KAUZ-TV
Encyclopedia
KAUZ-TV, digital channel 22 (virtual channel 6), is the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate television station located in Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...

. It also serves Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton, Oklahoma
The city of Lawton is the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in the southwestern region of Oklahoma approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. Its transmitter is located at the studio in Wichita Falls and has a low-power translator in Bowie
Bowie, Texas
Bowie is a city in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,219 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Bowie has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:...

. KAUZ's tower stands at 1031 feet.

KAUZ-DT

KAUZ-DT broadcasts on digital channel 22.
Virtual
channel
Physical
channel
Video Aspect
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...

Name Programming
6.1 22.1 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...

 
16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...

 
KAUZ-DT main KAUZ / CBS HD programming
6.2 22.2 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...

 
4:3  Texoma CW  CW network and syndicated programming


Like every analog TV station in the US that broadcast on channel 6, the audio could be heard on an FM radio at 87.7 MHz until June 12, 2009. In September 2006, KAUZ launched a new digital subchannel to carry the CW Television Network. In March 2009, KAUZ requested that it cease analog broadcasting on May 21 instead of June 12. The station cited the need to place its DTV antenna where the analog antenna was.

History

KAUZ signed on March 1, 1953 as KWFT-TV, the television arm of KWFT
KMKI
KMKI AM 620 is a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas AM radio station licensed in Plano, Texas. Although most of the ABC Radio stations were merged with Citadel Broadcasting, Disney retains this station.-History:...

 AM 620. KWFT sold the TV station in 1956 to Sydney Grayson at which time channel 6 became KSYD-TV and then KAUZ-TV in July, 1963 following a subsequent transfer of ownership. The station has served as the CBS affiliate for the Wichita Falls-Lawton television market since its inception. In the early 1950s, the station also carried DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...

 programs. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...

. KAUZ-TV was also one of several stations nationwide to broadcast The Las Vegas Show
The Las Vegas Show
The Las Vegas Show is an American late night television program broadcast on the short-lived United Network. The two hour long talk show, hosted by comedian Bill Dana, was supposed to be the flagship program of a planned fourth television network....

, a short-lived late night program from the ill-fated Overmyer Network
Overmyer Network
The Overmyer Network was a short-lived television network. It was intended to be a fourth national network in the United States, competing with the Big Three television networks. The network was founded by self-made millionaire Daniel H. Overmyer, who built five UHF stations from 1965-67...

 that ran for a few weeks in 1967.

On the afternoon of April 3, 1964 as a devastating tornado swept across the northern portion of Wichita Falls and neighboring Sheppard Air Force Base, KAUZ-TV interrupted regular programming to provide a live tornado warning in which the image of the funnel was shown on the station's weather radar by then-meteorologist Ted Shaw and a large and heavy studio camera was dragged outside the Channel 6 studios on Seymour Highway and pointed toward the funnel sighting as it approached the northwest portion of Wichita Falls - one of the first tornadoes ever to be broadcast on live television. That tornado killed 7 people and injured over 100. Damage estimates exceeded $15 million and some 225 homes and businesses were destroyed on the north side of town and at Sheppard AFB.

About 15 years later on April 10, 1979, an even more devastating tornado occurred on the southwest side of Wichita Falls that killed 42 people and injured more than 1,700 along a path that was two miles wide and 45 miles long. Besides the terrible human costs, 3,100 homes were destroyed, with an estimated 20,000 people left homeless. The total damage in Wichita Falls was around $400 million. Then-Channel 6 chief meteorologist Rich Segal was on the air that afternoon and evening with complete warning coverage that culminated with the opening of the 6 p.m. broadcast of Eyewitness News as multiple tornadoes had reached the southwest corner of the city and began their path of destruction. About less than five minutes into the newscast KAUZ-TV and other Wichita Falls TV and radio stations were knocked off the air due to power outages resulting from the damaging storms.

A year later, Channel 6 broadcast a documentary about the 1979 tornado including the events of that day leading to the storm, the destruction and aftermath based upon the station's news footage from a year earlier along with progress of recovery efforts as of April, 1980.

