KOCO-TV

KOCO-TV, virtual channel 5 (digital channel 7), is the ABC affiliate in the Oklahoma Citytelevision market. The station is owned by Hearst Television, Inc., but uses "Ohio/Oklahoma Hearst Television, Inc." as their end tag during their newscasts, the same licensing purpose corporation as sister Cincinnati, Ohio station WLWT. KOCO's studios and transmitter are located at 1300 East Britton Road in northeast Oklahoma City, within a mile of competing stations; NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4) to the west, CBS affiliate KWTV (channel 9) to the southwest and Fox affiliate KOKH (channel 25) to the southeast.

KOCO-TV

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Branding	KOCO 5 (general) KOCO 5 News (newscasts) Me-TV Oklahoma City (KOCO-DT2 subchannel)
Slogan	Live. Local. Latebreaking.(primary) We'll Give You the First Alert(weather)
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
Affiliations	ABC Me-TV (DT2)
Owner	Hearst Television, Inc. (Ohio/Oklahoma Hearst Television)
First air date	July 2, 1954 (in Enid, Oklahoma; moved to Oklahoma City in 1958)
Call letters' meaning	Oklahoma City Oklahoma
Former callsigns	KGEO-TV (1954-1958)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 5 (VHF, 1954-2009)
Transmitter power	65.7 kW
Height	451 m
Facility ID	12508
Website	www.koco.com

The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7, using its former analog channel assignment of 5 as its virtual channel via PSIP. On cable, KOCO-TV can be seen on channel 8 in standard definition and channel 705 in high definition on Cox Oklahoma City and on channel 5 on other Cox systems in Central Oklahoma. The station is also available to DirecTV and Dish Network customers within the Oklahoma City market.

History

The station signed on July 2, 1954 as KGEO-TV, based in Enid, the only full-power VHF station in northern Oklahoma. The station was an ABC affiliate; during the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.

The station's transmitter and studio location were moved to Oklahoma City in 1958, after northern Oklahoma was absorbed into the Oklahoma City market. KOCO's original Oklahoma City studio was located at NW 63rd and Portland Avenue but moved to its present location near the transmitter site on East Britton Road in the early 1980s. Channel 5's arrival returned a full ABC affiliate to the Oklahoma City market. Previously, ABC programming was seen in Oklahoma City on WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV) as a secondary affiliation until KTVQ (channel 25) signed on in 1953 (KTVQ went dark in 1956, signing on the air again as the present-day KOKH-TV in 1959).

In 1974, the station adopted the "Eyewitness News" branding for its newscast for the first time, this first period was during a time when the format was very popular in TV markets throughout the nation. Local CBS affiliate KWTV had previously used the Eyewitness News moniker from 1966 to 1971, but dropped it when the newscast was renamed Newsroom 9. Despite the use of the Eyewitness News concept and name, KOCO remained for many years a distant third place in local news ratings against dominant NBC affiliate WKY-TV (channel 4, later KTVY and now KFOR-TV) and KWTV. KOCO aired its evening newscast at 5:30 p.m. rather than the 6 p.m. time slot used by KTVY and KWTV until the early 1980s when it introduced an early evening newscast at 5 p.m. and a 6 p.m. broadcast with ABC's World News Tonight(now World News with Diane Sawyer) in the 5:30 p.m. timeslot. All three programs were top-rated in the market in November 2006.

KOCO had been the only local television station in Oklahoma that operated and maintained a bureau office elsewhere in the state. For several years after its move from Enid to Oklahoma City, KOCO continued to operate a second bureau in Enid. It was closed by KOCO in the mid-1990s for unknown reasons.

Sale to Gannett and change to "5 Alive"

Combined Communications acquired KOCO in 1970 from Cimarron Television. Nine years later, Combined Communications merged with theGannett Company. In 1977, Combined did a makeover of the station's image by adopting the "5 Alive" branding that was introduced at other Combined-owned stations. Although a number of Combined stations that adopted the practice of using the word "Alive" as part of their monikers ended the practice after Gannett purchased Combined in 1979, KOCO continued promoting itself as "5 Alive" until 1994.

