KCRA-TV
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KCRA is a television station in Sacramento, California owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. An NBC affiliate, the station broadcasts an NTSC signal on Channel 3 and a digital television signal as KCRA-DT on Channel 35 from the Hearst-Argyle Tower near Walnut Grove, California. Sometimes, the same television programming that is on KCRA appears on its sister station, KQCA, an affiliate of My Network TV. Such programming includes local news and some syndicated programming.
The station is also available on cable in the northern portions of the San Francisco Bay Area.
History
KCRA-TV was founded on September 3, 1955 by the Kelly and Hansen families, owners of KCRA-AM 1320 (which had been founded ten years earlier in 1945; now Air America Radio affiliate KCTC, owned by Entercom Communications) and KCRA-FM 96.1 (now CBS Radio owned-and-operated KYMX). The station's call letters were to be KRCA-TV, but when the license application was filed with the FCC it was misspelled. (By the time KCRA-TV went on the air, the KRCA-TV calls had already been taken by NBC's West Coast flagship O&O (owned & operated) station in Los Angeles, now KNBC.) The Kelly family bought out the Hansens in 1962 and owned the station until 1999, when Kelly Broadcasting merged with Hearst-Argyle Television [1].
KCRA-TV has long been an innovator in local news. The station's motto, "Where The News Comes First", has become a symbol for its news coverage. KCRA has used the slogan since 1957. It has been the ratings leader in Sacramento for many years, and continues to dominate every newscast timeslot during the February 2007 sweeps period.
In 1965, it first used color film in its newscasts. Starting in 1975, it used remote cameras to report the news live. Recent years have brought helicopters and satellite remotes. On September 10, 1966, Bob Wilkins hosted a late Saturday Night horror movie show called "Seven Arts Theatre". Bob Wilkins later moved his show to KTXL-TV in Sacramento and KTVU-TV in Oakland in the 1970s.
Harry Geise was hired by KCRA as a weatherman. While he used the information coming out of Suitland, Maryland, his forecast accuracy was higher than the weatherbureau especially in long range forecasting, so much so that almost every farmer in California listened to his forecasts. He developed many techniques which are now taken for granted. Through his weathercasts he taught a couple of generations all about weather from "upper level devils" to looking out the window. On the scantest of data - weather bureaus, out the window, smell in the air, and nut gatherers) but prior to satellite, doppler radar, space weather, home weather stations, and little local information - he could look globally and tell what the local weather would be in six weeks or six months.
By the mid-1970s, KCRA established news bureaus throughout the state to broaden its range of reporting, as well as producing its own public affairs programming, and initiating a consumer affairs division to answer the needs of concerned consumers.
Like many NBC affiliates, KCRA over the years preempted some NBC programming, notably the soap opera Another World. That show would reair for certain time, but was preempted again due to low ratings -- this was the case with local counterpart KOVR, which despite being a CBS O&O, does not run Guiding Light due to poor ratings, and has been cancelled from the market by former CBS affiliate KXTV. Given its news station status, KCRA also preempted the weekend version of The Today Show and the T-NBC lineup which aired Saturday mornings for more local news. Notably enough, the station had a 4:30 p.m. newscast launched, causing Days of Our Lives to air half an hour earlier than the typical practice.
KCRA is the one of two stations in Sacramento to keep the same network affiliation -- the other being KTXL.
Like other local stations, KCRA developed an in-house production facility, with local children's programming, news magazines and talk shows. By the beginning of the 21st century, KCRA became the first station in the Sacramento/Stockton market to broadcast digitally in HDTV.
In early 2004, KCRA opened the new exhibit, "The KCRA 3 Experience" at local Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, California. This is where Walt Gray and Eileen Javora do the news Monday-Friday at noon from the Arden Fair Mall.
In late December 2005 KCRA began using a new "Triple Doppler" system for weather reports. In addition to KCRA's own doppler radar system at Walnut Grove, range and accuracy were increased by adding data from NEXRAD sites. KRGX north of Reno on Virginia Peak improves the accuracy of Sierra images, KMUX south of San Jose on Mt. Umunuhm has a great view of storms approaching from the Pacific Ocean, and KBBX at Beale Air Force Base gives improved detail in the valley.
Digital Television & HD
KCRA-HD is an ATSC digital television signal broadcast over channel 35 which is available over-the-air with a digital tuner, which there is an offering of two sub-channels:
- KCRA HD on DT 35.1 / 3.1
- NBC Weather Plus on DT 35.2 / 3.2
On February 12, 2007 KCRA started broadcasting all of its news broadcasts in HD and also debuted its new newscenter set and also LiveCopter 3 HD.
Newscasts
All newscasts airing in high-definition began February 12, 2007.
Weekdays
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 5 a.m.
- anchored by Walt Gray, and Deirdre Fitzpatrick, with Eileen Javora on weather and Adrienne Bankert with traffic
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 6 a.m.
