KPRC-TV

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KPRC-TV
Houston, Texas
Branding	KPRC Local2
Slogan	Where Local News Comes First
Channels	2 (VHF) analog, 35 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Post-Newsweek Stations
Founded	January 1, 1949
Call letters meaning	Kotton Port Rail Center, as described in a 1989 station-produced documentary.
Former callsigns	KLEE-TV (January 1949-July 1950)
Former affiliations	CBS secondary (1949-1953) ABC (1949-1954) DuMont (1949-1956) [1]
Transmitter Power	100 kW Analog 1,000 kW Digital
Website	www.click2houston.com

For KPRC Radio, see KPRC (AM).

KPRC-TV is a television station based in Houston, Texas. The station operates on analog channel 2 and digital channel 35. KPRC is affiliated with the NBC television network. KPRC is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company.

Contents 1 History 2 Preemptions 3 Newscasts 3.1 Newscast titles 3.2 Reporters 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 Sources

[edit] History

The station first broadcast on January 1, 1949, as KLEE-TV, and was owned by W. Albert Lee. It was the first television station in Houston and the 12th in the United States.

On June 1, 1950, KLEE-TV was purchased by the Hobby family, owners of the Houston Post, who had signed on KPRC radio in 1925 as Houston's first radio station. The television station's call letters were changed to match its radio cousin on July 3, 1950. It has been an NBC affiliate from the very first day, though it carried secondary affiliations with CBS until 1953 (when KGUL-TV, now KHOU-TV, signed on), with DuMont until 1956 [2], and with ABC until 1954 (when KTRK-TV signed on) because of the FCC freeze.

Because of its affiliation with NBC, KPRC was the first station in Houston to broadcast the first color program in Houston and was subsequently the first to broadcast in full color.

In 1983, the Post was sold, while the Hobby's broadcast holdings were reorganized as H&C Communications. After 40 years of ownership by the Hobby family, KPRC was sold to the Washington Post in 1994. The Houston Post was bought and absorbed into the Houston Chronicle, with the last edition printed in April of 1995.

Since 2004 KPRC has been branded "Local2" under a new station standardization practice by Post-Newsweek that mandates all its stations use the "Local" branding.

[edit] Preemptions

When the NBC soap opera Passions debuted in 1999, KPRC -- along with its sister station WDIV in Detroit -- were the only NBC affiliates that preempted the show; both stations also had preempted the earlier soap opera Sunset Beach (though UPN stations in both cities carried Sunset Beach). In its place was the Maury show which moved to KHWB when KPRC started to air the preempted soap opera in its normal network timeslot. Initially, it aired on KNWS, moving to KPRC at 3 AM. NBC prefers that affiliates not preempt programs, so on August 30, 2004, KPRC started to air Passions.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien used to be delayed to air Jerry Springer's talk show at 11:35 p.m., at one point airing other programming in late night which delayed Late Night to 2:40 a.m. This was a fact not lost on Conan, who visited Houston's main bus terminal to watch an episode of his own show in a classic and hilarious skit. KPRC later moved the show to 12:35 a.m. and today airs Conan in its network slot after the Tonight Show. They still however delay Last Call with Carson Daly until 2:05, showing infomercials at 12:35 a.m. in the show's network timeslot.

KPRC now airs NBC network programming in their normal timeslots.

[edit] Newscasts

KPRC's newscasts were once considered competitive in the Houston area. During the 1980s, the station used a unique newscast title, "ChannelTwoNews", broadcast round-the-clock updates throughout the day, including during NBC primetime programming. With anchors Ron Stone and Jan Carson, the station's newscasts, while usually in second place, often competed for first at times.

However, in recent years, the station has seen its ratings slip. Its morning newscast is now in fourth place, and one newscast even reported finishing in fifth place, behind rival news stations KHOU and KTRK, syndicated reruns, and even a Spanish-language station. Overall, KPRC is now a distant third in the ratings behind KHOU and KTRK, which often trade first and second place in the ratings. In February 2007, KPRC finished fourth overall behind KHOU, KTRK, and Fox affiliate KRIV.

Monday-Friday

• KPRC Local 2 News at 5am & 6am (5am-7am)
  • Owen Conflenti, Lauren Freeman, Anthony Yanez, Jennifer Reyna
• KPRC Local 2 News at 11am (11am-12pm)
  • Owen Conflenti, Lauren Freeman, Anthony Yanez
• KPRC Local 2 News at 4pm (4pm-5pm)
  • Jerome Gray, Wendy Corona, Frank Billingsley
• KPRC Local 2 News at 5pm (5pm-5:30pm)
  • Bill Balleza, Dominique Sachse, Frank Billingsley
• KPRC Local 2 News at 6pm (6pm-6:30pm)
  • Jerome Gray, Wendy Corona, Frank Billingsley, Randy McIlvoy (Mon-Thu), Keith Norton (Fri)
• KPRC Local 2 News at 10pm (10pm-10:35pm)
  • Bill Balleza, Dominique Sachse, Frank Billingsley, Randy McIlvoy (Mon-Thu), Keith Norton (Fri)

