KTBC
Encyclopedia
KTBC, channel 7, is the Fox
owned-and-operated television station
in Austin, Texas
. Studios are located in downtown Austin at the corner of 10th and Brazos Streets (a block away from the Texas Capitol), and its transmitter is located in the city.
Although KTBC's digital signal is on channel 7 over-the-air, it airs on cable channel 2 on most cable systems in Austin.
Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird
, alongside KTBC radio (AM 590, now KLBJ-AM) and FM 93.7, now KLBJ-FM
). As the first television station launched in Austin and Central Texas
, it carried all four major networks at the time: ABC
, CBS
, NBC
and the now-defunct DuMont
Network. KTBC was primarily a CBS
affiliate until 1995, with roughly 65% of its programming being carried by the station in its early history. NBC
and ABC
roughly split the remaining coverage in half.
In 1960, the staff of KTBC produced a film for the Texas Department of Public Safety, entitled "Target Austin." The twenty-minute film presents the scenario of a nuclear missile strike on the outskirts of Austin and follows the storylines of several characters from the CONELRAD broadcast to the announcement that it is safe to emerge from shelter. The film takes place in Austin, highlighting several iconic locations in the city. It also features an Austin all-star cast and crew, including director Gordon Wilkison (of KTBC), narrator Cactus Pryor
(also of KTBC), actress Coleen Hardin, and El Rancho restaurant owner Matt Martinez.
KTBC was the only commercial station in Austin until KHFI-TV (channel 42, now KXAN-TV
on channel 36) signed on in 1965. While KHFI should have logically taken over the NBC affiliation, NBC programming continued to be broadcast solely on KTBC for the next 18 months due to contractual obligations. KTBC became a solely CBS affiliate when all ABC programming was transferred to KVUE
when that station first signed on in 1971.
The shared affiliation with all three networks had unexpected benefits with regards to coverage of news and breaking events. After Lyndon Johnson became President following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
in 1963, the networks established direct feed lines between KTBC and the various network affiliates in New York
, Dallas, and Chicago
. This facilitated news report relaying while the President was residing either in Austin or at his ranch in Johnson City
. The Johnsons maintained a penthouse apartment on the fifth floor of the station, which was wired for camera and sound equipment, and used on occasion for local programming on occasions when the Johnsons were away.
This multi-network capability was first demonstrated live on August 1, 1966, following the UT Tower sniper incident. After Charles Whitman
's sniper rampage had been stopped, the primary newsman on the scene, Neal Spelce, presented a concise, complete wrap-up of the event that was carried on all three networks live later that evening. Although the connections were later replaced by satellite uplink technology, the lines were maintained for contingency usage for several years.
KTBC was the dominant station in Austin for many years, in part because, then as now, it is the only full-powered VHF station in town. While it was suggested the Johnsons used their clout to keep KTBC as the area's only VHF station, in truth this dates back to a quirk in the system the Federal Communications Commission
used to allocate television channels. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available, and 69 UHF channels (later reduced). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried a longer distance. Because there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. After the FCC opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas of the country would be designated as "UHF islands," since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" became PBS, and "1/2" became ABC, which, as the weakest network, usually wound up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available.
However, Austin is sandwiched between San Antonio to the south, Waco/Temple
/Killeen
to the north, Houston
to the east and San Angelo to the west. This created a large "doughnut" in central Texas where there could be only one VHF license. KTBC was fortunate to gain that license, and thus had a large advantage over KXAN and KVUE until cable arrived in Austin in late 1970s, especially in the Hill Country
since UHF signals usually do not get good reception in rugged terrain.
The Johnsons sold KTBC to Times Mirror in 1973, making it a sister station to KDFW
in Dallas. They kept the KTBC radio properties, and under FCC guidelines back then, changed calls to KLBJ-AM-FM
. In 1994, Times Mirror sold KTBC to Argyle.
of the NFL
. In 1994, New World Communications
signed a long-term affiliation deal with Fox, which was establishing itself as a major network and was looking for more VHF stations. In late 1994, most New World-owned stations (except for two) dropped their longtime "Big Three" affiliations and switched to Fox. On January 19, 1995, New World took over the operation of the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements. Just under three months later, New World completed its merger with Argyle, owners of KTBC. As a result, on July 1, 1995, KTBC swapped affiliations with KBVO, picking up that station's Fox affiliation. Channel 7's old CBS affiliation went to KBVO, which changed its calls to KEYE-TV
. The station, in turn, came under ownership of Fox when New World merged with Fox Television Stations Group in 1996. In the spring of 1997, KTBC and KSAZ-TV
in Phoenix, Arizona
were nearly swapped to the Belo Corporation in exchange for KIRO-TV
in Seattle. That deal was ultimately cancelled; however, Belo would acquire rival KVUE and Phoenix's KTVK
two years later.