KAUZ was the first TV station in the Wichita Falls/Lawton TV market to air its local newscasts in color, beginning in February, 1966, just a few months after CBS began converting most of its network schedule from black and white to color. KFDX and KSWO followed with color newscasts in 1967.

In July 1970, one man was killed and another was seriously injured after falling several hundred feet to the ground while painting the station's transmitter mast. The transmitter, located on the premises of the KAUZ studios, is said to be located on one of the highest points within the city of Wichita Falls.

Over the years, KAUZ was owned by such companies as Forward Communications, Adams Communications, Brissette Broadcasting and Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting is a former television broadcaster, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A...

. When Benedek declared bankruptcy in 2002, KAUZ was sold to Chelsey Broadcasting instead of Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...

. In 2003, Chelsey sold KAUZ to Hoak Media Corporation
Hoak Media Corporation
Hoak Media Corporation is a United States broadcasting media company based in Dallas, Texas. Hoak owns eighteen television stations , all in medium and small-markets, mostly in the Great Plains states and Colorado....

. In August 2009 Drewry Media purchased the physical assets of KAUZ (except its broadcast license) from Hoak. Drewry also owns KSWO-TV, the ABC affiliate in the market. The JSA / SSA resulted in all four of the market's major network-affiliated stations—as well as the affiliates of all six of the largest English-language networks—now being operated by two entities.

Programming

"Donna's Notebook", an interview segment hosted by Donna Colburn, was a longtime fixture of the 12 p.m. noon newscast during the 1960s and early 1970s. An interview segment similar to Donna's Notebook, which is used mostly to promote local and area events, is still an integral part of the noon broadcast of Newschannel 6 to this day. Also included in the station's noon newscast during the 1960s and 1970s was a five-minute televised insert of "Paul Harvey News and Comments" that was available to TV stations nationwide.

Named for the station's call letters was a children's show entitled "Kauzey's Korner" or "Kauzmo's Kolorful Kartoons" which aired on Channel 6 weekday afternoons from 1963 to 1967. One show is reported to have introduced country singer Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

 to the television-viewing public for the first time. "Kauzmo" was played by Ronald "Cosmo" Gresham, two-time Hawaii Big Island mayoral candidate and one-time County Council candidate who was likely the most outspoken political activist ever to come to Hawai'i. "Kauzmo" later became known as "Cosmo", doing a public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...

 cable TV show featuring news, political commentary, law study, spirituality, music (often played by Cosmo himself on flute or other instruments he made himself) and guest interviews; the show once had the Dalai Lama of Tibet as a guest. The show was called "Cosmic Express" (named after his Cosmic Express newsletter), which ran three nights per week, Friday, Sunday and Monday at 8 P.M. local prime time on Jones Spacelink/Hawaiian Cablevision of Hilo Public Resources channel 2 in the Hilo and Puna areas of the Big Island of Hawai'i.

KAUZ was one of many stations to broadcast the syndicated news/feature program PM Magazine
PM Magazine
PM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States...

, which included both national and local inserts, from 1979 to 1982. It was broadcast at 6:30 p.m. weeknights on Channel 6 following the 6 p.m. edition of Eyewitness News.

News operation

The newscast, currently using the title Newschannel 6, has also been known under the titles Newsreel 6, Channel 6 News, Newscope, 6 News First, CBS 6 News, KAUZ News and Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

. KAUZ produces 21.5 hours of news programming a week, including broadcasts of Newschannel 6 This Morning from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays, and 30-minute broadcasts of Newschannel 6 at 12 noon, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. weekdays, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturdays, and 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sundays. On weekdays, KAUZ also airs a 30-minute 9 p.m. newscast on its CW subchannel; this newscast goes directly against the KFDX-produced 9 p.m. news on Fox affiliate KJTL
KJTL
KJTL, virtual channel 18, is the Fox affiliate located in Wichita Falls, Texas also serving Lawton, Oklahoma owned by Nexstar Broadcasting "affiliate" Mission Broadcasting in a virtual duopoly with NBC affiliate KFDX channel 3...

.

