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KSDK-TV/DT "NewsChannel 5" is the NBC television affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri.

Owned and operated by Gannett, the station's transmitter is located in Shrewsbury, Missouri. The station broadcasts in stereo and broadcasts a Secondary Audio Program (SAP) channel that is used mainly for Descriptive Video Service (DVS). KSDK-TV operates on channel 5; KSDK-DT (KSDK's digital channel) operates on channel 35 with NBC Weather Plus on channel 5.2.

KSDK produces and airs about 30 hours of local news and other local programming per week, all in high-definition and streamed live online on KSDK's website.

History

KSD-TV was the first television station in St. Louis (and the state of Missouri) when it first went on the air on February 8, 1947 (even then, KSD was an NBC affiliate), and was the only St. Louis television station until 1953; KSD was also the first St. Louis television station to broadcast in color. KSD-TV and KSD-AM (now KTRS) were originally owned by the Pulitzer Publishing Company, the former publishers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. KSDK-TV and KSD-AM were traded to Multimedia, Inc. for WFBC-TV in Greenville, South Carolina (now, WYFF-TV) in 1983 and on September 8 of that year, KSD-TV became KSDK-TV.

A long association with the St. Louis Cardinals began with the 1963 season when KSD began televising some of the St. Louis Cardinals' road games. In the ceremony for the opening of old Busch Stadium, Bill Houska Sr. flew home plate from Sportsman's Park to the new stadium in "Chopper 5." KSDK lost the rights to broadcast St. Louis Cardinals games to KPLR in 1988.

During the mid-1980s, Sally Jessy Raphaël's talk show originated from St. Louis. In 1989, KSDK dropped the "Eyewitness News" branding to become "NewsChannel 5," and also began broadcasting 24 hours a day.

In 1995, Multimedia Inc. merged with Gannett and on September 5, 1995, KSDK began producing and airing Show Me St. Louis from 3–3:30pm each weekday. The multiple award-winning program highlights local attractions and events that are family oriented. In 1998, KSDK debuted the Window on St. Louis, a streetside studio located in the same downtown St. Louis building that also houses KSDK's other studios. Show Me St. Louis is aired from this studio that welcomes the public to take part in the broadcasts. The Window on St. Louis is modeled on The Today Show's Window on the World.

In 2000, KSDK launched its website: www.ksdk.com

In an attempt to provide St. Louisans with the most comprehensive and up-to-date local and national election results available during the 2004 elections, KSDK partnered with KETC, St. Louis' PBS affiliate, to simulcast election coverage. The partnership was first utilized to broadcast a gubernatorial debate between Missouri's then-Secretary of State Matt Blunt (R) and State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D). On election night, KSDK aired NBC's primetime election coverage with Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert as well as segments of local results; on KETC, Mike Bush and Karen Foss hosted three hours of all local election results. Viewers could also watch election results online at ksdk.com and ketc.org.

When NewsChannel 5 WeatherPLUS debuted in June of 2005, KSDK became the first local St. Louis television station to launch a secondary channel on cable. WeatherPlus forecasts are available on ksdk.com, on digital channel 5-2, the secondary channel within KSDK's digital transmission, and on Charter Cable channel 127 in the St. Louis area.

The successful KSDK/KETC partnership continued through September 2005 when, along with radio partners KYKY (Y98, 98.1FM) and KEZK (Soft Rock, 102.5FM), a telethon for Hurricane Katrina relief was simulcast that raised more than $5 million. The telethon featured an appearance by John Goodman, a native of Affton, Missouri who now calls New Orleans home and whose family was actually missing for a time during the storm's peak. Sheryl Crow, a native of Kennett, Missouri, and her then fiancé Lance Armstrong urged viewers to call when they were interviewed by phone from the region.

On September 12, 2005, KSDK began airing Today at Ten, an additional half-hour long weekday mid-morning news program. Beginning at 10am, Today at Ten, airs immediately following NBC's The Today Show.

The first broadcast of any local program in St. Louis in high-definition was the St. Louis Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 23, 2005. The parade has been a Thanksgiving Day tradition on KSDK.

On February 6, 2006, KSDK became the first St. Louis television station, and seventh station in the country, to broadcast all news and local programming in HD. KSDK also became the first local St. Louis station to stream all of its news (including Show Me St. Louis) live on its website — previously only breaking news and WeatherPLUS were available online.

