KCOP-TV: Difference between revisions

| website = {{urlURL|www.foxla.com/fox-11-plus}}

'''KCOP-TV''' (channel 13), branded '''Fox 11 Plus''', is a [[television station]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], United States, serving as the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] of [[MyNetworkTV]]. It is [[owned and operated]] by [[Fox Television Stations]] alongside [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] outlet [[KTTV]] (channel 11). The two stations share studios at the Fox Television Center located in [[West Los Angeles]]; KCOP-TV's transmitter is located atop [[Mount Wilson (California)|Mount Wilson]].

During the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the Los Angeles home of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (as well as ''[[theStar Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series]]'' before it, as early as 1970), ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]'' and ''[[Baywatch]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cerone|first=Daniel|title=Where KCOP Has Not Gone Before : Sci-fi and Adventure Series Give Station Major League Ratings|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-02/entertainment/-ca-46_1_series46-programmingstory.html|access-date=March 21, 2011|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 2, 1993}}</ref> KCOP was the original Los Angeles home of the syndicated version of ''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' (its longtime announcer until his death in 2010, [[Charlie O'Donnell]], was a former staff announcer and news anchor at KCOP). The station had also picked up ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' from [[KCBS-TV]] (channel 2) in 1985. Both game shows moved to KCBS-TV in 1989, and later to current home [[KABC-TV]] (channel 7) in 1992. Channel 13 aired select episodes of the Australian soap opera ''[[Neighbours]]'' from early June to late August 1991. The station tried airing movies six nights a week in 1992; however, they fared poorly.

KCOP partnered with [[WWOR-TV]] and [[MCA TV]] Entertainment on a two night programming block, [[WWOR-TV#Hollywood Premiere Network|Hollywood Premiere Network]] starting in October 1990.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cerone|first1=Daniel|title=New Shows on the Block : KCOP Builds Prime-Time Programming in Move Against the Networks|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-07/news/-tv-2689_1_prime2689-time-programmingstory.html|access-date=April 4, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 7, 1990}}</ref> KCOP carried the [[Prime Time Entertainment Network]] programming service from 1993 to 1995.<ref>{{cite news | last = Susan | first = King | title = Space, 2258, in the Year 1994 | page = 4 | work=Los Angeles Times | date = January 23, 1994 | url = httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-23/news/-tv-14354_1_desktop14354-technologystory.html | access-date = June 25, 2009 }}</ref> KCOP carried [[Worldvision Enterprises|Spelling Premiere Network]] at its launch in August 1994 on Thursday nights.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kleid|first1=Beth|title=Focus : Spelling Check : Mega-Producer's Latest Venture is His Own 'Network'|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-28/news/-tv-31982_1_aaron31982-spellingstory.html|access-date=April 24, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 28, 1994}}</ref>

In 2000, Viacom bought [[CBS]] and Chris-Craft's 50% ownership interest in UPN. On August 12, 2000, Chris-Craft agreed to sell its television stations to the [[Fox Television Stations]] subsidiary of [[News Corporation]] for $5.5 billion;<ref>{{cite news|last=Hofmeister|first=Sallie|title=News Corp. to Buy Chris-Craft Parent for $5.5 Billion, Outbidding Viacom|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2000archives/la-xpm-2000-aug/-12/business/-fi-3272-story.html |access-date=March 23, 2011|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|date=August 12, 2000}}</ref> a deal that was finalized on July 31, 2001, creating a [[duopoly (broadcasting)|duopoly]] with Fox O&O KTTV. Upon being sold to Fox, the [[Fox Kids]] weekday block moved to KCOP in the mid-afternoons, only for it to be discontinued nationwide in January 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/fox-outgrows-kids-programs-1117855508/|title=Fox outgrows kids programs|date=November 7, 2001|work=Variety|access-date=August 13, 2009 | first=Michael | last=Schneider}}</ref> KCOP still ran UPN's ''[[Disney's One Too]]'' block during the morning hours until the network ended the block's run in 2003. Soon after, the station ran an hour-long morning cartoon block (supplied by [[Cookie Jar Group|DIC Entertainment]]), but dropped cartoons entirely in September 2006. Channel 13 was the last local television station to air cartoons on weekdays; like the other local stations, the cartoons were replaced with [[infomercial]]s. In a separate transaction from its purchase of UPN, Viacom purchased KCOP's rival, KCAL-TV, from [[Young Broadcasting]] on June 1, 2002. Rumors persisted that UPN would move to the higher-rated KCAL, reverting KCOP to independent station status. However, Viacom decided to continue operating KCAL as an independent, as Fox renewed affiliation agreements for its UPN-affiliated stations for four years, keeping the network's programming on KCOP.