During the "5 Alive" era, KOCO's local newscasts were branded as 5 Alive NewsCenter or 5 Alive News, and, thanks to Gannett's resources and investment in the station which included a new studio facility in the early 1980s along with news helicopters, KOCO improved its fortunes in local news ratings in the Oklahoma City market from 1980 to 1982 when the station briefly overtook KWTV for second place and even battled longtime powerhouse KTVY for first place. By 1983, KOCO settled into a solid second place as KWTV rose from a distant third all the way to first place, displacing KTVY from the top spot it held for decades. By the late 1980s, KOCO dropped back to third place, where it lingered for years.

In 1994, KOCO dropped the "5 Alive" branding and the newscast was renamed 5 News and the "5 Alive" logo was retired with a new logo (that was short-lived) that was a variant of the Circle 7 logo, that was replaced with the current version of the Circle 5 logo a few months later. In 1995, Gannett announced that the company would merge with Multimedia, Inc.; this created a conflict as Multimedia, Inc. owned area cable provider Multimedia Cablevision, which served most of Oklahoma City's surrounding suburbs (Multimedia Cablevision later sold its Oklahoma service area to Cox Communications, which already served areas within the city limits of Oklahoma City, in 2000). This created a conflict as at the time, Federal Communications Commission rules prohibited the cross-ownership of television stations and cable providers in the same market; Gannett received a temporary waiver by the FCC to operate both KOCO-TV and Multimedia Cablevision, which expired in December 1996.

Sale to Hearst Television

Gannett owned KOCO until January 1997 when it swapped it and NBC affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati to Argyle Television Holdings II in exchange for ABC affiliate WZZM in Grand Rapids, Michigan and NBC affiliate WGRZ in Buffalo, New York; the deal was made to resolve conflicts with the FCC's newspaper and cable cross-ownership rules. Argyle merged with Hearst Broadcasting in August of that year, creating what was then known as Hearst-Argyle Television. The company renamed itself as Hearst Television in May 2009. In 1998, after the station was purchased by Hearst-Argyle Television, the newscasts were renamed Eyewitness News 5 - returning the "Eyewitness News" format the station previously used from 1974 to 1977.

On June 13, 1998, as tornadoes touched down in northern sections of Oklahoma City that evening; at 8:10PM, chief meteorologist Rick Mitchell, then-weekend meteorologist Mike LaPoint and a photojournalist had positioned a live shot outside the Channel 5 studios on Britton Road when the studio was hit by a tornado (or damaging straight-line winds). As it hit, LaPoint exclaimed "Rick, it's on the ground!", and both meteorologists and the photographer ran into the station to take shelter. Almost immediately as it happened, the station was knocked off the air until the following evening (although it was still able to feed its signal to cable). However, damage at the station was relatively minor as a fence was knocked down with the most significant damage being to its doppler weather radar dome which had been dented. Video of that tornado as it happened can be seen here.

In recent years, the station boosted its commitment to news and weather coverage, adding newscasts and positioning itself as "Live. Local. Latebreaking." The efforts helped propel the station's 5:00 newscast into first place in the market in 2004. In November 2006, KOCO also registered its first-ever outright win at 6:00 p.m.

On February 10, 2009 KOCO was the only Oklahoma City television station offered wall-to-wall coverage of a devastating EF4 tornado that hit the town of Lone Grove that killed eight and injured 14, due to KOCO being the default ABC station for the Ada-Sherman television market that Lone Grove is located in. KOCO's coverage along with that of Ada-Sherman area stations KTEN and KXII undoubtedly saved many lives during the event.

KOCO-TV serves as a default ABC affiliate for the Sherman, Texas/Ada, Oklahoma market due to that market having lacked an ABC affiliate of its own, since KTEN (channel 10) dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to became a full-time affiliate of NBC in 1998. KOCO-TV is carried as the local ABC affiliate to DISH Network and DirecTV subscribers within that market and the sole ABC affiliate carried by cable operators in cities on the Oklahoma side of the Sherman-Ada market including Sherman and Denison in Texas; as well as Ada in Oklahoma. This has come to an end as KTEN has a subchannel affiliated with the ABC network that went up on May 9, 2010.

Market firsts

• First station in the country to offer an automated weather warning system (earned the station a Regional News Emmy Award)
• First station in the country to send pictures of a storm over cellular telephone (earned the station a Regional News Emmy Award)
• First station to have a helicopter for aerial news gathering
• First station to have mobile Doppler weather radar
• First station to send video over cellular telephone (earned the station a Regional News Emmy nomination)
• First station to have full-screen video over cellular telephone
• First station in Oklahoma to begin its morning newscast at 4:30 a.m.

