KSBW
Encyclopedia
KSBW is a television station
in the United States
and is the primary NBC
affiliate for the Monterey
-Salinas
-Santa Cruz, California
market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street (along Highway 68
) in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks and newscasts. Its news programs are entitled Action News
8. Its transmitter is located on Fremont Peak
in the Gabilan Mountains above San Juan Bautista, California
, over 3,100 feet above sea level. The call letters KSBW stand for "Salad Bowl of the World," which is the nickname of the city of Salinas.
on channel 8 (the two stations merged in 1955). Originally, it was affiliated with all four major networks — NBC, ABC
, CBS
and DuMont
(DuMont folded in 1955). ABC disappeared from KSBW's programming schedule when San Jose
's then-independent KNTV
decided to concentrate on the Monterey-Salinas market in 1960. For the next nine years, KSBW was forced to shoehorn NBC and CBS onto its schedule. This was unusual for a two-station market (especially one of Monterey's size); in most such markets, ABC was relegated to secondary status on the CBS and NBC affiliates. When KMST-TV (now KION-TV
) signed on as a full-time CBS affiliate in 1969, KSBW became an exclusive NBC affiliate.
were owned by Blair Broadcasting; under the original ownership, KSBY simulcasted KSBW, except for producing its own local newscasts and covering CBS programming (in San Luis Obispo, KCOY provided CBS programming from adjacent Santa Maria, requiring KSBY to drop the feed from Salinas when KSBW was carrying a CBS network program). The simulcasting ended under Blair and KSBY became an NBC affiliate on its own. On November 12, 1986, Blair Broadcasting sold most of its English-language stations to Gillett Communications
(which would later acquire most of Storer Broadcasting
's stations).
in 1993; the following year, KSBW and KSBY were sold to EP Communications, a company co-owned by Elisabeth Murdoch
, daughter of News Corporation
chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch
.
In 1995, Smith Broadcasting
and SJL Communications
teamed up to purchase the EP stations, with KSBW going to Smith Broadcasting and KSBY going to SJL because Smith Broadcasting has already owned KEYT
, which the FCC did not allow two stations being owned by one company. What was then called Hearst-Argyle Television bought KSBW, along with WPTZ
in Plattsburgh, New York and its semi-satellite WNNE
in White River Junction, Vermont
, from Sunrise Television (at that time a subsidiary of Smith Broadcasting; now part of LIN TV
) in 1998, swapping WDTN
in Dayton, Ohio
and the license for WNAC-TV
in Providence, Rhode Island
to Sunrise in the process.
, branded as KSBW Weather Plus. Its only local preemption was their debut of their 10pm newscasts at that time. KSBW first offered Weather Plus on its digital channel (on KSBW-DT2), as well as on Comcast
cable. NBC's national Weather Plus operations were shut down on December 1, 2008 after the network's parent company, NBCUniversal, purchased The Weather Channel
. However, KSBW remained one of the few to continue the use of the "L" bar Weather Plus. Additionally, although KSBW anchors Dan Green and/or Erin Clark claims that its 10 p.m. newscasts are offered on its website in addition to its second digital subchannel and Comcast, it also ran KSBW Weather Plus on its website. KSBW Prime Plus debuted on August 3, 2010, although it is broadcast Monday through Friday nights. Along with the 10pm newscast, it ran KSBW Weather Plus would still retain its branding during the time that Prime Plus is not on the air. The subchannel used the "moreTV" concept previously used by its sister station in Tampa
, WMOR-TV
.
Between July 2000 and April 2011, the Monterey area was without an ABC affiliate after KNTV disaffiliated with the network. Viewers who wanted to view ABC programming had to rely mainly on "ABC 7", a localized version of San Francisco's KGO-TV
for ABC programming which was exclusively cable and satellite-only. With KSBW keeping its NBC affiliation, the station announced in December 2010 that they will add ABC affiliation as well. KSBW began a test of its subchannel on April 1, 2011. The subchannel officially launched on April 18, 2011, ahead of NBC affiliate WALB
, in Albany, Georgia
, who launched their ABC affiliation on their second digital subchannel on April 27, as WALB was originally scheduled to launch on January 1, 2011. With the launch of the ABC affiliation, KSBW-DT2 becomes the third station to serve Monterey Bay as an ABC affiliate, and the first ABC affiliate based from within the immediate region.
In March 2010, KSBW started broadcasting non-network syndicated programming in HD, although a limited amount of syndicated programming were in HD. That changed on April 6, 2011, when KSBW added more non-network programming in HD, along with selected local promos using elements from NBC. With a dual affiliation, the station airs cross promos to promote newscasts and ABC programming over on it's second digital subchannel.
KSBW is also the first station in the market to have its syndicated logo bug on the bottom-right hand corner of the screen since June 2010. With Oprah bidding farewell to viewers after the 2010-11 season, the station announced that Ellen will fill the 4 p.m. slot starting in Fall 2011, with Anderson Cooper
to fill in the 10 a.m. slot.
As of 2011, KSBW airs a high profile of syndicated programming on weekdays, with Anderson
after the third hour of Today and The Rachael Ray Show preceding the noon newscast, The Doctors
, Dr. Phil
, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show
during the mid-afternoons, along with Jeopardy!
and Wheel of Fortune
before primetime. During the overnight hours, Access Hollywood
airs before Early Today
. Weekend programming includes P. Allen Smith Gardens
, The Chris Matthews Show
, weekend editions of Access Hollywood, and reruns of Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and The Unit
. In the past, KSBW has broadcast sitcoms before primetime, most notably Family Ties
and Barney Miller
. In addition to syndicated programming, KSBW clears all NBC
programming except for the fourth hour of the Today Show in order to make room for Anderson.
With the launch of Central Coast ABC on KSBW-DT2
, additional airings of new and syndicated programming are seen on the channel, with Dr. Phil after Good Morning America
, The Doctors before the ABC soap lineup, Who Wants to be a Millionaire
and Anderson preceding the 5 p.m. newscast, and Access Hollywood and Extra
before ABC primetime. Weekend programming includes Whacked Out Sports
, Travels with Romney, Storm Stories
, and weekend editions of Extra.