With Fox's acquisition of KCOP, the station abandoned its longtime [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] studios at 915 North La Brea Avenue (once home to the classic [[Barry & Enright Productions|Barry & Enright]]-produced game shows ''[[The Joker's Wild]]'' and ''[[Tic-Tac-Dough]]'', and short-lived B&E entry ''[[Play the Percentages]]'') with KCOP's news and technical operations being moved into KTTV's facilities at the Fox Television Center in West Los Angeles in 2003.<ref name="labizjournalstudio">Latzman, Darrell. Los Angeles Business Journal. June 30, 2003. "KCOP studio sale is latest chapter in duopoly shifting. (Up Front).(Fox Broadcasting puts television studio facility up for sale)".[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-105476931.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025125804/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-105476931.html|date=October 25, 2012}}</ref> The La Brea Avenue studio was put up for sale, with Fox electing to keep the facility, remodeling it to house the first two seasons of the reality series ''[[Hell's Kitchen (American TV series)|Hell's Kitchen]]''.<ref name="nypostkcop">Kaplan, Don. New York Post. June 29, 2005 (TV Wednesday section). "DRESSED TO GRILL ; 'HELL' ISN'T A REAL RESTAURANT".[http://pqarchiver.nypost.com/nypost/access/860499481.html?dids=860499481:860499481&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+29%2C+2005&author=DON+KAPLAN&pub=New+York+Post&edition=&startpage=099&desc=DRESSED+TO+GRILL+%3B+%27HELL%27+ISN%27T+A+REAL+RESTAURANT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120101455/http://pqarchiver.nypost.com/nypost/access/860499481.html?dids=860499481:860499481&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+29%2C+2005&author=DON+KAPLAN&pub=New+York+Post&edition=&startpage=099&desc=DRESSED+TO+GRILL+%3B+%27HELL%27+ISN%27T+A+REAL+RESTAURANT|date=January 20, 2012}}</ref> It was eventually abandoned with fixtures in place, and became a haven for [[squatters]] who were evicted by police in May 2009.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/squatters-forced-from-old-kcop-studios.html | work=Los Angeles Times | title=L.A. Now | date=May 13, 2009}}</ref> The studio was eventually torn down, and currently the site is now a [[Sprouts Farmers Market|Sprouts]] store, with a large apartment complex that opened November 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://urbanize.la/post/excavation-progress-long-stalled-la-brea-gateway|title=Excavation Progress at Long Stalled La Brea Gateway |date=April 28, 2014 |publisher=Building Los Angeles |access-date=March 21, 2015 }}</ref>

Channel 13 served as the broadcast home of the [[Los Angeles Marathon]] from its inception in 1986 until 2001, the [[NBA]]'s [[Los Angeles Clippers]] from 1991 to 1996,<ref>{{cite news| url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-21/sports/-sp-1040_1_ktla1040-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Elliott | last=Almond | title=Clippers Make Deal With KCOP | date=August 21, 1990}}</ref> and the[[MLB]]'s [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] from 2002 to 2005, theMLB's [[Los Angeles Angels]] from 2006 to 2019, and twoMLS's [[Los Angeles ChargersFC]] from regular2021 seasonto games2022 inand 2017.the In 2021, KCOP started televising[[NHL]]'s [[LosAnaheim Angeles FCDucks]] regular season soccer matches on weekends that are not nationallysince televised2024.