As the new Fox affiliate, KTBC was able to continue as Austin's unofficial "home" of the Dallas Cowboys
, since Fox had won the rights to the National Football Conference
a few months earlier. KTBC had carried most Cowboys games since the team's inception in 1960 by virtue of CBS winning television rights to the NFL in 1956. For many years, it also carried Cowboys pre-season games, though as of 2006 these have moved to KEYE. Fox 7 also carries Big 12 Conference
college sports games in the fall. Distinctively, Austin (along with the Evansville, Indiana
and Tri-Cities, Washington
markets) has the dubious distinction of having Fox on VHF and the other "Big Three" affiliations all on the UHF dial.
In the early years as a Fox station, rather than carry Fox Kids
programming, of which KVC would air instead, KTBC filled the daytime lineup with more talk shows and the nighttime lineup with off-network sitcoms such as The Simpsons
, Seinfeld
and King of the Hill
. However, in recent years, the station's daytime lineup has leaned away from the talk show format in favor of courtroom shows such as Judge Judy
, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Alex
, and Divorce Court
.
Currently, KTBC is the only network owned and operated television station in Austin, except from 2000 to 2007, when it was one of two network O&O's in the market, alongside the aforementioned KEYE.
In September 2006, KTBC launched MyFoxAustin.com, a website that is part of a larger re-imaging campaign currently conducted by Fox owned and operated stations nationwide. In January 2009, Weekend Marketplace
premiered, replacing 4KidsTV. KTBC has since picked up Weekend Marketplace, allowing the station to finally clear the entire Fox network schedule.
Distinctively, Austin (as of July 1, 2011) has the rare distinction of having a Fox station on the VHF band and the other "Big Three" affiliates all on the UHF dial. Prior to July 1, 2011, Evansville
's (now former) Fox affiliate, WTVW
, also operates on channel 7 or 7.1 .
The Uncle Jay Show featured the typical fare of cartoons, including many of the pre-August 1948 Warner Bros.
cartoons as distributed by Associated Artists Productions
(the cartoons are back under WB ownership). During 1965, the show also hosted the King Features Syndicate
series of cartoon shorts featuring Beetle Bailey
, Snuffy Smith and Krazy Kat
, and in 1967 expanded to an hour-long show to facilitate airing of Gerry Anderson
's Supercar
, which had just been syndicated to US markets. Both Hodgson and Wallace provided humor in the form of skits and jokes, as well as minor educational material such as guest appearances by local naturalists, botanists and even movie stars and sports figures. Children in the audience were called on to participate in games, and received prizes for successful participation. Among the show's primary sponsors whose products were promoted live on-air by either Hodgson or Wallace, were the legendary Villa Capri restaurant, local shoe emporium Kara-Vel Shoes, Mrs. Johnson's Bakery, and Superior Dairies products. The latter of these was promoted by Wallace in a very fondly remembered commercial where Wallace extols the benefits of authentic wild west cooking out on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, and the secret ingredient being Superior Dairies Chocolate Milk.
Hodgson, who was the voice of KTBC from the station's original broadcast, was with the show throughout its run. Wallace, a local morning air personality who appeared with Richard "Cactus" Pryor
as part of the Cac and Jack Morning Show on KTBC-AM during the 1960s and 1970s, co-hosted the show with Hodgson until Wallace's death from cardiopulminary failure in late 1973, while Dyer left the show the following year to pursue other interests. Hodgson continued the show as solo host until the show's cancellation in the fall of 1977. By then, the decline in the live children's show was in full effect, and the show was moved from a weekly afternoon schedule to a Saturday morning time slot in the fall of 1975. Dropping all cartoon programming, the show concentrated more on local informational and educational issues that would be of interest to children. Gone also was the "live" element of the show; while groups of children were still part of the on-screen, shows were taped during the week for later broadcast on Saturdays. By the fall of 1977 ratings had dropped to the point where it was decided to put the show to rest once and for all.