- anchored by Walt Gray and Deirdre Fitzpatrick, with Eileen Javora on weather and Adrienne Bankert with traffic
- KCRA 3 Reports @ Noon from the KCRA 3 Experience (Currently the only newscast not in HD)
- anchored by Walt Gray with Eileen Javora on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 5 p.m.
- anchored by Dave Walker and Lois Hart with Mark Finan on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 6 p.m.
- anchored by Edie Lambert and Chris Riva, with Mark Finan on weather and Del Rodgers with sports
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 6:30 p.m.
- anchored by Dave Walker and Lois Hart with Mark Finan on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports in HD @ 11 p.m.
- anchored by Edie Lambert and Chris Riva, with Mark Finan on weather and Del Rodgers with sports
Saturdays
- KCRA 3 Reports: The Morning News in HD 7-9:00 a.m.
- anchored by Mike TeSelle with Julie Watts on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 5 p.m. in HD
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 6 p.m. in HD
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather and Danny Pommells with sports
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 11 p.m. in HD 11-11:30 p.m.
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather and Danny Pommells with sports
Sundays
- KCRA 3 Reports: Morning News Early in HD 7-8 a.m.
anchored by Lyndsey Paulo with Julie Watts on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports: The Morning News in HD 8-10 a.m.
anchored by Lyndsey Paulo with Julie Watts on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 5 p.m. in HD
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 6 p.m. in HD
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather and Danny Pommells with sports
- KCRA 3 Reports @ 11 p.m. in HD
- anchored by Kevin Riggs and Pamela Wu with Dirk Verdoorn on weather and Danny Pommells with sports
Known Slogans
- Where the news comes first - 1957-present The slogan has been a historical part of the station.
- You've been watching Channel 3 Reports, the Valley's largest and most respected broadcast news team. - late 1980s slogan that was announced at the end of most newscasts. (As news staff expanded, the word "Valley" eventually was replaced with "northern California.")
Notable Personalities
Current News Personalities
- NOTE: Some reporters are also feature reporters for Hearst-Argyle sister station KSBW
- Adrienne Bankert, Traffic Reporter
- Josh Bernstein, General Assignment Reporter
- David Bienick, General Assignment Reporter
- Tom DuHain, General Assignment Reporter (Anchor for KCRA in the 1980s)
- Mark Finan, Chief Meteorologist
- Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Morning & Noon Anchor/Reporter
- Sarah Gardner, 10 p.m. Anchor/Reporter
- Walt Gray, Morning & Noon Anchor/Reporter (Sports Anchor for KCRA in the late 1980s)
- John Hamilton, Live Copter 3 Pilot/Reporter
- Lois Hart Walker, 5 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (wife of KCRA anchor Dave Walker)
- Brian Hickey, General Assignment Reporter
- Rich Ibarra, General Assignment Reporter
- Eileen Javora, Morning & Noon Meteorologist
- Sally Kidd, Washington, DC Bureau Reporter
- Laurie Kinney, Wasington, DC Bureau Reporter
- Adam Kramer, General Assignment Reporter at KCRA and KSBW
- Edie Lambert, 6 p.m. & 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter
- Grace Lee, General Assignment Reporter
- Traci Mitchell, Washington, DC Bureau Reporter
- Andrea Monetti, General Assignment Reporter for KCRA and KSBW
- Leticia Ordaz, General Assignment Reporter
- Lynsey Paulo, Call 3 Consumer Reporter and Sunday Morning anchor
- Suzanne Phan, General Assignment Reporter
- Danny Pommells, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
- Kevin Riggs, Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter
- Chris Riva, 6 p.m., 10 p.m. & 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter
- Del Rodgers, Sports Director/Anchor/Reporter
- Sharokina Shams, General Assignment Reporter
- Richard Sharp, General Assignment Reporter
- Dann Shively, Live Copter 3 Pilot/Reporter
- Mike TeSelle, General Assignment Reporter and Saturday Morning anchor
- Dirk Verdoorn, Weekend Evening Meteorologist
- Dave Walker, 5 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Anchor/Reporter
- Julie Watts, Weekend Morning Meteorologist
- Pamela Wu, Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter
Past News Personalities
- Miguel Almaguer, General Assignment Reporter (March 2003-May 2006), now at WRC-TV in Washington, DC)
- John Alston, 6 p.m. & 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (2002-2006), now freelances at KOVR/KMAX
- Arran Andersen, Intern (1998-2000), Now at KOVR/KMAX
- Stan Atkinson, Anchor (1970s?-1994), later moved to KOVR
- Nora Baldner, Intern, now at WGEM-TV in Quincy, Illinois
- Carol Bland, Anchor/Reporter (1980s?-1994), later moved to KGW-TV as Carol Jensen but has moved on[1]
- Mike Bond, General Assignment Reporter, laid off Friday 1/26/2007[2]
- Mike Boyd, Anchor/Reporter (1963-2001), died 14 October, 2006
- Lisa Breckenridge, Anchor/Reporter (?-1997), now at KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles
- Kelly Brothers, Anchor/Reporter (?-2002), now at KXTV
- Tana Castro, Reporter (1995-2006)
- Maurice DuBois, Anchor/Reporter, now at WCBS-TV
- Deborah Collura, Assistant News Director / Executive Producer, Now at WDIV-TV
- Jon Duncanson, Reporter/News Anchor (1988-1992)
- Michelle Edmonds, Intern (?), now at KIVI-TV in Boise, Idaho
- Gina Garcia, Reporter, now Sacramento Reporter / KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles
- John Gibson, Bay Area correspondent for many years, now at Fox News Channel
- Marty Gonzalez, Reporter/Producer/Host (1980-1987), now at KRON-TV in San Francisco
- David Gregory, now NBC News Chief White House Correspondent
- Rick Griffin, Chief Meteorologist (1989-1992), rejoined The Weather Channel in 1992. Married to AMS & NWA broadcast certified meteorologist Vicki Williams Griffin.