News Operations

Since its inception in 1947, KSDK has been a leader, not only of other stations in St. Louis, but of stations around the country. The quality news and reporting that has defined KSDK's history in St. Louis has resulted in numerous awards and consistently higher ratings. During the 80s and 90s, KSDK was the best-performing NBC affiliate in the country and there is still rarely a ratings period in which KSDK does not completely win in all news timeslots.

Perhaps one of the reasons for KSDK's ratings success is consistency. All five of KSDK's main anchors (Jennifer Blome, Mike Bush, Karen Foss, Art Holliday, and Deanne Lane) have been at KSDK for more than twenty years. No matter which newscast viewers watch, they always know who will be on.

"Cover Story" has been a fixture on KSDK's NewsChannel 5 at 10 for many years. "Cover Story" features in-depth reports, often investigations, health-related, or consumer stories. Along with the story, KSDK sometimes opens a message board on its website or has phone operators ready to answer viewer questions.

Traditionally at least one newscast ends with local elementary schoolchildren flashing the hand signs for "5" and "1", signifying that, as a promo featuring the kids said, "Even a 2nd grader could tell you that Channel 5 is Number 1."

Newscasts

Weekdays

  • Today in St. Louis - 5:00am-7:00am
  • Today at Ten - 10:00am-10:30am
  • NewsChannel 5 at Noon - 12:00pm-1:00pm
  • Show Me St. Louis - 3:00pm-3:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 5 - 5:00pm-5:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 6 - 6:00pm-6:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 10 - 10:00pm-10:30pm

Saturdays

  • Today in St. Louis - 6:00am-7:00am
  • Today in St. Louis at 9 - 9:00am-10:00am
  • NewsChannel 5 at 5 - 5:00pm-5:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 6 - 6:00pm-6:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 10 - 10:00pm-10:30pm

Sundays

  • Today in St. Louis - 6:00am-7:00am
  • Today in St. Louis at 9- 9:00am-10:00am
  • NewsChannel 5 at 5 - 5:00pm-5:30pm
  • NewsChannel 5 at 10 - 10:00pm-10:25pm
  • SportsPlus - 10:25pm-11:25pm

Logos

Awards

KSDK has won a multitude of awards including Regional Emmys, Gabriel Awards, and Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards; KSDK has also been recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Associated Press.

2003

In 2003, KSDK was awarded the WeatheRate seal of approval, an award that certifies KSDK as the most accurate weather station in St. Louis. [1] The data used to determine a winner is refigured every 6 months by the non-profit WeatheRate organization. Also in 2003, KSDK was awarded 14 Regional Emmy Awards:

  • News Feature-Entertainment/Humorous: (Steve Jankowski: "Arch Light")
  • News Feature-Political: (Randy Jackson: "Words of a Nation")
  • Sports Report: (Malcolm Briggs: "Emily Parsons")
  • Editorial/Commentary: (Mike Bush: "My Turn")
  • Religious: (Dan Gray: "Higher Calling")
  • Live Event Special: (Mike Bush & Frank Cusumano: "Ozzie Smith-Call to the Hall")
  • Promotion: News: ("People you Know")
  • Public Service Announcement: ("Warner's Warm-Up")
  • Weathercaster: (Cindy Preszler)
  • Photographer/Videographer: Pre-Produced News
  • Writing: Promo/PSA/Commercial: ("Now More Than Ever 2")
  • Art Direction/Design: News: ("Technicolor")
  • Animation: ("Velocity")
  • Audio: ("Cards Retro")

In 2003, KSDK was awarded one Regional Edward R. Murrow Award:

  • Overall Excellence

2004

In 2004, KSDK was awarded 20 Regional Emmy Awards:

  • Interactivity: (Leisa Zigman: "Cutting")
  • Community Outreach Program: ("A Place to Call Home")
  • Religious: (Chris Balish: "Cross By the Road")
  • Host/Reporter (Other Than News): (Heidi Glaus)
  • Art Direction/Design: News: ("Analgamation")
  • Editor: Pre-Produced News
  • Photographer/Videographer: Pre-Produced News
  • News Feature-Business/Consumer/Finance: (Wendy Erikson: "Clock Shop")
  • News Feature-Culture: (Randy Jackson: "Eyes of the Holocaust")
  • News Feature-Culture: (Randy Jackson: "Cover Story: Forgotten Heroes")
  • Sports Feature: (Frank Cusumano: "Oldest QB")
  • Sports Program: (Frank Cusumano: "SportsPlus")
  • Sports Special: (Rene Knott: "Winging It, Cardinals 2004")
  • Sports Special: (Malcolm Briggs: Max Questions-Rams 2003")
  • Writing: (Cris Balish)
  • Spot News: (Ann Rubin: "The Fugitive")
  • Spot News: (Ann Rubin: "We Had to get Them Out")
  • Weathercaster: (John Fuller)
  • Weathercaster: (Mike Roberts)
  • Sportscaster: (Frank Cusumano)