Hodgson continued to work for KTBC as a public affairs journalist after The Uncle Jay Show was canceled, appearing in such shows as The Eyes of Central Texas, and This Is Central Texas. The latter was his final show, and was retired after Hodgson himself retired in 1991. The final episode was an hour-long tribute to the long-time host, with testimonials by many of Austin's media personalities, including former KTBC and then-current KVUE-TV news anchor Dick Ellis, who'd barely made it to the show on time and appeared dressed in hunting gear, having only heard about the show a few hours earlier while on a dove hunting trip. Hodgson died in May 2007.
and The New Addams Family
. The station also ran dramas, such as Hunter, Charlie's Angels
, M*A*S*H and Seven Days. It even ran cartoons, such as Jumanji
, Beast Wars: Transformers
, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
, Pokémon
, Sailor Moon, Pocket Dragon Adventures
, and RoboCop: Alpha Commando
. Plus it even aired several shows shared with KTBC. Upon KTBC's network switch to Fox, Fox Kids
, which originally aired on then-KBVO (now KEYE-TV), did not air on KTBC (as with most New World stations), with the exception of the Saturday morning lineup (which was initially simulcast on both KVC and KTBC; KTBC would later drop it in 1997). KVC continued to air the block on weekdays and Saturdays until Fox ended the weekday lineup in 2002. When KVC became a UPN affiliate, it also picked up the UPN Kids
lineup which later rebranded to Disney's One Too. (Since the demise of KVC, 4Kids TV
did not air at all in Austin, but has picked up the FoxBox from September 14, 2002 until March 29, 2003.)
KVC inherited the UPN affiliation from LIN TV
's Hill Country Paramount Network in 1998. That move saw the loss of UPN coverage in much of Central Texas outside the immediate Austin area for a short time because KVC was a low-powered station that could be barely picked up by antenna or not at all in those regional parts. However, UPN saw increased viewership by way of Austin area cable systems. The station continued to air UPN programming until August 3, 2000, when new Fredericksburg station KCWX
(then KBEJ) went on the air on channel 2. At that time, KVC returned to being an independent station, showing typical independent programming as well as University of Texas sports and other college sporting events.
KVC was forced off the air on March 29, 2003 http://www.bestofaustin.com/issues/dispatch/2003-03-28/pols_naked2.html in order to make room for the digital signal of KAKW-TV
, a Univision
affiliate in Killeen
(also serving Austin).
Digital channels>
Channel
Name
Programming
7.1
KTBC-DT
main KTBC/FOX HD programming
KTBC's digital signal was first broadcast over-the-air on channel 56 until the analog shutoff on June 12, 2009, at which time the analog signal was shut down and the digital signal moved from channel 56 to its former analog channel assignment of 7.
With a licensed power of 98 kW, KTBC has the 2nd highest effective radiated power (ERP) of any station broadcasting on channel 7 in the United States (per the FCC database).
Even after KTBC joined the Fox network, it continued its 10 p.m. newscast, with the 9 p.m. hour time slot filled by syndicated
programming, unusual for that network's affiliates. This changed in 2000 when the station moved its evening newscast to 9 p.m. – the first primetime newscast in Austin.
KTBC's newscasts have been named Fox 7 News Edge since 2006. The station went through a graphic overhaul in early 2008 to match the Fox News Channel
-influenced look of its stablemates. KTBC was the last Fox O&O to introduce this look on April 17, 2008.
On July 1, 2009 KTBC officially switched its news broadcast to high definition
, becoming the last of the four Austin television news stations (behind KEYE
, KVUE
and KXAN
) to do so.
KTBC is one of four Fox owned-and-operated stations (and the only ex-New World station that switched to Fox) with a 5 p.m. newscast, but no 6 p.m. newscast (along with WHBQ-TV
in Memphis
, KRIV in Houston
and KMSP-TV
in Minneapolis). KTBC had a 6 p.m. newscast until 2000, when it was discontinued in favor of an expansion of the 5 p.m. newscast to a full hour; however, the station does presently carry a 6 p.m. newscast on Saturday evenings. In June 2010, Good Day Austin was extended by an hour to 10:00 A.M. weekdays. In November 2010, KTBC became the first station in the Austin market to expand its weekday morning newscast to the 4:30 A.M. timeslot, reflecting a national trend, extending the newscast to 5½ hours.
FOX7 Weather Team
Sports team
Reporters
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
owned-and-operated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. Studios are located in downtown Austin at the corner of 10th and Brazos Streets (a block away from the Texas Capitol), and its transmitter is located in the city.
Although KTBC's digital signal is on channel 7 over-the-air, it airs on cable channel 2 on most cable systems in Austin.
As a hybrid CBS/ABC/NBC/DuMont affiliate, then just to CBS
KTBC signed on the air on November 27, 1952. It was originally owned by the Texas Broadcasting Company (hence the call letters) which was in turn owned by then-SenatorUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...
