KSWB-TV, virtual channel 69, is a Fox-affiliated television station in San Diego, California. It broadcasts a 720p high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter southeast of Spring Valley. Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa section of the city.

KSWB can be seen on AT&T U-verse, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications on channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 1005. Since the station is aired on cable channel 5, it is known on-air as Fox 5 San Diego; however in newscasts, the station's logo bug rotates between its virtual digital channel of 69 and its advertised cable channel position of 5.

History[link]

The station went on-the-air as KTTY on October 1, 1984 as a new independent station. It ran a general entertainment format featuring dramas, old movies, cartoons, and religious programming that was passed on by other stations. KTTY also aired a great deal of paid programming. The station continued to be a low rated independent station until January 11, 1995 when it became a charter affiliate of the new WB network.

Tribune's broadcasting division purchased the station from local interests in September 1996 and shortly thereafter changed its call letters to the present KSWB-TV. The company added many off-network sitcoms to the schedule. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, talk and court shows were mixed into the schedule as well.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced they would end broadcasting and merge. The newly combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents, CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. The merger took effect on-air on September 18 and KSWB became the San Diego affiliate.^[1] Former UPN station XHUPN-TV, licensed to Tecate, Mexico and owned by Entravision is now MyNetworkTV affiliate XHDTV-TV (identified on-air as XDTV). KSWB's call letters reference the former network. Unlike many other former WB affiliates that also had call signs relating to its former network, this station has retained them.

In a seminar by Sam Zell in March 2008, it was revealed that KSWB would be affiliating with Fox. The change happened on August 1, 2008 assuming the network from XETV (channel 6).^[2] At first, there was speculation that CW programming in the San Diego market would most likely come from KTLA (channel 5) in Los Angeles, which is seen only on Cox cable channel 14,^[3] while two other scenarios were being entertained. This included the possibility that KUSI (channel 51) would pick up The CW or the network landing on KSWB's second digital subchannel which has been silent since The Tube shut down in 2007.

On July 2, 2008, XETV announced that it would be the new home of The CW on the same day KSWB became a Fox station.^[4] The station used to be the market's home of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers until it switched networks. All games were produced by sister station KTLA in high definition. However that station, to this day, still airs the games.

Digital Television[link]

In the analog era upon receiving Fox affiliation, KSWB surpassed WSYT in Syracuse, New York (Channel 68) as the Fox affiliate with highest channel number (and was tied with WUPA in Atlanta for highest CW channel number). It retains the highest PSIP channel position in the digital age.

The station's digital signal is multiplexed. On October 1, 2010, the station began to carry This TV on their DT2 subchannel, the first time since a short carriage of The Tube Music Network before they ended operations in October 2007 the station carried a digital subchannel. KSWB then added Tribune's Antenna TV to their DT3 subchannel on that network's first day, January 1, 2011.

Programming[link]

Syndicated programming broadcast on KSWB includes: The Dr. Oz Show, Two and a Half Men, Family Guy, Everybody Loves Raymond, Bones, Jerry Springer, The Bill Cunningham Show, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass and 30 Rock.

In addition, the station also produces one locally-produced program outside of its newscasts: a local version of former Fox series America's Most Wanted (whose first-run broadcast rights were acquired by cable network Lifetime in August 2011), called San Diego's Most Wanted, which airs Saturday nights before Fox primetime programming and is rebroadcast on Sunday nights after the 10 p.m. newscast.

News operation[link]

Currently, KSWB broadcasts a total of 44½ hours of local newscasts each week (with 8½ hours on weekdays and one hour on weekends), the second most of any station in the San Diego market, behind independent station KUSI (which carries 50½ hours of local news per week).

As a WB affiliate, the station launched a news department and began producing a half-hour 10 p.m. newscast on September 27, 1999 entitled WB News at 10; this was to counter against rivals KUSI-TV and another start-up operation at XETV. Its news slogan was "All the News, Just 30 Minutes" as it was San Diego's only half-hour primetime newscast. In March 2005, KSWB joined the morning news race launching The WB Morning Show which was made up of a simulcast of the morning news program from sister station KTLA in Los Angeles. It originated from that station's studios on West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. There were local cut-ins from KSWB's San Diego studios every half-hour by a solo anchor.

In the fall of 2005, the in-house news operation folded and production of the 10 p.m. newscast was handed over on October 28 of that year to NBC station KNSD (channel 39).^[5] After KSWB ceased producing the 10 p.m. newscast, the entire news department was let go except for anchor Jeff Powers who continued to anchor until he left the station. WB News at 10 began to be produced by and broadcast from KNSD's studios on Broadway in downtown San Diego. However, local cut-ins during the simulcast of the KTLA Morning News continued to be done from KSWB's studios.

