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KTRK-TV is the ABC owned and operated station in Houston, Texas. Its studio is located at 3310 Bissonnet Street in the Upper Kirby district of central Houston (ZIP code 77005), and its transmitter is located in Missouri City.

History

The station grew out of the VHF "freeze", when three entities vying for the channel 13 assignment, including the Houston Chronicle, decided to merge as Houston Consolidated Television. They bought the studio facilities of the defunct KNUZ-TV (ch 39), a DuMont UHF affiliate which had gone dark. The original studio facilities were located at 4513 Cullen Blvd (in the University of Houston complex; this studio later housed KHTV [now KHCW) and KUHT.

Originally launched as KXYZ in 1954, the call letters were changed to KTRK in 1955 after the Chronicle bought out its partners. The calls were derived from KTRH, which the Chronicle then owned. For many years, it called itself "The Houston Chronicle Station." Soon afterwards, the station moved to its current Bissonnet Street location. The studio was the first domed structure in town, preceding the better-known Astrodome by 10 years. Both projects were built by the same architect, Hermon Lloyd.

Like many stations located on "unlucky" channel 13, it used a black cat as its mascot. For many years, the station ran a children's show featuring a black cat, "Kitirik", by adding an "I" between the station's call letters. She wore a cat suit complete with mink ears and tail, and drawn-on whiskers. Her real name was Bunny Orsak. She had two sons, Gary and Lane.

Early programs involved a heavy emphasis on local flavor and reflected themes of the day. Some of the more popular local shows included:

• Cadet Don: A Space-themed adventure program for children, focusing on the exploits of an interstellar adventurer and the locations he visited.
• Dialing for Dollars: A game show of sorts where a viewer would be phoned by the host and would win a cash prize by answering questions.
• Good Morning Houston: The successor to Dialing for Dollars which debuted in the late 1970s and expanded to include discussions on local events and topics important to viewer's lifestyles.

Additionally, in its beginning stages, former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather got his start in television as a reporter for KTRK in 1959.

In 1967, the Houston Chronicle sold KTRK to Capital Cities Communications. Under CapCities' ownership, KTRK preempted some ABC programming, though not nearly as much as other ABC affiliates, such as sister station, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. The shows KTRK preempted were not widely run in many markets, though for many years KTRK pre-empted the first half-hour of "Good Morning America" in favor of a local newscast. This practice continued into the early-90s, before the newscast was moved back to a pre-7:00am start time. After 1991, its only preemption was half of "The Home Show." KTRK only ran the first half-hour, an arrangement which continued when the show morphed into Mike and Maty. When "The View" premiered in the time-slot, KTRK began running the entire show. Despite these preemptions, ABC was more than satisfied with KTRK, one of its strongest affiliates. CapCities bought ABC in 1986, making KTRK an ABC-owned and operated station. With that distinction, KTRK would become one of the two first network O&Os in Houston. That same year, News Corporation's newly created Fox Television Network purchased KRIV-TV. Capital Cities/ABC was sold to Disney at the end of 1995.

Programming

Today, KTRK runs the entire ABC schedule, though there are times when local special events are aired in place of network programming. KTRK is also different from many ABC owned-and-operated stations in that it has never aired The Oprah Winfrey Show, or the current syndicated versions of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, all of which have been mainstays on most of ABC's owned-and-operated stations for years. In fact, at one point during the late 80s to early 90s, The Phil Donahue Show was the only daytime syndicated program on KTRK's lineup. This was largely due to its hour-long 6 p.m. newscast as well as its popular movie showcases and local programming at the time, including Good Morning Houston. For many years, KTRK was also the original television home of the Houston Astros, however it only televised Sunday afternoon road games. Today, KTRK broadcasts only three syndicated programs during weekdays: Live with Regis and Kelly, the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Inside Edition.

Texans Preseason Football

KTRK has been the official television home of the Houston Texans since their expansion year in 2002. The station has televised all of the Texans' preseason games not carried on national networks since the team's inception. On Sundays during the Texans' season, it televises a post-game show, Houston Texans Inside the Game at 10:35 p.m. following its Sunday newscast. On Mondays during the regular season, it televises Look Back with Kubiak, in which sports director Bob Allen looks over the previous Sunday's game with Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, during its 6 p.m. newscasts. On Saturdays, its Extra Points sports show is converted to a special edition entitled Extra Points: Houston Texans Edition at 6:30 PM.

Newscasts

The station's newscast, Eyewitness News, has been number one in the Houston market for most of the last 30 years. It is also one of the highest-rated newscasts in the country. In recent years, however, KTRK has faced strong challenges from rival CBS affiliate KHOU-TV, often battling with KHOU for number one during its evening newscasts. In 2005, KHOU overtook KTRK during evening newscasts and at one time ousted KTRK's longtime No. 1 position in the mornings. KTRK-TV recently took the lead again in the mornings, as well as at midday, and 5 p.m.

The rivalry is so intense that KTRK has even gone as far as advertising its newscasts as the most watched in Houston in terms of total households for all of its newscasts. KTRK-TV has always led in household ratings, something it continues to do. It broadcasts more hours of local news than any other Houston television station with six hours on weekdays, two and a half hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday.

