KENS-TV
Encyclopedia
KENS is the CBS
affiliate television station in San Antonio, Texas
owned and operated by The Belo Corporation. Prior to late April 2010, KENS also managed UPN
, later The CW
, affiliate station KCWX
through a local marketing agreement
(LMA). (That station has since switched to MyNetworkTV
.) Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas
.
, Paramount Television Network
, and ABC
(shared with WOAI-TV
). KEYL was one of Paramount's strongest affiliates, carrying nearly the entire network line-up. Among the Paramount programs that KEYL aired were Armchair Detective, Latin Cruise, Hollywood Reel, Hollywood Wrestling, Time For Beany, and Movietown, RSVP.
A year after its launch, Storer Broadcasting
(which had good relations with CBS) bought the station. In 1954, Storer had to sell KEYL to the San Antonio Express-News
, which also purchased what became the original KENS-AM (680 kHz, now KKYX
), in order for Storer to complete its purchase of WXEL-TV (now WJW) in Cleveland, Ohio
because the company would have been one VHF
station over the Federal Communications Commission
's new ownership limit of seven television stations, with no more than five of those on VHF, which went into effect that year. (At the time, newspapers could own television and/or radio stations in the same market provided that such ownership complied with the FCC-mandated ownership limits of each property in effect at the time.) The new owner changed KEYL's call letters to the present-day KENS-TV. KENS was the second station to begin broadcasting in San Antonio, three months behind WOAI-TV. DuMont ceased most network operations in 1955, but would honor network commitments until 1956; at that point, DuMont disappeared from the station's schedule. It lost ABC when KONO-TV (now KSAT-TV
) signed on in 1957, leaving KENS as a full-time CBS affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
In early 1962, the Express-News and KENS-AM-TV were purchased by Harte-Hanks
Communications; the radio station was sold off a few months later since Harte-Hanks was not interested in radio station ownership at the time. When the FCC tightened its cross-ownership rules in the early 1970s, Harte-Hanks sought grandfathered
protection for its San Antonio media combination. However, while the FCC granted such protection to several media combinations across the country, it would not do the same to the Harte-Hanks combination in San Antonio. Accordingly, in 1973, Harte-Hanks opted to keep KENS-TV and sell the Express-News to Rupert Murdoch
's News Corporation
.
In the mid-1980s, KENS broadcast a short-lived second channel, exclusively on Rogers Cablevision channel 24, called KENS II. Programming seen on KENS II, cable station under the direction of station manager Larry Smith with Harte-Hanks Communications includes; replays of Eyewitness News newscast, broadcasts of Ron Taylor and Janie Groves classified real estate programming; and a few locally produced programs and specials such as Richard Courchesne and Michael Saul’s Auto TV, and Barney Regets’ computer generated musical video kaleidoscope created earlier at UA Columbia’s Consumer Cable 29.
In 1993, Harte-Hanks acquired what at the time became the second incarnation of KENS-AM (1160 kHz). In September 1997, Harte-Hanks sold its remaining media properties, including the KENS stations, to the E. W. Scripps Company
in order to concentrate on direct marketing. At the same time, Belo announced that it would swap its controlling stake in the Food Network
to Scripps in exchange for the KENS stations. The Harte-Hanks/Scripps deal and the transfer of Belo's stake in the Food Network to Scripps were both completed on October 15 of that year. At that time, Belo took over the operation of the KENS stations through a time brokerage agreement
. Belo completed its purchase of the KENS stations on December 4, 1997. The second incarnation of KENS-AM was sold to Disney
/ABC
in 2003, becoming Radio Disney
station KRDY
.
KENS remained closely associated with the Express-News, even though the station and newspaper have been under separate ownership for many years. The station shared its main website with the newspaper until the end of 2008, when the news partnership agreement between KENS and the Express-News expired. The station launched Kens5.com on January 26, 2009 (initially using Belo's own in-house CMS operations; now operated by Broadcast Interactive Media). Immediately following the digital transition on June 12, KENS and several other Belo stations officially dropped the -TV suffix from their legal call signs.
. KENS remained on its current pre-transition channel number, 39 using PSIP to display KENS' virtual channel
as 5.
This move also allowed former sister station KCWX
(which prior to the conversion, did not have an over-the-air digital signal) to begin digital broadcasts on channel 5.