, alongside KTBC radio (AM 590, now KLBJ-AM) and FM 93.7, now KLBJ-FM
KLBJ-FM
KLBJ-FM is a classic rock music radio station serving the Austin, Texas area, broadcasting at 93.7 MHz from its broadcast tower on Austin's Mount Larson.The station was owned by the Lyndon B...
). As the first television station launched in Austin and Central Texas
Central Texas
Central Texas , is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos to Fredericksburg to Waco, and to Brenham, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station, and Waco metropolitan areas...
, it carried all four major networks at the time: ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, 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...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and the now-defunct 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...
Network. KTBC was primarily a 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 until 1995, with roughly 65% of its programming being carried by the station in its early history. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
roughly split the remaining coverage in half.
In 1960, the staff of KTBC produced a film for the Texas Department of Public Safety, entitled "Target Austin." The twenty-minute film presents the scenario of a nuclear missile strike on the outskirts of Austin and follows the storylines of several characters from the CONELRAD broadcast to the announcement that it is safe to emerge from shelter. The film takes place in Austin, highlighting several iconic locations in the city. It also features an Austin all-star cast and crew, including director Gordon Wilkison (of KTBC), narrator Cactus Pryor
Cactus Pryor
Richard "Cactus" Pryor was an American broadcaster. He received his nickname after the old Cactus Theater on Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, which was run by his father, "Skinny" Pryor....
(also of KTBC), actress Coleen Hardin, and El Rancho restaurant owner Matt Martinez.
KTBC was the only commercial station in Austin until KHFI-TV (channel 42, now KXAN-TV
KXAN-TV
KXAN-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Austin, Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter in the West Austin Antenna Farm north of West Lake Hills. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO and...
on channel 36) signed on in 1965. While KHFI should have logically taken over the NBC affiliation, NBC programming continued to be broadcast solely on KTBC for the next 18 months due to contractual obligations. KTBC became a solely CBS affiliate when all ABC programming was transferred to KVUE
KVUE
KVUE, virtual channel 24 , is the local Austin, Texas-based ABC affiliate, owned by Belo Corporation. Its transmitter is located in West Lake Hills, just west of Downtown...
when that station first signed on in 1971.
The shared affiliation with all three networks had unexpected benefits with regards to coverage of news and breaking events. After Lyndon Johnson became President following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
in 1963, the networks established direct feed lines between KTBC and the various network affiliates in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Dallas, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. This facilitated news report relaying while the President was residing either in Austin or at his ranch in Johnson City
Johnson City, Texas
Johnson City is a city in Blanco County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blanco County. It was the hometown of President Lyndon Johnson and was founded by James Polk Johnson, nephew of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., cousin to President Johnson....
. The Johnsons maintained a penthouse apartment on the fifth floor of the station, which was wired for camera and sound equipment, and used on occasion for local programming on occasions when the Johnsons were away.
This multi-network capability was first demonstrated live on August 1, 1966, following the UT Tower sniper incident. After Charles Whitman
Charles Whitman
Charles Joseph Whitman was a student at the University of Texas at Austin and a former Marine who killed 16 people and wounded 32 others during a shooting rampage on and around the university's campus on August 1, 1966....
's sniper rampage had been stopped, the primary newsman on the scene, Neal Spelce, presented a concise, complete wrap-up of the event that was carried on all three networks live later that evening. Although the connections were later replaced by satellite uplink technology, the lines were maintained for contingency usage for several years.
KTBC was the dominant station in Austin for many years, in part because, then as now, it is the only full-powered VHF station in town. While it was suggested the Johnsons used their clout to keep KTBC as the area's only VHF station, in truth this dates back to a quirk in the system the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
used to allocate television channels. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available, and 69 UHF channels (later reduced). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried a longer distance. Because there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. After the FCC opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas of the country would be designated as "UHF islands," since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" became PBS, and "1/2" became ABC, which, as the weakest network, usually wound up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available.
However, Austin is sandwiched between San Antonio to the south, Waco/Temple
Temple, Texas
Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas. Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin and 34 miles south of Waco. In the 2010 Census, Temple's population was 66,102, an...
/Killeen
Killeen, Texas
Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, The United States. The population was 86,911 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, Killeen had 119,510 people. In 2010 Killeen's population shot to 127,921...
to the north, Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
to the east and San Angelo to the west. This created a large "doughnut" in central Texas where there could be only one VHF license. KTBC was fortunate to gain that license, and thus had a large advantage over KXAN and KVUE until cable arrived in Austin in late 1970s, especially in the Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
since UHF signals usually do not get good reception in rugged terrain.
