KMGH-TV, channel 7, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Denver, Colorado. The station itself is usually branded as "Denver's 7", but its newscasts are branded as "7 News". It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter located in Golden, Colorado. The station is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company.

History[link]

As a CBS affiliate[link]

The station first went on the air on November 1, 1953 as KLZ-TV. It was owned by Edward K. Gaylord and his Oklahoma Publishing Company along with KLZ radio (560 AM and 106.7 FM, now KBPI). KLZ-TV immediately took CBS from KBTV (channel 9, now KUSA), owing to KLZ radio's long affiliation with CBS Radio. In 1954, Gaylord sold the KLZ stations to Time-Life.^[1] Another publishing firm, McGraw-Hill bought the station in 1972, changing the calls to the present KMGH-TV.

During the 1950s, the Channel 7 staff included newscaster (later sportscaster and Dialing For Dollars host) Starr Yelland who came from KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV) and Ed Scott as Sheriff Scotty to entertain the kids. [4] In 1956, KLZ-TV presented the first TV remote broadcast from a courtroom after General Manager Hugh Terry won a court battle to allow cameras into the courtroom.

The taping of a religious public affairs program at the station in 1968.

In 1957 Panorama, a weekly public affairs series on Channel 7, became the first Denver-produced program to win a prestigious national Peabody Award. It was written and hosted by Gene Amole and directed by Jim Lannon. The television station has since won two more Peabody awards for the investigative reports "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Air Force Academy" (2003 - Reported by John Ferrugia and produced by Kurt Silver and Jeff Harris, who is now the KMGH-TV News Director) and "Failing the Children: Deadly Mistakes"(2008 - Reported by John Ferrugia and produced Tom Burke and Arthur Kane).

The station was the first in Denver to operate a news bureau in Washington, D.C., as well as the first Denver station to receive reports from its own radio and TV correspondents in Europe and Asia. Channel 7 televised the first kidney transplant in the mid-1960s. Starting in 1968 and running through 1983, the most popular kids show in town was the Noell and Andy Show, 8–8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Her coloring contest drew hundreds of entries each week [5].

Channel 7 has always been located in the same block at Speer Boulevard and Lincoln Street, though from 1953 until 1969 the station was housed in a former auto dealership on the east side of the block at E. 6th Avenue and Sherman Street. The station's current eight-sided, five-level building, called "The Communications Center", opened in 1969, state-of-the-art at the time.

The 1990s did not begin well for KMGH; the station saw significant losses in 1990 and 1991, as well as lower news ratings. A new management team introduced in 1991 turned things around at KMGH; net profit soared 105.5 percent in 1992 as a result.^[2]

Switch to ABC[link]

KMGH had been one of CBS's stronger affiliates. However, as a result of CBS's partnership (and later merger) with Westinghouse in the mid-1990s, the network had to divest its owned-and-operated station (O&O) in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV (since Westinghouse already owned KYW-TV in that city). In a three-way trade, WCAU was sold to NBC while Denver's longtime NBC affiliate and O&O, KCNC-TV, was sold to a partnership of CBS and Westinghouse.

A shot of the KMGH studios

At the same time, McGraw-Hill had recently struck its own affiliation deal with ABC, due in part to having its stations in San Diego and Indianapolis aligned with the network (KERO-TV in Bakersfield, California was also part of the deal between McGraw-Hill and ABC; however, it had to wait for its affiliation contract with CBS to run out in March 1996 before it could finally switch to ABC). In keeping with all of this, on September 10, 1995, ABC moved its programming from KUSA to KMGH. KMGH's outgoing CBS affiliation went to KCNC, with NBC moving from KCNC to KUSA.