Prior to November 2008, KENS-DT was on channel 55, which was vacated early by the station to allow Qualcomm
to begin testing for its MediaFLO
mobile television service, which is transmitted via the former UHF channel 55 allocation. In the interim period between November 2008 and June 2009, KENS-DT's digital signal was broadcast on a subchannel of KWEX-DT
(mapped to virtual channel 5.1), which broadcasted on channel 39 prior to the transition; since the entire KWEX schedule was at the time 480i
standard definition, KENS continued broadcasting in full 1080i high definition without any problems between the two operations. After the digital transition was complete, KENS-DT retained the channel 39 facilities, while KWEX-DT launched its permanent digital operations on channel 41 (the station's previous analog frequency).
, and has also broadcast game shows Wheel of Fortune
and Jeopardy!
since 1999 (which formerly aired on KMOL (now WOAI-TV). KENS also features The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, and its own talk show Great Day SA.
Former news director Bob Rogers was and remains KENS' most successful and longest-running news director. Under Rogers, KENS shot to first place, a rank it holds today. He was also responsible for hiring, coaching and helping the careers of many local and national news anchors, reporters and correspondents. He retired from the station in the late 1990s.
The station also produces a local morning talk show titled Great Day SA, airing weekdays from 9-10 a.m. The program debuted on September 8, 2003. The show features local and national music artists, celebrities, and local human interest stories. Formerly hosted by 1994 Miss USA
Lu Parker and later Kristina Guererro (who later was a reporter at Inside Edition, and is currently an entertainment reporter for E!
), Great Day SA is currently hosted by reporter Bridget Smith, along with GDSA reporter Eileen Teves, morning meteorologist Paul Mireles, and "Traffic Watch" reporter Kellie Patterson.
When The Early Show
abandoned the local/national hybrid format and replaced it with a national format on January 7, 2008, KENS decided to cut its weekday morning newscast from three hours to two, airing from 5-7 am. Also at the same time, Itza Gutierrez left as anchor for the Saturday morning newscast to become a stay-at-home mother (she has since been replaced by Stacia Willson, who was later promoted to the weekday noon newscast and replaced by Natalie Tejeda on Saturday mornings).
Emmy-Award winning longtime anchor Chris Marrou
, who worked at KENS for 36 years beginning in 1973, retired in 2009. Marrou and other well-known anchors, helped KENS dominate the 5, 6, and 10 pm newscasts from the 1970s through the early 2000s. In 2009, KENS announced that Chris Marrou's replacement would be Jeff Vaughn (previously with NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City) and co-anchor the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts starting in January 2010.
A long-running, weeknight segment of the news was the Eyewitness Newsreel in which former anchor Chris Marrou
narrated a faux, old-style newsreel at the end of the 10 p.m. newscast. The Newsreel usually consisted of humorous segments of local news juxtaposed with out-of-context snips of CBS news anchors, politicians or celebrities "commenting" on the situation. Marrou wrote the segment each weeknight. After anchor Chris Marrou's retirement from the station in 2009, the "Eyewitness Newsreel" segment was also retired.
On August 2, 2010 KENS debuted a half-hour weekday newscast at 4 p.m., making KENS the first San Antonio station to air a newscast during the 4 p.m. hour. On January 10, 2011 KENS expanded its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours, adding an extra half-hour at 4:30 a.m.
VIPIR 5 Weather Team
Sports team
Reporters
Belo News Bureaus
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate television station in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
owned and operated by The Belo Corporation. Prior to late April 2010, KENS also managed UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
, later The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, affiliate station KCWX
KCWX
KCWX is the MyNetworkTV affiliate for San Antonio, Texas, broadcasting on PSIP virtual channel 2 over their digital channel 5. The station is licensed to Fredricksburg, with the transmitter located in Albert, north of San Antonio...
through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA). (That station has since switched to MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
.) Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas
Elmendorf, Texas
Elmendorf is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio—New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 664 at the 2000 census. Elmendorf is located seventeen miles southeast of San Antonio at the juncture of Farm Road 327 and the Southern Pacific...
.
History
Channel 5 signed on the air on February 15, 1950 as KEYL, a primary CBS affiliate with secondary affiliations with DuMontDuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, Paramount Television Network
Paramount Television Network
The Paramount Television Network was a venture by American film corporation Paramount Pictures to organize a television network in the late 1940s...
, and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(shared with WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV, virtual channel 4 , is the NBC affiliate television station serving the San Antonio, Texas metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas, with its studios located in downtown San Antonio....
). KEYL was one of Paramount's strongest affiliates, carrying nearly the entire network line-up. Among the Paramount programs that KEYL aired were Armchair Detective, Latin Cruise, Hollywood Reel, Hollywood Wrestling, Time For Beany, and Movietown, RSVP.