The Johnsons sold KTBC to Times Mirror in 1973, making it a sister station to KDFW
KDFW
KDFW, virtual channel 4 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex designated market area....
in Dallas. They kept the KTBC radio properties, and under FCC guidelines back then, changed calls to KLBJ-AM-FM
KLBJ-FM
KLBJ-FM is a classic rock music radio station serving the Austin, Texas area, broadcasting at 93.7 MHz from its broadcast tower on Austin's Mount Larson.The station was owned by the Lyndon B...
. In 1994, Times Mirror sold KTBC to Argyle.
As a Fox-owned station
In December 1993, Fox outbid CBS to obtain the broadcast rights to football games from the National Football ConferenceNational Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. In 1994, New World Communications
New World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
signed a long-term affiliation deal with Fox, which was establishing itself as a major network and was looking for more VHF stations. In late 1994, most New World-owned stations (except for two) dropped their longtime "Big Three" affiliations and switched to Fox. On January 19, 1995, New World took over the operation of the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements. Just under three months later, New World completed its merger with Argyle, owners of KTBC. As a result, on July 1, 1995, KTBC swapped affiliations with KBVO, picking up that station's Fox affiliation. Channel 7's old CBS affiliation went to KBVO, which changed its calls to KEYE-TV
KEYE-TV
KEYE-TV, digital channel 43 , is the CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group, LLC Sinclair Broadcasting Group has announced a purchase of the the Four Points stations, and has begun operating KEYE-TV through a local service agreement in anticipation of FCC...
. The station, in turn, came under ownership of Fox when New World merged with Fox Television Stations Group in 1996. In the spring of 1997, KTBC and KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV, virtual channel 10.1, is the Fox owned-and-operated station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Fox Television Stations in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV station KUTP ....
in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
were nearly swapped to the Belo Corporation in exchange for KIRO-TV
KIRO-TV
KIRO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS affiliate television station in Seattle, Washington. It broadcasts on digital channel 39. The station's offices and broadcasting center are located near Seattle Center in Belltown, and its transmitter is located on Queen Anne Hill...
in Seattle. That deal was ultimately cancelled; however, Belo would acquire rival KVUE and Phoenix's KTVK
KTVK
KTVK is a full-service, independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, and can be seen across northern Arizona on a network of nearly two dozen translator stations...
two years later.
As the new Fox affiliate, KTBC was able to continue as Austin's unofficial "home" of the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, since Fox had won the rights to the National Football Conference
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
a few months earlier. KTBC had carried most Cowboys games since the team's inception in 1960 by virtue of CBS winning television rights to the NFL in 1956. For many years, it also carried Cowboys pre-season games, though as of 2006 these have moved to KEYE. Fox 7 also carries Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
college sports games in the fall. Distinctively, Austin (along with the Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
and Tri-Cities, Washington
Tri-Cities, Washington
The Tri-Cities is a mid-sized metropolitan area in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, consisting of three neighboring cities: Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland. The cities are located at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia rivers in the semi-arid region of...
markets) has the dubious distinction of having Fox on VHF and the other "Big Three" affiliations all on the UHF dial.
In the early years as a Fox station, rather than carry Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
programming, of which KVC would air instead, KTBC filled the daytime lineup with more talk shows and the nighttime lineup with off-network sitcoms such as The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
and King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
. However, in recent years, the station's daytime lineup has leaned away from the talk show format in favor of courtroom shows such as Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Alex
Judge Alex
Judge Alex is a United States syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is the Hon. Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The show was produced in Houston at the television studios of Fox's KRIV , as was previously done with...
, and Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
.
Currently, KTBC is the only network owned and operated television station in Austin, except from 2000 to 2007, when it was one of two network O&O's in the market, alongside the aforementioned KEYE.
In September 2006, KTBC launched MyFoxAustin.com, a website that is part of a larger re-imaging campaign currently conducted by Fox owned and operated stations nationwide. In January 2009, Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace is a two hour Saturday morning block of paid programming airing on Fox that began airing on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV Saturday morning cartoon block that aired using time leased by 4Kids from Fox from 2002 until the last Saturday of 2008...
premiered, replacing 4KidsTV. KTBC has since picked up Weekend Marketplace, allowing the station to finally clear the entire Fox network schedule.
Distinctively, Austin (as of July 1, 2011) has the rare distinction of having a Fox station on the VHF band and the other "Big Three" affiliates all on the UHF dial. Prior to July 1, 2011, Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
's (now former) Fox affiliate, WTVW
WTVW
Banam sold WTVW to Petracom Broadcasting in 1995. A 20-percent equity stake in Petracom was purchased by Fox soon afterward, eventually leading to a three-way affiliation swap in which WTVW ended its 39-year ABC affiliation and joined Fox on December 3, 1995, with ABC moving to former CBS...
