KNBC

KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California. Its studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from its transmitter on Mount Wilson. In the few areas of the western United States where viewers cannot receive NBC programs over-the-air, KNBC is available on satellite to subscribers of DirecTV. KNBC is one of three NBC Universal-owned television stations in Los Angeles; the other two are Telemundo outlet KVEA (channel 52) and Spanish-language independent KWHY-TV (channel 22).

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KNBC History
Channel 4 first went on the air on January 16, 1949, as KNBH (for NBC Hollywood). It was the second-to-last of Los Angeles' VHF stations to debut, and the last of the five original NBC-owned stations to sign on. Unlike the other four, KNBH was the only NBC-owned television station which did not benefit from having a sister station on radio. NBC Radio was affiliated with KFI in Los Angeles, and that relationship extended into television in August 1948 when KFI-TV (channel 9, now KCAL-TV) was launched as an NBC television affiliate. When KNBH signed on, KFI-TV was forced to relinquish its rights to NBC programming, though KFI radio retained its relationship with the network.

The station changed its call letters KRCA-TV (for NBC's then-parent company, the Radio Corporation of America) in 1954. The call sign was changed again on November 11, 1962, when NBC moved the KNBC identity from its San Francisco radio station (which became KNBR) and applied it to channel 4 in Los Angeles.[1] [2]

Channel 4 originally broadcast from the NBC Radio City Studios on Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. In November 1962, after over 13 years broadcasting from Hollywood, the station relocated to the network's color broadcast studio facility in suburban Burbank. NBC Color City, as it was then known, was already in operation since March 1955, and was at least four to five times larger than Radio City, and could easily accommodate KRCA-TV's locally-produced studio programming. NBC Radio's West Coast operations eventually followed channel 4 to Burbank not too long after.

On January 16, 2009, KNBC celebrated its 60th anniversary with an hour-long tribute to the station, featuring past and present anchors, hosts, other popular on-air staff, and major news stories. KNBC and its other NBC O&O's introduced a new look to their websites near the end of July 2009.

Leaving "Beautiful Downtown Burbank"
On October 11, 2007, NBC Universal announced that it will sell its Burbank studios and construct a new, all-digital facility near the Universal Studios backlot, in an effort to merge all of NBC Universal's West Coast operations into one area. As a result, KNBC, KVEA, KWHY-TV, and NBC News' Los Angeles bureau will move to a new digital facility adjacent to the Universal City Metro Red Line Station. The Tonight Show and other studio productions will move to the studios backlot. Construction plans to take place over the next four years.

Programming
KNBC has been long active in community events, including airing the annual Kingdom Day Parade (honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday) in South Los Angeles until 2009, when coverage moved to KABC-TV, sponsoring an annual two-day Health & Fitness Expo Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center every summer, and since 2001 has been the exclusive local English-language carrier of the annual Los Angeles Marathon (sister station KVEA carries a Spanish-language version of the event). Sports director and lead sports anchor Fred Roggin's production company, in conjunction with KNBC/KVEA, produces coverage of the Marathon. The station also produces Whipnotic, a half-hour show about Southern California's car culture sponsored by Al & Ed's Autosound, which also airs in Spanish on sister station KVEA.

Syndicated Shows and Programming
Syndicated programming on KNBC currently includes The Martha Stewart Show, The Bonnie Hunt Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Extra. KNBC co-produces Access Hollywood, which is also aired on KNBC and many of its NBC owned and operated stations. As of August 2010, KNBC is one of three NBC O&O stations to distribute programming either nationally and/or regionally (along with KNTV and WNBC).

As of August 2010, with the cancellations of both Martha Stewart and Bonnie Hunt, KNBC will debut Access Hollywood Live, The Real Housewives, and The Nate Berkus Show on September 13, 2010, due to lack of syndicated programming.[3] It is announced that Billy Bush and Kit Hoover will be hosting Access Hollywood Live.[4] Access Hollywood itself will be broadcasting in HD on September 6, 2010.

Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed. NBC Weather Plus had been carried on digital subchannel 4.2; the national feed for this channel is no longer active as of December 1, 2008.

Digital channel

Analog-to-digital conversion
On June 12, 2009,[5] the vice president of engineering Richard Westcott used his computer to switch from analog to digital in the KNBC control room and told someone to "roll the [nightlight message]" until June 26. After the analog television shutdown, KNBC remained on its transition period channel number, 36 [6] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as 4. KNBC broadcasts in 1080i high definition on virtual channel 4.1, since NBC Network programming uses that particular HD format.

History
For over the last 30 years, it has battled fellow network stations, KCBS-TV (channel 2) and KABC-TV (channel 7), for the top position for the number-one news operation in greater Los Angeles, although KCBS-TV hasn’t been more of a factor until 2006. Throughout the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, KNBC's newscasts were top-ranked in the region, beating out every other station for news ratings and coinciding with the network's ratings. Currently, channel 4's 11:00 p.m. newscast sits in third place. However, most of the station's other newscasts, including its popular morning news program, Today in L.A., the area's first local morning newscast (starting in 1986), rates at or near the top of the local news ratings.

Channel 4's news programs were known as KNBC News Service during the late 1960s and early 1970s, before being revamped and retitled as NewsCenter 4 in the middle of the decade. NBC had made similar changes to newsrooms in its other markets at the same time, and channel 4 shared the NewsCenter title with sister stations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The KNBC newscasts were the last to switch from the NewsCenter moniker, changing in 1982 to News 4 LA before adopting the current Channel 4 News title in 1985. While KNBC became known on-air as NBC 4 in 1995, the Channel 4 News branding was so well established in Southern California that the nickname was retained.

The newscasts generally take a more "serious" tone covering the issues, including politics, government, education, and the economy, than other Los Angeles newscasts. On election nights, KNBC runs a special extended edition of its 11 p.m. newscast to show early election results. KNBC is notable in the Los Angeles area for not showing live car chases. Thus, when direct competitors KCBS-TV and KABC-TV switch to police chase coverage, channel 4 continues on its regularly scheduled newscast, while staffers prepare a regular news story on the pursuit for airing on a later newscast.

In 2006 KNBC embarked on an all-news channel called News Raw, hosted by Mekahlo Medina. The news channel, on digital channel 4.4 and also on many local digital cable systems, provides news updates every hour, teases news stories scheduled to air on standard channel 4, and provides additional information about breaking news stories. In 2008, when Universal Sports was launched, News Raw became a part-time channel, first on 4.4, and later on 4.2 when US expanded to 24 hours a day. The current hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Another program, The Local Story, began in July 2006, taking an in-depth look at one major local story in the news. It was hosted by veteran television journalist Ross Becker, and was canceled to make way for The Ellen DeGeneres Show but continued to be shown online. In October 2006, the program returned to the airwaves, airing at 4:30 p.m, but was removed again in mid-November for good.

In September 2006, a new program called YourLA TV began. The program featured videos about interesting things happening in the Southern California area. User-submitted videos and comments via MySpace are mixed with profiles of ordinary people similar to PM Magazine.

For many years, KNBC had a 4 p.m. newscast. It was dropped in 2002, in favor of Dr. Phil which moved to KCBS-TV in 2005, and was replaced by The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The station also had an hour-long 11 a.m. newscast, titled Midday Report, which has since been trimmed to a half-hour before being ultimately canceled at the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

KNBC began producing its newscasts in High Definition on July 14, 2008, becoming the fifth station in the Los Angeles market to do so. Spanish-speaking sister stations KWHY-TV and KVEA also made the switch to HD newscasts at the same time. The KNBC newscasts were also revamped with a new set and a new graphics package produced by NBC ArtWorks, based in Fort Worth, Texas.