In 2004, KSDK was awarded a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award[2]:

  • Overall Excellence

2005

In 2005, Karen Foss was inducted into the Silver Circle for her 25 years of journalistic excellence. Also in 2005, KSDK was awarded 15 Regional Emmy Awards:

  • Special Reporting-Feature: (Randy Jackson: "The Enemy Among Us")
  • Special Reporting-Political: (Mike Bush: "Images of War")
  • General News Report: (Randy Jackson: "Covert Task Force")
  • Children's/Teen: ("Cardinals Crew")
  • Community Outreach Program: ("Tsunami Relief, St. Louis Responds")
  • Promotion-News: ("The Story Behind the Story")
  • Promotion-Programming: ("Greek Lessons")
  • Commercial Spot: ("Back to Bed")
  • Sportscaster: (Frank Cusumano)
  • Host/Reporter (Other Than News): (Chris Balish)
  • Photographer/Videographer-Pre-Produced News
  • Editor-Same Day News
  • Editor-Pre-Produced News
  • Graphics-News
  • Graphics-Promo/PSA/Commercial: ("Flashback 5")
  • Animation: ("Professor Pixel's Percolating Party")
  • Audio: ("Scott Suppelsa Audio Composite")

In 2005, KSDK was awarded three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards[3]:

  • Sports Reporting
  • Videography
  • Affiliated Website

News environments, graphics packages, and music

In 1997, a new news set was introduced, along with a new graphics package, which reinforced KSDK's rebranding from "Eyewitness News" to "NewsChannel 5." The new set had a backdrop of the newsroom during all newscasts except NewsChannel 5 at 6, during which a backdrop of the St. Louis skyline was inserted; a special backdrop was also used during the Olympics and various local and national elections. The graphics package introduced with the new set was replaced in 2001 with one almost identical as those found at sister station WUSA in Washington, D.C. (the only differences were the station logos and the images of various local buildings in the news opens).

Shortly before Rene Knott was hired to replace Mike Bush as Sports Director in early 2004, the SportsPlus set and graphics package were replaced. Though the logo stayed the same, the title officially changed from Mike Bush's SportsPlus to just SportsPlus. With the addition of Rene Knott to the sports department, SportsPlus became SportsPlus with Rene Knott & Frank Cusumano.

In May 2004, KSDK began broadcasting from a temporary news set while their main news desk and weather center underwent remodeling. There were no major changes besides a change in color scheme and the addition of several plasma screen monitors. The color scheme of the new set shifted from blue and brown to tan, silver, and red to match the colors in the "5" logo. A window with a semi-transparent NBC peacock partially blocked the view of the newsroom behind the anchors. The Volunteer 5 phone-banks were not updated but the rest of the set refreshment was complete in August 2004.

KSDK debuted a new graphic package, music (NBC Flagship), and news environment on February 6, 2006 (consisting of a sit-down interview set, a smaller reporting desk, a new main news desk, and a new weather center) due to KSDK's switch to high-definition. The new news graphics were the first in nearly five years (though the Show Me St. Louis and SportsPlus graphics had been updated and the weather graphics were updated in early 2005 with the introduction of WeatherPlus to St. Louis), the Show Me St. Louis and SportsPlus graphics were updated as well. The set occupies the studio space that formerly housed SportsPlus and possibly Volunteer 5. KSDK also debuted an updated logo that is essentially the same as the current logo but in the new logo the grey has been replaced by shiny silver and the red seems deeper and darker (and is also shiny).

Giant Octopus designed the graphics and Production Design Group designed the new sets. Production Design Group is an Emmy Award-winning design company that has also built sets and studios for MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, Extra, SportsCenter, and the National Geographic Channel. The news environment and graphics are extremely similar to what has been introduced on KSDK's sister stations in Washington, D.C. (WUSA), Atlanta (WXIA), and, most recently, in Minneapolis (KARE).

