KEYE-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KEYE-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = CBS 42 Is Always On
station_branding = CBS 42
analog = 42 (UHF)
digital = 43 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
RTN (on DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate = December 4, 1983
location = Austin, Texas
callsign_meaning = EYEwitness , also to The Eyes of Texas) and the CBS logo
former_callsigns = KBVO-TV (1983-1995)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Four Points Media Group, LLC
licensee = Austin Television Licensee Corporation
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Independent (1983–1986)
Fox (1986–1995)
effective_radiated_power = 5000 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 380 m (analog)
395 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 33691
coordinates = coord|30|19|19.3|N|97|48|12.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.keyetv.com/ www.keyetv.com]

KEYE-TV, channel 42 is a CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group, LLC (which in turn is owned by Cerberus Capital Management). Its studios are located on Metric Boulevard in North Austin (as one of two stations in this part of town; KVUE is other), and its transmitter is located in the city.

History

Channel 42 had been the original home of NBC affiliate KHFI-TV, when it signed on in 1965. That station moved to channel 36 in 1973 and is now KXAN-TV. For nine years, the channel was dark. That was until December 4, 1983 when KBVO-TV, Austin's first independent station, took to the airwaves. The calls came from the University of Texas at Austin's mascot, Bevo. It was originally owned by Steve Beard, an Austin advertising executive. In 1987, it became affiliated with the upstart Fox network and began calling itself "Fox42" on-air in the late 1980s. In 1993, Beard sold the station to Granite Broadcasting for $54 million--a handsome return on his original investment.

In 1995, after Fox purchased KTBC, thus moving its affiliation there, KBVO took over the CBS affiliation and changed its calls to KEYE. The callsign is taken from a dual meaning: one refers to the famous CBS Eye Logo; the other refers to the school song of UT Austin, The Eyes of Texas. It called itself "K-EYE 42, Your Eye on Austin" until 1999, branding was shortened to simply "K-EYE," on account of the fact that it was now available to all Austin area cable subscribers on cable channel 5. In 2000, KEYE became the second O&O of any major network in the market when CBS bought the station from Granite. In 2005 it was rebranded again, strangely enough, to "CBS42 K-EYE" (under the "CBS Mandate") to reflect CBS ownership and for cable subscribers to avoid confusion with San Antonio's CBS outlet KENS-TV, seen on VHF analog channel 5. As of 2006, it is simply branded "CBS42" with the "K-EYE" branding conventions gradually phased out after eleven years (except for a website address reference).

On February 7, 2007, CBS agreed to sell seven of its smaller-market stations 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 of 2007. [http://keyetv.com/content/aboutus/default.aspx] As of January 10, 2008, Four Points officially became the owner of the stations.

KEYE's master controls were located at the studio facilities of WTOG in St. Petersburg (FL) from shortly after Viacom's merger with CBS until the beginning of 2007, when WTOG's master controls were relocated to WGNT in Norfolk (VA). At that point, as part of the preparation of the station to eventually begin producing local newscasts in HDTV, KEYE began handling its own master controls for the first time in several years.

Since 2002, KEYE has been the Austin home for pre-season games of the Houston Texans, in addition to airing CBS' coverage of the AFC package of NFL games. As of April 3, 2006, the station is also the official home of the Dallas Cowboys in Austin and will air pre-season games as well as several Cowboys-related shows during the NFL season. [http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2006/04/03/daily7.html]

Some controversy exists over KEYE's selection of Tennessee Titans football games (capitalizing on former University of Texas quarterback Vince Young's popularity in Austin) over those of the Texans.

KEYE has consistently traded third and fourth place in the Austin Neilsens with KTBC since the affiliation switch, unable to capitalize on either its new CBS programming or the buzz generated by the new newscasts. In contrast, KTBC's newscasts and CBS programming were consistently ranked first in the market prior to switching to Fox. [http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1996/09/02/story7.html] ) [http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1996/12/23/story8.html]

Digital Television

KEYE started producing newscasts in high definition on November 1, 2007. The transition made KEYE the first station in the Austin market to produce and air newscasts in HD. [http://www.keyetv.com/content/entertainment/hd/default.aspx] It was announced on March 29, 2008 that 42.2 was being turned on and would soon broadcast the Retro Television Network with a customized schedule for the Austin market.