Digital television

KOCO-DT broadcasts on digital channel 7.

Digital channels

Channel	Name	Programming
5.1	KOCO-DT1	Main KOCO-TV Programming / ABC
5.2	KOCO-DT2	Me-TV

In April 2008, KOCO-TV launched a 24-hour digital weather channel, called First Alert Weather 24/7; an affiliate of The Local AccuWeather Channel (one of several ABC affiliates carrying the service on its digital signal), that gives up-to-the-minute weather information, as well as carrying local weather inserts from KOCO's First Alert Storm Team on digital subchannel 5.2 and is also available on Cox Digital Cable in the Oklahoma City area on cable channel 222. It also airs educational and informational children's programming mandated by the FCC for a half-hour every day at noon. The service may also take on the responsibility of airing ABC network programming when KOCO-DT 5.1 is not able to in a severe weather emergency. A feed of Advantage Doppler HD may appear on the subchannel as backup programming if technical difficulties occur, with audio from Oklahoma City's NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards station WXK85.

In early September 2008, coverage of Hurricane Gustav from NBC affiliate WDSU in New Orleans (also owned by Hearst), aired on digital subchannel 5.2 for the convenience of evacuees who came to Oklahoma City.

On January 24, 2011 at 6 a.m., KOCO-DT digital subchannel 5.2 dropped Local AccuWeather Channel programming to become the Oklahoma City affiliate of This TV, a 24-hour digital broadcast network owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Weigel Broadcasting, which largely relies on films produced by MGM and its related film studios, and also features a limited amount of syndicated programming and a daily morning block of children's programming (including programs produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, which meet the three hours ofeducational and informational programming required by the FCC).

Analog-to-digital conversion

KOCO-TV discontinued regular analog programming on June 12, 2009. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 7, using PSIP to display KOCO-TV's virtual channel as 5.

After the switch to digital-only broadcast, the station's broadcast range did not cover as much area as it did when broadcasting in analog, creating some gaps in reception in parts of southwest, south-central and north-central Oklahoma that were previously able to receive a fair to decent signal. In May 2010, the station uninstalled its former analog antenna and began installing a new digital antenna that once installed, would help to extend KOCO-TV's digital signal reception to areas unable to receive the station's signal since the station's switch to digital.

Programming

KOCO-TV clears all of the ABC schedule, although until the program was dropped by ABC on August 28, 2010, it preempted ABC Kidsairings of Power Rangers on Saturday mornings due to lack of E/I content (which was also the reason all of Hearst-Argyle's ABC affiliates did not carry the program), the show was preempted by the station starting in the fall of 2006 (prior to this, said hour was shown six hours behind the network's recommended time slot of 11 a.m.). KOCO currently delays Jimmy Kimmel Live! by one hour, airing at 12:07 a.m., due to an encore presentation of Oprah and as of July 31, 2010, airs the 8-9 a.m. hour of the ABC Kids Saturday morning lineup on a three-hour broadcast delay and airs This Week on Sunday mornings on a one hour delay, due to the addition of a third hour of its weekend morning newscast. KOCO-TV is unusual as it is one of the few ABC affiliates that preempt the ABC News Briefs aired in-between One Life to Live andGeneral Hospital.

Until January 2, 2008 it was one of several ABC stations to air All My Children weekdays at 11 a.m., instead of the network's recommended time of 12 p.m., due to their midday newscast airing at that time slot. However beginning on that date, All My Children moved to the noon timeslot formerly occupied by the now-defunct midday newscast. KOCO-TV also occasionally preempts a primetime ABC program due to special programming. This practice is nothing new, for they also have preempted or delayed some ABC programs during the 1970s and 1980s. For example, the station preempted ABC cartoons The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show and The All New Ewoks on Saturday mornings in order to air the locally-produced program Home Showcase in the spring of 1987.

