KFVS-TV
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KFVS-TV, channel 12, is the CBS-affiliated television station for southeast Missouri, western Kentucky, and southern Illinois that is licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Its transmitter is located north of the city in rural Cape Girardeau County. Owned by Raycom Media, the station is sister to low-powered CW affiliates WQWQ-LP / WQTV-LP. The three stations share studios in the Hirsch Tower on Broadway Avenue in downtown Cape Girardeau. Syndicated programming on KFVS includes: Everybody Loves Raymond, Oprah, Ellen, and Live with Regis and Kelly.
Digital signal
The station's digital signal is multiplexed. Until its shutdown on October 1, 2007, KFVS offered The Tube Music Network on its third digital subchannel.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 12.1 / 57.1 | main KFVS programming / CBS HD |
| 12.2 / 57.2 | WQWQ-LP / WQTV-LP (The CW) |
| 12.4 / 57.4 | "Storm Team Weather Network" (24-hour local weather channel) |
History
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KFVS-TV began broadcasting on October 3, 1954. It was owned by Oscar G. Hirsch, a radio shop operator. Hirsch had signed on the area's first radio station, KFVS-AM 960 (now KZIM) in 1925. At the start, channel 12 did not have any video cameras. Instead, the station's first broadcast showed slides of its new transmitter tower that was under construction at the time. In 1968, Hirsch moved KFVS from the radio station studios to its present location on Broadway Avenue. Hirsch sold KFVS to Aflac in 1979. In 1997, that company sold their broadcast group of television stations, including KFVS, to a group headed by Retirement Systems of Alabama.
They, in turn, merged with Ellis Communications a few months later to form what is now Raycom Media. KFVS serves more than fifty counties in four states including all of doutheastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and western Tennessee. The KFVS calls, which date back to its radio counterpart, mean "Five States" with the addition of northeastern Arkansas. However, KFVS has very little coverage in that state. That area is served by sister station KAIT. A portion of the station's signal into the Missouri Bootheel even overlaps with sister station WMC-TV in Memphis, Tennessee. KFVS refers to its viewing area as "The Heartland". Its over-the-air signal carries into the St. Louis eastern suburb of Belleville, Illinois. Taller hills between the transmitter and metropolitan St. Louis prevent the signal from reaching into the city proper. KFVS's coverage area overlaps with KMOV, that market's CBS affiliate. Cable outlets in several southern KMOV counties and northern KFVS counties carry both stations.
News operation
KFVS produces roughly 25 hours of news per week. The station has used Heartland News as its moniker for newscasts for decades. It boasts two of the longest-tenured personalities in the country. Mike Shain started his on-air work as a news anchor in 1972 while meteorologist Bob Reeves has been delivering weather forecasts since 1970. At one point, KFVS produced a nightly 9 o'clock newscast on CW affiliate WWQWQ-LP / WQTV-LP. Known on-air as Heartland News at 9, it had a southeastern Missouri focus in terms of news coverage. The news was dropped after the July 29, 2007 broadcast and was replaced with a rebroadcast of Oprah. Currently, the CW station rebroadcasts three weekday newscasts that air on KFVS. In addition to their main studios, KFVS operates two newsrooms. The Southern Illinois Newsroom is located on East Main Street in Carbondale, Illinois. The Western Kentucky Newsroom is located on Park Avenue in Paducah, Kentucky. The station uses live, NOAA National Weather Service radar data from several regional sites. This forecasting system is presented on-screen in weather segments known as "Storm Team Digital Doppler". KFVS operates, in partnership with Southeast Missouri State University, a 24-hour local weather channel on its fourth digital subchannel. Known as the "Storm Team Weather Network" it is also offered on several digital cable systems. In southeastern Missouri, it can be seen on Charter channel 113. In western Kentucky, it is on Comcast channel 249. In Marion, Illinois, the weather channel is located on Mediacom channel 191.
News team
Anchors
- Jim Burns - weekday mornings
- weekday morning associate producer
- Lauren Keith - weekday mornings and Noon
- "Does it Work Wednesday" segment producer
- Kathy Sweeney - Assistant News Director seen on weeknights at 5 and 6
- Jeff Cunningham - weeknights at 5, 6, and 10
- Mary-Ann Maloney - weeknights at 10 and fill-in anchor
- Crystal Britt - weekends and reporter
Heartland Storm Team
- Bob Reeves - Senior Meteorologist seen on weeknights
- Brian Alworth (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weekday mornings and Noon
- John Dissauer (NWA Seal of Approval) - weekend mornings and Director of Internet Development
- Laura Wibbenmeyer - weekend evenings and "Making the Grade" segment producer
Sports
- Todd Richards - Director seen on weeknights at 6 and 10
- Chad Fryman - weekend evenings and sports reporter
Reporters
- Mike Shain - host of Perspective and fill-in anchor
- Carly O'Keefe - Southern Illinois Newsroom
- Arnold Wyrick - Southern Illinois Newsroom
- Holly Brantley
- C.J. Cassidy