[go: up one dir, main page]
Wikipedia

KCOP-TV: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Reverting edit(s) by Andreasc2000 (talk) to rev. 1238149298 by Mvcg66b3r: (from contribs) (RW 16.1)
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,469,474 edits
Line 45:
In the early 1980s, KCOP became one of the many stations in the U.S. to broadcast ''[[X-Bomber|Star Fleet]]'' (aka ''X-Bomber''), a science-fiction marionette series which originally debuted in Japan in 1980.
 
During the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the Los Angeles home of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (as well as ''[[Star 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>
 
===UPN affiliation (1993–2006)===
On October 27, 1993, Chris-Craft and its broadcasting subsidiary, [[United Television]], partnered with [[Viacom (1952–2005)|Viacom]]'s newly acquired subsidiary [[Paramount Pictures]] to form the United Paramount Network ([[UPN]]), making KCOP the network's Los Angeles affiliate. UPN debuted on January 16, 1995. In 1996, Viacom bought 50% of UPN from Chris-Craft. At the network's launch, which also served to launch Paramount's ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', KCOP served as UPN's West Coast "[[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]]" station. During the late 1990s, the station began carrying a large amount of younger leaning talk shows (such as ''[[Ricki Lake (1993 talk show)|The Ricki Lake Show]]'', ''[[The Jenny Jones Show]]'', and ''[[The Montel Williams Show]]''), reality series, some sitcoms during the evening hours, and syndicated cartoons (such as ''[[Double Dragon (TV series)|Double Dragon]]'') in the morning well as the popular anime series ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
 
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.
 
===From UPN onto MNTV ===
Line 76:
 
===Sports coverage===
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 [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] from 2002 to 2005, the [[Los Angeles Angels]] from 2006 to 2019 and two [[Los Angeles Chargers]] regular season games in 2017. In 2021, KCOP started televising [[Los Angeles FC]] regular season soccer matches on weekends that are not nationally televised.
 
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=[[ESPN]] |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref>
Line 94:
===News operation===
{{see|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.
 
After Fox purchased the station, KCOP's late-evening newscast took a more unconventional approach than its network-owned competition, KCBS-TV, KABC-TV and [[KNBC]] (channel 4). To appeal to a younger audience, it mainly featured its female news anchors in slightly more revealing, trendy clothing. Its news stories also tend to be much shorter in detail, in a faster-paced format. In addition, it became the first station to emphasize entertainment and trend-setting feature stories as a major part of its format, an idea that attracted a large young demographic. Nevertheless, channel 13's newscasts continually placed fourth in the ratings, as it did when the station was competing at 10 p.m. against KTTV, KTLA and KCAL-TV. However, KCOP's news drew substantially higher ratings among younger viewers, especially young Latinos.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCOP-TV"