A year after its launch, Storer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the northeast United States. It was incorporated in Ohio in 1927, and sold its broadcasting properties in 1983.-1920s—1940s:...
(which had good relations with CBS) bought the station. In 1954, Storer had to sell KEYL to the San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News
The San Antonio Express-News is the daily newspaper of San Antonio, Texas. It is ranked as the third-largest daily newspaper in the state of Texas in terms of circulation, and is one of the leading news sources of South Texas, with offices in Austin, Brownsville, Laredo, and Mexico City...
, which also purchased what became the original KENS-AM (680 kHz, now KKYX
KKYX
KKYX is a classic country music radio station owned by Cox Radio. It is licensed to, and headquartered in, San Antonio, Texas. The station also carries play-by-play of the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League...
), in order for Storer to complete its purchase of WXEL-TV (now WJW) in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
because the company would have been one VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
station over the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
's new ownership limit of seven television stations, with no more than five of those on VHF, which went into effect that year. (At the time, newspapers could own television and/or radio stations in the same market provided that such ownership complied with the FCC-mandated ownership limits of each property in effect at the time.) The new owner changed KEYL's call letters to the present-day KENS-TV. KENS was the second station to begin broadcasting in San Antonio, three months behind WOAI-TV. DuMont ceased most network operations in 1955, but would honor network commitments until 1956; at that point, DuMont disappeared from the station's schedule. It lost ABC when KONO-TV (now KSAT-TV
KSAT-TV
KSAT-TV channel 12 is the local ABC affiliate television station in the greater San Antonio area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas. The station calls itself KSAT 12, pronounced as "K-Sat"....
) signed on in 1957, leaving KENS as a full-time CBS affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
In early 1962, the Express-News and KENS-AM-TV were purchased by Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks is an advertising and direct marketing company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is particularly associated with the publication of weekly shopper publications, with 13 million circulation weekly in 1100 separate editions of the PennySaver and Flyer each week in California and...
Communications; the radio station was sold off a few months later since Harte-Hanks was not interested in radio station ownership at the time. When the FCC tightened its cross-ownership rules in the early 1970s, Harte-Hanks sought grandfathered
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
protection for its San Antonio media combination. However, while the FCC granted such protection to several media combinations across the country, it would not do the same to the Harte-Hanks combination in San Antonio. Accordingly, in 1973, Harte-Hanks opted to keep KENS-TV and sell the Express-News to Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
.
In the mid-1980s, KENS broadcast a short-lived second channel, exclusively on Rogers Cablevision channel 24, called KENS II. Programming seen on KENS II, cable station under the direction of station manager Larry Smith with Harte-Hanks Communications includes; replays of Eyewitness News newscast, broadcasts of Ron Taylor and Janie Groves classified real estate programming; and a few locally produced programs and specials such as Richard Courchesne and Michael Saul’s Auto TV, and Barney Regets’ computer generated musical video kaleidoscope created earlier at UA Columbia’s Consumer Cable 29.
In 1993, Harte-Hanks acquired what at the time became the second incarnation of KENS-AM (1160 kHz). In September 1997, Harte-Hanks sold its remaining media properties, including the KENS stations, to the E. W. Scripps Company
E. W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American media conglomerate founded by Edward W. Scripps on November 2, 1878. The company is headquartered inside the Scripps Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way."On October 16, 2007, the company...
in order to concentrate on direct marketing. At the same time, Belo announced that it would swap its controlling stake in the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
to Scripps in exchange for the KENS stations. The Harte-Hanks/Scripps deal and the transfer of Belo's stake in the Food Network to Scripps were both completed on October 15 of that year. At that time, Belo took over the operation of the KENS stations through a time brokerage agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
. Belo completed its purchase of the KENS stations on December 4, 1997. The second incarnation of KENS-AM was sold to Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
/ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 2003, becoming Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
station KRDY
KRDY
KRDY is a radio station broadcasting a Children's Radio format.Licensed to San Antonio, Texas, USA, the station serves the San Antonio area. The station is currently owned by the Walt Disney Company and features programing from Radio Disney....
.
KENS remained closely associated with the Express-News, even though the station and newspaper have been under separate ownership for many years. The station shared its main website with the newspaper until the end of 2008, when the news partnership agreement between KENS and the Express-News expired. The station launched Kens5.com on January 26, 2009 (initially using Belo's own in-house CMS operations; now operated by Broadcast Interactive Media). Immediately following the digital transition on June 12, KENS and several other Belo stations officially dropped the -TV suffix from their legal call signs.
Digital television
KENS shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United StatesDTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. KENS remained on its current pre-transition channel number, 39 using PSIP to display KENS' virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 5.
