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KUTV is the CBS-affiliated television station serving the greater Salt Lake City, Utah metro area. The station broadcasts on UHF digital channel 34 from Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains as well as a variety of translators throughout Utah, Nevada and Wyoming. It is a sister station to KMYU channel 12, which serves the St. George area as a This TV affiliate; until 2008, it was operated as a satellite of KUTV. As of April 6, 2009,

KUTV
KUTV CBS 2
Salt Lake City, Utah
Branding KUTV Channel 2 (general)

2 News (newscasts)

Slogan Utah's Source for Breaking News, Weather and Sports
Channels Digital: 34 (UHF)Virtual: 2 (PISP)
Subchannels 2.1 CBS2.2MyNetworkTV/This TV
Affiliations CBS

MyNetworkTV/This TV (DT2)

Owner Four Points Media Group, LLC

(operated under LSA by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.) (Salt Lake City Television Licensee Corporation)

First air date September 10, 1954[1]
Call letters' meaning Utah TeleVision
Former channel number(s) Analog:2 (VHF, 1954-2009)
Former affiliations ABC (1954-1960)NBC (1960-1995)
Transmitter power 423 kW
Height 1267 m
Facility ID 35823
Transmitter coordinates 40°39′33″N 112°12′7″W
Website www.connect2utah.com

KUTV began carrying This TV on its 2.2 digital subchannel.[2] Since September 20, 2010, both KMYU and KUTV-DT2 have added programming from MyNetworkTV, which brought over-the-air MyNetworkTV programming back to Salt Lake City proper for the first time since KJZZ-TV went independent in 2008 (former MyNetworkTV affiliate KCSG's terrestrial signal does not reach Salt Lake City, and thus that station has been carried only on cable).

History[]

It originally signed on in 1954 as Utah's ABC affiliate (in 1960 an NBC station), trading affiliations with KCPX-TV (now KTVX). The original co-owners were Frank C. Carman & Associates and The Salt Lake Tribune owned by the Kearns-Tribune Corporation. The deal was spearheaded byTribune publisher John F. Fitzpatrick after his experience with two successful investments in local radio, including KSL (radio) and KALL. In 1956 the Carman group sold its interest to A.L. Glasman for the Ogden Standard-Examiner and his son-in-law and daughter, George and Gene Hatch. In the reorganization the Kearns-Tribune Corporation retained thirty-five percent interest until 1970.[3]

In 1994, NBC bought majority control (88%) of KUTV from VS&A Communications Partners[4](by this point, the Hatch's stake had been reduced to 12%). However, the Peacock's would be giving up that station less than a year after they acquired it. In September 1995, KUTV became a CBS affiliate as part of a complex deal resulting from Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W)'s affiliation deal with CBS. CBS traded its longtime O&O in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV, to NBC in exchange for KCNC-TV in Denver, with KUTV added to the deal as compensation. NBC and CBS also swapped transmitters in Miami as part of the deal. CBS then sold controlling interest in KUTV to Group W. NBC initially wanted to return to KTVX, but ultimately signed with KSL-TV.

When Group W's owner, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, merged with CBS in 1996, KUTV became a CBS O&O. It is one of the few stations in the country to have been affiliated with all three original television networks, and one of a number to have been owned by two different networks. At the time, KUTV retained one NBC program: Saturday Night Live, which remained in its Saturday 10:30 p.m. time slot until about five months later.

In 2003, the station moved from a facility in West Valley City to a street-side studio at 299 Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake's Wells FargoBuilding. The move was financed in part by the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency—in the form of $1.2-million in interest free loans. KUTV's newscasts overlook the street, and many segments take advantage of outdoor camera positions. Nearby Gallivan Center is also featured in some KUTV programming.

Under CBS ownership, KUTV was one of five CBS-O&O stations that did not follow the CBS Mandate, given the fact it is called 2News as opposed to CBS2 (this branding used on sisters WCBS, WBBM and KCBS. The other five are WCCO in Minneapolis-St. Paul - branded asWCCO 4, KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh - branded as simply KDKA-TV or KDKA-TV 2 (there is a CBS2 logo but residents of Pittsburgh would be upset had this been used "over-the-air"), WJZ in Baltimore - branded as WJZ 13, WBZ in Boston, branded as simply WBZ, and WWJ-TV inDetroit, branded simply as WWJTV.

On February 7, 2007, CBS Corporation reached an agreement to sell seven of its smaller-market stations, including KUTV and what was then KUSG, to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., for $185 million. Cerberus then formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, who took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements in late-June 2007. Subsequently, the site was moved to kutv.com with an interface somewhat similar to the former CBS version. The sale was finally approved by the FCC in mid-November 2007, and ownership was officially transferred on January 10, 2008.

As of November 26, 2007, KUTV started hosting master control operations for its Providence (RI) sister station, The CW affiliate WLWC, which was also acquired by the Four Points Media Group. On February 25, 2008, KUTV added three new stations from West Palm Beach, Florida to this operation, officially becoming the hub network for Four Points. The stations are The CW affiliate WTVX, the MyNetworkTVaffiliate WTCN-CA, and Azteca América affiliate WWHB. On March 20, 2009, the Nexstar Broadcasting Group took over the management of all of the Four Points stations, including KUTV, under a three-year outsourcing agreement.[5]

KUTV airs The Early Show's second hour every weekday morning at 8 a.m., but not airing the first hour due to the third hour of its local morning newscast.

On May 9, 2008 KUTV.com launched KUTV Greener Living a web site focused green businesses and products in Utah; the site also delivers localized environmental and political news.

Digital television[]

On June 12, 2009, KUTV ended analog broadcasts and began to transmit exclusively digitally. In 1080i HD [6]

News operation[]

KUTV produced a 30 minute 6:30 p.m. (Eastern time) daily local news program for WTVX, "CW West Palm News at 6:30". KUTV staffers anchored the show from a separate studio, and WTVX added material from two local reporters. [1]

Currently, KUTV produces a 30-minute 7 p.m. weekday news program for KMYU, who also simulcasts KUTV's 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights.

On April 19, 2008, during their 5:30 newscast, KUTV became the first station in Salt Lake City to do local news in HD. This was about 10 days before KSL news switched to HD instead of upconverting wide-screen standard definition video. On June 7, 2009, the weekend morning newscast was abruptly canceled; the WTVX newscast followed the next day. The reasons given were that the management company did not like to air weekend morning newscasts and that they were looking for ways to trim the budget.[citation needed]

During August 2009 KUTV did not renew its lease on their helicopter to save on leasing fees and storing it in the hangar. Instead KUTV has put an emphasis on "Chopper 2", a Harley Davidson motorcycle with a sidecar converted into a swiveling camera mount and seat for a camera operator. It will be used to help cover traffic accidents, weather reports, and parades.[7]

For most of its tenure as an NBC affiliate, KUTV's newscasts battled KCPX/KTVX for distant second behind long-dominant KSL-TV. However, since its acquisition by CBS in the mid-1990s, KUTV's newscasts have been far more competitive with KSL-TV. It remained a strong second for most of the time since then although it took over first place in most time slots in the November 2010 ratings period. For the February 2011 sweeps period, KUTV even unseated KSL-TV at 10 p.m., resulting in KUTV sweeping all of the newscast races for the first time in its history.

News/Station presentation[]

Newscast titles[]

  • Hoffman Headlines (1954-?)
  • Utoco News (1957–1960s)
  • KUTV Newsreel (1960s)
  • KUTV-2 News (1960s)
  • TV-2 News (1960s–1970)
  • News Scene (1970-1972)
  • The Scene Today/The Scene Tonight (1970s-1974)
  • NewsWatch 2 (1974–1983)
  • KUTV News (1983–1994)
  • KUTV 2 News (1994–1997)
  • 2 News (1997–present)

Station slogans[]

  • TV-2, Here's 2 Utah (early 1970s)
  • 2 Country (mid-late 1970s)
  • Channel 2, Proud As A Peacock! (1979–1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Channel 2, Our Pride Is Showing (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • We're Channel 2, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Channel 2 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Hello, Utah (Channel 2 Loves You) (early 1980s; used during period station used Frank Gari's Hello News)
  • 2 Together (1980s)
  • Channel 2, Let's All Be There (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Where News Comes First (1980s; used on news promos)
  • Come Home to Channel 2 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Come on Home to Channel 2 (1987-1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Come Home To The Best, Only on Channel 2 (1988-1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Utah's 24 Hour NewsChannel (early 1990s)
  • KUTV, The Place To Be! (1990-1992; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • It's A Whole New Channel 2 (1992-1993; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • The Stars Are Back on Channel 2 (1993-1994; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • It's KUTV! (1994-1995; last localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • You're on Channel 2 (1995-1996; first localized version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Channel 2, Welcome Home (1996-1997; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
  • The Address is Channel 2...Welcome Home (1997-1999; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
  • The Address is Channel 2 (1999-2000; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
  • 2 News, It's All Here (2000-2005; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Utah's NewsChannel (mid 1990s)
  • Fresh Air (2002–present)
  • Utah's Source for Breaking News, Weather and Sports (2007–present)

Newscast music[]

  • KUTV 1957 News Theme by Unknown Composer (19??-19??)
  • KUTV 1965 News Theme by Unknown Composer (19??-19??)
  • The Action News Theme by Unknown Composer (19??-1974)
  • NBC TV-Radio Newspulse by Fred Weinberg Productions, Inc. (1974–1979)
  • KUTV 1979 News Theme by Unknown Composer (1979-19??)
  • KUTV 1983 News Theme by Unknown Composer (19??-1983)
  • Hello News by Gari Communications (1983-19??)
  • KUTV 1990 News Theme by Unknown Composer (19??-1993)
  • KUTV 1993 News Theme by Unknown Composer (1993-1994)
  • KUTV 1994 News Theme by Unknown Composer (1994-19??)
  • Primetime News by Non-Stop Music (19??-19??)
  • Power News by Non-Stop Music (19??-2006)
  • Horizon by Stephen Arnold Music (2006–2007)
  • Alive (V.1, V.2) by 615 Music (2007–2011)
  • Always Worth Your Time by 615 Music (2011-present)

Personalities[]

Main article: List of personalities of KUTV==Translators==

KUTV extends its coverage throughout the entire state of Utah, plus parts of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming, using a network of more than 100 community-owned translator television stations listed below.

List of translators [hide]{| style="font-size: 12px; " ! align="left"|City ! align="left"|Callsign ! align="left"|City ! align="left"|Callsign ! align="left"|City ! align="left"|Callsign |- |Alton, Utah | style="width: 75px; "|K11OC |Green River, Utah | style="width: 75px; "|K09CX |Oljeto, Utah |K02PV |- |Antimony, Utah |K04FG |Hanksville, Utah |K11LJ |Orangeville, Utah |K28GZ |- |Aurora, Utah, etc. |K53CF |Hanna, Utah, etc. |K09MQ |Orderville, Utah |K02EN |- |Beaver, Utah, etc. |K09CS |Hatch, Utah |K09MO |Panguitch, Utah |K02BN |- |Beaver, Utah, etc. |K22FS-D |Heber City, Utah, etc. |K35EW |Park City, Utah, etc. |K15FL |- |Bigelow Bench Area, Wyoming |K38BZ |Helper, Utah |K11BV |Parowan, Utah |K32AG |- |Blanding, Utah, etc. |K46AF |Henefer, Utah, etc. |K08AS |Peoa & Oakley, Utah |K08IE |- |Bluff, Utah & Area |K02PU |Henrieville, Utah |K11UM |Preston, Idaho |K29EY |- |Montpelier, Idaho, etc. |K31CI |Huntsville, Utah, etc. |K50EB |Preston, Idaho |K44HA |- |Boulder, Utah |K08II |Kanab, Utah |K02BI |Randolph & Woodruff, Utah |K26GH |- |Caineville, Utah |K09LV |Kanab, Utah |K20EC |Randolph, Utah |K13QJ |- |Capitol Reef National Park, Utah |K08HZ |Kanarraville, Utah |K08CE |Richfield, Utah, etc. |K03AS |- |Ceder City Canyon, Utah |K08MZ |Koosharem, Utah |K08CL |Richfield, Utah, etc. |K31JI-D |- |Cedar City, Utah |K09CJ |Laketown, Utah, etc. |K08JR |Roosevelt, Utah, etc. |K12FG |- |Circleville, Utah |K11FZ |Leamington, Utah |K48FY |Rural Garfield County, Utah |K16EQ |- |Coalville, Utah |K09DP |Loa, Utah, etc. |K07CT |Rural Sevier County, Utah |K35DX |- |Coalville, Utah |K11DW |Long Valley Junction, Utah |K48EK |Ruth, Nevada |K09DW |- |Delta, Utah, etc. |K31FG |Lund & Preston, Nevada |K10BU |Samak, Utah |K09VF |- |Dingle, Idaho, etc. |K09PL |Manti, Utah, etc. |K09FM |Scipio & Holden, Utah |K08DP |- |Duchesne, Utah |K08CT |Manti, Utah, etc. |K28JN-D |Scofield, Utah |K08CF |- |Dutch John & Manila, Utah |K02HP |Marysvale, Utah |K02BQ |Sigurd & Salina, Utah |K08CM |- |East Price, Utah |K02OT |Mayfield, Utah |K13JP |Sigurd & Salina, Utah |K16HE-D |- |Ely, Nevada |K32CJ |McKinnon, Wyoming, etc. |K27DZ |Spring Glen, Utah, etc. |K08AU |- |Emery, Utah |K35DW |Mexican Hat, Utah |K02PT |Steptoe & Ruby Valley, Nevada |K08IY |- |Escalante, Utah |K02FQ |Mexican Hat, Utah |K13XO |Summit County, Utah |K41GS |- |Eureka, Nevada |K40CI |Mink Creek, Idaho |K08EZ |Teasdale & Torrey, Utah |K02BO |- |Eureka, Utah |K41DC |Modena, Utah, etc. |K27GB |Ticaboo, Utah |K02ON |- |Fillmore, Utah, etc. |K36FY |Montezuma Creek, Utah |K02OI |Tropic & Cannonville, Utah |K02IF |- |Fish Lake Resort, Utah |K07IZ |Morgan, Utah, etc. |K08GA |Utahn, Utah |K09VZ |- |Fruitland, Utah |K12KZ |Mount Pleasant, Utah |K08CC |Vernal, Utah, etc. |K09CY |- |Garfield, Utah, etc. |K39FT |Murray Canyon, Nevada, etc. |K09EA |Wanship, Utah |K06JH |- |Garrison, Utah, etc. |K09NB |Myton, Utah, etc. |K43AE |Wendover, Utah |K08EI |- |Green River, Utah |K02BU |Navajo Mountain School, Utah, etc. |K02PX |Woodland & Kamas, Utah |K48AE |}

See also[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says September 26, while the Television and Cable Factbook says September 10.
  2. ^ This TV on Channel 2.2
  3. ^ O. N. Malmquist, The First 100 Years: A History of the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah State Historical Society, 1971, pp 388-390
  4. ^ http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/370135/NBC-BUYS-88-INTEREST-IN-SL-TELEVISION-AFFILIATE.html
  5. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/tv/ci_11987126
  6. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11665656
  7. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13152296
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