KSBW currently carries over three hours of E/I
programming per week. On weekends, in addition to children's programming carried by NBC (via qubo
) on Saturdays, KSBW also airs Teen Kids News
, Eco Company
, and Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller
at different times on both Saturday and Sunday. KSBW airs the third hour of qubo programming during the 4-5pm hour on Saturdays due to its weekend morning newscast airing between 7-9 a.m.
and hosted by former KSBW anchor Kate Callaghan. Callaghan previously anchored KSBW's morning newscasts until her departure from the station in 2008. It is a program that addresses health issues and occasional questions being answered. It also follows the team of trained doctors and physicians there and keeps viewers informed of their progress. This program generally airs before weekend editions of NBC Nightly News
, however, it can be delayed or preempted due to special programs.
and NBC Nightly News
still air at its regular time, as KSBW is still obliged to carry NBC programming, while syndicated programming is either delayed or preempted. Hosts of the telethon includes anchors Dan Green and Erin Clark, who broadcasts live from outside the KSBW studios, with additional personnel stationed throughout the viewing area at convenient locations. The 2010 version of the telethon made a change to accommodate the HD broadcast, with the information about the telethon posted on the bottom sixth of the screen during the broadcast.
. KSBW's digital channels are multiplexed, broadcasting on "virtual" channel 8.
KSBW has been digital-only since June 12, 2009 and remained on digital channel 8.
, including Gilroy
and Morgan Hill
, San Martin
, and parts of San Jose
due to the transmitter location, however, Santa Clara County itself is not part of the market, as it is primarily served by KNTV and KGO-TV.
, KION
, KCOY, KKFX
, and KEYT do not currently offer a noon or a weekend morning newscast.)
KSBW also operates a Santa Cruz newsroom to this day. The newsroom was destroyed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in which one reporter was working there. The station started to broadcast live coverage of the earthquake from the time it struck until just after midnight, then from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. the following day. In both cases, it included a live broadcast from Santa Cruz.
Between 2005 and January 31, 2011, KSBW had started local newscasts on KSBW-DT2, beginning with their debut of KSBW's 10 p.m. newscast on its second digital subchannel, as well as its 6 p.m. Sunday evening newscasts when NBC Sunday Night Football
is carried on KSBW. However, those newscasts were broadcasted with limited functionality. With a dual NBC/ABC affiliation, all newscasts, especially on weekends, are subject to preemption under network obligations.
KSBW's notably stable weekday-evening anchor team are Dan Green and Erin Clark, who have worked together since 1998 and anchors the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. Jim Vanderzwaan
, known more commonly as "Lead Forecaster" rather than being called "Chief Meteorologist", have been with the station since 1983. The other anchor teams and reporting staff have less longevity, but field reporters Felix Cortez and Phil Gomez are station veterans, having been with the station since the late 1990s. The most recent addition to the weekday-evening team is Dina Ruiz-Eastwood
, who first came to KSBW in 1991. Eastwood, the wife of actor Clint Eastwood
, retired in 1997, but returned to the station on February 8, 2011 and occasionally anchors the 5 p.m. newscasts.
The anchors take a decidedly informal approach to the newscast, with much light-hearted cross-talk among the personalities. Much of KSBW's national news comes from syndicated reports from other Hearst-owned affiliates and/or NBC stations, and state-capitol reports originate from Sacramento Hearst NBC station KCRA. The newscasts incorporate typical business segments (under "Project Economy"), consumer, and health segments, and place considerable emphasis on crime reporting, focusing on the persistent gang-violence problem in the Salinas area (under the segment title, "Crime Watch"). During the 6 p.m. newscast, weather and sports quizzes are given, as well as an "Animal Stories" segment that Green presents to conclude the newscast. On weekend morning newscasts, in addition to segments regularly shown on newscasts, a movie preview segment (titled as "Movie Buzz") is also shown. Although KSBW is well-known for its local and statewide political coverage under the Hearst-mandated "Commitment" banner, KSBW simulcasts the live televised debates from KCRA, superimposing the KSBW logo over the KCRA logo due to the fact that the debates are often held near Sacramento
.
In June 2010, with NBC carrying the US Open at Pebble Beach, KSBW is one of two stations that carried newscasts immediately after the coverage accompanied by live reports from Peeble Beach (the other is KNTV
). KSBW currently uses the mandated Hearst news music package for its newscasts since September 2004. In the early years being owned by Hearst, KSBW was one of the stations using the Image music package. Some segments shown on Action News 8 would continue to use the Image music package until August 25, 2010.
, but it was bluish-tinted purple as opposed to reddish-tinted purple in WGHP's) and began use of a new news music package. The next major format change occurred in late 1991. Upon its current ownership by Hearst Television (then-called Hearst-Argyle Television) in 1999, KSBW had made another change to its studios, along with a new voiceover, Bill Ratner
, in which Ratner is currently the main voiceover for the station.
In January 2010, KSBW underwent another format change and minor renovations were made to the KSBW studios, the first such change in over a decade. KSBW anchors had to present their newscasts from the newsroom for several days before the station debuted the new look. During Healthwatch 8 segments, anchor Erin Clark had to present her segment in front of a green screen. New flatscreen televisions were also installed behind the news set of KSBW, which replaced the old set. Additionally, "KSBW" replaced "Action News 8" inside the studio to reflect the studio's name and not the news branding, while two additional monitors were installed for better presentations. The in-studio cameras also made a change, with the cameras no longer being shown during editorial segments. The debut was during the midday newscasts when anchor Dale Julin presented the new look after Lee Solomon was finished with his weather update.
widescreen; however in that case, they were merely in widescreen standard definition
with only the news tickers shown during morning newscasts, though no pillarboxes were inserted until after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
. At the same time, KSBW did a test version of the Hearst HD package during Dr. Phil when previewing the 5pm newscasts, which its graphics and block letters are similar to those of Hearst NBC affiliate KCRA. (KSBW would later become the only station owned by Hearst to use two different types of the Hearst HD package.) Though not true high definition
, the format of the KSBW newscasts matched those of HD television screens. New weather graphics and some field reports were still in 4:3 ratio and then pillarboxed to fill the 16:9 screen. This is only before KSBW's chief rival KION-TV and its sister station KCBA
started to present their local newscasts in high definition from the studio a few weeks later.
KSBW continued to use its old graphics until August 25, 2010, when KSBW began broadcasting the majority of its local newscasts in full high definition, however, HD is not mentioned in the news openings and talents at the time when the newscasts carried on KSBW-DT2 is in 4:3 standard definition due to its signal. Upon the switch, new graphics and elements from its previous graphics and from Hearst stations WCVB, KMBC-TV
, and KOAT were introduced, while the graphics utilizes a blue background in contrast to the red background of which WCVB and KMBC uses. The upgrade also includes a new animated logo bug and a revised Hearst music package. KSBW uses HD studio cameras and HD field cameras for its newscasts; however, the field video is downconverted to widescreen SD in the control room due to its editing equipment only being capable of SD. KSBW now becomes the smallest DMA market among all Hearst stations to broadcast local news in widescreen or HD, as well as becoming the seventh Hearst-owned station to broadcast local news in HD. While its live newscast is in HD, other local programming (e.g. public affairs, editorials) except for syndicated programming were in 4:3 standard definition.
A new logo for KSBW's newscasts debuted on April 6, 2011, during their 5pm newscast. The logo mirrors those of KCRA, but uses a navy blue background instead of the green background used by KCRA while retaining their "8" logo and without mention of it's affiliation. The news opens were redone to accommodate the ABC affiliation on its second digital subchannel, while retaining the current graphics used by the station. Due to their current primary NBC affiliation, though, KSBW will retain their current logo for general programming.
Although KSBW's current primary news-intensive slogan is "Coverage You Can Count On," there were variants of that slogan to promote its news, weather, sports, and other programming on Action News 8, including "Weather Coverage You Can Count On," "Sports Coverage You Can Count On," and "Traffic Coverage You Can Count On." As of 2011, those slogans can be seen during station identification in the form of five-second promos to promote news, weather, traffic, and sports anchors. The other variant slogans include, but not limited to, "Community Coverage You Can Count On" and "Mobile Coverage You Can Count On", a promo during commercial breaks not seen during station identification. Hearst stations KOAT, WGAL
, KMBC-TV
, and WCVB also use this slogan though the latter two use their own variant of the slogan, adding "Live" and "Local" before the main slogan.
Success by 6, a children's reading program, has long been promoted since KSBW was owned by Hearst. The promotions include child safety, eating, early education, and important information from trusted people such as doctor's advice. Another promotion, "Central Coast Pros," is a promo that includes commercials and advices from various retailers and companies.
In February 2010, during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
, KSBW introduced a new slogan, "It's how you know." This features people in a promo wondering about the latest news, weather, and other ideas of interests that would lead to KSBW's website. Among the notable topics presented on the promo included breaking news, local news, local weather, sports, and its picture sharing site, "uLocal" which is being rolled out to all of Hearst's TV stations. A few weeks later, the slogan is seen at the beginning of each video segments on YouTube, along with Hearst stations KCRA and WMUR, but eventually was updated upon the launch of its HD newscasts to fit 16:9 screens. The news slogan is still retained during newscasts.
were in the Super Bowl. The weekend anchor currently acts as the weekend sports anchor in addition to anchoring the news, however, if a major sporting event is held within the area, a sports anchor would broadcast the highlights instead.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is the primary NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate for the Monterey
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
-Salinas
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
-Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street (along Highway 68
California State Route 68
State Route 68 is a state highway that runs from Pacific Grove to Salinas in Monterey County. It is about long.-Route description:This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. However, only the part from SR 1 to the Salinas...
) in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks and newscasts. Its news programs are entitled Action News
Action News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
8. Its transmitter is located on Fremont Peak
Fremont Peak (California)
Fremont Peak is a summit in the Gabilan Range, one of the mountain ranges paralleling California's central coast. The peak affords clear views of the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay. It is located on Rocky Ridge, northeast of Salinas, California....
in the Gabilan Mountains above San Juan Bautista, California
San Juan Bautista, California
San Juan Bautista is a city in San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 1,862 at the 2010 census, up from 1,549 at the 2000 census. The city of San Juan Bautista was named after Mission San Juan Bautista...
, over 3,100 feet above sea level. The call letters KSBW stand for "Salad Bowl of the World," which is the nickname of the city of Salinas.
Early years
KSBW began broadcasting on September 11, 1953, sharing time with KMBY-TV of MontereyMonterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
on channel 8 (the two stations merged in 1955). Originally, it was affiliated with all four major networks — NBC, 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...
, CBS
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...
and DuMont
DuMont 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...
(DuMont folded in 1955). ABC disappeared from KSBW's programming schedule when San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
's then-independent KNTV
KNTV
KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
decided to concentrate on the Monterey-Salinas market in 1960. For the next nine years, KSBW was forced to shoehorn NBC and CBS onto its schedule. This was unusual for a two-station market (especially one of Monterey's size); in most such markets, ABC was relegated to secondary status on the CBS and NBC affiliates. When KMST-TV (now KION-TV
KION-TV
KION-TV is a full-power television station in Salinas, California, broadcasting on digital channel 32 as a CBS affiliate. The stations continues to use UHF channel 46 as its virtual channel through the use of PSIP. KION-TV shows local news, weather, and sports programming, as well as syndicated...
) signed on as a full-time CBS affiliate in 1969, KSBW became an exclusive NBC affiliate.
Partnership with KSBY
During the early 1980s, KSBW and then-sister station KSBY in San Luis Obispo, CaliforniaSan Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
were owned by Blair Broadcasting; under the original ownership, KSBY simulcasted KSBW, except for producing its own local newscasts and covering CBS programming (in San Luis Obispo, KCOY provided CBS programming from adjacent Santa Maria, requiring KSBY to drop the feed from Salinas when KSBW was carrying a CBS network program). The simulcasting ended under Blair and KSBY became an NBC affiliate on its own. On November 12, 1986, Blair Broadcasting sold most of its English-language stations to Gillett Communications
George N. Gillett Jr.
-Biography:George Gillett graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1956. He attended Amherst College and is a graduate of Dominican College in Racine, Wisconsin....
(which would later acquire most of 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:...
's stations).
Ownership change
Gillett Holdings, a subsidiary of Vail Associates at that time, would own just the two stations, along with nearby station KSBY, two ski resorts, and a packing company. Gillett would later file for bankruptcy on August 17, 1992, after the ski area and its media company was due to emerge from bankruptcy. After Gillett restructured into SCI TV, it put KSBW and KSBY on the market. However, a buyer for both stations wasn't found until after SCI sold most of its stations to New World CommunicationsNew World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
in 1993; the following year, KSBW and KSBY were sold to EP Communications, a company co-owned by Elisabeth Murdoch
Elisabeth Murdoch (businesswoman)
Elisabeth Murdoch is an executive in the British television industry and a daughter of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch...
, daughter of 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...
chairman and CEO 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....
.
In 1995, Smith Broadcasting
Smith Media, LLC
Smith Media, LLC, successor to Smith Television, is a broadcasting group co-based in Los Angeles, California and St. Petersburg, Florida, that owns and operates seven television stations across the United States....
and SJL Communications
Montecito Broadcast Group
Lilly Broadcasting, L.L.C. is a privately owned American broadcasting company owned and operated by the father-and-son team of George Lilly and Brian Lilly ....
teamed up to purchase the EP stations, with KSBW going to Smith Broadcasting and KSBY going to SJL because Smith Broadcasting has already owned KEYT
KEYT-TV
KEYT-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and San Luis Obispo, California areas. Licensed to Santa Barbara, California the station broadcasts on digital UHF channel 27 and uses VHF channel 3 as its virtual channel...
, which the FCC did not allow two stations being owned by one company. What was then called Hearst-Argyle Television bought KSBW, along with WPTZ
WPTZ
WPTZ, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by Hearst Television, and has its studios in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont....
in Plattsburgh, New York and its semi-satellite WNNE
WNNE
WNNE is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Connecticut River Valley area of eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire that is licensed to Hartford, Vermont. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter on Mount Ascutney in Windsor County, Vermont...
in White River Junction, Vermont
White River Junction, Vermont
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States...
, from Sunrise Television (at that time a subsidiary of Smith Broadcasting; now part of LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...
) in 1998, swapping WDTN
WDTN
WDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
and the license for WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts licensed to Providence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
to Sunrise in the process.
Weather Plus and Central Coast ABC
In early 2005, KSBW debuted its localized version of NBC Weather PlusNBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
, branded as KSBW Weather Plus. Its only local preemption was their debut of their 10pm newscasts at that time. KSBW first offered Weather Plus on its digital channel (on KSBW-DT2), as well as on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
cable. NBC's national Weather Plus operations were shut down on December 1, 2008 after the network's parent company, NBCUniversal, purchased The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
. However, KSBW remained one of the few to continue the use of the "L" bar Weather Plus. Additionally, although KSBW anchors Dan Green and/or Erin Clark claims that its 10 p.m. newscasts are offered on its website in addition to its second digital subchannel and Comcast, it also ran KSBW Weather Plus on its website. KSBW Prime Plus debuted on August 3, 2010, although it is broadcast Monday through Friday nights. Along with the 10pm newscast, it ran KSBW Weather Plus would still retain its branding during the time that Prime Plus is not on the air. The subchannel used the "moreTV" concept previously used by its sister station in Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, WMOR-TV
WMOR-TV
WMOR-TV is an independent television station in the Tampa Bay television market . It is licensed to Lakeland, with studios in Tampa. The station is owned by the Hearst Corporation.-History:...
.
Between July 2000 and April 2011, the Monterey area was without an ABC affiliate after KNTV disaffiliated with the network. Viewers who wanted to view ABC programming had to rely mainly on "ABC 7", a localized version of San Francisco's KGO-TV
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
for ABC programming which was exclusively cable and satellite-only. With KSBW keeping its NBC affiliation, the station announced in December 2010 that they will add ABC affiliation as well. KSBW began a test of its subchannel on April 1, 2011. The subchannel officially launched on April 18, 2011, ahead of NBC affiliate WALB
WALB
WALB is the NBC- and ABC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Georgia licensed to Albany. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Doerun along the Colquitt and Worth County line...
, in Albany, Georgia
Albany, Georgia
Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...
, who launched their ABC affiliation on their second digital subchannel on April 27, as WALB was originally scheduled to launch on January 1, 2011. With the launch of the ABC affiliation, KSBW-DT2 becomes the third station to serve Monterey Bay as an ABC affiliate, and the first ABC affiliate based from within the immediate region.
Syndicated shows and programming
KSBW is also the first station in the market to have its syndicated logo bug on the bottom-right hand corner of the screen since June 2010. With Oprah bidding farewell to viewers after the 2010-11 season, the station announced that Ellen will fill the 4 p.m. slot starting in Fall 2011, with Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
to fill in the 10 a.m. slot.
As of 2011, KSBW airs a high profile of syndicated programming on weekdays, with Anderson
Anderson (TV series)
Anderson is an American first-run syndicated talk show that is hosted by CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper, who also serves as co-producer in his first foray into daytime talk television. The show debuted on September 12, 2011, and is distributed by Warner Bros...
after the third hour of Today and The Rachael Ray Show preceding the noon newscast, The Doctors
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, and 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...
during the mid-afternoons, along with 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...
and 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...
before primetime. During the overnight hours, Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
airs before Early Today
Early Today
Early Today is an American morning news programme airing on the NBC television network. The program goes out live at 4:00am Eastern Time Zone for those few stations which start their local news at 4:30am, and is transmitted in a continuous half-hour tape delay loop until 10:00am ET, when Today...
. Weekend programming includes P. Allen Smith Gardens
P. Allen Smith Gardens
P. Allen Smith Gardens is a syndicated home and garden television series hosted by P. Allen Smith....
, The Chris Matthews Show
The Chris Matthews Show
The Chris Matthews Show is a half-hour weekend news and political roundtable program produced by NBC News. It is taped in Washington, D.C., and nationally syndicated by NBC Universal Television Distribution...
, weekend editions of Access Hollywood, and reruns of Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and The Unit
The Unit
The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
. In the past, KSBW has broadcast sitcoms before primetime, most notably Family Ties
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
and Barney Miller
Barney Miller
Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
. In addition to syndicated programming, KSBW clears all NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
programming except for the fourth hour of the Today Show in order to make room for Anderson.
With the launch of Central Coast ABC on KSBW-DT2
KSBW-DT2
KSBW-DT2, branded as Central Coast ABC, is the second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate KSBW, which is owned by Hearst Television. The second digital subchannel is the ABC affiliate for the Salinas–Monterey–Santa Cruz, California market, which began transmission on April 18, 2011...
, additional airings of new and syndicated programming are seen on the channel, with Dr. Phil after Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, The Doctors before the ABC soap lineup, Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
and Anderson preceding the 5 p.m. newscast, and Access Hollywood and Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
before ABC primetime. Weekend programming includes Whacked Out Sports
Whacked Out Sports
Whacked Out Sports is an American syndicated reality television series which features professional and amateur videos of sports-related mishaps and accidents, usually involving people being injured. The show has a comedic theme and uses a narrative voiceover to highlight aspects of the clips...
, Travels with Romney, Storm Stories
Storm Stories
Storm Stories is a non-fiction television series aired on The Weather Channel and Zone Reality hosted and narrated by meteorologist and Storm-Tracker Jim Cantore. Storm Stories showcases various types of severe weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards. Each episode features a famous...
, and weekend editions of Extra.
KSBW currently carries over three hours of E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
programming per week. On weekends, in addition to children's programming carried by NBC (via qubo
Qubo
Qubo is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media...
) on Saturdays, KSBW also airs Teen Kids News
Teen Kids News
Teen Kids News, initially titled EKN Worldwide Kids News, is an educational newsmagazine series aimed at children and teenagers that debuted in first-run syndication the weekend of September 27, 2003. Teen Kids News discusses important issues in a format intended to educate and inform both children...
, Eco Company
Eco Company
Eco Company is a weekly children's television show about the environment that debuted in 2009. The show is hosted by a group of teens that focuses on the environment, including ecology, natural resources, and sustainability. As of 2010, Eco Company has one nomination.The primary format for the show...
, and Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller
Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller
Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller is a documentary television series about a personal tour guide to the world of animals. The series is hosted by Jarod Miller, and debuted in September 2007.-Plot:...
at different times on both Saturday and Sunday. KSBW airs the third hour of qubo programming during the 4-5pm hour on Saturdays due to its weekend morning newscast airing between 7-9 a.m.
Feedback at Five
Theresa Wright hosts a public affairs show called Feedback at Five, which is a weekend discussion show interviewing with selected interviewee. In most cases, most of the interviews are informational and educational to the viewer. Feedback at Five, like Sunday's 6pm newscasts, are subject to preemption due to special programming.Lifeline TV
KSBW also broadcasts "Lifeline TV", which is a local program produced by the Salinas Valley Memorial HospitalSalinas Valley Memorial Hospital
The Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital is a public district hospital in Salinas, California.With 269 hospital beds and 2,132 employees, the hospital has tried to improve the health of the Salinas Valley by using the latest healthcare technology...
and hosted by former KSBW anchor Kate Callaghan. Callaghan previously anchored KSBW's morning newscasts until her departure from the station in 2008. It is a program that addresses health issues and occasional questions being answered. It also follows the team of trained doctors and physicians there and keeps viewers informed of their progress. This program generally airs before weekend editions of NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, however, it can be delayed or preempted due to special programs.
Editorial
KSBW produces a three-minute editorial session since 1999, called "KSBW Editorial", which is broadcasted after Friday's 6pm newscast, weekend newscasts, and Monday morning newscast. It is hosted by KSBW president and general manager, Joseph W. Heston. The format of the editorial is primarily a commentary by Heston and occasional viewer's comments. The commentary may also provide information on upcoming events by the station itself. With the addition of Central Coast ABC, KSBW also simulcasts the editorial on both stations, though as in the case of all newscasts, it can be subjected to preemption or delay on either channel under network obligations.Controversy
In February 2009, KSBW was involved in a controversy that after Heston gave an editorial that angered then-Salinas police chief Daniel Ortega. It came after an interview conducted by anchorman Dan Green interviewing Salinas mayor Dennis Donahue that Ortega described as the following, as well as how he described what Heston was doing. Ortega asked all media to come in and he gave a speech that addresses KSBW, saying: Ortega went on and asked KSBW to report with "more objectivity." He also asked KSBW to apologize to their sponsors that pay for their existence and their bias reporting. A follow-up editorial by Heston have addressed the issue and admits that Ortega should be treated as a friend."Share Your Holiday"
KSBW broadcasts a live telethon each December which is called "Share Your Holiday". The station partners with the local chapters of the Salvation Army to help the people in need, through donations, live entertainment, and music throughout the telethon. Local newscasts at noon, 5, and 6 p.m. are shortened to accommodate the telethon; the latter two are normally with the weekend anchor team. Both Days of our LivesDays of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
and NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
still air at its regular time, as KSBW is still obliged to carry NBC programming, while syndicated programming is either delayed or preempted. Hosts of the telethon includes anchors Dan Green and Erin Clark, who broadcasts live from outside the KSBW studios, with additional personnel stationed throughout the viewing area at convenient locations. The 2010 version of the telethon made a change to accommodate the HD broadcast, with the information about the telethon posted on the bottom sixth of the screen during the broadcast.
Digital channels
KSBW is currently the only station in the market and the only station owned by Hearst to have all subchannels broadcast in HDHigh-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
. KSBW's digital channels are multiplexed, broadcasting on "virtual" channel 8.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main KSBW programming / NBC |
| 8.2 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
Central Coast ABC |
KSBW has been digital-only since June 12, 2009 and remained on digital channel 8.
Coverage area
KSBW's coverage area includes most of the immediate part of the market, but is also easily received in southern Santa Clara CountySanta Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
, including Gilroy
Gilroy, California
Gilroy is the southernmost city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 48,821 at the 2010 census. Gilroy is well-known for its garlic crop and for the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, featuring various garlicky foods, including garlic ice cream. Gilroy also produces...
and Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill, California
Morgan Hill is a city located in the southern part of Santa Clara County, California, United States. Founded on November 10, 1906, the city was named after Hiram Morgan Hill, a San Franciscan who built a country retreat home there in 1884...
, San Martin
San Martin, California
San Martin is a census-designated place and an unincorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It takes its name from St. Martin of Tours, the patron saint of early pioneer Martin Murphy, who built the first Catholic church in the area...
, and parts of San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
due to the transmitter location, however, Santa Clara County itself is not part of the market, as it is primarily served by KNTV and KGO-TV.
News operation
KSBW currently broadcasts more local news than any other station in the market, with 28.5 hours total (4.5 hours of news on weekdays and 3 hours on weekends). On weekdays, a two-hour morning newscast is shown at 5 a.m., followed by a half-hour news blocks at noon and 5 p.m., one hour at 6 p.m., and a 35-minute wrap-up at 11 p.m. On weekends, with the addition of ABC programming on KSBW-DT2, all weekend newscasts are simulcasted, subject to preemption due to network obligations. The market's only two-hour, early-morning weekend newscast begins at 7 a.m., followed by half-hour blocks at 6 and 11 p.m. (It is noted that KSBW is currently the only station in the entire Central Coast to carry both a noon newscast on weekdays and a weekend morning newscast on weekends, as fellow NBC affiliate KSBY, as well as rivals KCBAKCBA
KCBA is a Fox affiliate television station in Salinas, California, USA. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 13. KCBA is owned by Seal Rock Broadcasters, LLC and operated by Cowles Publishing Company through a local marketing agreement with CBS affiliate KION-TV channel...
, KION
KION-TV
KION-TV is a full-power television station in Salinas, California, broadcasting on digital channel 32 as a CBS affiliate. The stations continues to use UHF channel 46 as its virtual channel through the use of PSIP. KION-TV shows local news, weather, and sports programming, as well as syndicated...
, KCOY, KKFX
KKFX-CA
KKFX-CA is the Class A television service Fox-affiliated television station for the Central Coast of California that is licensed to San Luis Obispo. It continues to broadcast an analog signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter near Serrano and U.S. 101 in the Los Padres National Forest even after...
, and KEYT do not currently offer a noon or a weekend morning newscast.)
KSBW also operates a Santa Cruz newsroom to this day. The newsroom was destroyed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in which one reporter was working there. The station started to broadcast live coverage of the earthquake from the time it struck until just after midnight, then from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. the following day. In both cases, it included a live broadcast from Santa Cruz.
Between 2005 and January 31, 2011, KSBW had started local newscasts on KSBW-DT2, beginning with their debut of KSBW's 10 p.m. newscast on its second digital subchannel, as well as its 6 p.m. Sunday evening newscasts when NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...
is carried on KSBW. However, those newscasts were broadcasted with limited functionality. With a dual NBC/ABC affiliation, all newscasts, especially on weekends, are subject to preemption under network obligations.
KSBW's notably stable weekday-evening anchor team are Dan Green and Erin Clark, who have worked together since 1998 and anchors the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. Jim Vanderzwaan
Jim Vanderzwaan
Jim Vanderzwaan is a television meteorologist who works in Salinas, California. He holds the National Weather Association's seal of approval. His ability at weather forecasting has earned him awards from both the Associated Press and the Radio-Television News Directors Association.-History:His...
, known more commonly as "Lead Forecaster" rather than being called "Chief Meteorologist", have been with the station since 1983. The other anchor teams and reporting staff have less longevity, but field reporters Felix Cortez and Phil Gomez are station veterans, having been with the station since the late 1990s. The most recent addition to the weekday-evening team is Dina Ruiz-Eastwood
Dina Eastwood
Dina Ruiz Eastwood is an American reporter, TV news anchor and film actress. In March 1996 she married actor/director Clint Eastwood and has acted in two films which he directed.- Private life :...
, who first came to KSBW in 1991. Eastwood, the wife of actor Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, retired in 1997, but returned to the station on February 8, 2011 and occasionally anchors the 5 p.m. newscasts.
The anchors take a decidedly informal approach to the newscast, with much light-hearted cross-talk among the personalities. Much of KSBW's national news comes from syndicated reports from other Hearst-owned affiliates and/or NBC stations, and state-capitol reports originate from Sacramento Hearst NBC station KCRA. The newscasts incorporate typical business segments (under "Project Economy"), consumer, and health segments, and place considerable emphasis on crime reporting, focusing on the persistent gang-violence problem in the Salinas area (under the segment title, "Crime Watch"). During the 6 p.m. newscast, weather and sports quizzes are given, as well as an "Animal Stories" segment that Green presents to conclude the newscast. On weekend morning newscasts, in addition to segments regularly shown on newscasts, a movie preview segment (titled as "Movie Buzz") is also shown. Although KSBW is well-known for its local and statewide political coverage under the Hearst-mandated "Commitment" banner, KSBW simulcasts the live televised debates from KCRA, superimposing the KSBW logo over the KCRA logo due to the fact that the debates are often held near Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
.
In June 2010, with NBC carrying the US Open at Pebble Beach, KSBW is one of two stations that carried newscasts immediately after the coverage accompanied by live reports from Peeble Beach (the other is KNTV
KNTV
KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
). KSBW currently uses the mandated Hearst news music package for its newscasts since September 2004. In the early years being owned by Hearst, KSBW was one of the stations using the Image music package. Some segments shown on Action News 8 would continue to use the Image music package until August 25, 2010.
Format change
KSBW underwent a major format change in 1987. On weekdays, newscast time doubled from 90 minutes to over 180 minutes. Previously, weekday newscasts were at 6-7 p.m. and 11-11:30 p.m. In early 1987, KSBW began producing five-minute newscasts during the Today program at 7:25 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. In August 1987, thirty-minute newscasts were added at 6:30-7 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-noon, and 5-5:30 p.m. Also in August 1987, KSBW adopted a new "8" logo which incorporated a right triangle (identical to one used by WGHPWGHP
WGHP, channel 8, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, North Carolina designated market area...
, but it was bluish-tinted purple as opposed to reddish-tinted purple in WGHP's) and began use of a new news music package. The next major format change occurred in late 1991. Upon its current ownership by Hearst Television (then-called Hearst-Argyle Television) in 1999, KSBW had made another change to its studios, along with a new voiceover, Bill Ratner
Bill Ratner
Bill Ratner is an American voice actor. He is best known for being the voice of G.I. Joe's Flint. He is the movie trailer voice for Will Ferrell's Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory, Kung Fu Panda, Tenacious D, Mike Myers's The Love Guru, Monsters vs...
, in which Ratner is currently the main voiceover for the station.
In January 2010, KSBW underwent another format change and minor renovations were made to the KSBW studios, the first such change in over a decade. KSBW anchors had to present their newscasts from the newsroom for several days before the station debuted the new look. During Healthwatch 8 segments, anchor Erin Clark had to present her segment in front of a green screen. New flatscreen televisions were also installed behind the news set of KSBW, which replaced the old set. Additionally, "KSBW" replaced "Action News 8" inside the studio to reflect the studio's name and not the news branding, while two additional monitors were installed for better presentations. The in-studio cameras also made a change, with the cameras no longer being shown during editorial segments. The debut was during the midday newscasts when anchor Dale Julin presented the new look after Lee Solomon was finished with his weather update.
Widescreen and High Definition
KSBW has made many changes since September 2009 to accommodate the changes made at the studio. It first started with KSBW became the first station on the Central Coast to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:916:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
widescreen; however in that case, they were merely in widescreen standard definition
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
with only the news tickers shown during morning newscasts, though no pillarboxes were inserted until after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
. At the same time, KSBW did a test version of the Hearst HD package during Dr. Phil when previewing the 5pm newscasts, which its graphics and block letters are similar to those of Hearst NBC affiliate KCRA. (KSBW would later become the only station owned by Hearst to use two different types of the Hearst HD package.) Though not true high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, the format of the KSBW newscasts matched those of HD television screens. New weather graphics and some field reports were still in 4:3 ratio and then pillarboxed to fill the 16:9 screen. This is only before KSBW's chief rival KION-TV and its sister station KCBA
KCBA
KCBA is a Fox affiliate television station in Salinas, California, USA. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 13. KCBA is owned by Seal Rock Broadcasters, LLC and operated by Cowles Publishing Company through a local marketing agreement with CBS affiliate KION-TV channel...
started to present their local newscasts in high definition from the studio a few weeks later.
KSBW continued to use its old graphics until August 25, 2010, when KSBW began broadcasting the majority of its local newscasts in full high definition, however, HD is not mentioned in the news openings and talents at the time when the newscasts carried on KSBW-DT2 is in 4:3 standard definition due to its signal. Upon the switch, new graphics and elements from its previous graphics and from Hearst stations WCVB, KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
, and KOAT were introduced, while the graphics utilizes a blue background in contrast to the red background of which WCVB and KMBC uses. The upgrade also includes a new animated logo bug and a revised Hearst music package. KSBW uses HD studio cameras and HD field cameras for its newscasts; however, the field video is downconverted to widescreen SD in the control room due to its editing equipment only being capable of SD. KSBW now becomes the smallest DMA market among all Hearst stations to broadcast local news in widescreen or HD, as well as becoming the seventh Hearst-owned station to broadcast local news in HD. While its live newscast is in HD, other local programming (e.g. public affairs, editorials) except for syndicated programming were in 4:3 standard definition.
A new logo for KSBW's newscasts debuted on April 6, 2011, during their 5pm newscast. The logo mirrors those of KCRA, but uses a navy blue background instead of the green background used by KCRA while retaining their "8" logo and without mention of it's affiliation. The news opens were redone to accommodate the ABC affiliation on its second digital subchannel, while retaining the current graphics used by the station. Due to their current primary NBC affiliation, though, KSBW will retain their current logo for general programming.
Promotions and slogans
Since 1957, KSBW has used "Action News 8" on all of its newscasts and promos. The general branding was "KSBW 8" before ownership by Hearst, although since then, that branding is used occasionally, often using the call letters as the default branding. With the addition of ABC on KSBW-DT2, the station also may brand itself "KSBW 8 NBC", when referring to the main subchannel and primary affiliation, as well as selected programming on NBC. During newscasts, although the branding is "Action News 8", the call letters are often inserted, but omitted from the news branding, to refer to the stations name and newscast title.Although KSBW's current primary news-intensive slogan is "Coverage You Can Count On," there were variants of that slogan to promote its news, weather, sports, and other programming on Action News 8, including "Weather Coverage You Can Count On," "Sports Coverage You Can Count On," and "Traffic Coverage You Can Count On." As of 2011, those slogans can be seen during station identification in the form of five-second promos to promote news, weather, traffic, and sports anchors. The other variant slogans include, but not limited to, "Community Coverage You Can Count On" and "Mobile Coverage You Can Count On", a promo during commercial breaks not seen during station identification. Hearst stations KOAT, WGAL
WGAL
WGAL is the NBC-affiliated television station for South Central Pennsylvania that is licensed to Lancaster. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter near U.S. 30 north of Hallam. The transmitter site and tower is also where WGAL's radio partner, WROZ "101.3...
, KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV virtual channel 9 is a television station affiliated with the ABC television network, located in Kansas City, Missouri. KMBC-TV is owned by Hearst Television and its studios are located on Winchester Ave. near Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The station's high guyed mast broadcast...
, and WCVB also use this slogan though the latter two use their own variant of the slogan, adding "Live" and "Local" before the main slogan.
Success by 6, a children's reading program, has long been promoted since KSBW was owned by Hearst. The promotions include child safety, eating, early education, and important information from trusted people such as doctor's advice. Another promotion, "Central Coast Pros," is a promo that includes commercials and advices from various retailers and companies.
