| Call letters | KFSN-TV |
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| Station logo | |
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| Station slogan | Live, Local, Latebreaking |
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| Station branding | ABC 30 (general)ABC 30 Action News HD (newscasts) |
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| Digital | 30 (UHF) |
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| Affiliations | ABC |
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| Subchannels | (see article) |
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| Airdate | May 10, 1956 |
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| Location | Fresno, California |
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| Callsign meaning | FreSNo |
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| Former callsigns | KFRE-TV (1956-1971) |
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| Former channel numbers | Analog:12 (VHF, 1956-1961)30 (UHF, 1961-2009)Digital: 9 (VHF) |
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| Owner | Disney/ABC |
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| Licensee | KFSN Television, LLC |
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| Former affiliations | CBS (1956-1985) |
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| Effective radiated power | 260 kW |
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| Haat | 625 m |
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| Facility id | 8620 |
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| Coordinates | | |
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KFSN-TV, UHF channel 30, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Fresno, California. The station's transmitter is located in Meadow Lakes, California. Its signal covers the Central San Joaquin Valley and the mountain ranges flanking either side, including the Sierra Nevada mountains and Yosemite National Park. The station serves Fresno, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, Tulare, and Kings counties.
History
In the 1950s, KARM-AM and KFRE-AM competed for the channel 12 license, the sole VHF TV allocation in Fresno. KFRE won the license, and the station known today as KFSN-TV signed on the air for the first time on May 10, 1956 on channel 12 as
KFRE-TV, taking the
CBS affiliation from KJEO-TV (channel 47, now
KGPE).
The KFRE stations were acquired by Triangle Publications in 1959, and on February 17, 1961, KFRE-TV reluctantly moved to UHF channel 30 to make Fresno an all-UHF market under orders from the Federal Communications Commissionin order to level the playing field in the market. The term deintermixture was used to describe the act of creating all UHF markets in areas that few available VHF channels for allotment and thus creating unfair competetion in markets such as Fresno and Bakersfield . This move opened up channel 12 for an allocation in use by KCOY-TV in Santa Maria (Fresno is still a predominantly-UHF market to this day with all 12 full power analog signals operating on UHF channels; the exceptions are a few low-power and digital outlets).
Capital Cities Communications acquired the KFRE stations from Triangle in 1971; the company sold off the AM and FM radio stations and kept the TV station, changing its calls from KFRE-TV to KFSN-TV (The KFRE-TV calls are now used on Fresno's CW affiliate on channel 59; that station is unrelated to the current KFSN-TV). The station became an ABC owned-and-operated station in September 9, 1985 following ABC's merger with CapCities, and ABC's first UHF O&O; CBS returned to KJEO. The merged company had not originally intended to keep KFSN, but only did so because it was not allowed to keep WTNH (channel 8) in New Haven, Connecticut.
The station is one of three network owned television stations in the Fresno television market; the other two are Univision's KFTV (channel 21) and Telemundo's KNSO (channel 51). However, the latter station is managed by a third party via a time brokerage agreement.
With the sale of WTVG & WJRT-TV to SJL Broadcasting, KFSN is now the smallest station in the country that is an O&O; of any major network, not counting semi-satellites (this includes WOGX in Ocala/Gainesville, Florida; which is a semi-satellite of WOFL in Orlando).
Digital programming
The station's digital signal is UHF 30, multiplexed:
On April 27, 2009 the station added the Live Well Network to its digital subchannel, Channel 30.2.
Analog-to-digital conversion
KFSN-TV shut down its analog signal, over
UHF channel 30, on June 12, 2009 at noon, as part of the
DTV transition in the United States. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over
VHF channel 9, but returned to channel 30 for its post-transition operations.
News operation
The station's newscasts are not branded
Eyewitness News, nor does it use the
Eyewitness News music package, like several other ABC-owned stations. Instead, KFSN retains the Action News branding (
ABC30 Action News,) along with sister station
WPVI (channel 6) in Philadelphia. In 2003, the station began
pooling resources with sister stations
KABC-TV (channel 7) in
Los Angeles and
KGO-TV (channel 7) in
San Francisco to hire a full time reporter and photographer to staff a Sacramento bureau following
Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as
Governor during the
2003 California recall election.
KFSN's newscasts have used the Action News name and format made famous at sister station WPVI since the 1970s. The station has led the news ratings in the San Joaquin Valley for more than 30 years. Its 5 PM newscast, "Live at Five," frequently attracts more viewers than all other local stations combined.
