(
Channel 7 , branded as "ABC7") is the
American Broadcasting Company Owned Television Station in the
Greater Los Angeles Area Market , and is the most-watched television station in
Southern California . The station is the
West Coast Flagship of the ABC television network. The station's offices and
Studio are located in
Glendale, California . Like many other television stations in the Los Angeles market, KABC-TV's
Transmitter is located north of
Pasadena on the
Summit of
Mount Wilson . The station
Broadcasts its
Analog Television signal on
VHF channel 7 and
Digital Television (DT) signals on
UHF channel 53. Programming produced in
High Definition (HD) from the station's studio, ABC-TV
Network , and
Syndication air on the station's 7.1 DT channel. Network and syndicated programs produced in
Standard Definition (SD) are also broadcast on 7.1 DT. KABC-TV's DT sub channel 7.2 (branded ''ABC7 Plus'') rebroadcasts local newscasts, locally produced
Public Affairs shows, programs produced by
ABC News , and certain syndicated shows following their original airing on KABC-TV DT 7.1. "ABC7 Plus" also airs long form
Infomercial s and other syndicated programs not aired on 7.1 DT. KABC-TV DT sub channel 7.3 broadcasts low resolution local weather information,
AccuWeather forecasts and the station's ''Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD'' radar image.
KABC-TV's analog signal is available on
Cable Television systems throughout the Los Angeles market. The station's 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 DT signals are available to
Digital Cable customers. The station's HD and SD signals are also available to
DirecTV and
Dish Network customers within the Los Angeles market and nationwide for subscribers with distant market waivers.
KABC-TV went on the air as KECA-TV on
September 16 ,
1949 . It's call letters were named after Los Angeles television pioneer
Earle C. Anthony . It was one of the five original ABC owned and operated stations (all broadcasting on channel 7) along with
WABC-TV New York ,
WLS-TV Chicago ,
WXYZ-TV Detroit and
KGO-TV San Francisco . In that order, KABC was the last one to begin operations.
On
February 1 ,
1954 KECA changed its
Call Letters to the present KABC-TV.
From the time of its initial sign-on as KECA in
1949 until
2000 , KABC-TV was located at the ABC Television Center (now branded as
The Prospect Studios ), located in the
Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, east of
Hollywood . In December
2000 , KABC-TV moved from its longtime studios to a new state of the art facility designed by
César Pelli in nearby
Glendale, California . The station is a short distance from ABC's West Coast headquarters and parent
Walt Disney Company headquarters located at
Walt Disney Studios in
Burbank, California .
On Friday night, ,
1955 . As Vampira, Nurmi introduced films while wandering through a hallway of mist and cobwebs. Her horror-related comedy antics included talking to her pet spider Rollo and encouraging viewers to write for
Epitaph s instead of autographs. When the series was cancelled in 1955, she retained rights to the character of Vampira.
KABC-TV has used the famous
"Circle 7" Logo since 1962 (the same year ABC created and implemented its current logo), and augmented its bottom left quadrant with the ABC network
"bug" in
1997 . The station's
News Anchors and
Reporter s wear Circle 7 lapel pins when they appear on camera.
In
1964 ,
Pinky Lee attempted a return to kids TV by hosting a local children's comedy program on KABC-TV. The series was also seen in national syndication for the 1964 &
1965 TV seasons. But the program fell prey to creative interference from the show's producers and from station management. Lee tried to fight off the creative interference, but his efforts were for naught. The 1960s version of "The Pinky Lee Kids TV Show" went off the air after one season.
On
February 4 ,
2006 the station became the first TV station in California to broadcast it's newscasts in HD. The station debuted upgraded
HD Studio Cameras ,
Switcher , a new news set,
Updated Graphics and new theme music. Along with the in-house upgrades, several of the station's weather cameras have now also been upgraded to HD. The station's HD studio signal is down-converted for SD broadcast.
KABC-TV adopted the
Eyewitness News format in
1969 , soon after it became a hit at
Sister Station WABC-TV in New York City and
KYW-TV in Philadelphia. Unlike the other ABC owned stations, KABC-TV used the original version of
Cool Hand Luke that became associated with ABC's version of Eyewitness News well into the late 1980s, even after the others adopted
News Series 2000 , an updated version of the theme. Later on, the original Cool Hand Luke theme would only be used in the news open, a similar practice to what
KGO-TV and
WABC-TV did at the time. The station's
Newscasts used a synthesized version of the old theme, composed by Frank Becker, during the mid-1980s. KABC-TV would pick up the NewsSeries 2000 package in
1990 . In
1995 KABC began using
Frank Gari 's Eyewitness News package which remains the station's news theme.