Saturdays

• KPRC Local 2 News Saturday Morning (6am-8am)
  • Courtney Zavala, Eric Braate
• KPRC Local 2 News at 6pm (6pm-6:30pm)
  • Rachel McNeill, Eric Braate, Keith Norton
• KPRC Local 2 News at 10pm (10pm-10:30pm)
  • Rachel McNeill, Eric Braate, Keith Norton

Sundays

• KPRC Local 2 News Sunday Morning (6am-8am)
  • Courtney Zavala, Eric Braate
• KPRC Local 2 News at 5 (5pm-5:30pm)
  • Rachel McNeill, Eric Braate, Randy McIlvoy
• KPRC Local 2 News at 10pm (10pm-10:30pm)
  • Rachel McNeill, Eric Braate, Randy McIlvoy
• Sports Sunday (10:30pm-11pm)

[edit] Newscast titles

• The News Reporter and NightBeat - both with Steve Smith (1970-1973)

(The "Nightbeat" designation was used again to distinguish late newscasts beginning in the 1990s.)

• Big 2 News (1973-1980)
• 2News (1980-1984)
• Channel Two News (1984-1993)
• Channel 2 News (1993-1995)
• News 2 Houston (1995-2004)
• Local2 News (2004-2005)
• KPRC Local 2 News (2005-present)

[edit] Reporters

• Phil Archer
• Robert Arnold
• Lisa Baldwin
• Mary Benton
• Andrea Bishop
• Kym Alvarado-Booth
• Amy Davis
• Stephen Dean
• Joel Eisenbaum
• Daniela Guzman
• Ryan Korsgard
• Mariza Reyes
• Carl Willis
• Courtney Zavala

Notable past personalities:

• Kay Bailey, reporter (Channel 2's first female reporter) Currently a US Senator.
• Chris Bury, reporter in the early 1980s, currently a correspondent for the ABC News program Nightline.
• Velma Cato, a reporter who moved on to NBC News' Atlanta & New York Bureaus and later became a producer of nationally syndicated programs.
• Ron Franklin, Sports Director who came from KHOU in 1980 and left the station in 1987 for a postion at ESPN.
• Charles Hadlock, a reporter here before his lengthier assignment at KHOU, currently a correspondent for NBC News
• James Hattori, reporter who was hired in the late 1980s and later departed for CBS News and eventually CNN. Currently an NBC News Correspondent.
• Mauri Moore, reporter who moved on to NBC News' Bureau in Tel Aviv. Currently a city councilor in Edmonds, Washington.
• Roger O'Neil, reporter in the late 1970s and currently a correspondent for NBC News.
• Tom Jarriel, worked behind the scenes in the news department as a reporter for a number of years. Formerly of ABC News
• Dan Molina, A reporter who had moved back and forth between KPRC & NBC News throughout the 1980s and 90s eventually becoming KPRC's Austin Bureau Chief. Currently a freelancer, as well as a consultant for several broadcast relations firms.
• Janet Shamlian, Was a weekend anchor & reporter during the mid 1990s. Currently a correspondent for NBC News
• Cal Thomas, Notable syndicated newspaper columnist & commentator.
• Spencer Tillman, who began as a sports reporter/anchor during the 1987 offseason period when he was playing with the Houston Oilers. Later moved to WABC-TV in 1997 and joined CBS Sports in 1999.
• Larry Weidman, a reporter who later moved on to helm NBC News' Rome Bureau.
• Paula Zahn, anchor (now an evening show host at CNN).

[edit] Trivia

• As KLEE-TV, the station became the source of controversy thanks to some British TV viewers who claimed to receive the signal of KLEE-TV in September 14, 1953, three years after the original signal was transmitted. However, this was actually a hoax.[3]

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Snopes.com article about a KLEE-TV phantom broadcast
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KPRC

[edit] Sources

Schroeder, Richard. Texas Signs On: The Early Days of Radio and Television. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-813-6. 

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Broadcast Television in the Houston market  (Nielsen DMA #10)

KPRC 2 (NBC, WX Plus on DT2) - KUHT 8 (PBS) - KHOU 11 (CBS) - KTRK 13 (ABC, AccuWX TV on DT2) - KETH 14 (TBN) - KTXH 20 (MNTV) - KVQT 21 (Span. Rel.) - KLTJ 22 (DS) - KRIV 26 (Fox) - KCVH 30 (LAT TV) - KVIT 34 (Almavision) - KHCW 39 (The CW) - KHLM 43 (Multimedios) - KXLN 45 (UNI) - KTMD 47 (TEL) - KPXB 49 / KBPX 33 (ION) - KNWS 51 (Ind) - KTBU 55 (A1) - KAZH 57 / KHMV 28 / KVVV 53 (AZA) - KZJL 61 (Ind) - KFTH 67 (TFU)

Defunct television stations KVVV 16 (Ind)

Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations Reception may vary by geographical location KBTX 3 (CBS, Bryan)