In 1998, KMGH's current rendition of the Circle 7 debuted (it used several variations from 1981–1995), which is a variation of those seen on other ABC stations on Channel 7. The station added the ABC logo to it in the bottom left approximately a year later colored in yellow (like the network's yellow-and-black on-air look of the era, as well as the station's blue-and-yellow). In 2006, KMGH aligned itself with other ABC stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles, by using the same news package by Gari Communications, specifically designed for ABC O&Os. KMGH is not, however, owned by ABC. In conjunction with the music switch, on-air graphics were overhauled to include shades of red in addition to KMGH's signature gold and blue combination, and its Circle 7 logo was updated to look like real glass (on the website, it was metallic). KMGH went HD August 18, 2008 and amended its 2006 graphics. The logo is now a deep blue circle 7 logo. KMGH-TV is the only Denver TV station to win two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia awards - one for the 2003 report, "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Air Force Academy" (Ferrugia, Burke, and Kane) and again in 2010 for the investigative documentary "33 Minutes to 34 Right," hosted by Tony Kovaleski and produced by Tom Burke and Arthur Kane.

In 2011, KMGH was named "Station of the Year" by the Associated Press Television-Radio Association.

On June 14, 2011, McGraw-Hill announced it was exiting television and put its entire broadcasting division, including KMGH-TV, up for sale;^[3] on October 3, the company announced that it would sell its entire broadcasting division, including KGTV, KERO, WRTV, KMGH as well as several low power Azteca America stations to The E.W. Scripps Company.^[4] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.^[5] KMGH is not Scripps' first property in the Denver market; the company owned the Rocky Mountain News from 1926 until its closure in 2009.

On November 29, 2011, the FCC approved the sale, which was completed on December 30, 2011.^[5]

Digital Television[link]

KMGH operates the 24/7 Weather Channel on subchannel 7.4 and Comcast Digital Cable, channel 247. The station replays all newscasts of the day (with the 10 p.m. news running until the next morning), with weather updates and real-time weather information on screen. [6] [7]

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

In April 2009,^[6] KMGH-TV remained on channel 7 when the analog to digital conversion completed.^[7]

News operation[link]

Currently, KMGH broadcasts a total of 33½ hours of local news each week (with 5½ hours on weekdays, two hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays); unlike most ABC affiliates or its competitors, KMGH does not air local news in the weeknight 6 p.m. time slot, as the newscast airing in that slot was canceled after May 26, 2006.

While KLZ-TV always had a strong line-up of local and syndicated programs during the station's early years, it was obviously helped by CBS's long dominance nationally. It led the 10 p.m. news ratings from the early 1960s until 1977 when it was topped by KBTV (now KUSA-TV), which benefited from the rise of ABC's prime-time ratings as well as an improved news product that took advantage of live electronic news gathering (ENG) technology. KMGH-TV actually had ENG capability first, in 1975, with its "Insta Cam", but never promoted it on the air, noted Craig Allen in "News is People" (2001 Blackwell Publishing). "We waited and waited, but they never promoted it," then KBTV promotions director Harvey Mars told Allen. In 1970, Channel 7 had a 40 share, while KOA-TV and KBTV were battling to stay out of last place, each with about a 24 share. By the end of the decade, KBTV had a 54 share at 10 p.m., more than all of the other stations combined.

Channel 7's 10 p.m. news team in the 1960s was headed by news anchor Carl Akers, weatherman Warren Chandler and Starr Yelland with sports. All three did live commercials as part of their program. John Rayburn joined the 10 p.m. news in 1964 but left for KBTV in 1967. In 1966, Akers took a short-lived retirement only to show up a year later at KBTV (channel 9) as anchor and news director. He was replaced at channel 7 by Bob Palmer from KOA-TV. The Palmer, Chandler, Yelland team continued until 1975 when Terry Phillips was added as a news co-anchor. Phillips was replaced by John Lindsey in 1976. In 1982, Palmer returned to KOA-TV.

From December 1994 to August 1997 the station ran a radar system known as "Doppler Max7", it was heavy promoted during the failed Real Life Real News era.