On September 18, 2006, to correspond with the change to The CW, the morning news was remamed The CW Morning Show and the 10 o'clock broadcast became known as CW News at 10. KNSD reporter Anne State assumed co-anchoring duties until April 2008 when she left for CBS-owned WBBM-TV (channel 2) in Chicago. Vic Salazar then solo anchored the 10 o'clock broadcast. The KNSD news on KSWB was a similar operation to other Tribune-outsourced newscasts that are still seen on WPHL-TV in Philadelphia and KRCW-TV in Portland, Oregon. In addition, the station also produced a Sunday night public affairs show called Take 5 that aired at 10:30 p.m.

After becoming a Fox affiliate on August 1, 2008, KSWB once again established an in-house news operation. The station dropped the morning news simulcast with KTLA for a brand new weekday morning newscast which initially aired from 5 to 9 a.m.; the KNSD-produced 10 p.m. newscast was also replaced a new hour-long, nightly 10 o'clock newscast with three anchors: Kathleen Bade and Kendis Gibson, and Chief Meteorologist Kyle Hunter.^[6][7] Weekends at 10:45 p.m., the station airs a 15-minute sports highlight show called Game On. All of the station's newscasts are presented in high definition.

On September 14, 2009, KSWB debuted an hour-long 6 p.m. newscast that competes against half-hour 6 p.m. newscasts on KNSD and KGTV, a half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast on KFMB, their national network evening newscasts, and with the 6 p.m. newscast on KUSI-TV. This was part of a company-wide expansion of early evening (and in some cases, midday newscasts) for the majority of Tribune's Fox stations (however Seattle Fox station KCPQ (channel 13) was the only Tribune-owned Fox station that did not add any newscasts, it would not be until June 2011 before KCPQ added an early evening 5 p.m. newscast). On September 26, 2011, KSWB launched an hour-long weeknight 5 p.m. newscast, this gives the station a total of 8½ hours of local newscasts each weekday.

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• WB News at Ten (1999–2006; replaced by a newscast of the same name produced by KNSD in 2006)
• The WB Morning Show (2005–2006; simulcast of morning newscast from sister station KTLA in Los Angeles)^[8]
• CW News at Ten (2006–2008)
• The CW Morning Show (2006–2008; simulcast of morning newscast from KTLA)
• Fox 5 News (2008–present)^[9]

Station slogans[link]

• "All the News, Just 30 Minutes" (10 p.m. newscast; 2004–2006)

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

On-air staff[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff (as of September 29, 2011)^[10]

Anchors

• Kathleen Bade - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Paul Bloom - freelance anchor
• Erica Fox - weekday mornings (9-10 a.m.); also reporter
• Jenn Karlman - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also 10 p.m. reporter
• Susan Lennon - weekends at 10 p.m.
• Walter Makaula - weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Raoul Martinez - weekday mornings (5-10 a.m.)
• Loren Nancarrow - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.; also environmental reporter
• Shally Zomorodi - weekday mornings (4:30-9 a.m.)

Weather team

• Aloha Taylor (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Chrissy Russo - weather anchor; weekday mornings, also traffic reporter and host of Chrissy Russo Live! (on leave)
• Brad Wills (NWA Seal of Approval) - weather anchor; weekends at 10 p.m., also weeknight reporter
• Kyle Hunter (AMS Seal of Approval) - freelance meteorologist

Sports team

• Ross Shimabuku - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Troy Hirsch - sports reporter; also Game On host

Reporters

• Trisha Skidmore- general assignment reporter
• Rick Boone - general assignment reporter
• Jaime Chambers - general assignment reporter
• Christian De La Rosa- general assignment reporter
• Rich DeMuro - technology reporter
• Ali Fedotowsky - features/lifestyle reporter
• Heather Ford - weekday morning reporter
• Perette Godwin - general assignment reporter)
• Jenny Hamel - general assignment reporter
• Matt Johnson - general assignment reporter
• John Langeler - general assignment reporter
• Kristina Lee - general assignment
• Marie Luby - general assignment reporter
• Walter Morris - general assignment reporter
• Lynn Stuart - general assignment reporter
• Juliette Vara - freelance reporter

Former on-air staff[link]

• Arthel Neville - weekday morning anchor (2008–2010; now at Fox News Channel)
• Anne State - weeknight 10 p.m. anchor (2006-2008 during production of newscast by KNSD; now at WITI-TV in Milwaukee)

See also[link]

• KSWB-TV Tower

References[link]

External links[link]

• KSWB-DT "Fox 5 San Diego"
• KSWB-DT mobile
• Fox
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KSWB-TV

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