The station airs most of the highest-rated programs in syndication, with The Ellen DeGeneres Show after Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show after The View, Dr. Phil and Oprah paired up in mid-afternoons together before the 5 p.m. newscast and Wheel of Fortune airing before primetime. Other syndicated programming on KOCO includes Access Hollywood on weekdays, and Without a Trace, Brothers and Sistersand The Closer on weekends. Currently, Wheel of Fortune airs on KOCO-TV, while Jeopardy! on the other hand, airs on rival NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (it had previously aired on KOCO during the 1980s and early 1990s, and on KWTV afterwards until 1999); Oklahoma City is one of the few media markets to carry Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune on separate television stations. The station carries just over the minimum amount of E/I children's programming, as the ABC Kids lineup features three hours of E/I shows, and the station airs Teen Kids News on Saturdays at noon after ABC Kids programming.

KOCO also makes the claim based on Nielsen Media Research numbers that it is one of the top-rated ABC affiliates in the nation, which is based on market size and household ratings percentages. In fact, the three highest-rated ABC affiliates in the nation are all Hearst stations (KOCO, along with WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri).

In December 2010, KOCO became the second station in the Oklahoma City market (after CBS affiliate KWTV) and the sixth television station in the state of Oklahoma to broadcast syndicated programming in high definition; originally only a limited amount of syndicated shows such as Wheel of Fortune, and reruns of The Closer and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen were broadcast in HD, but since January 2011, all of KOCO's syndicated programming available in HD is broadcast in the format including Oprah, Dr. Phil and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

News operation

Currently, KOCO-TV airs 29 hours of local news each week (with four hours on weekdays and 4½ hours on weekends). The station's sports segments are titled Sports Xtra, which the station has used since the early 1990s under Gannett ownership under the similar title Sports Extra. From the early 1990s until 2004, the station had a 15-minute Friday night high school football wrap-up show called Prep Sports Extra; though the show continues to this day, the Prep Sports Extra name has since been dropped. KOCO-TV has the fastest-revolving doppler weather radar in the area, "Advantage Doppler HD", and employs the largest fleet of live trucks in the state of Oklahoma.

In 1992, KOCO launched a local Saturday morning newscast from 8-9 a.m., the newscast was later dropped but relaunched in 1996 in the later timeslot of 10 a.m.-noon. Also in 1996, KOCO expanded its morning newscast from one hour to an hour-and-a-half from 5:30-7 a.m. and the noon newscast was expanded to one hour (the noon news was cut back to a half-hour when Port Charles debuted and remained that way after Port Charles cancellation in 2003, while the morning news expanded to two hours in 1999). For a short period from 1998 to the fall of 1999, the station used a variant of the 24 Hour News Source format, offering hourly weather updates by the station's meteorologists, then known as the "24 Hour First Alert Weather" team (shortened to just "First Alert Weather" by 2001), near the top of every hour; KFOR-TV at the time used the traditional 24 Hour News Source format featuring round-the-clock news updates. In February 2006, the station added a two-hour Sunday morning newscast from 7-9 a.m.

Like some of its ABC-affiliated sister stations, KOCO has added more newscasts to their schedule over the last few years; on the week of January 2, 2008, the weekday noon newscast was dropped, a 5 p.m. newscast was added on Saturday evenings and the Saturday and Sunday morning newscasts were moved from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 7-9 a.m., respectively to the earlier timeslot of 5-7 a.m. The cancellation of the noon newscast meant that for the first time none of the ABC affiliates in the state of Oklahoma had midday newscasts (KTUL in Tulsa and KSWO in Lawton do not carry midday newscasts either). The station is also unusual in programming an hour-long newscast on Sundays at 10 p.m., which expanded from 35 minutes in 2006; as a result, Sunday Sports Xtra was absorbed into the newscast and reduced to a 15-minute segment near the end of the newscast.

KOCO also has partnerships with The Enid News & Eagle (the station's only link to its former city of license) and The Norman Transcript. In the 1990s, during its final years under Gannett ownership, KOCO attempted to start its own investigative unit known as the I-Team (which is also the name of investigative units on several other stations including former sister station KSDK in St. Louis, Missouri). Rival KWTV also attempted an investigative unit around the same time.