Like many local stations in the earlier years of television, KCOP hosted its own weekly ''Studio Wrestling'' show for many years during the 1970s. Stars such as [[Freddie Blassie]], [[John Tolos]], [[Rocky Johnson]], [[André the Giant]] and [[Ed Farhat|The Sheik]] headlined the shows, with longtime local announcer [[Dick Lane (TV announcer)|Dick Lane]] behind the microphone calling the action.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/tolos.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719111429/http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/tolos.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 19, 2012 |title=SLAM! Sports – Wrestling |publisher=Slam.canoe.ca |date=December 4, 1999 |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref> In later years, pro wrestling returned to KCOP by way of the [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] program ''[[Smackdown]]'', which aired on the station from 1999 to 2006 (as a UPN affiliate) and again from 2008 to 2010 (as a MyNetworkTV affiliate). In the past, Channel 13 also aired other wrestling programs, including [[World Class Championship Wrestling]] and the [[National Wrestling Alliance|NWA]]. Channel 13 also televised live boxing matches, originating from the [[Grand Olympic Auditorium]] in [[downtown Los Angeles]], on and off from the late 1960s until as recently as the mid-1990s, with legendary Los Angeles sportscaster [[Jim Healy (sports commentator)|Jim Healy]] calling the action in the early years.<ref>{{cite web|last=Beyrooty |first=John |url=http://static.espn.go.com/boxing/a/2003/0115/1493186.html |title=ESPN.com – BOXING – The Olympic Auditorium: Still Standing |publisher=Static.espn.go.com[[ESPN]] |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref>

From 2006 to 2011, KCOP held the broadcast television rights to [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim]] baseball; the team and Fox Sports West (now [[Bally Sports West]]) signed a 20-year broadcast deal beginning with the 2012 season, making 150 annual Angels telecasts exclusive to Fox Sports West, with a selected portion of that schedule airing on Prime Ticket, although KCOP aired a game between the Angels and the [[Minnesota Twins]] on May 9, 2012, due to scheduling conflicts with other sports events on Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket. Due to its relationship with their corporate sibling [[regional sports network]]s, KCOP servesserved as an overflow channel for Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket (now [[Bally Sports West|Bally Sports West and SoCal]]), as it aired five [[Los Angeles Kings]] hockey games during the 2010–11 season,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=541672 |title=Five Kings Games To Be Broadcast On KCOP-TV 13 As Club's 2010–11 TV Broadcast Schedule Increases To All 82 Games – Los Angeles Kings &#124; News |publisher=Kings.nhl.com |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref> as well as televising selected late-season games from the 2011–12 season, plus the first two games of the Kings' first-round playoff series against the [[Vancouver Canucks]]. In the time since, KCOP will occasionally air selected Kings games, as well as those of the team's crosstown rival, the [[Anaheim Ducks]]. The Ducks discontinued their over-the-air partnership with [[KDOC-TV]] after the [[2013–14 Anaheim Ducks season|2013–14 season]], as the team elected to take its local television schedule exclusively on cable to Prime Ticket, with occasional games on KCOP and Fox Sports West, as part of a new broadcast agreement signed in October 2014<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-fox-sports-tv-contract-anaheim-ducks-20141020-story.html Fox Sports extends TV contract with Anaheim Ducks] Los Angeles Times</ref>

InDuring the [[20212017 MLBNFL season]], KCOP isaired scheduledtwo toLos Angeles Chargers home games as an overflow for the ''[[NFL on Fox]]'' during weeks when CBS had the doubleheader, but the Los Angeles Rams were on KTTV.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 29, 2017 |title=Report: Raiders will air aton leastL.A.'s fourKCBS Angelsinstead gamesof dueChargers toon Sunday |url=https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2017/09/29/chargers-see-raiders-take-slot-on-kcbs-in-l-a-in-favor-of-raiders/}}</ref> In the [[2020–21 NHL season]], KCOP aired six Kings games and NBAfour seasonsDucks beinggames. delayedIn duethe [[2021 MLB season]], KCOP was scheduled to theair COVID-19at pandemicleast four Angels games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2021-03-30/angels-2021-mlb-season-schedule-tv-radio-streaming|title=Angels 2021 MLB schedule: Games times and TV channels|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