Lynn Walker, who served as anchor and news director at KAUZ from 1972 to 1986 and again from 1999 to 2003, is among the longest-tenured news anchors in the Wichita Falls-Lawton TV market, which also included a stint at KSWO-TV
KSWO-TV
KSWO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station located in Lawton, Oklahoma. It also serves Wichita Falls, Texas. Its transmitter is located near Grandfield, Oklahoma. KSWO broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 11...

 from 1996 to 1999. Walker then became the city editor at the Wichita Falls Times Record News.

In 1977, Channel 6 Eyewitness News became the area's first local newscast to feature a male/female co-anchor team (a trend then sweeping local TV markets nationwide) when Walker was teamed up with co-anchor Kay Shannon on the 6 and 10 p.m. broadcasts, beginning a nine-year tenure in which KAUZ-TV took first place in local news ratings against rivals KFDX-TV
KFDX-TV
KFDX, virtual channel 3, is the NBC affiliated television station located in Wichita Falls, Texas. It also serves Lawton, Oklahoma. Its transmitter is located at the studio in Wichita Falls...

 and KSWO-TV
KSWO-TV
KSWO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station located in Lawton, Oklahoma. It also serves Wichita Falls, Texas. Its transmitter is located near Grandfield, Oklahoma. KSWO broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 11...

. Longtime sports anchor Bill Jackson joined the team by early 1978, followed by meteorologist Rich Segal that spring. This winning anchor team would enjoy a long (for a small TV market) tenure of eight years until 1986 when Walker, Shannon and Jackson left KAUZ-TV though Rich Segal would soldier on another four years until his departure in 1990.

Chris Horgen, who assumed co-anchor duties of Newschannel 6 at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. weekdays in 2007, had previously served as sports director for several years. Andy Austin, who previously served as the station's sports director during the 1990s, returned to that position at KAUZ in April 2007 until May 2008 after serving as sports information director for the past several years at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. Former weekend sports anchor Jermaine Ferrell assumed duties as sports director until early 2009, and then that position was vacant until Adam Ostrow was hired later in the year.

Ratings

KAUZ and KFDX primarily compete for the Texas audience, while KSWO has a stronghold on the Oklahoma market. For the July 2008 ratings period, KAUZ was ranked last in all time slots, except noon, according to Nielsen Media Research. KAUZ's noon program is second to KFDX (KSWO does not have a noon broadcast). KAUZ is third for the rest of day, with its 5, 6 and 10 broadcasts.

These trends continued in the November 2008 and November 2009 ratings period.

For February 2010, the newly rebranded KAUZ saw a drop in ratings. The weekend shows in particular saw a drop in numbers by nearly half (in share). The morning shows continue to not rank in viewership in the diary book, and all evening shows remain a distant third in the Lawton-Wichita Falls market.

In the 2010 ratings periods, including February, May, July and November, Nielsen Media Research reports that KAUZ's news programming continues to struggle in all time slots. The morning newscasts in particular continue in a distant third place behind other DMA 149 competitors. The May book also revealed severe weather coverage is dominated by KSWO, with low ratings for KAUZ during tornado events in early May 2010.

Despite its move to HD, KAUZ remains a distant third place for all time slots in the ratings periods of 2011 (through July). Part of the reason may be the LMA with usually-dominant KSWO, which is always favored before KAUZ. This parallels the situation that occurred in the Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...

 market, where that market's WBRE-TV
WBRE-TV
WBRE-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Wilkes-Barre. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top. It can also be seen on Comcast and Service...

 all but emasculated WYOU
WYOU
WYOU is the CBS-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Scranton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob tower farm near Mountain Top...

 to the point that WYOU ceased airing newscasts entirely in 2009 (though it should be noted that KAUZ's decline has been occurring long before the LMA with KSWO began).