Chief Meteorologist Rick Mitchell has had the longest tenure of the entire KOCO on-air staff; Mitchell joined the station in 1994 (he is the only on-air personality to work at Channel 5 under both Gannett and Hearst-Argyle ownership). In a market where many television personalities have been around for fifteen years or more, almost all of KOCO's on-air staff (except for Mitchell) have worked at the station for fewer than ten years. The current Mayor of Oklahoma City since 2005, Mick Cornett, was a former member of KOCO's news staff. He joined the station in the early 1980s as a sports anchor/reporter. He was later appointed morning and noon news anchor in the mid-1990s before leaving the station in 1998.

In October 2009, KOCO upgraded its news ticker shown during the weekday morning newscast and breaking news and the weather alert map shown during regular programming in advance of severe weather and had months earlier upgraded the school closings ticker to fit 16:9 widescreen televisions. From October 2009 until October 11, 2010 the newscasts were, however, broadcast with blue pillarboxing with the station's callsign angled vertically on the left and right thirds of the screen. On October 11, 2010, just one day after Hearst sister-stationWISN began broadcasting local news in widescreen standard definition, KOCO began broadcasting their local newscasts in widescreen standard definition, however the station has yet to upgrade its newscasts to high definition. Not all of KOCO's cameras shoot in native widescreen, which results in much of KOCO's video footage being upconverted from the original 4:3 standard definition and stretched to widescreen dimensions in the control room for broadcast. On July 31, 2010 KOCO-TV added an hour-long extension of its weekend morning newscasts from 8-9 a.m., which competes against weekend morning newscasts on KFOR-TV. On September 22, 2010 KOCO expanded its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours, with the start time moved to 4:30 a.m., becoming the first Oklahoma television station with a pre-5 a.m. morning newscast.

Rick Mitchell

Rick Mitchell has served as the evening chief meteorologist at KOCO-TV since 1994. Mitchell and the station's First Alert Storm Team also provide forecasts for The Edmond Sun and the Enid News & Eagle newspapers. Mitchell is a member of the American Meteorological Society and is a recipient of their Television Seal of Approval. Mitchell has several awards, including "Best Weathercast" by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters and the Oklahoma chapter of the Associated Press.

Mitchell graduated with a bachelor of science degree in meteorology from the University of Nebraska in 1987, and afterwards began working with the State College, Pennsylvania-based weather forecasting company AccuWeather. In 1990, Mitchell entered into television meteorology with his first job at ABC affiliate WOI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa. By 1993, he was named the chief meteorologist. In 1994, Mitchell moved to Oklahoma City after being hired as the chief meteorologist at ABC affiliate KOCO-TV, where he has worked ever since. His coverage of theOklahoma Tornado Outbreak on May 3, 1999, including an F5 tornado that destroyed parts of the suburbs of Moore, Midwest City and Del City, earned Mitchell and the First Alert Storm Team a special award of recognition from then-governor Frank Keating.

Mitchell had a cameo appearance (both in voice-only and on a television screen) during a scene in which a large tornado hits a drive-in theatre and served as one of three "weather announcers" (along with KWTV chief meteorologist Gary England and Jeff Lazalier, former chief meteorologist at NBC affiliate KJRH in Tulsa, Oklahoma) in the 1996 movie Twister.

Ratings

KOCO-TV designated the number one-rated ABC affiliate in the United States in the February 2007 sweeps period and is one of only two stations in the Oklahoma City market (#45, 2006–2007) to have been given the title of the number one network station, owned-and-operated or affiliated, in the United States. The only other is KOCB (channel 34, now a CW affiliate), was the number one WB affiliate in the nation for the 2005-2006 season, its final year as a WB affiliate.

The station's newscasts are currently the top-rated programs (per Nielsen Media Research) at both 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. KOCO-TV also features the market's highest-rated daytime programming and, as of November 2006, the most-watched network newscast in ABC's World News with Charles Gibson.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• KGEO-TV News
• The Big News
• Newscope
• News Capsule (6:25pm)/News According to Doyle (10pm, 1960-1963)
• Channel 5 News (1963–1968)
• The Hickox-Halburnt Report (1968-1971)
• The News on 5 (1971–1974)
• Channel 5 Eyewitness News (1974–1978; Eyewitness News branding previously used by KWTV from 1966–1971)
• 5 Alive NewsCenter (1978–1980s)
• 5 Alive News (1980s–1994)
• 5 News (1994–1997)
• Oklahoma's 5 News (1997–1998)
• Eyewitness News 5 (1998–2013)
• KOCO 5 News (2013–present)