{{seefurther|KTTV#News operation}}

For many years, KCOP aired a prime time newscast at 10 p.m., as well as a weekday afternoon newscast at 2 p.m. during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the 1980s, the station paired its local 10 p.m. program with the syndicated ''[[Independent Network News (US)|Independent Network News]]'' (which was produced by [[New York City]]'s [[WPIX]]). Channel 13's news programs generally were the lowest-rated evening newscasts of the seven VHF television stations in the Los Angeles market. The newscast's length varied from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the station's budget. An ambitious attempt to relaunch KCOP's news operation came in January 1993, when the 10 p.m. newscast was renamed ''Real News'' and introduced a new format that featured anchors moving around the station's newsroom (similar to the format pioneered by [[CITY-TV]] in Toronto), in-depth reports, and [[newsmagazine]] elements.<ref name=v-kcoprealnews>{{cite news|last=Benson|first=Jim|title=KCOP's 'Real News' breaks with tradition|url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/kcop-s-real-news-breaks-with-tradition-102971/|access-date=June 30, 2013|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 13, 1993}}</ref><ref name=lat-kcoprealnews>{{cite news|last=Weinstein|first=Steve|title=Get 'Real': High-Tech News on 13|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-16/entertainment/-ca-1227_1_young1227-adultsstory.html|access-date=June 30, 2013|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 16, 1993}}</ref> However, the new format, which accompanied technological improvements and an expansion of the news staff,<ref name=v-kcoprealnews/><ref name=lat-kcoprealnews/> did not pay off in the ratings, and ''Real News'' was scaled back to a half-hour on weeknights in May 1994, with the anchors now seated at a desk, with weekend newscasts being cut entirely.<ref name=v-kcoprealnewscuts>{{cite news|last=Benson|first=Jim|title=KCOP halves 'Real News'|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/kcop-halves-real-news-120306/|access-date=June 30, 2013|newspaper=Variety|date=April 19, 1994}}</ref><ref name=lat-kcoprealnewscuts>{{cite news|last=Weinstein|first=Steve|title=Channel 13 Struggles to Redo the News|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-07/entertainment/-ca-35690_1_jeff35690-waldstory.html|access-date=June 30, 2013|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 7, 1994}}</ref> Shortly after this, the newscast was rebranded as ''UPN News 13''. For a brief period of time during the late 1990s, KCOP tried airing a half-hour newscast at 3:30&nbsp;p.m. weekdays, later airing it at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. weeknights. However, when the station was purchased by Fox and its operations were merged with KTTV, channel 13's newscast was moved to 11 p.m. to avoid direct competition with channel 11 (which runs an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast), and trimmed it from an hour in length down to 30 minutes. The station's news production and resources also began to be handled by KTTV.

On November 4, 2011, Fox Television Stations signed an affiliation agreement with [[Bounce TV]] for KCOP and its New York City-area sister station WWOR-TV.<ref>[http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/476167-Fox_Stations_to_Carry_Bounce_TV_in_NY_L_A_.php Fox Stations to Carry Bounce TV in NY, L.A.], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable]]'', November 3, 2011.</ref> KCOP began carrying Bounce TV on digital subchannel 13.2 on March 8, 2012 (WWOR added the network on its 9.3 subchannel two weeks earlier on February 24). The network has also been added to the subchannels of Fox-owned MyNetworkTV stations in five other markets: [[WUTB]] in [[Baltimore]], [[KUTP]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[WRBW]] in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], KDFI in Dallas–Fort Worth and [[WFTC]] in [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]]; the Baltimore affiliation had since moved to a subchannel of ABC affiliate [[WMAR-TV]], soon after Fox sold-off MyNetworkTV outlet WUTB to [[Deerfield Media]]. In three other markets where Fox owns MyNetworkTV stations (WPWR-TV in Chicago, [[KTXH]] in [[Houston]] and [[WDCA]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]), Bounce TV is carried on the subchannel space of other competing stations in those markets.