, also operates on channel 7 or 7.1 .
Children's programming
For the first two decades of its existence, KTBC was a leader in children's programming, most notably with the long-running Uncle Jay Show. Starting in 1953, host Jay Hodgson entertained local children each weekday afternoon with the assistance of the "crusty, hunnert-year-old trader" known as Packer Jack Wallace, and both were later joined by Francis "Piper" Dyer in 1961 as the show's organist. The show also featured an on-screen studio audience of local children, ranging from 30 to 50 in number depending on the set design at the time.The Uncle Jay Show featured the typical fare of cartoons, including many of the pre-August 1948 Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoons as distributed by Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
(the cartoons are back under WB ownership). During 1965, the show also hosted the King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
series of cartoon shorts featuring Beetle Bailey
Beetle Bailey
Beetle Bailey is an American comic strip set in a fictional United States Army military post, created by cartoonist Mort Walker. It is among the oldest comic strips still being produced by the original creator...
, Snuffy Smith and Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...
, and in 1967 expanded to an hour-long show to facilitate airing of Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
's Supercar
Supercar
Supercar is a term used most often to describe an expensive high end car. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car"...
, which had just been syndicated to US markets. Both Hodgson and Wallace provided humor in the form of skits and jokes, as well as minor educational material such as guest appearances by local naturalists, botanists and even movie stars and sports figures. Children in the audience were called on to participate in games, and received prizes for successful participation. Among the show's primary sponsors whose products were promoted live on-air by either Hodgson or Wallace, were the legendary Villa Capri restaurant, local shoe emporium Kara-Vel Shoes, Mrs. Johnson's Bakery, and Superior Dairies products. The latter of these was promoted by Wallace in a very fondly remembered commercial where Wallace extols the benefits of authentic wild west cooking out on the range, where the deer and the antelope play, and the secret ingredient being Superior Dairies Chocolate Milk.
Hodgson, who was the voice of KTBC from the station's original broadcast, was with the show throughout its run. Wallace, a local morning air personality who appeared with Richard "Cactus" Pryor
Cactus Pryor
Richard "Cactus" Pryor was an American broadcaster. He received his nickname after the old Cactus Theater on Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, which was run by his father, "Skinny" Pryor....
as part of the Cac and Jack Morning Show on KTBC-AM during the 1960s and 1970s, co-hosted the show with Hodgson until Wallace's death from cardiopulminary failure in late 1973, while Dyer left the show the following year to pursue other interests. Hodgson continued the show as solo host until the show's cancellation in the fall of 1977. By then, the decline in the live children's show was in full effect, and the show was moved from a weekly afternoon schedule to a Saturday morning time slot in the fall of 1975. Dropping all cartoon programming, the show concentrated more on local informational and educational issues that would be of interest to children. Gone also was the "live" element of the show; while groups of children were still part of the on-screen, shows were taped during the week for later broadcast on Saturdays. By the fall of 1977 ratings had dropped to the point where it was decided to put the show to rest once and for all.
Hodgson continued to work for KTBC as a public affairs journalist after The Uncle Jay Show was canceled, appearing in such shows as The Eyes of Central Texas, and This Is Central Texas. The latter was his final show, and was retired after Hodgson himself retired in 1991. The final episode was an hour-long tribute to the long-time host, with testimonials by many of Austin's media personalities, including former KTBC and then-current KVUE-TV news anchor Dick Ellis, who'd barely made it to the show on time and appeared dressed in hunting gear, having only heard about the show a few hours earlier while on a dove hunting trip. Hodgson died in May 2007.
KVC 13
KVC 13 (officially K13VC) was an independent low-powered television station co-owned alongside KTBC which was on the air from July 1, 1995 until March 29, 2003. Like most independents, KVC ran sitcoms, such as Full HouseFull House
Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
and The New Addams Family
The New Addams Family
The New Addams Family is an American/Canadian sitcom that aired from October 1998 to August 1999 and aired on YTV in Canada and Fox Family in the United States. It was produced by Shavick Entertainment and Saban Entertainment as a new version of the 1960s series The Addams Family.-Synopsis:The new...
. The station also ran dramas, such as Hunter, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
, M*A*S*H and Seven Days. It even ran cartoons, such as Jumanji
Jumanji (TV series)
Jumanji is an American animated television series that was inspired by the movie based on the book of the same name. The series ran for three seasons from 1996 to 1999. In 1996, it was carried by the UPN Kids network, but later seasons were syndicated by BKN. The series was also shown by CITV in...
, Beast Wars: Transformers
Transformers: Beast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles was a CGI animated television series based on both the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 film adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven...