Newscast Music

• WXIA 1976 News Theme by Peters Communications
• KOCO Oklahoma Alive 1979 News Theme by Peters Communications
• It's All Right Here by Peters Communications
• Hello News by Gari Communications (????-1986)
• Power News by 615 Music (1986-1989)
• It's All Right Here by Gari Communications (1989-1992)
• The Heat by Gari Communications (1992-1993)
• Primetime News by Non-Stop Music (1994-1998)
• The B Package (now Revolution) by Gari Communications (1998-2005)
• Hearst TV News Music Package: Live Local Late Breaking by Newsmusic Central (2005-2013)
• Hearst TV News Music Package: Where The News Comes First by Newsmusic Central (2010-2013)
• Strive by Inthegroovemusic (2013-present)

Logos

Kinescope shot from 1960.

5Alive logo from 1990 as seen on newscast intro. 1984-1994

1994

1997-1998

1998-2013

KOCO local version of ABC's "Something's Happening" campaign from 1988

Station slogans

• We're Still Having Fun, 5 Alive's The One (1977–1978; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• 5 Alive's The One You Can Turn To (1978–1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• The NewsCenter of Oklahoma (late 1970s–early 1980s)
• Hello Oklahoma (early 1980s–1986, when the station used Frank Gari's Hello News)
• You and Me and 5 Alive (1980–1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Now is the Time, 5 Alive is the Place (1981–1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Come on Along with 5 Alive (1982–1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• That Special Feeling on 5 Alive (1983–1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• We're With You, on 5 Alive (1984–1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• You'll Love It on 5 Alive (1985-1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Together on 5 Alive (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Something's Happening on 5 Alive (1987–1989; localized version of ABC ad campaign)

• Oklahoma's Watching 5 Alive (1990–1991; localized version of ABC's "America's Watching ABC" ad campaign)
• If It's Oklahoma, It Must Be 5 Alive (1992-1993; localized version of ABC's "It Must Be ABC" ad campaign)
• The Station Where You Get More News (1992–1994)
• The One to Count On (1994–1998)
• TV is Good, on Oklahoma's Channel 5 (1997-1998; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• We Love TV, on KOCO-5 (1998-1999; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Live. Local. Latebreaking. (1998–present; news slogan)
• America's #1 ABC Station (2007–2009)
• Start Here (2007–present; non-news programming, local use of ABC's current slogan)
• Believe in Oklahoma (2007–present; originally used in special reports relating to the Oklahoma Centennial)
• One of America's Leading ABC Affiliates (2009–present; used in newscast opens)
• Stay with Eyewitness News 5, we'll keep you ahead of the storm.(weather slogan)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff (as of April 6, 2011)

Anchors

• Brandon Beyer - weekend mornings; also weekday reporter
• Anita Blanton - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.); also fill-in evening anchor and weeknight reporter
• Wendell Edwards - Saturdays at 5 and 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Paul Folger - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.; also reporter
• Mat Garcia - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.); also reporter
• Jessica Schambach - Sundays at 5:30, Monday-Thursdays at 5 and 6, and Sunday-Thursdays at 10 p.m.
• Maggie Stokes - weekend mornings

First Alert Weather In addition to providing forecasts on KOCO-TV, the First Alert Storm Team also provides forecasts for KATT-FM, WWLS-AM, KQOB-FM,WWLS-FM, KKWD, KYIS-FM radio, and the Enid News and Eagle newspaper.

• Rick Mitchell (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5 and 6, Sundays at 5:30, and Sunday-Thursdays at 10 p.m.
• Damon Lane (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings
• Sarah Libby (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Rusty McCranie (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; Friday-Saturdays at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Steve Carano - substitute meteorologist; weekend mornings

Sports Xtra

• Bob Irzyk - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m., also Sports Xtra co-host
• Daniel Holdge - sports anchor; Saturdays at 5, 6 and 10, and Sundays at 5:30 p.m., also Sports Xtra co-host
• Mary-Rachel Redman - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor

Reporters

• Caleb Collier - "Sky5" pilot
• Naveen Dhaliwal - general assignment reporter
• Amanda Guerra - general assignment reporter
• Erin Guy - general assignment reporter
• Jessica Holloway - general assignment reporter
• Carla Wade - general assignment reporter
• Kelly Wasserman - "Traffic Watch" substitute reporter

