KTVX

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KTVX
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = ABC 4
analog = 4 (VHF)
digital = 40 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
TheHive TV (Community-produced programs) on DT2
network =
founded =
airdate = April 19, 1948
location = Salt Lake City, Utah
callsign_meaning = TeleVision eXellence (1975)
former_callsigns = KDYL-TV (1948-1953)
KTVT (1953-1959)
KCPX-TV (1959-1975)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Newport Television, LLC
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = NBC (1948-1960)
effective_radiated_power = 32.4 kW (analog)
475.7 kW (digital)
HAAT = 1180 m (analog)
1256 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 68889
coordinates = coord|40|36|50|N|112|11|8.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|40|39|33|N|112|12|10|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://www.abc4.com/ www.abc4.com]

KTVX ("ABC4") is the ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah. It also operates a large network of over 100 translator stations that covers the entire state and parts of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. The station is owned by Newport Television, and controls CW affiliate KUCW, owned by High Plains Broadcasting, Inc., due to FCC ownership limits (see below). KTVX broadcasts from a transmitter on Farnsworth Peak, southwest of Salt Lake City.

History

KTVX signed on the air as Utah's first TV station in November 1946 under the experimental callsign W6SIX. It began broadcasting regularly on April 19, 1948 [ [http://db3-sql.staff.library.utah.edu/lucene/Manuscripts/null/Ms0559.xml/Bioghist KTVX history] ] , and signified its relationship with its corporate sibling KDYL-AM with the callsign KDYL-TV. The floor in the first studio was sloped and cameras would easily roll. The original transmitter sat on the top of the Walker Bank Building. The station was originally an NBC affiliate owing to KDYL-AM's long relationship with NBC Radio; KDYL-AM had been one of NBC's original 26 affiliates when the network premiered in 1926. KDYL-FM (later KCPX-FM) went on the air in 1946 at 98.7 mhz and was Salt Lake City's second FM station.

KTVX is the oldest TV station in the Mountain Time Zone and the third oldest west of the Mississippi. It was the first independently-owned TV station to sign-on in America [ [http://db3-sql.staff.library.utah.edu/lucene/Manuscripts/null/Ms0559.xml/Bioghist KTVX history] ] . The station changed its call letters to KTVT in 1953, KCPX-TV in 1959, and finally KTVX in 1975. The KTVT call letters are now used by the CBS station in Dallas, Texas. The change of call letters to KCPX came with the sale to Screen Gems Broadcasting, a division of Screen Gems, then the television division of Columbia Pictures. For a brief period during the mid-1950s it was owned by Time Life, Inc. It adopted its present-day call letters when United Television (then a subsidiary of the 20th Century Fox Corporation) acquired the station.

Channel 4 swapped affiliations with KUTV in 1960 and became an ABC affiliate.

Some of the memorable shows from the 1960s include "Fireman Frank" and "Nightmare Theater", both hosted by Ron Ross.

The KTVX call letters were formerly used by KTUL-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, also an ABC affiliate.

In 1975, when the station changed its call letters to KTVX, the title for the newscasts was "NewsCenter 4". This was the first newscast title under the current call letters, which lasted until 1981.

In 1981, United Television merged with Chris-Craft Industries. After Chris-Craft's stations were sold to FOX, KTVX and KMOL (now WOAI-TV) in San Antonio were traded to Clear Channel for WFTC in the Twin Cities. Since Fox already owned KSTU, it was forced to sell KTVX due to current FCC regulations prohibiting one company from owning two of the four highest-ranked stations in a single market. KTVX was traded because it had a long-term ABC affiliation. FOX also wanted to offer an attractive package to Clear Channel for WFTC.

KTVX was the only Chris-Craft owned station to have never been affiliated with UPN during the time Chris-Craft owned a partial stake in the network.

The station airs TheHive TV on its DT2 digital subchannel, which features locally produced programs and sports produced by residents in the Salt Lake City area, and the schedule resembles cable public access, though since the channel must conform to FCC content guidelines, outside producers' programs must be approved by the station before they can air.