This move also allowed former sister station KCWX
KCWX
KCWX is the MyNetworkTV affiliate for San Antonio, Texas, broadcasting on PSIP virtual channel 2 over their digital channel 5. The station is licensed to Fredricksburg, with the transmitter located in Albert, north of San Antonio...
(which prior to the conversion, did not have an over-the-air digital signal) to begin digital broadcasts on channel 5.
Prior to November 2008, KENS-DT was on channel 55, which was vacated early by the station to allow Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
to begin testing for its MediaFLO
MediaFLO
MediaFLO is a technology developed by Qualcomm for transmitting audio, video and data to portable devices such as mobile phones and personal televisions, used for mobile television...
mobile television service, which is transmitted via the former UHF channel 55 allocation. In the interim period between November 2008 and June 2009, KENS-DT's digital signal was broadcast on a subchannel of KWEX-DT
KWEX-TV
KWEX-DT, channel 41, is the local Univisión owned and operated station in San Antonio, Texas. The station is the first commercially-based Spanish language television station in the United States.- History :...
(mapped to virtual channel 5.1), which broadcasted on channel 39 prior to the transition; since the entire KWEX schedule was at the time 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
standard definition, KENS continued broadcasting in full 1080i high definition without any problems between the two operations. After the digital transition was complete, KENS-DT retained the channel 39 facilities, while KWEX-DT launched its permanent digital operations on channel 41 (the station's previous analog frequency).
Programming
KENS is one of the broadcasters of the NBA San Antonio SpursSan Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
, and has also broadcast game shows Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
since 1999 (which formerly aired on KMOL (now WOAI-TV). KENS also features The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, and its own talk show Great Day SA.
News operation
KENS broadcasts a total of 27.5 hours of local news per week (with 3½ hours on weekdays, 2½ hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). The station currently ranks third in programming behind KSAT and WOAI.Former news director Bob Rogers was and remains KENS' most successful and longest-running news director. Under Rogers, KENS shot to first place, a rank it holds today. He was also responsible for hiring, coaching and helping the careers of many local and national news anchors, reporters and correspondents. He retired from the station in the late 1990s.
The station also produces a local morning talk show titled Great Day SA, airing weekdays from 9-10 a.m. The program debuted on September 8, 2003. The show features local and national music artists, celebrities, and local human interest stories. Formerly hosted by 1994 Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
Lu Parker and later Kristina Guererro (who later was a reporter at Inside Edition, and is currently an entertainment reporter for E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
), Great Day SA is currently hosted by reporter Bridget Smith, along with GDSA reporter Eileen Teves, morning meteorologist Paul Mireles, and "Traffic Watch" reporter Kellie Patterson.
When The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
abandoned the local/national hybrid format and replaced it with a national format on January 7, 2008, KENS decided to cut its weekday morning newscast from three hours to two, airing from 5-7 am. Also at the same time, Itza Gutierrez left as anchor for the Saturday morning newscast to become a stay-at-home mother (she has since been replaced by Stacia Willson, who was later promoted to the weekday noon newscast and replaced by Natalie Tejeda on Saturday mornings).
Emmy-Award winning longtime anchor Chris Marrou
Chris Marrou
Chris Rene Marrou is former news anchor for KENS 5-TV in San Antonio, Texas from 1973-2009. Marrou is known for doing segments where he involved himself in different occupations or tried unique endeavors...
, who worked at KENS for 36 years beginning in 1973, retired in 2009. Marrou and other well-known anchors, helped KENS dominate the 5, 6, and 10 pm newscasts from the 1970s through the early 2000s. In 2009, KENS announced that Chris Marrou's replacement would be Jeff Vaughn (previously with NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City) and co-anchor the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts starting in January 2010.
A long-running, weeknight segment of the news was the Eyewitness Newsreel in which former anchor Chris Marrou
Chris Marrou
Chris Rene Marrou is former news anchor for KENS 5-TV in San Antonio, Texas from 1973-2009. Marrou is known for doing segments where he involved himself in different occupations or tried unique endeavors...
narrated a faux, old-style newsreel at the end of the 10 p.m. newscast. The Newsreel usually consisted of humorous segments of local news juxtaposed with out-of-context snips of CBS news anchors, politicians or celebrities "commenting" on the situation. Marrou wrote the segment each weeknight. After anchor Chris Marrou's retirement from the station in 2009, the "Eyewitness Newsreel" segment was also retired.