- Ethan Harp, Reporter (2000-2003), now at KNTV in San Jose
- Susan Hirasuna, Anchor/reporter (1988-1991), now Anchor/reporter KTTV Fox 11, Los Angeles
- Ron Hyde, Sports Director/Anchor/Reporter (1991-2006)
- Ron Jones, Anchor/Reporter (1990s-2000s), now at KOVR/KMAX
- Megan Kalkstein, Intern, now at KCBY-TV in Coos Bay, Oregon
- Michael Kidd, LiveCopter 3 (1990s)
- Lilian Kim, Reporter, now at KGO-TV in San Francisco
- Eric Laughlin, Intern, now at KNVN-TV/KHSL-TV in Chico
- Tom Loffman, Meteorologist, later moved to KOVR/KMAX
- Joan Lunden, started in television here in the 1970s
- Scott Mace, sub-weather anchor at KCRA and full time weather at KSBW 1998 and 1999, now at KMGH
- Eric McLendon, Sports Director/Anchor/Reporter (early 1990s), later moved to WNBC-TV
- Alicia Malaby, Anchor/Reporter (1989-1999), now Weekend Anchor at KXTV
- Rob Mayeda, Meteorologist/Anchor/Reporter (early 2000s), now at KNTV
- Todd Mokhtari, Itern / editor / writer/ producer (? -? ), now at KIRO-TV
- Shelly Monahan, Meteorologist (1980s-1990s), now at KHQ in Spokane, WA
- Heather Moore,Reporter(?- 2003), Now at KTVK-TV in Phoenix
- Leyna Nguyen, Anchor/Reporter, now at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles
- Joe Oliver, Reporter, Now at WESH-TV in Orlando
- Margaret Pelley, Anchor/Reporter (1980s), later moved to NBC News
- Kris Pickel, intern (mid '90s–1997), later moved to KOLD, now at KOVR/KMAX
- Ken Pritchett, General Assignment reporter (?-2005)
- Jeff Ranieri, Meteorologist (?-2005), now at MSNBC/NBC Weather Plus
- Jennifer Rogers, Intern, now at KOLO-TV in Reno, Nevada
- Beth Ruyak, Anchor (1980s), now an Olympics commentator for NBC Sports, also hosts program for Sutter Health
- Creighton Sanders, Sports Director/Anchor (briefly during the 1980s)
- Sam Shane, Reporter (1996-1999), Now at KOVR/KMAX in Sacramento
- Christie Smith, Reporter (1999-2001), now at KNTV-TV in San Jose
- Bianca Solorzano, Weekend Morning Anchor and Reporter (1999-2003), now a CBS correspondent in NY
- Patty Souza, Meteorologist (2002-2006), now at KXTV
- Eric Sperling, News and Sports Producer, now at KOLO-TV in Reno, Nevada
- Gordon Tokumatsu, Reporter (1991-1993), now at KNBC in Los Angeles
- Kaity Tong, Anchor/Reporter (?-1989), now at WPIX-TV
- Natasha Trelfa, Intern
- Roy Walkenhorst, Anchor/Reporter (1969–1980), now CEO of Lightbridge Media[3]
- Sarah Wallace, Reporter/Anchor (?-1984), now at WABC-TV in NY
- Ryan Yamamoto, Reporter (1998-2004), now Sports Anchor/Reporter at KXTV
- Kirsten Wolff, Executive producer, now Assistant News Director at WESH-TV in Orlando
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
References
- ^ "More comings and goings of the local tube tribe". Retrieved 2007-02-01.
- ^ "Channel 3 layoffs". Retrieved 2007-02-01.
- ^ "HealingQuest - Press Kit - Roy Walkenhorst, CEO". Retrieved 2007-01-30.