List of on-air personalities

Current

Past

KSDK has a long history of not renewing the contracts of its most recognizable and experienced personalities. They often move to another St. Louis television station. Rick Edlund, Ruth Ezell, Dan Gray, Jean Jackson, and John Pertzborn are just a few of the most notable in what is quite an extensive list.

Not all of KSDK's past personalities left the station under such circumstances, however. When compared to other St. Louis stations, or other stations of similar market size (DMA # 21), KSDK has had an unsually large number of its former personalities go on to network positions: Paul Goodloe was hired by The Weather Channel in 2000; Janice Huff moved on to KRON and eventually to WNBC where she can be seen occasionally on NBC's The Today Show filling in for Al Roker; Dave Murray eventually became the meteorologist for ABC's Good Morning America, then moved on to KTVI in St. Louis; Ann Thompson is the Chief Financial Correspondent for NBC News; Debbye Turner is a contributor on CBS's The Early Show; both Matt Winer and Trey Wingo are hosts of SportsCenter on ESPN, leading many local viewers to opine that KSDK was a "farm team" for ESPN.

Other Programming

Since Show Me St. Louis first went on the air in 1995, it has been a popular show highlighting local entertainment and other, mostly family oriented, attractions around St. Louis. Show Me St. Louis is usually broadcast from the Window on St. Louis where local groups and organizations can bring signs to advertise for their events, but occasionally it leaves the studio to broadcast from local attractions (The St. Louis Zoo, Busch Stadium, The Fox Theatre, etc.). Show Me St. Louis also leaves the studio to broadcast from surrounding communities (Florissant, MO, Waterloo, IL, etc.) that have uncommon or unknown attractions of interest to viewers. These Great Escapes (as the show is titled) usually occur during summer months.

For several years, Show Me St. Louis has also thrown a wedding for a local couple worth more than $25,000. Since Chris Balish left KSDK in early 2006, Heidi Glaus has co-hosted the show with other KSDK employees and local radio personalities (J.C. Corcoran of KIHT-FM, Big Jake of WVRV-FM, and Cornbread of WIL-FM).

Show Me St. Louis has also drawn criticism, however, because some of its segments, and a few entire episodes are sponsored. Usually, only one or two segments are sponsored per show with a disclaimer at the end that says, "portions of Show Me St. Louis have been sponsored." Simply Irresistible is a primetime program that inturrupts regularly scheduled NBC programing for what is essentially a local infomercial.

Over the years, KSDK has aired syndicated programs like Martha Stewart Living (which Gannett stopped airing when she was sent to prison), Montell, and The Jane Pauley Show. When The Jane Pauley Show was cancelled, it was replaced by Today at Ten and the previous day's episode of Show Me St. Louis. The Ellen DeGeneres Show is broadcast by KSDK at 11am every weekday. KSDK has long been the home of syndicated programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune.

KSDK in the community

  • "A Place to Call Home" is a weekly Emmy Award-Winning segment that features one child who is in need of adoption. Since August 2003, 50% of the children who have appeared on KSDK have been adopted. A secondary program, "Little Wishes" allows viewers to are unable to adopt the child to add a little happiness to the life of a foster child by purchasing a gift for him/her.
  • "Friend to Friend" is a program that reminds viewers on the fifth of each month to perform a breast self exam to catch breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. Viewers can also contact KSDK for a packet that includes information and reminders on performing a breast self exam. KSDK is also a major sponsor and partner in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the St. Louis Race for the Cure.
  • Volunteer 5 is a weekly, week-long program that features a local charity or other community organization in need of donations, but most importantly volunteers. KSDK's Volunteer 5 operates as a telethon, with phone operators taking calls between 4 and 7pm each weeknight from anyone wishing to donate time or money. Volunteer 5 has provided more than $5 million annually in services and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to local non-profit organizations. The program began in 1993 to help those affected by the Great Flood of 1993.
  • The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon airs each Labor Day on KSDK. Mike Bush hosts the local telethon that, in September 2005, raised nearly $2 million, of which every penny stays in St. Louis.

Contacting KSDK

St. Louis Studios
KSDK-TV
1000 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri
63101
Phone: 314-421-5055
Illinois Bureau
KSDK-TV
2 Eastport Plaza Drive
Collinsville, Illinois
62234
Phone: 618-344-9460
By Department
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