During the 1980s, KABC-TV was one of a few stations in the country to run a three-hour block of '' ended its run in
2004 , KABC expanded its midday newscast to a full hour.
KABC-TV currently brands its newscasts as ''ABC7 Eyewitness News HD'' and it airs over 40 hours of live news programming each week, more than any other individual television station in Los Angeles. The station's . At times, due to current logistical and equipment limitations, video from ''Air7HD'' is only available in SD 16:9 aspect ratio. When this occurs, video from the helicopter is branded as ''Air7''.
KABC-TV, along with rival KNBC, are the only Los Angeles television stations with a full time daily presence in
California 's
State Capital ,
Sacramento . In late
2003 , the station began
Pooling Resources with sister stations KGO-TV and
KFSN to hire a full time reporter and
Photographer to staff a Sacramento bureau following
Arnold Schwarzenegger 's election to the office of
Governor (during the
2003 California Recall Election ), just as KNBC did.
The station has its own
Doppler Radar weather system (branded "Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD") on the summit of
Oat Mountain in the
Santa Susana Mountain Range . This system is used by the station's weather department in conjunction with the
National Weather Service NEXRAD network and other resources to provide viewers with
Weather Forecasts and
Storm Warning s.
Notable on-air personalities who have worked for the station's news department in the past include
Jerry Dunphy ,
Lisa McRee ,
Harold Greene (current news anchor at
KCBS-TV ),
Laura Diaz (current news anchor at KCBS-TV),
Paul Moyer (current news anchor at
KNBC ),
Chuck Henry (currently at KNBC),
Dr. George Fischbeck ,
Judd Rose ,
Bill Weir (currently co-host of ''
Good Morning America Weekend Edition ''), former
National Football League (NFL) player and current NFL Director of Operations
Gene Washington ,
NFL Hall Of Fame inductee
Lynn Swann , former NFL player
Jim Hill (currently sports anchor at KCBS-TV), former NFL player
Bob Chandler and former
Major League Baseball player
Rick Monday (current
Los Angeles Dodgers radio analyst and
Play-by-play announcer).
During the 1970s and 1980s the station's newscasts often included spirited mini debates and commentaries reflecting various political viewpoints. Several notable and the late
Baxter Ward . In addition, like many other stations at the time, KABC-TV aired brief editorials from the stations general manager, most notably John Severino, who served throughout the 1980s. This practice was discontinued in 1990.
KABC has been the overall ratings leader in the highly competitive
Los Angeles market for most of the past three decades. The introduction of the popular "Eyewitness News" format in the 1970s, followed by the addition of syndicated staples such as "
Wheel Of Fortune ," "
Jeopardy ," "
The Oprah Winfrey Show " and "
Live With Regis And Kelly " in the 1980s, has ensured KABC's dominance in ratings up to the present day.
Leveraging the strength of its sizeable "Oprah" lead-in at 3PM, KABC has long held the ratings lead for its 4-7 PM news block. However, ratings leads for the morning (5-7AM) and late (11PM) news have typically been spirited (and expensive) battles with local stations
KTLA and
KTTV in the morning and
KNBC (and recently
KCBS ) at 11PM. When ABC primetime programming was faltering, KABC would typically finish in second place behind KNBC at 11PM, which had a strong lead-in from NBC primetime programming. With the network roles now reversed - ABC successful and NBC floundering - KABC has recently seen its 11PM news finish consistently in first place for the first time in well over a decade. The 'halo' effect from this 11PM news win carries over into the mornings, where KABC leads a 5-7AM news block with five English-language stations airing local news.
Throughout the broadcast weekday, there is only one non-primetime hour that KABC does not finish in first place -- 1-2PM, when KABC's ", May 2007, household results)
With its across-the-board ratings success in hand, the station has been running quick 5-second "tags" throughout the day that say, "ABC7 -- Number One in News, Number One in Southern California." This is a throwback to its openers during the 1980s, when the station proudly proclaimed itself "Number One in Southern California."
- John Gregory - Weekend Mornings (also does general assignment reporting on weekdays)
- Lisa Hernandez - Weekend Mornings (also does general assignment reporting on weekdays)
- Micah Ohlman - Weekend Afternoons and 11 p.m. (also does general assignment reporting on weekdays)
- Leslie Sykes - Weekend Afternoons and 11 p.m. (also does general assignment reporting on weekdays)
- Garth Kemp - 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Dallas Raines - Chief Meteorologist (4 p.m., 5p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.)
- Indra Petersons - Weekend Mornings (Does Surf Reports During The Week)
- Danny Romero - Weekend Afternoons and 11 p.m.
- Rob Fukuzaki - Sports 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
- John Hartung - (sports reporter and fill in sports anchor)
- Curt Sandoval - Weekend Afternoons and 11 p.m.