News Team History
Current KNBC on-air staff include news anchors Chuck Henry and Colleen Williams, and chief weathercaster Fritz Coleman, and sports director Fred Roggin. Henry, Williams, Coleman, and Roggin make up the station's 5 and 11 p.m. Monday-Friday news team, while Henry co-anchors the 6 p.m. weeknight newscasts with Ana Garcia. Roggin and Coleman are KNBC's most notable current staff. Roggin is nationally known because of his work with NBC Sports and for his appearances on the Tonight Show. Roggin also hosted a syndicated program, Roggin's Heroes and can also be seen on Early Today. Roggin also is a sports announcer for NBC's Olympic Games coverage. Coleman also makes occasional appearances on the Tonight Show, and once hosted a locally-produced late night variety "It's Fritz" which aired on KNBC from 1989 and into the early 1990s. Colleen Williams also sometimes appears nationally as she does occasional reports for MSNBC and NBC News.

KNBC has had a very stable news team, over the years. Williams, Roggin, and Coleman have been at the station for at least 20 years each, while Moyer arrived from rival KABC-TV in July 1992, replacing John Beard, who had been at channel 4 since 1981. Moyer started his Los Angeles broadcasting career at KNBC in 1972, as an anchor and reporter, before beginning a 13-year stint at KABC-TV in 1979. Moyer announced his retirement from broadcasting in April 2009, and anchored his final newscast with KNBC in May. Much like Moyer, Chuck Henry was also a mainstay at KABC-TV, before making the move to Burbank in January 1994. He currently produces (through his self-titled production company) the travelouge series, Travel Cafe, which airs weekends on KNBC.

Former Today Show co-host and NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw began his NBC career as an anchor and reporter for KNBC, starting in 1966. He left the station to work exclusively for the network in 1973. Others of note that have worked at KNBC early in their careers include Bryant Gumbel, Pat Sajak, Kent Shocknek, Tom Snyder, and consumer reporter David Horowitz, whose long-running syndicated series, Fight Back!, originated from channel 4 and was produced and distributed by NBC and Westinghouse Broadcasting. In 1987 during an afternoon newscast, a gun-wielding mental patient gained access to NBC Studios, and took Horowitz hostage live on the air. With the gun pressed on his side, Horowitz calmly read the gunman's statements on camera. The unidentified man was caught with a toy gun, and was arrested by local police. It led Horowitz to start a successful campaign to ban "look-alike" toy guns in several states, including California and New York.[7]

The most controversial departure was that of longtime weather reporter Christopher Nance. In 2002 Nance was fired from KNBC after years of what some say was "menacing and profane off-air behavior" contrary to Nance's on-air flamboyant and cheerful nature. Shortly after he was fired, Los Angeles magazine published an article on Nance and KNBC, further detailing his behavioral problems, including allegations that he had been involved with an intern at the station, and had been in altercations with many staff members. He alleges that the station fired him because of his Christian beliefs, according to his website and the article on Los Angeles magazine. In 2004 Nance sued his former employer citing he was dismissed due to racial and religious discrimination (Nance is African-American).[8] [9]

Newscasts
KNBC currently airs 26½ of local news per week, with 4½ hours on weekdays, 2½ hours on Saturdays, and 90 minutes on Sundays. On weekdays, a 2½ hour morning newscast airs at 4:30am, followed by one hour block at 5pm, a half-hour block at 6pm, and a 35-minute wrap at 11pm. On Saturdays, one-hour news blocks air at 7am and 6pm, followed by a half-hour block at 11pm. While there is no newscast on Sunday mornings, a one-hour block is aired at 6pm, followed by a 35-minute wrap at 11pm. However, if the 6pm newscast is preempted for NBC Sunday Night Football, a special one-hour newscast would air following the game.