On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced plans to sell all of its television stations, including KTVX,cite news|title=Clear Channel agrees to sale|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|publisher=Gannett Company|url=http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/BIZ01/311160018/-1/CINCI|date=2006-11-16|accessdate=2006-11-17] after being bought by private equity firms. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners's Newport Television.cite press release|title=Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners|publisher=Clear Channel Communications|url=http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1943|date=2007-04-20|accessdate=2007-04-20] Newport closed on the station group on March 14, 2008. In May 2008, Newport Television agreed to sell KTVX and five other stations to High Plains Broadcasting, Inc. because of an ownership conflict; however, Newport Television would have continued to operate KTVX through a joint sales agreement after the sale was finalized. [ [http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/605370.html Fresno's KGPE has new owner] ] However, on August 22, 2008, KTVX was removed from the sale after Univision Communications, owner of KUTH and of which Providence Equity Partners holds a 19% stake, canceled its plans to purchase KUTF, thus alleviating the need to sell channel 4.cite web|url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1264514&Service=TV&Form_id=314&Facility_id=34459|title=APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE |date=2008-09-04|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Bush visit

In August 2005, President George W. Bush visited Salt Lake City to speak to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Cindy Sheehan appeared in a paid political message protesting the Iraq War, and the ad was submitted to the top four stations in the market (KSL-TV, KSTU, KTVX and KUTV). KTVX management declined the offer, saying that the content "could very well be offensive to our community in Utah, which has contributed more than its fair share of fighting soldiers and suffered significant loss of life in this Iraq war." [Associated Press. " [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-20-bush-ad_x.htm TV station refuses to air anti-war ad days before Bush visit] ," "USA Today", August 21, 2005.]

Newscasts

Ross Becker and Barbara Smith anchor the news at 5:00pm, 6:00pm and 10:00pm.

The morning news program, "A.M. Express", was recently re-imaged as "Good Morning Utah" with a new weather person and an on-set traffic person.

ABC4 also broadcasts a live show at 10 a.m. titled "Good Things Utah" with hosts Nicea DeGering, Reagan Leadbetter, Angie Larsen and Marti Skold.

The weekend newscasts are anchored by Terry Wood and Susan Wood.

On Air Personalities

ABC 4 News Anchors

* Ross Becker - 5pm, 6pm and 10pm
* Barbara Smith - 5pm, 6pm and 10pm
* Mike McKay - Good Morning Utah (5-7am)
* Terry Wood - Weekends (also reporter)
* Susan Wood - Weekends (also reporter)

ABC 4 Weather

* Marti Skold, Chief Meteorologist - 5pm, 6pm & 10pm
* Todd Gross, Meteorologist - Good Morning Utah (5-7am)
* Clayton Brough, Climatologist - Weekend Editions of ABC4 News (Forecasting Weather on KTVX for 26 Years)

ABC 4 Sports Zone and Red Zone

* Wesley Ruff - Sports Director
* Dana Greene - Sports Anchor
* Kent Rupe - Sports Anchor

Translators

KTVX 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.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"Your Esso Reporter" (1948-1953)
*"Chevrolet News and Weather" (1953-1959)
*"The Pepsi-Cola News Report" (1959-1961)
*"The Big News" (1961-1965, 6 P.M. newscast)
*"Nightly News" (1961-1965, 10 P.M. newscast)
*"City Camera News" (1965-1975, 6 P.M. newscast)
*"24 Hours" (1965-1975, 10 P.M. newscast)
*"NewsCenter 4" (1975-1981)
*"Channel 4 News" (1981-1986)
*"Live at Five" (1981-1986; 5 P.M. newscast)
*"KTVX News" (1986-1992)
*"News 4 Utah" (1992-2002)
*"ABC 4 News" (2002-present)

tation Slogans

*"KCPX Television, Channel 4 in Color" (1965-1971)
*"KCPX Television Channel 4, Utah's Own Station" (1971-1975)
*"NewsCenter 4: Utah's Choice for News" (1975-1980)
*"We're 4 You" (1980-1982)
*"That's What Friends Are 4" (1982-1985)
*"You'll Love It on Channel 4" (1985-1986)
*"KTVX News: Number One in Utah" (1986-1992)
*"We're 4 Utah" (1992-2001)
*"It's About all of us" (2001-2002)
*"ABC 4: Close To Home" (2002-2007)
*"This is where we live" (2007-Present)

Trivia

* In 1968, KTVX was still known as KCPX-TV. At this time, the station was using a popular "Open 4" logo that was later implemented by WAPA-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That station used several variations of the logo from the 1970s until implementing a new logo in 1990. [http://www.mcsittel.com/html/tvg-uid.htm] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dukG29x7_2U]

See also

*List of Salt Lake City media

External links

* [http://www.abc4.com/ KTVX ABC4 Homepage]
* [http://www.thehivetv.com/default.aspx TheHive TV Homepage]
* [http://www.clearchannel.com/ ClearChannel]
* [http://www.abc.com/ ABC Homepage]
*TVQ|KTVX
*BIA|KTVX|TV|TV

References