- Scott Reiff (staff AIR7'' pilot/reporter) 5 a.m., 6 a.m.
- Bill Thomas (freelance reporter in AIR7'') 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- Jane Monreal - 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. (In Studio)
- Alysha Del Valle - 4 p.m. (Airwatch Contract)
- Sabina Mora - 4 p.m. (Airwatch Contract)
KABC-TV is also the Los Angeles home of syndicated shows such as ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''
Live With Regis And Kelly '', ''
Ebert & Roeper '', ''Urban Latino'', ''Teen Kids News''; a show developed by
Al Primo , ''
Entertainers With Byron Allen '', ''Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls'', ''Beautiful Homes and Great Estates'', and ''Business Week''. The station also carries syndicated daily HD broadcasts of ''
Wheel Of Fortune '' and ''
Jeopardy! ''.
KABC-TV produces several local shows including ''Vista L.A''. (which profiles
Latino life in
Southern California ), and ''Eye on L.A''. (which has been on the air in some form since the early 1980s). On weekends, the station airs ''Eyewitness Newsmakers'', hosted by reporter Adrienne Alpert.
The station produces a sports variety type show branded ''ABC7 Sports Zone'' which formally originated from the
ESPN Zone located at
Downtown Disney in
Anaheim . This show airs occasionally following network
Telecast s of
NCAA football and
NBA games. Most ''ABC7 Sports Zone'' shows now originate from local sports venues including the
Los Angeles Coliseum , the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena and
Staples Center in Los Angeles, the show is occasionally produced at the station's studios in Glendale.
On the day that ABC telecasts the ''
Academy Awards '' show, KABC-TV produces a live pre-awards show branded ''An Evening at the Academy Awards: The Arrivals'' prior to the network show featuring red carpet interviews and fashion commentary. This show also airs on the network's owned stations and is syndicated to several ABC affiliates and other broadcasters outside the country. The station also produces and broadcasts a show following the network's broadcast of the ''Academy Awards'' show branded ''An Evening at the Academy Awards: The Winners''.
In the past, KABC featured various locally produced shows such as ''AM Los Angeles''; a morning talk show which at various times featured personalities
Regis Philbin ,
Sarah Purcell ,
Ralph Story ,
Tawny Little ,
Cristina Ferrare , Cyndy Garvey, and
Steve Edwards as hosts. Edwards also hosted a short lived afternoon show in the mid-1980s branded ''330''. (''Live with Regis and Kelly'', co-hosted by Philbin, now occupies the former time slot of ''AMLA''.)
The station's digital sub channel 7.2 airs the weekday
KGO-TV produced variety show ''The View From the Bay'' hosted by
Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang, ''
Comics Unleashed '' hosted by
Byron Allen , ''Exploration with Richard Wiese'', ''
Hometime '', ''Latin Eyes'', ''Sports Stars of Tomorrow'', ''
Jack Hanna 's Animal Adventures'' and ''B InTune TV''. ABC 7+ also rebroadcasts the station's ''Eyewitness News'' shows and ABC's ''Nightline''. The station's news department occasionally interrupts regularly scheduled programming on ABC 7+ to air extended breaking news coverage. On
November 7 ,
2006 , ABC7+ showed ''
Jeopardy! '' and ''
Wheel Of Fortune '' at the times they are normally seen on the main channel, as KABC joined the network for expanded coverage of the
U.S. Midterm Elections . The channel is available on several cable television systems in the Los Angeles market.
- ''Channel 7 Eyewitness News'' (1970-1996) also used on ABC owned stations WABC-TV and WLS-TV
- ''ABC 7 Eyewitness News'' (1997-present)
- ''ABC 7 Eyewitness News HD'' (February 2006-present)
- ''Movie 7'' (1969-1990)
- ''The 3:30 Movie'' (1968-1981)
- ''ABC 7 Movie Special'' (1996, 2005-present)
- ''ABC 7 Prime Movie Special'' (2003-2004)
- ''Channel 7 Midnight Movie'' (1993-1995)
- ''Channel 7 Late Movie'' (1995-1998)
- '' The Vampira Show '' (1954-1955)
- ''The Saturday/Sunday Afternoon Movie'' (1969-1980s)
- ''Hollywood Theatre'' (1980s-1998)
- ''ABC 7 Weekend Afternoon Movie'' (1998-present)
- ''The Saturday/Sunday Night Movie'' (1969-1996)
- ''The Monday Night Movie'' (1970-1981)
- ''The ABC 7 Saturday/Sunday Night Movie'' (1996-present)
- ''Insomniac Theatre'' (1992-2004)
- ''Classic Theatre'' (1988-1995)
KABC is rebroadcasted on the following translator stations:
