KETV

Omaha, Nebraska
Branding	KETV 7 (general) KETV NewsWatch 7 (newscasts)
Slogan	More Complete Coverage (primary) Your Favorite Source For Local News (secondary)
Channels	Digital: 20 (UHF) Virtual: 7 (PSIP)
Subchannels	7.1 ABC 7.2 Me-TV
Affiliations	American Broadcasting Company
Owner	Hearst Television, Inc. (KETV Hearst Television, Inc.)
First air date	September 17, 1957
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 7 (VHF, 1957–2009)
Former affiliations	Secondary: Weather Now (2010-2011)
Transmitter power	700 kW
Height	396 m
Facility ID	53903
Transmitter coordinates	41°18′32″N 96°1′34.2″W / 41.30889°N 96.026167°W / 41.30889; -96.026167
Website	www.ketv.com

KETV, digital channel 20 (virtual channel 7 and cable channel 9), is the ABC affiliate television station in Omaha, Nebraska and is owned by Hearst Television. KETV's nearest sister stations (that are also owned by Hearst) are CBS affiliate KCCI-TV channel 8 in Des Moines, Iowa, and fellow ABC affiliate KMBC-TV channel 9 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The station's studios are located near 27th and Douglas in downtown Omaha. The transmitter tower and Super Doppler 7 tower are located on a "tower farm" near North 72nd street and Crown Point. Syndicated programming featured on KETV includes The Rachael Ray Show, The Dr. Oz Show, The Doctors, Judge Judy and Wheel of Fortune.

Digital television [edit]

KETV's digital signal on UHF channel 20 is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion [edit]

Like many other stations in the Hearst Television group, KETV began broadcasting in digital-only on June 12, 2009.^[2] KETV and several other Hearst stations broadcasts in 1080i rather than 720p like most ABC stations.

History [edit]

This section requires expansion. (May 2010)

KETV first signed on September 17, 1957 as Omaha's third television station. The station has always been Omaha's ABC affiliate. It is actually the second full ABC affiliate in Omaha; previously KOLN-TV in Lincoln served as Omaha's ABC affiliate for much of 1953 and 1954 until Lincoln was split off as its own market. Channel 7 was originally owned by World Publishing Company, publisher of the Omaha World-Herald. It branded itself as "Omaha World-Herald Television."

Peter Kiewit, Jr. bought World Publishing in 1962.^[3] Due to a change in FCC regulations, Kiewit sold the station to Pulitzer Broadcasting Company in 1976. In 1998, Pulitzer sold its entire broadcasting division, including KETV, to Hearst-Argyle Television.

On July 4, 2003, KETV's transmitter tower (at the north 72nd St. tower farm) collapsed during the addition of a digital television antenna. Thankfully, it happened late at night and no one was injured. The station was forced to broadcast from its shorter auxiliary tower for over a year. A new transmitter was erected almost 200 feet east of where the old transmitter stood on the tower farm and was completed in late 2004. In 2007 The station erected a new high resolution weather radar at the station's "Crown Point" transmitter site. It was built in addition to the downtown weather radar (now referred to on air as Classic Super Doppler 7) that has been located atop the channel 7 studios since the 1970s.

Until KLKN-TV signed on from Lincoln in 1996, KETV was also the default ABC affiliate in the state capital. To this day KETV still retains significant viewership in Lincoln, and operates a news bureau in Lincoln.

On July 9, 2012, a conflict between Hearst Television and Time Warner Cable caused KETV to be taken off TWC in the Lincoln market for a brief period.

News operation [edit]

For the last three decades, the station's newscasts have been branded as NewsWatch 7. Under its current ownership, it has been known since 2000 as KETV NewsWatch 7.

Since 1982, KETV has been known for its weekly Crimestoppers segments, and has contributed to the arrest and conviction of more than 1000 wanted felons. KETV has also had a long running hot-line and web-page called 7 Can Help, which has and continues to contribute to helping the greater Omaha community through financial grants, high utility bill relief, and services for area children. 7 Can Help has also been known to intercede on behalf of senior citizens with matters such as getting benefits that have been otherwise denied them.

In October 1996, KETV began televising all of its local newscasts from a working newsroom which is known as "The Newsplex"; the multi-million dollar broadcast facility (which is very similar in design to the newsroom set used by Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH since the same time frame) is still in use to date. In the years prior to the Newsplex, reporters and anchors had to type their news stories in a separate news room and deliver them to the NewsWatch 7 studios which were on the opposite side of the building. In February 2006, KETV reformatted its investigative unit, in an effort to bring more attention to in depth investigative stories, along with health and consumer reporting. It has been re-launched as the NewsWatch 7 "I-Team".

KETV was the first to have a full-time meteorologist beginning in the early 1970s, the first station with live weather radar in the late 1970s, and was the second station to utilize Doppler weather radar in the early 1990s. In July 2006, KETV launched a 24-hour local weather channel, "Weather Now," that appeared on digital subchannel 7.2 as well as local cable systems and the station's website.^[4] On September 1, 2011, KETV replaced sub-channel 7.2 with classic television programming from Me-TV.^[5]

Among the many KETV alumni is John Coleman who worked at the station in the 1960s. Coleman later appeared as the meteorologist for Good Morning America before going on to create and launch The Weather Channel in 1982. That same year, then KETV Chief Meteorologist, Charlie Martin took a job at TWC to become one of the cable channel's first on camera meteorologists. Martin, who worked at KETV from the late 1970s through the early 1980s was known on The Weather Channel as Charlie Levy.