On April 23, 2007 starting with the 5 p.m. newscast, KFSN-TV became the sixth ABC owned-and-operated station to produce and broadcast their newscasts in High Definition following their sister stations KABC-TV, WPVI-TV, WABC-TV, WLS-TV and KGO-TV and update its branding to ABC 30 Action News HD.
Since 1994, KFSN has used the original version of 615 Music's "News One" music package, also used at the time by sister-station, KGO-TV.
KFSN has dominated the local news viewership ratings in the San Joaquin Valley for decades, dating back to its pre-ABC-merger years as a CBS affiliate.
On May 25, 2011, KFSN has announced that it will have a new 4 p.m. newscast starting September 12 (immediately following Oprah reruns). This follows the trend of the four other sister-stations (WABC-TV, WPVI-TV, WTVD & KGO) that have started its new 4 p.m. newscast after Oprah's final first-run episode.
News/station presentation
Newscast titles
Channel 30 Action News (1976–1996)
ABC-30 Action News (1996–present)
Station slogans
The Valley's #1 Newscast (1986–1994)
Stand Up and Tell'em Fresno's Great! (1985–1994; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Turn To News")
You and Channel 30, We've Got the Touch (1983–1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
You'll Love It on Channel 30 (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
Together on Channel 30 (1986–1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
Something's Happening on Channel 30 (1987–1989; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
Fresno's Watching Channel 30 (1990–1992; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
If It's Fresno, It Must Be Channel 30 (1992–1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
Number One in Central California (1994–present)
Nobody Does It Like Channel 30 (1996-1997; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
TV is Good, on ABC-30 (1997–1998; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
We Love TV, on ABC-30 (1998–1999; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
Live. Local. Latebreaking. (2000–present)
On-air staff
Current on-air staff (as of October 2009)
Anchors
Warren Armstrong - weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
Liz Harrison - weeknights at 11 p.m.; also reporter
Matt Keller - weekday mornings "ABC 30 Action News AM Live" (4:30-7 a.m.) and 11 a.m.
Margot Kim - weekday mornings "ABC 30 Action News AM Live" (4:30-7 a.m.)
Graciela Moreno - weeknights at 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Nancy Osborne - weeknights at 5 p.m.
Christine Park - weekday mornings at 11 a.m.; also morning reporter
Amanda Perez - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Sara Sandrik - weekend mornings at 6 and 8 a.m.; also North Valley bureau chief
Dale Yurong - weeknights at 6:30 p.m.; also reporter
ABC30 AccuWeather Team
Angelo Stalis - chief weathercaster; weeknights at 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Doug Collins (AMS Member; NWA Member) - meteorologist; weekday mornings
Kevin Musso (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weeknights at 11 p.m.
Reuben Contreras - meteorologist; weekends; also news producer
Sports team
Jason Oliveira - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
David Bataller - sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also sports reporter
Reporters
DeShaunta Bullock - education reporter
Tony Capozzi - legal and political consultant
Gene Haagenson - general assignment reporter
Shannon Handy - general assignment reporter
Corin Hoggard - court reporter
Nannette Miranda - Sacramento bureau chief
Rick Montanez - general assignment reporter
Jessica Peres - South Valley bureau chief
Lorena Rabago - traffic reporter
Sontaya Rose - investigative reporter
Tommy Tran - general assignment reporter
Former on-air staff
Laura Diaz - anchor (1981–1983; now at KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles)
See also
Circle 7 logo
References
BroadcastPioneers.com: A History of the WFIL Stations - accessed on January 20, 2006
External links
KFSN ABC30 Homepage
Category:Disney television stations
Category:ABC network affiliates
Category:Television stations in Fresno, California
Category:Channel 30 digital TV stations in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1956