On July 15, 2002, KMGH-TV became the first major market television station in the world to broadcast fully automated newscasts. A computer system, known as ParkerVision, combines the work of several technical personnel in a program requiring just a single operator. Ten studio cameras, channels of audio, all art graphics and electronic titling along with tape operations are programmed and played back live by one person instead of seven people.^[8]

On May 26, 2011, 7 News Now became a half-hour 3 p.m. newscast, followed by Inside Edition at 3:30 p.m., and The Dr. Oz Show moved to 4 p.m.^[9]

News team[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff (as of May 16, 2012)^[10]

Anchors

• Ana Cabrera - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Christine Chang - weekend mornings
• John Ferrugia - Fridays at 3, 5 and 10 p.m.
• Mitch Jelniker - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and 11 a.m.
• Mike Landess - weeknights at 3, 5 and 10 p.m.
• Bertha Lynn - weekdays at 11 a.m.
• Theresa Marchetta - weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
• Anne Trujillo - weeknights at 3, 5 and 10 p.m.

24/7 Weather

• Mike Nelson (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 3, and weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.
• Lisa Hidalgo - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Matt Makens (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
• Maureen McCann (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weekend mornings

Sports team

• Lionel Bienvenu - sports director; weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.
• Arran Andersen - sports anchor; weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.

Call 7 Investigators

• John Ferrugia
• Theresa Marchetta
• Keli Rabon

Reporters

• Jaclyn Allen - general assignment reporter
• Jennie Castor - video journalist
• Dayle Cedars - general assignment reporter; also fill-in news/weather anchor
• Don Champion - general assignment reporter; also news producer
• Russell Haythorn - general assignment reporter
• Molly Hendrickson - general assignment reporter
• Lance Hernandez - general assignment reporter
• Megan Jurgemeyer - general assignment reporter
• Amanda Kost - general assignment reporter
• Tyler Lopez - general assignment reporter
• Jayson Luber - traffic reporter
• Eric Lupher - general assignment reporter
• Doug Schepman - video journalist
• Marc Stewart - general assignment reporter
• Marshall Zelinger - general assignment reporter

Former on-air staff[link]

• Ernie Bjorkman - anchor (1982–1984, 1988–1998; later with KWGN, now works at a Veterinary Assistant in Denver)
• Bill Clarke - consumer reporter/anchor (1980s-2006; retired)
• Chris Fowler - sports intern (now with ESPN's College GameDay)
• Tom Green - sports director (1998-2001; now weekday morning anchor on KWGN)
• Tony Kovaleski - investigative reporter (2001–2011; now at KNTV in San Francisco/Bay Area)
• Michael Marsh (now anchor at WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge)
• Linda Moulton Howe - director of special projects (1978–1983; currently an investigative journalist and documentary producer)
• Bill O'Reilly - reporter (now host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel)
• Richard Ortner - meteorologist (2001-2010; now fill-in meteorologist at KDVR/KWGN)
• Bob Palmer - news anchor (1968-1982; deceased)
• Harry Smith - reporter/anchor (1982–1985, now at NBC News)
• Mark Thompson - weather anchor/environmental reporter
• Tony Zarrella - sports director (1996-1998; now sports director at WOIO in Cleveland)

See also[link]

• Circle 7 logo

References[link]

External links[link]

• KMGH ("Denver's 7") Web site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KMGH-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KMGH-TV

Mondo Guerra (right) with Nancy Pelosi on World AIDS Day 2010

Armando Thomas “Mondo” Guerra (born June 6, 1978) is a Mexican-American fashion designer who appeared on Season 8 of Project Runway. In season 8, Guerra placed as first runner up in the finals of the competition, which included Gretchen Jones and Andy South. In his run on the show, he won three challenges in a row. He went on to win Project Runway: All Stars.