On February 1, 2010, KETV became the third commercial station in Omaha to present local news in a 16:9 widescreen format, which included updated graphics.

Ratings [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

In November 2006, KETV overtook long-time ratings leader NBC affiliate WOWT (channel 6) to become the number one station for local news in Omaha. Since then WOWT and KMTV (Omaha's CBS affiliate) have fought for second place with KETV far in front of either station.

News/station presentation [edit]

Logo [edit]

KETV's logo is its variation of a widely used Circle 7 logo which has been in use by the station since 1984 and received a slight update in 2000.

Newscast titles [edit]

• The Coca-Cola Report (1957–1963)
• KETV News (1963–1970)
• KETV Omaha News at 10 O'Clock (1970–1971)
• KETV News Service (1971–1976)
• NewsWatch 7 (1976–2000)
• KETV NewsWatch 7 (2000–present)

Station slogans [edit]

• "The One To Count On" (1987–1996)
• "More Complete Coverage" (1996–present; primary news slogan)
• "Omaha's News Leader" (2004–present; secondary news slogan)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

On-air staff [edit]

Current on-air staff^[6] [edit]

Anchors

• Todd Andrews - Fridays at 5:00 and Fridays-Saturdays at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Nichole Berlie - weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
• Amanda Crawford - weekend mornings First News Weekend (5:00-6:00 weekends and 7:00-8:30 Saturdays + 7:00-9:00 a.m. Sundays); also weeknight reporter
• Melissa Fry - Mondays-Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.; also reporter
• Natalie Glucklich - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Jeremy Maskel - weekend mornings First News Weekend (5:00-6:00 weekends and 7:00-8:30 Saturdays + 7:00-9:00 a.m. Sundays); also weeknight reporter
• Rob McCartney - Mondays-Thursdays at 6:00 and Sundays-Thursdays at 10:00 p.m.
• John Oakey - weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
• Brandi Petersen - Sundays at 5:30, Sundays-Thursdays at 10:00 and Mondays-Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.
• Adrian Whitsett - Mondays-Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.; also reporter

SuperDoppler Storm Team

• Bill Randby (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; Mondays-Thursdays at 5:00 and 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and Sundays-Thursdays at 10:00 p.m.
• Kyle Gravlin (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings on First News (5:00-6:00 weekends and 7:00-8:30 Saturdays + 7:00-9:00 a.m. Sundays)
• Holly McCarthy (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; Fridays at 5:00 and Fridays-Saturdays at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Matt Serwe - meteorologist; weekday mornings on First News (4:30-7:00 a.m.)

Sports team

• Andy Kendeigh - sports director; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Thor Tripp - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also sprots reporter

Reporters

• Julie Cornell - general assignment reporter
• Kristyna Engdahl - First News Weekend (5:00-6:00 weekends and 7:00-8:30 Saturdays + 7:00-9:00 a.m. Sundays) reporter; also weeknight 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. reporter
• Alex Hoffman - general assignment reporter
• Ryan Luby - general assignment reporter
• Hannah Pickett - general assignment reporter

Notable former on-air staff [edit]

• Cindy Andrew - news reporter (1996–2004)
• Andrea Bredow - meteorologist (2002–2008)
• Margaret Bumann - medical reporter (1988–2004)
• John Coleman - meteorologist (1960s; one of the founders of The Weather Channel in 1982, now with KUSI in San Diego)^[7]
• Jill Cordes - morning anchor (1990s; now hostess of My First Place on HGTV)
• Suzanne Deyo - news anchor (1996–2008)
• Mike DiGiacomo - general assignment reporter (2001–2007)
• Harold Dow - anchor/reporter (late 1960s; became correspondent/investigative reporter - CBS news; deceased)
• Tom Elser - news reporter (1997–2006)
• Farrah Fazal - anchor/reporter (2006–2009; now at KRGV-TV)
• Elictia Hammond - news anchor (2004–2008)
• Pamela Jones - anchor/reporter (1996–2004; then at Chicagoland Television, now at WBBM-TV)
• Owen Lei - broadcast journalist (2006–2008)
• Carol McClellan - investigative reporter (1995–2010)
• Sean McMahon - sports reporter (1996–2005)
• Jana Murrell - traffic reporter (2005–2007)
• Kevin A. Penrod, investigative reporter 1984–1989 later an EMMY Award Winning Journalist with KIRO-TV Seattle 1989-1992.
• Matt Schick: weekend sports anchor (2005–2009; now anchor on ESPN U in Charlotte)
• Carol Schrader - weeknight anchor/reporter (1977–1996; hosted PBS interview program called "Consider This" from 1997–2006)
• Jon Schuetz - sports director (1994–2010)
• Michael Scott - weeknight anchor/reporter (1982–1993; later an Entertainment Tonight correspondent and anchor at KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth and KCTV in Kansas City)
• Mike'l Severe - news reporter (2002–2010)
• Mike Sigmond - consumer investigator (2001–2007)
• Lisa Stites - anchor/reporter (2006–2007)
• Kevin Tomich - news reporter (2001–2004)
• Shiloh Woolman - web reporter (2003–2008)

See also [edit]

List of The Local AccuWeather Channel affiliates

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• KETV.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KETV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KETV-TV