In February 2010, during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
, KSBW introduced a new slogan, "It's how you know." This features people in a promo wondering about the latest news, weather, and other ideas of interests that would lead to KSBW's website. Among the notable topics presented on the promo included breaking news, local news, local weather, sports, and its picture sharing site, "uLocal" which is being rolled out to all of Hearst's TV stations. A few weeks later, the slogan is seen at the beginning of each video segments on YouTube, along with Hearst stations KCRA and WMUR, but eventually was updated upon the launch of its HD newscasts to fit 16:9 screens. The news slogan is still retained during newscasts.
Sports
Dennis Lehnen, currently the sports director for KSBW, has been with the station since December 1981. Lehnen was first the weekend sports anchor before he assumed his current position a few years later. While at the station, Lehnen has covered many playoffs, such as when the Oakland RaidersOakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
were in the Super Bowl. The weekend anchor currently acts as the weekend sports anchor in addition to anchoring the news, however, if a major sporting event is held within the area, a sports anchor would broadcast the highlights instead.
High School Playbook
On autumn Friday nights, a special sports segment called "High School Playbook Blitz" follows Central Coast high-school teams through their seasons. A preview of upcoming high school football games is announced by sports anchors during the 5 and 6pm newscasts, as well as any final scores from any game in the area. During their 11pm newscasts, and only after a weather update, sports anchors would go through the highlights and final scores between two teams. KSBW also covers other sports from high school, including basketball, and those are included in a separate segment of High School Playbook. KSBW previously had its segments called "Operation Football" upon ownership by Hearst, then later called "Operation Football Blitz" in the early 2000s before the current title change somewhere around September 2008. (It is noted that KION and its sister station KCBA uses a similar title, but the branding is currently called "Friday Night Blitz.")Anchors
- Jacqueline Mazur - weekend mornings "Action News 8 Sunrise" (7-9 a.m.); also reporter
- Erin Clark - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.; also "Health Watch" reporter
- Dan Green - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m., and weekday morning fill-in
- Michelle Imperato - weekday mornings "Action News 8 Sunrise" (5-7 a.m.); also reporter
- Dale Julin - weekday mornings "Action News 8 Sunrise" (5-7 a.m.) and noon; also noon producer
- Brittany Nielsen - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m. and sports anchor; 11 p.m. producer; also weekday reporter and fill-in anchor
- Dina EastwoodDina EastwoodDina Ruiz Eastwood is an American reporter, TV news anchor and film actress. In March 1996 she married actor/director Clint Eastwood and has acted in two films which he directed.- Private life :...
- weeknights at 5 p.m.
Weather Plus Team
- Jim VanderzwaanJim VanderzwaanJim Vanderzwaan is a television meteorologist who works in Salinas, California. He holds the National Weather Association's seal of approval. His ability at weather forecasting has earned him awards from both the Associated Press and the Radio-Television News Directors Association.-History:His...
(member, 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) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m. - Phil Frame - meteorologist; fill-in
- Art Jarrett - meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Carl Thormeyer - meteorologist; weekend mornings "Action News 8 Sunrise" (7-9 a.m.)
- Lee Solomon - meteorologist, weekday mornings "Action News 8 Sunrise" (5-7 a.m.) and noon
Sports Team
- Dennis Lehnen - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Mike Furutani - sports anchor; on-call
- Michelle Phalen - sports anchor; fill-in
Reporters
- Michele Allen - traffic reporter
- Felix Cortez - general assignment reporter
- May Chow - general assignment reporter and fill-in news anchor
- Margot Dunphy - general assignment reporter, primarily seen weekends; also announcer
- Phil Gomez - Santa Cruz bureau reporter
- Tom Miller - general assignment reporter
- Gene Allen - "Movie Buzz" critic
- Gordy Allen - "Movie Buzz" critic
- Snick Farkas - "Movie Buzz" critic
- Kate Amara - Hearst Washington Bureau reporter
- Sally Kidd - Hearst Washington Bureau reporter
- Nichole Killon - Hearst Washington Bureau reporter
Former personalities
- Miguel Almaguer - reporter (1999–2003), later at KCRA, now west coast correspondent for NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
- Kate Callaghan
- Sharon Chin - reporter/anchor (1992–1997), now at KPIX
- Mae Fasai - weekend anchor (2006–2009), now at KCRA/KQCA
- Jay Galle - weekend meteorologist, now morning meteorologist at WDSUWDSUWDSU, virtual channel 6, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the New Orleans, Louisiana television market. It is owned by Hearst Television, which in turn is wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 43...
- Lawrence Karnow - weekend meteorologist (1993–1997), now weekend meteorologist at KPIX
- Scott Mace - morning meteorologist, now chief meteorologist at KGPEKGPEKGPE, virtual channel 47, is the CBS affiliated television station for the Fresno, California market. KGPE's digital signal is on UHF channel 34 from Auberry, California. It's currently owned by High Plains Broadcasting and operated by Newport Television, LLC....
- Allen Martin - anchor/reporter (1991–1995), now at KPIX
- Aaron Pickering - weekend meteorologist, now at KOLDKOLD-TVKOLD-TV is a full-service television station in Tucson, Arizona. It is the CBS affiliate in Tucson, Arizona, and is owned by Raycom Media. The station broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 32; it also carries Me-TV on digital subchannel 13.2...
- Lee Stansbury - sports reporter
- Del RodgersDel RodgersRodrick Del Rodgers , is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 3rd round of the 1982 NFL Draft...
- sports anchor, now sports director at KCRA-TVKCRA-TVKCRA-TV, channel 3, is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States. KCRA-TV is owned by Hearst Television, a subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, and is an affiliate of the NBC television network...
Station slogans
- Action 8 is Total News (late 1970s)
- The Most Watched Station on the Central Coast (1987–1996)
- Come Home To The Best, Only on Channel 8
- Coverage You Can Count On (1996–present; primary slogan)
- It's How You Know (2010–present; secondary slogan, website promo)