, Pokémon
Pokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, Sailor Moon, Pocket Dragon Adventures
Pocket Dragon Adventures
Pocket Dragon Adventures was a short-lived 1998 syndicated cartoon series, based on the Pocket Dragon character created by artist Real Musgrave, best known from Pocket Dragons figurines also based on his work. The cartoon was about the Pocket Dragons who live with a kindly old wizard, and their...
, and RoboCop: Alpha Commando
RoboCop: Alpha Commando
RoboCop: Alpha Commando was a short lived animated series based on the Orion Pictures film RoboCop and the series/films that followed in the 1980s-1990s. It was the second animated version of the character, following on from RoboCop: The Animated Series. The series premiered on September 7, 1998,...
. Plus it even aired several shows shared with KTBC. Upon KTBC's network switch to Fox, Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
, which originally aired on then-KBVO (now KEYE-TV), did not air on KTBC (as with most New World stations), with the exception of the Saturday morning lineup (which was initially simulcast on both KVC and KTBC; KTBC would later drop it in 1997). KVC continued to air the block on weekdays and Saturdays until Fox ended the weekday lineup in 2002. When KVC became a UPN affiliate, it also picked up the UPN Kids
UPN Kids
UPN Kids was a short-lived weekday and Sunday morning children's programming block on UPN that launched on September 10, 1995. During the 1998-1999 season, the block was called The UPN Kids Action Zone. The block aired for 2 hours each day...
lineup which later rebranded to Disney's One Too. (Since the demise of KVC, 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
did not air at all in Austin, but has picked up the FoxBox from September 14, 2002 until March 29, 2003.)
KVC inherited the UPN affiliation from LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...
's Hill Country Paramount Network in 1998. That move saw the loss of UPN coverage in much of Central Texas outside the immediate Austin area for a short time because KVC was a low-powered station that could be barely picked up by antenna or not at all in those regional parts. However, UPN saw increased viewership by way of Austin area cable systems. The station continued to air UPN programming until August 3, 2000, when new Fredericksburg station KCWX
KCWX
KCWX is the MyNetworkTV affiliate for San Antonio, Texas, broadcasting on PSIP virtual channel 2 over their digital channel 5. The station is licensed to Fredricksburg, with the transmitter located in Albert, north of San Antonio...
(then KBEJ) went on the air on channel 2. At that time, KVC returned to being an independent station, showing typical independent programming as well as University of Texas sports and other college sporting events.
KVC was forced off the air on March 29, 2003 http://www.bestofaustin.com/issues/dispatch/2003-03-28/pols_naked2.html in order to make room for the digital signal of KAKW-TV
KAKW-TV
KAKW-DT is a television station licensed to Killeen, Texas, serving the Waco and Austin markets as a Univision owned-and-operated station on channel 62 from a tower approximately halfway between Austin and Killeen...
, a Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
affiliate in Killeen
Killeen, Texas
Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, The United States. The population was 86,911 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, Killeen had 119,510 people. In 2010 Killeen's population shot to 127,921...
(also serving Austin).
Tower
KTBC transmits from a 338.9 meter tall tower on Mount Larson 30°18'38"N 97°47'37"W. The current tower structure has been in place since 1987.Digital television
KTBC-DT broadcasts on digital channel 7.KTBC's digital signal was first broadcast over-the-air on channel 56 until the analog shutoff on June 12, 2009, at which time the analog signal was shut down and the digital signal moved from channel 56 to its former analog channel assignment of 7.
With a licensed power of 98 kW, KTBC has the 2nd highest effective radiated power (ERP) of any station broadcasting on channel 7 in the United States (per the FCC database).
News operation
KTBC broadcasts a total of 45½ hours of local news a week (8½ hours on weekdays, and an hour-and-a-half each on Saturdays and Sundays), more than any other station in Austin.Even after KTBC joined the Fox network, it continued its 10 p.m. newscast, with the 9 p.m. hour time slot filled by syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming, unusual for that network's affiliates. This changed in 2000 when the station moved its evening newscast to 9 p.m. – the first primetime newscast in Austin.
KTBC's newscasts have been named Fox 7 News Edge since 2006. The station went through a graphic overhaul in early 2008 to match the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
-influenced look of its stablemates. KTBC was the last Fox O&O to introduce this look on April 17, 2008.
On July 1, 2009 KTBC officially switched its news broadcast to high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, becoming the last of the four Austin television news stations (behind KEYE
KEYE-TV
KEYE-TV, digital channel 43 , is the CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group, LLC Sinclair Broadcasting Group has announced a purchase of the the Four Points stations, and has begun operating KEYE-TV through a local service agreement in anticipation of FCC...