Newscast titles

  • Newsreel 6 (1953–1960)
  • News Eye (1960–1962)
  • Newscope (1962–1974)
  • Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

    (1974–1988)
  • Channel 6 News (1988–1993)
  • 6 News First (1993–1997)
  • CBS 6 News (1997–1999)
  • NewsChannel 6 (1999–2007 and 2010–present)
  • KAUZ Channel 6 News (2007–2008)
  • KAUZ News (2008–2010)

Station slogans

  • Keep Your Eye on Channel 6 (1960–1961)
  • KAUZ-TV Channel 6: CBS For Texomaland (1964–1965)
  • KAUZ-TV Channel 6, Texoma's Full Color Station (1966–1967)
  • Newscope: Your News for Texoma (1970–1974)
  • The Best is Right Here on Channel 6 / Channel 6 is Easy on the Eyes (1973–1974; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

    : The Pacesetter
    (1974–1978)
  • See the Best...Channel 6 (1974–1975; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Catch the Brightest Stars on Channel 6 (1975–1976; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Channel 6, We're the Hot Ones (1976–1977; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • There's Something in the Air, on Channel 6 (1977–1978; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

    : The Closer We Look, The More You See
    (1978–1980)
  • Channel 6, Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978–1979; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • We're Looking Good on Channel 6 (1979–1980; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

    : Your Kind of People, Your Kind of News
    (1980–1984)
  • Looking Good Together, Channel 6 (1980–1981; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Reach for the Stars on Channel 6 (1981–1982; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Great Moments on Channel 6 (1982–1983; local version of CBS campaign)
  • We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 6 (1983–1984, local version of CBS campaign)
  • Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News
    Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

    : Texoma's News Leader
    (1984–1988)
  • You and Channel 6, We've Got the Touch (1984–1985; local version of CBS campaign)
  • We've Got the Touch on Channel 6 (1985–1986, local version of CBS campaign)
  • Share the Spirit on Channel 6 (1986–1987; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Channel 6 Spirit, Oh Yes. (1987–1988; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Channel 6 News: People You Can Count On (1988–1993)
  • You Can Feel It on Channel 6 (1988–1989; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • Get Ready for Channel 6 (1989–1991; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • The Look of Texoma is Channel 6 (1991–1992; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • This is CBS, on Channel 6 (1992–1993; local version of CBS ad campaign)
  • 6 News First: When You Need To Know (1993–1997)
  • On Top of Your News (1999–2001)
  • Where Weather Comes First (2001–2004)
  • Live. Local. Latebreaking. (2004–2007)
  • Texoma's News Station (2007–2010)
  • Always Looking Out for You (2011–present)

Current on-air staff (as of October 2011)

Anchors
  • Spencer Blake - weekday mornings Newschannel 6 This Morning and weeknights at 9 p.m. (on KAUZ-DT2)
  • Ashley Fitzwater - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.; also host of Inside Texoma
  • Lindsey Forst - weekday mornings Newschannel 6 This Morning and noon; also reporter
  • Crystal Hall - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30, and weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
  • Chris Horgen - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.


Skywarn 6 Storm Team
  • Ken Johnson (AMS
    American Meteorological Society
    The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...

     Certified Broadcast Meteorologist
    Certified Broadcast Meteorologist
    Certified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...

     Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • John Cameron - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30, and weekends at 10 p.m.
  • Matt Posgai - meteorologist; weekday mornings "KAUZ News This Morning" and noon


Sports team
  • Adam Ostrow - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Barry Wong - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m., also sports reporter


Reporters
  • Eric Crosslin - Newschannel6now.com reporter
  • Natalie Garcia - general assignment reporter
  • Paul Harrop - general assignment reporter
  • Taelor Rian - general assignment reporter

Former on-air staff

  • Lorianne Crook
    Lorianne Crook
    Lorianne Crook is an American radio and television host, producer and writer. She is best known for her work on The Nashville Network programs This Week In Country Music and Crook & Chase with Charlie Chase.-Early life:...

     (1980s; currently co-host for the Crook and Chase countdown)
  • Brett Johnson - reporter (1987-1989, deceased 2009) http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Brett-Johnson-1960-2009.html#sB
  • Rich Segal - Chief Meteorologist (1978-1990)
  • Tammy Payne - Anchor-reporter (1985-1987)
  • John O'Connor - Anchor-reporter (1987-1989, deceased 2009)
  • Deborah Seidel - Weather, News anchor-reporter (1985-1989)
  • Michael Coleman - Sports anchor-reporter (1985-1989)
  • Casey O'Brien - News and Sports anchor-reporter (1986-1987)
  • Jane Mitchell - News and Features Reporter (1986-1989)
  • Dan Avery - Weatherman, News Director (1986-1989)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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