 (1994–1997)
 * KOIN 6 News (1997–2004)
 * KOIN News 6 (2004–2008)
 * KOIN Local 6 News (2008–present)

[edit] Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===News team===
 * Reach for the Stars on Channel 6 (1981-1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Northwest's Most Experienced News Team (1980s-1994)
 * Experience You Can Trust (1994–1997)
 * People Make the Difference (1997–2004)
 * News That's To the Point (2004–2006)
 * Bringing News Home (2006–2008)
 * Coverage You Can Count On (2010–Present)

[edit] Current on-air staff
Anchors Local 6 PinPoint Weather Team Sports team Reporters
 * Ken Boddie - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also reporter
 * Kelley Day - weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Alexis Del Cid - weekdays at noon
 * Mike Donahue - weekdays at noon; also reporter
 * Jeff Gianola - weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Jenny Hansson - host of Studio 6; also health reporter
 * Anne Jaeger - host of Studio 6
 * Kacey Montoya - weekday mornings "KOIN Local 6 Early"; also reporter
 * Eric Taylor - weekday mornings "KOIN Local 6 Early"; also reporter
 * Bruce Sussman (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Matt Brode (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "KOIN Local 6 Early" and noon
 * Tim Joyce - Meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Dan Christopherson - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Tim Becker - Sports Anchor; fill-in
 * Lisa Balick - political and "KOIN Savers" feature reporter
 * Alexis Del Cid - general assignment reporter
 * Art Edwards - general assignment reporter
 * Amy Frazier - general assignment reporter
 * Tim Gordon - general assignment reporter
 * Jenny Hansson - health reporter
 * Kohr Harlan - general assignment reporter
 * Joel Iwanaga - general assignment reporter
 * Tim Joyce - general assignment reporter
 * Araksya Karapetyan - general assignment reporter
 * Carly Kennelly - traffic reporter
 * Alana Kujala - general assignment reporter
 * Jessica Morkert - general assignment reporter

[edit] Notable former staff

 * Carlos Amezcua - Reporter (now with KTTV in Los Angeles)
 * Christine Chen - Reporter
 * Mark Hendricks - Reporter & Anchor
 * Lars Larson - morning show host of "The Buzz" (1998–2000; now a talk radio personality at KXL)
 * Rick Metsger - Sports reporter, now politician
 * Charles Royer - Reporter, mayor of Seattle, Washington (1978–1990)
 * Barry Serafin - Reporter (now with ABC News)
 * Christine Ferreira - meteorologist mornings (2006–2010; now with WEWS in Cleveland Ohio)
 * Ed Whelan - Sports Anchor
 * Jeff Baskin - meteorologist (2005–2007; now with KLRT Little Rock Arkansas)
 * Lynn Houston - morning anchor (2004–2006)
 * Anna Katyamma - weekend evening anchor (2005–2007)
 * Katie Baker - weeknight meteorologist (2003–2005)
 * Mark Ronchetti - noon meteorologist (2003–2005; now with KRQE in Albuquerque, New Mexico)
 * Dave Sweeney - weeknight meteorologist (1990–2003; now with Oregon Live weather site)
 * Julie Emry - weeknight news anchor (2002–2005)
 * Shirley Hancock - weeknight news anchor
 * Scott Burridge - sports anchor
 * Pete Parsons - weeknight meteorologist
 * Ron Pederson - weekday meteorologist
 * Priya David - Keep it local host (2009-2010)
 * Randy Querin - Anchor, meteorologist, reporter, host of "Handy Randy"

Digital television
After the analog television shutdown scheduled for June 12, 2009<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10">[11], KOIN remained on its pre-transition channel number, 40 <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FCCForm387_11-0">[12] using PSIP to display KOIN's virtual channel as 6.

On June 12, 2009, KOIN stopped transmitting regularly scheduled programming over its analog transmitter. At 7:28 a.m. on that day, the analog signal (also heard at 87.7 FM) began carrying "nightlight mode" programming consisting of English and Spanish language public service announcements regarding the DTV transition.

On June 27, 2009, at 7:06 a.m. KOIN stopped playing the nightlight program and played the station's 25th anniversary special for their final 24 minutes of channel 6 analog; at 7:30 a.m. analog 6 (and 87.7 FM) was gone.

Translators
KOIN is rebroadcast on the following network of translator stations. Low power translators in Florence, Seaside, and Sisters have been discontinued.

[edit] Bend area translators
Main article: KBNZ-LD*KBNZ-LD Channel 7 Bend (City Grade Signal-Digital)