, KVUE
KVUE
KVUE, virtual channel 24 , is the local Austin, Texas-based ABC affiliate, owned by Belo Corporation. Its transmitter is located in West Lake Hills, just west of Downtown...
and KXAN
KXAN-TV
KXAN-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Austin, Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter in the West Austin Antenna Farm north of West Lake Hills. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO and...
) to do so.
KTBC is one of four Fox owned-and-operated stations (and the only ex-New World station that switched to Fox) with a 5 p.m. newscast, but no 6 p.m. newscast (along with WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, KRIV in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
and KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...
in Minneapolis). KTBC had a 6 p.m. newscast until 2000, when it was discontinued in favor of an expansion of the 5 p.m. newscast to a full hour; however, the station does presently carry a 6 p.m. newscast on Saturday evenings. In June 2010, Good Day Austin was extended by an hour to 10:00 A.M. weekdays. In November 2010, KTBC became the first station in the Austin market to expand its weekday morning newscast to the 4:30 A.M. timeslot, reflecting a national trend, extending the newscast to 5½ hours.
Ratings
In the November 2010 Nielsen ratings period, the station was #1 at 4:30 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. in the key demographic of adults 25-54.Newscast titles
- KTBC News (1952–1980)
- NewsCenter 7 (1980–1983 and 1995–1996)
- Channel 7 News (1983–1995)
- FOX 7 News (1996–2006)
- FOX 7 News Edge (2006–present)
Station slogans
- The Best is Right Here on Channel 7 / Channel 7 is Easy on the Eyes (1973–1974; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- See the Best... Channel 7 (1974–1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Catch the Brightest Stars on Channel 7 (1975–1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We're Looking Good on Channel 7 (1979–1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Looking Good Together, Channel 7 (1980–1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Reach for the Stars on Channel 7 (1981–1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Great Moments on Channel 7 (1982–1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 7 (1983–1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Austin's News Channel (1984–1987)
- Austin's Leading News Station (1987–1990)
- Austin's News Center (1990–1995)
- News You Can Count On (1995–1997)
- On Your Side (1997–2000; news slogan)
- Austin's Watching Fox (1997–2000; general slogan)
- Just You Watch (2000–2007; general slogan)
- Get the Edge (2007–present; news slogan)
- So FOX 7 (2008–2010; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
Current on-air staff
Current anchors- Keri Bellacosa - weekday mornings "Good Day Austin" (7-10 a.m.)
- Joe Bickett - weekday mornings "Good Day Austin" (4:30-10 a.m.) and noon
- Loriana Hernandez - weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.; also reporter
- Katherine Kisiel - weekday mornings "Good Day Austin" (5-10 a.m.) and noon
- Jenni Lee - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 9 p.m.; also reporter
- Mike Warren - weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.; also reporter
FOX7 Weather Team
- Scott Fisher (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe 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...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m. - Scott Prinsen (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 9 p.m.
- Zack Shields - meteorologist; weekday mornings "Good Day Austin" (4:30-9 a.m.) and noon
Sports team
- Dave Cody - sports director; weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.
- Dennis de la Pena - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 9 p.m.
- John Hygh - sports reporter
Reporters
- Foti Kallergis - general assignment reporter
- Rudy Koski - general assignment reporter
- Ann Wyatt Little - morning reporter
- Lauren Petrowski - general assignment reporter
- Sarah Talbert - general assignment reporter
- Camille Williams - general assignment reporter
- Nancy Zambrano - general assignment reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Mike EmanuelMike EmanuelMike Emanuel is the Chief Congressional Correspondent and a former White House Correspondent for Fox News Channel. He has worked for the network since July 1997...
- weekend anchor/political reporter (now Fox News White House Correspondent) - Alan KrasheskyAlan KrasheskyAlan Krashesky is a news anchor and reporter for WLS-TV in Chicago, Illinois. Krashesky currently anchors the 4pm and 6pm weekday newscasts on WLS-TV, an ABC-TV owned and operated station. In addition, he hosts NewsViews, a weekly political and current affairs discussion segment...
- weather anchor/reporter (now anchor at WLS-TVWLS-TVWLS-TV, virtual channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The station operates their full power digital operations on UHF channel 44, with their digital fill-in translator on VHF channel...
in Chicago, IL) - Cactus PryorCactus PryorRichard "Cactus" Pryor was an American broadcaster. He received his nickname after the old Cactus Theater on Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, which was run by his father, "Skinny" Pryor....
- programming manager and program host - Jean Boone - host of "Women's World" talk show in 1960s