Hearst Television Washington Bureau

• Kate Amara - Washington D.C. bureau reporter
• Sally Kidd - Washington D.C. bureau reporter
• Nikole Killion - Washington D.C. bureau reporter

First Alert Storm Team "FAST Unit" Storm Chasers

• Chad Bradley - FAST Unit 51
• Chris Caldwell - FAST Unit 55
• Gary Clouch - FAST Unit 56
• Brandon Foster - FAST Unit 11
• Mark Fryklund - FAST Unit 5
• Chris Lee - FAST Unit 2
• George McKinnis - FAST Unit 52
• Jack Quirk - FAST Unit 54
• Jimmy Taylor - FAST Unit 13

Notable former on-air staff

• David Alan - anchor (1995–1999; now at WVEC-TV in Norfolk, VA)
• Whitney Allen - traffic reporter (2008–2009)
• Terese Arena - reporter (1976–1982)
• Cherokee Ballard - weekend anchor/reporter (1985–2005; later at KFOR-TV; now with Oklahoma County Medical Examiners' Office)
• Ed Birchall (a.k.a. "Ho Ho the Clown") - children's television personality (1959–1988)
• Gerry Bonds - "Oklahoma Pride" feature reporter (1989–1994; now at OETA)
• Dean Blevins - sports director (1990–1993; now at KWTV)
• Paul Bouchereau - meteorologist (1979–1981; later at KWTV)
• Jack Bowen - anchor/reporter (1976–1987 and 1990–1995)
• Chris Callahan - sports anchor/reporter (2004–2008)
• Maggie Carlo - weeknight anchor/lifestyle reporter (2005–2008; now at WGN-TV in Chicago)
• Mary Ruth Carlton - weeknight anchor (1980–1984)
• Jeff Castle - meteorologist (1999–2002; now at WAFF-TV in Huntsville, AL)
• Ronda Chapman - weekend anchor/reporter (late 1990s; won Emmy for her reports on the Oklahoma City Bombing)
• Tierney Cook - morning anchor/reporter (2004–2008; now with Oklahoma City Public Schools)
• Mick Cornett - sports anchor/morning news anchor/reporter (1981–1999; now Mayor of Oklahoma City)
• Ross Dixon - meteorologist (1966-late 1980s; now at OETA)
• Ed Doney - reporter (1998–1999; now at KFOR-TV)
• Jennifer Eve - anchor/reporter (1980s-2001)
• John Flick - weekday morning anchor/reporter (2005–2009)
• Ron Gosdon - 6 p.m. business reporter (late 1980s?-1992)
• Jane Jayroe - anchor/reporter (1977–1980 and 1985–1992; former Miss America 1967)
• Frank Johnson - meteorologist (2000–2006; now at WBTW-TV in Myrtle Beach, SC)
• Sean Kimerling - weekend sports anchor/sports reporter (1994–1997)
• Debra Lane - 10 p.m. business reporter (late 1980s?-1992)
• Mike LaPoint - weekend meteorologist (1997–2000; now at WPXI in Pittsburgh)
• Dino Lalli - entertainment critic (early 1990s-1997)
• Kimberly Lohman (Suiters) - Saturday morning anchor/fill-in anchor/reporter (1999–2008; now at WRC-TV Washington, DC)
• Tom MacNamara - anchor/reporter (?-1992; now at KVOA in Tucson)
• Gan Matthews - anchor/reporter (1970s-early 1980s; now at KWTV)
• Butch and Ben McCain - hosts of "Good Morning Oklahoma" (1980s-1995; Ben, now at KKCO in Grand Junction, CO; Butch, unknown)