On August 2, 2010 KENS debuted a half-hour weekday newscast at 4 p.m., making KENS the first San Antonio station to air a newscast during the 4 p.m. hour. On January 10, 2011 KENS expanded its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours, adding an extra half-hour at 4:30 a.m.
High definition
At the beginning of June 2008, KENS began to run ads about "the biggest thing in KENS' history", however that ad specifically would not say exactly what, only that it would happen on June 30, 2008. On June 30, 2008 KENS became the first television station in the San Antonio market to produce its newscasts in High Definition. Currently, all four local news broadcasts broadcast in HD. KENS was followed by KSAT (which began airing in upconverted 16:9 and later made the switch), then WOAI (which launched with a new set, and was the first station to broadcast in HD not only in studio but in the field as well), and finally KABB, the local FOX affiliate.Newscast titles
- The San Antonio/South Texas Report (1950–1954)
- Your Esso Reporter (1954–1962)
- Television 5/TV-5 News (1962–1970)
- (Channel 5/KENS 5)Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1970–1998) - KENS 5 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1998–present)
Station slogans
- 5 Alive (1970s)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
: San Antonio's Top-Rated (Satellite) Newscast (1979–1987) - The One for You (mid-late 1980s)
- KENS-TV Spirit, Oh Yes! (1987–1988; localized version of the CBSpirit campaign)
- Coverage You Can Count On (1998–present)
- San Antonio's #1 Newscast (2002–2008)
- South Texas' #1 Newscast (2008–present)
- San Antonio's News Leader (2008–present)
- San Antonio's Only High Definition Newscast (2008–2009)
- South Texas' First High Definition Newscast (2009–present)
Current on-air staff
Current Anchors- Vicki Buffolino - MIA
- Barry Davis - Eyewitness News Sunday Morning
- Sarah Forgany - Weekday Mornings 4:30 am to 7:00 am
- Karen Grace - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
- Christopher Heath - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
- Fred Lozano - weekday mornings
- Deborah Knapp - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5 p.m.
- Sarah Lucero - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Bridget Smith - "Great Day SA" host
- Stacia Willson - Eyewitness News at Noon
- Natalie Tejeda - Eyewitness News Saturday Morning
- Jeff Vaughn - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
VIPIR 5 Weather Team
- Bill Taylor - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Paul Mireles (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon - Jared Silverman (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
Sports team
- Vinnie Vinzetta - Sports Anchor; Satudays at 6, Sundays at 5:50 and weekends at 10 p.m.; also sports reporter
- Joe Reinagel - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
Reporters
- Joe Conger - general assignment and "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Barry Davis - "Eyewitness Wants To Know" feature reporter/Eyewitness News Sunday Morning anchor
- Noelle Gardner - overnight general assignment reporter
- Karen Grace - general assignment reporter/weekend anchor
- Christopher Heath - general assignment reporter/weekend anchor
- Marvin Hurst - overnight general assignment reporter
- James Munoz - general assignment reporter
- Brian New - general assignment and "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Phil Anaya - general assignment reporter
- Wendy Rigby - medical reporter
- Stacia Willson - general assignment reporter/Eyewitness News at Noon anchor
- Mayra Moreno - general assignment reporter
- Eric Gonzales - general assignment reporter
Belo News Bureaus
- Dave Cassidy - Washington Bureau reporter
- Mike Goldfein - Washington Bureau reporter
- Angela Kocherga - Border Bureau (Mexico) reporter
- Sarah Nakasone - Washington Bureau reporter
Former on-air staff
- Dan CookDan CookDaniel John Cook, Jr. was a sports writer for the San Antonio Express-News, where he worked for 51 years. He is most notable for popularizing the phrase "the opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." Described as a "sports icon", Cook also was a sports anchor at San Antonio television station...
(retired in 2000, died in 2008) - Ainsley EarhardtAinsley EarhardtAinsley Earhardt, is an American correspondent for the Fox News Channel, where she provides live news cut-ins at night Monday through Wednesday. Earhardt also reports for FOX's Hannity with her own segment called "Ainsley Across America"...
(now at Fox News) - Patricio Espinoza
- Chris MarrouChris MarrouChris Rene Marrou is former news anchor for KENS 5-TV in San Antonio, Texas from 1973-2009. Marrou is known for doing segments where he involved himself in different occupations or tried unique endeavors...
(anchor from 1973–2009) - Sylvan RodriguezSylvan RodriguezSylvan Rodriguez was a television news personality in Texas, United States....
(died in 2000) - Lynn Russell (anchor 1980-1983, then CNN)
- Kelly Chapman (anchor 1983-1990)
- Jud Ashmore (Weather 1970's)