Newscasts

Before switching networks to CBS, KEYE (then KBVO) had no newscasts with the exception of nightly, three-minute updates aired during Fox prime time from a small closet studio. After the affiliation swap, on July 3, 1995, KEYE immediately launched a full slate of newscasts. Since that time, the first newscast to be dropped was the noon show - the station has also expanded the morning show as well added and since dropped three new hours of weekend morning newscasts. KEYE started out with an Eyewitness News format (titled K-EYEwitness News), which was used until 2000. (The newscast title was shorted to KEYE News in late 1998, which was used until the "CBS Mandate" was put in place and the title became CBS 42 K-EYE News and then simply CBS 42 News.)

In contrast to former Fox stations on UHF that are now CBS, ABC or NBC stations—which often have had no success against their better-established news competitors, resulting in several cancellations—KEYE has been successful with their newscasts in a mostly-UHF market, competing with KTBC, KVUE, and KXAN-TV, thus making it one of the fastest growing stations in Central Texas.

Notable Personalities

Current On-Air Talent

CBS42 NEWS ANCHORS
*Fred Cantu, Weekday Morning Anchor
*Judy Maggio, 5PM, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
*Ron Oliveira, 5PM, 6PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
*Jason Wheeler, Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter

CBS42 NEWS REPORTERS
*Bettie Cross, General Assignment Reporter
*Annalisa Petralia, General Assignment Reporter
*Katherine Stolp, General Assignment Reporter
*Julie Simon, General Assignment Reporter
*Rebecca Taylor, General Assignment Reporter
*Gregg Watson, General Assignment Reporter
*Nanci Wilson, General Assignment Reporter
*Alexis Patterson, General Assignment Reporter

CBS42 METEOROLOGISTS
*Susan Vessell, Meteorologist
*Megan Campbell, Meteorologist
*Kelly Slifka, Meteorologist

SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS
*Bob Ballou, Sports Director
*Chris Pelikan, Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"News 42" (1983-1986)
*"KBVO FOX 42 News" (1986-1995)
*"K-EYEwitness News" (1995-1998)
*"K-EYE News" (1998-2005)
*"CBS42 K-EYE News" (2005-2006)
*"CBS42 News" (2006-present)
*"CBS42 News in HD" (2007-present)

tation Slogans

*"Channel 42, Austin's Superstation" (1983-1986)
*"Your Eye On Austin" (1995-2003)
*"Coverage You Can Count On" (2003-2007, dropped as ownership transferred from CBS)
*"CBS 42 is Always On" (2005-present)
*"We Are Austin" (2005-present)

Former Austin CBS cluster

*When KEYE was owned by CBS, the Austin CBS Radio (previously Infinity Radio) cluster (consisting of KAMX, KKMJ, KXBT and KJCE at the time) were housed in a separate facility in South Austin. CBS Radio sold the cluster to Entercom Communications in August 2006, with the group deal closing on November 30, 2007.

The broadcasting antennas are on a 369.1 metres tall guyed TV tower at 30°19′19.3″N, 97°48′12.6″W.

References

* [http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2006/04/03/daily7.html "Dallas Cowboys align with KEYE"] "Austin Business Journal", April 3, 2006
* [http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1996/09/02/story7.html "KVUE, KXAN hold on in latest ratings"] "Austin Business Journal", August 30, 1996
* [http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1996/12/23/story8.html "KVUE sweeps up competition in November"] "Austin Business Journal", December 20, 1996

External links

* [http://www.keyetv.com/ KEYE-TV CBS42's Website]
* [http://www.austinsrtn.com/ Austin's RTN Website]
*TVQ|KEYE-TV
*BIA|KEYE|TV|TV
* [http://www.austintvnews.com/keye.html AustinTVNews.com :: KEYE]