• Jeff Mirasola - anchor/reporter (1980s-?)
• Mike Morgan - chief meteorologist (1989–1992; now at KFOR-TV in same position)
• Mark Myers - reporter (1998–2001; later at KOKH, now public information director for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office)
• Melissa Newton - fill-in anchor/reporter (January-July 2007; later at KOKH, now at KTVT in Fort Worth-Dallas)
• Fred Norman - chief meteorologist (1972–1983)
• Mark Ockerbloom - sports anchor/reporter (1994–2000; now at WFXT in Boston)
• Jerry Park - sports anchor (1974–1999)
• Jim Patton - weekday anchor/reporter (1996–2006; now at XETV in San Diego)
• Myron Patton - weekend sports anchor/sports reporter (1989–1994; now at KOKH-TV)
• Barbara (Pratt) Pendell/Geddie - producer/morning anchor/reporter (1972–1979)
• Milissa Rehberger - anchor/reporter (1996–1998; now at MSNBC)
• Tony Sellars - news reporter/sports anchor/reporter (1976–1984; later at KWTV; now communications director for Feed The Children)
• Wayne Shattuck - chief meteorologist (1983–1989; now weekend meteorologist at WFTS in Tampa)
• Kevin Sims - reporter (1995–2008; now at WTVC in Chattanooga, TN)
• Jon Slater - chief meteorologist (1992–1994; now at KOKH)
• Adam Slinger - reporter (2006–2008; now at WSYX in Columbus, OH)
• Ron Stahl - reporter (1980-late 1990s; now reporter on "Discover Oklahoma")
• Tyler Suiters - weeknight anchor/reporter (1999–2008; now at cleanskies.tv)
• Dean Swanson - anchor (1973–1977)
• Mark Rodgers - sports director (2003-2010)
• Merril Teller - meteorologist (late 1970s; now at KWCH-TV in Wichita)
• Ron Terrell - sports director (2001–2003; now at KOKI-TV in Tulsa)
• Aaron Tuttle - morning/weekend meteorologist (2001–2007; now at the FAA Center in OKC)
• Andy Wallace - weekend morning meteorologist (2007–2009; now at KJRH-TV in Tulsa)
• Cindy Wall-Morrison - anchor (1989–1996; later at KTUL-TV in Tulsa)
• Terri Watkins - reporter (1982–2006; now with the University of Oklahoma athletics department)
• Delaney Wearden - forecaster (now weekend meteorologist at KVII-TV in Amarillo, TX)
• Jordan Williams - Saturday anchor/reporter (2007–2008; now at KRGV-TV in Brownsville, Texas)
• Carrie Zamora - anchor/reporter (2004–2005)

^[D] - Deceased

References

1. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956
2. ^ Gannett Deal Yields Ownership Conflict, The Journal Record(via HighBeam Research), July 26, 1995.
3. ^ Argyle Television to swap television stations in Grand Rapids, Mich. and Buffalo, N.Y. to Gannett for television stations in Cincinnati and Oklahoma City, Business Wire (via HighBeam Research), November 20, 1996.
4. ^ Gannett enters into agreement with Argyle Television],Business Wire (via HighBeam Research), November 20, 1996.
5. ^ http://www.wpxi.com/station/10751883/detail.html
6. ^ http://www.koco.com/news/18660122/detail.html
7. ^ KOCO Step Closer To New Antenna
8. ^ Home Showcase TV Show Premiers/Saves Time For Buyers,The Journal Record (via HighBeam Research), May 2, 1987.
9. ^ 2011, HDTVok.com, Retrieved 1-12-2011.
10. ^ http://www.koco.com/news/24456003/detail.html
11. ^ http://www.koco.com/video/25106303/detail.html
12. ^ koco.com
13. ^ http://www.apoklahoma.org/2008-2009%20TV%20Winners.htm
14. ^ www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?s=10746501&clienttype=printable
15. ^ http://www.koco.com/weather/55197/detail.html
16. ^ http://www.norman.noaa.gov/2001/01/oklahoma-groups-honored-by-american-meteorological-society-for-efforts-related-to-1999-tornado-outbreak/
17. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117998/trivia
18. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV1SJIl3aKw
19. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2rQSRv3Co
20. ^ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/audioplayer_main.php?media=opens,492,1
21. ^ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/audioplayer_main.php?media=opens,4643,0
22. ^ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/audioplayer_main.php?media=image,150,0
23. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDxm4d50tpU
24. ^ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/audioplayer_main.php?media=opens,2654,0
25. ^ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/audioplayer_main.php?media=opens,492,0
26. ^ http://www.koco.com/koconewsteam/index.html

External links

• KOCO.com - Official KOCO-TV Website
• MeTVOklahomaCity.com - Official Me-TV OKC Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KOCO
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KOCO-TV