Current on-air staff
Anchors

as of October 2010 Weather Sports Reporters
 * Chuck Henry - weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., & 11 p.m. (Sunday - Thursday, 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.)
 * Colleen Williams - weeknights at 5 and 11 p.m. (Sunday - Thursday, 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 11 p.m.)
 * Ana Garcia - weeknights at 6pm (also investigative reporter); Fridays, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. & 11 p.m.
 * Alycia Lane - weekday mornings Today in L.A.(co-anchor 4:30-7 a.m.)
 * Chris Schauble - Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. & 11 p.m.; general assignment reporter; Fridays, 5 p.m., 6 p.m., & 11 p.m.
 * Kathy Vara - weekday mornings Today in L.A.(co-anchor 4:30-7 a.m.)
 * Andy Adler - weekend mornings Today in L.A. (co-anchor 7-8 a.m.) ; general assignment reporter
 * Ted Chen - weekend mornings Today in L.A. (co-anchor 7-8 a.m.) ; general assignment reporter
 * Fritz Coleman - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11pm and also the weekday weatherman for KNSD San Diego.
 * Carl Bell - Meteorologist; weekend mornings, Today In LA
 * Elita Loresca - Weather Anchor; weekday mornings Today in L.A.
 * Pablo Pereira - meteorologist; weekends evenings and also the weekend weatherman for KNSD San Diego.
 * Fred Roggin - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m. (also Early Today sports anchor, host of GSN Live, The Challenge, and KNBC's coverage of the Los Angeles Marathon)
 * Mario Solis - Sports Anchor; weekends evening (also Early Today sports anchor and host of Whipnotic)
 * Bill Seward - sports reporter (also fill-in anchor)
 * Kim Baldonado - general assignment reporter
 * Cary Berglund - human interest features reporter
 * Joel Grover - investigative reporter
 * Patrick Healy - general assignment reporter
 * Dr. Bruce Hensel - health and science reporter
 * John Cadiz Klemack - general assignment reporter
 * Jennifer Bjorklund - general assignment reporter, former Today in L.A. anchor
 * Chris Schauble - general assignment reporter, former Today in L.A. anchor
 * Andy Adler - general assignment reporter
 * Robert Kovacik - general assignment reporter
 * Mekahlo Medina - News Raw anchor
 * Conan Nolan - senior correspondent (also KNBC News Conference co-anchor)
 * Mary Parks - Inland Empire bureau reporter
 * Nischelle Turner - entertainment and lifestyle reporter
 * Gordon Tokumatsu - general assignment reporter
 * Vikki Vargas - Orange County bureau reporter
 * Beverly White - general assignment reporter (also fill-in anchor)
 * Sean Murphy - traffic reporter; weekday mornings Today In LA

Newscast titles

 * Coca-Cola News (1949-1950)
 * Ford News (1950-1954)
 * Jack Latham and The News (1954-1960)
 * The Fifth Hour/Sixth Hour/Eleventh Hour Report (1960-1971)
 * News 4 (1966-1971)
 * KNBC News Service (1971-1975)
 * NewsCenter 4 (1976-1982)
 * News 4 L.A. (1982-1985)
 * The Channel 4 News (1985-present)

Station slogans

 * Channel 4, Proud as a Peacock! (1979-1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Channel 4, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * We're Channel 4, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Channel 4 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Channel 4, Let's All Be There (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * Number One in Southern California (1985-1993; slogan also used by KABC in the 1980s)
 * Coverage You Can Count On (1993-1995 and 2000-2002)
 * Working 4 You (1998-2000)
 * Trust Experience (2003-2008)
 * We're 4 LA (2008-present; primary slogan)
 * Locals Only (2008-present; secondary slogan)

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Rebroadcasters
KNBC is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:
 * K04HX 4 Ridgecrest
 * K12JI 12 Newberry Springs
 * K15FC 15 Joshua Tree
 * K19BS 19 Daggett
 * K30GU 30 Morongo Valley
 * K35HO-D 35 Ridgecrest
 * K41CB 41 Lucerne Valley
 * K47IB 47 Twentynine Palms