Guerra was also the first contestant on the show to come from Denver, Colorado.^[1] He is a fifth-generation Mexican-American from the Denver area.^[2]

Project Runway[link]

Guerra was on the eighth season of Project Runway. After placing in the top, but not winning, on a number of challenges, then placing in the bottom but not being eliminated in the seventh (Resort Wear Challenge) episode, he won the challenges on the eighth (Jacqueline Kennedy Challenge), ninth (L’Oreal Makeup Challenge) and tenth (HP Pattern Challenge) episodes.

During the tenth challenge, he revealed to the judges that his pattern of bright, bold plus signs on a pant was inspired by his HIV+ status, and that had been keeping his HIV status a secret for ten years. He also won $20,000 for the ninth challenge, which involved both a “couture” look and a “ready-to-wear” look.

Guerra came in second place in the final competition held at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in New York City. Gretchen Jones came in first place, and Andy South came in third.

Project Runway Executive Producer Heidi Klum (who had pushed for Guerra to win over Jones in a lengthy ^[3][4] split debate over the winner) appeared in a modified version of one of Guerra's final collection gowns for the Los Angeles premiere of the movie Black Swan^[5] a few weeks after the airing of the final episode.

He appeared with Liza Minnelli, designer and amfAR chair Kenneth Cole and actor Cheyenne Jackson on November 30, 2010 on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell, and usher in World AIDS Day.^[6]

Also in commemoration of World AIDS Day, he designed a limited edition of T-shirts, one with a Day of the Dead sugar skull and one with a tree of life. These shirts were sold on Piperlime.com starting at midnight on December 1, 2010.^[7] For each shirt sold, $20 was donated to amfAR.^[8] In his statement to Fox News Latino for his motivations in doing this, he said, "“The Day of the Dead is celebration of our loved ones who have passed. When I was thinking of World Aids day I wanted to create something very true to who I am, and what I know. Who I've known and miss and those people in my life that still fight this disease. It’s about love and continuation.” ^[9]

Most recently, Guerra won Project Runway All Stars.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Project Runway on MyLifetime.com
• Interview with Poz-I-Am Radio
• Interview with The Body Magazine

Promotional image of UFO Phil in UFO Phil: The Movie.

UFO Phil, also known as Phil Hill, is an American film and television actor, stage performer, and comedic songwriter. He is reportedly a native of Roswell, New Mexico and currently resides in Hollywood, CA.^[1] UFO Phil writes novelty songs about extraterrestrials and science fiction.^[2] According to his official website, he is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing every instrument heard on every UFO Phil song.^[3] He is the star of UFO Phil: The Movie,^[4] and his music has been played on the Dr. Demento Show.^[5] UFO Phil is also a regular guest on Coast to Coast AM^[6][7] and has appeared on the show live to perform an acoustic version of one of his songs.^[8] UFO Phil has also appeared with Tom Green.^[9][10] In 2010, UFO Phil appeared in the documentary film The People vs. George Lucas along with Gary Kurtz and David Prowse. The movie is a feature-length film about Star Wars creator George Lucas. Phil also penned a song, entitled "Dear George Lucas", which is heard on the film's soundtrack.^[11] In 2010, UFO Phil claimed to be working on a way to harness free electricity from the air and distribute it to the people of the world. This was possible, according to Phil, because of a reactor blueprint given to him by the "Good Aliens". Phil said he planned to construct his power plant at his new home on top of Pikes Peak.^[12] In January, 2011, UFO Phil announced plans to construct a full-sized limestone pyramid, modelled after the Great Pyramid of Giza, at Alcatraz Island.^[13] Other pyramids are planned atop Pikes Peak in Colorado and behind the Hollywood Sign.^[14] In 2011, Phil announced plans for a Concert for the Aliens to take place on June 10, 2012 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California to welcome the arrival of extraterrestrials on the same date. Phil claims blue aliens from the Planet Zaxon will arrive on Earth to correspond with the end of the Mayan Calendar.^[15] In 2012, UFO Phil claimed aliens from Planet Zaxon were appointing him President of Earth.^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website