Personalities

KTRK is widely noted for having the most experienced news team in Greater Houston, the tenth-largest media market in the United States as of 2006-07. Many of the station's anchors and reporters have been at the station for at least 20 years, some even dating back to the station's days under Capital Cities ownership. Dave Ward has been the station's main anchor since 1968, longer than anyone in Houston television history. Two other notable long-time personalities are sports director Bob Allen, who has served in that position since 1974, longer than any other major-market sports director, and investigative reporter Wayne Dolcefino, who has worked for KTRK since 1985 and has won many awards for a number of high-profile civic and consumer investigations with his 13 Undercover franchise.

KTRK also became known for its legendary consumer and investigative reporter, Marvin Zindler, whose week-long 1973 reports on a brothel in La Grange, Texas led to the closing of the Chicken Ranch, a bordello that was later immortalized in the musical and film, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and ZZ Top's hit song La Grange. Zindler was also widely noted in Houston for his Friday night Rat and Roach Report on Houston restaurants that failed health inspections, which ended with his trademark line "Slime in the Ice Machine". Zindler signed a lifetime contract with KTRK in 1988, making him the first person ever offered such a contract by then-owner Capital Cities, which was known as a financially frugal company. Zindler continued to work for the station until his death in 2007 from pancreatic cancer, even filing reports during his treatment.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ward, along with Allen, Zindler, and weatherman Ed Brandon, led Houston's top-rated news team at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. The lineup was later revised to include a female anchor, Shara Fryer in the 1990s, followed by current chief meteorologist Tim Heller in lieu of Brandon at 10 p.m. in 2002, and the replacement of Fryer with Gina Gaston the following year. In 2007, Brandon retired from the station after a 35-year career, but has occasionally filled in.

Current On-Air Talent

KTRK Anchors

• Tom Abrahams: Weekend Evening Anchor
• Ilona Carson: 4PM Anchor
• Mark Garay: Weekend Morning Anchor
• Elissa Rivas: Weekend Morning Anchor
• Gina Gaston: 6PM and 10PM
• Stephanie Guadian: Weekend Evening Anchor
• Tom Koch: Weekday Morning and 4PM Anchor
• Melanie Lawson: 11AM and 5PM Anchor
• Sharron Melton: Weekday Morning Anchor
• Art Rascon: 5PM Anchor
• Dave Ward: 6PM and 10PM Anchor (ABC13's main anchor since 1968)

KTRK Reporters

• Gene Apodaca: General Assignment Reporter
• Craig Bell: General Assignment Reporter
• Andy Cerota: General Assignment Reporter
• Cynthia Cisneros: General Assignment Reporter
• Katisha Cosley: General Assignment Reporter
• Christine Dobbyn: General Assignment Reporter
• Wayne Dolcefino: "13 Undercover" Investigative Reporter
• Jeff Ehling: "Action 13" Consumer Reporter
• Eric James: General Assignment Reporter
• Christi Myers: "13 Healthcheck" Reporter
• Don Nelson: Entertainment/Traffic Reporter
• Ted Oberg: "In Focus" Reporter
• Kevin Quinn: General Assignment Reporter
• Elissa Rivas: General Assignment Reporter
• Miya Shay: General Assignment Reporter
• Laura Whitley: General Assignment Reporter
• Jessica Willey: General Assignment Reporter
• Deborah Wrigley: General Assignment Reporter

Experts

• Joel Androphy: Legal Analyst
• Dr. Richard Murray: Political Analyst

Meteorologists/Weather Anchors

• Tim Heller: Chief Meteorologist, seen weekday evenings
• Travis Herzog: 11am and 4pm Weather Anchor
• Casey Curry: Weekday Morning Meteorologist
• David Tillman: Weekend Evening Meteorologist
• Doug Brown: Weekend Morning Meteorologist

Sports Anchors/Reporters

• Bob Allen: Sports Director (longest tenured sports director at any major-market station)
• Tim Melton: Weekend Anchor
• Bob Slovak: Sports Reporter

Former On-Air Talent

• Chris Adams: reporter (1992-2004)
• Carlos Aguilar reporter (1980-1995)
• Vicente Arenas: reporter (mid 1990s, currently weekend anchor with KHOU)
• Elma Barrera: reporter (mid 1970s-2006, retired)
• Frank Billingsley: weekend meteorologist (1989-1995, currently with KPRC)
• Bob Boudreaux: anchor at 5 p.m. before 1990, later weekend anchor (1977-2005)
• Ed Brandon: (weather anchor from 1972-2007, serving as chief weather anchor until 2002)
• Jan Carson: co-anchor with Dave Ward during the 6 and 10 p.m. newscast until 1980 - replaced by Shara Fryer. She left ABC13 for KPIX-TV in San Francisco with Doug Murphy and returned to Houston in 1983 as the co-anchor for KPRC. Carson is still well known in the Houston area. (1975-1979)
• Mary Ellen Conway: reporter
• Shern-Min Chow reporter (1983-1991, now at KHOU)
• Larry Conners anchor/investigative reporter (1972-1975, now at KMOV-TV in St. Louis)
• Chris Curle reporter (mid 1970s)
• John Nigel Davenport: (died in 1991)
• Joe Diaz: Weekend Meteorologist (1989-1997; currently Chief Meteorologist at KOAT in Albuquerque)
• Thom Dickerson:
• Deborah Duncan: (now at KHOU. Duncan also had a locally based talk show from this station 1998-2002; plans for ABC/Disney to pick it up fell through)
• Troy Dungan: Chief Weather Anchor (before Ed Brandon, went to WFAA-TV; Dallas, now retired)
• Diana Fallis: (ABC13's first African American female anchor - later served as a media relations liaison with Prairie View A & M University)
• Shara Fryer: anchor/reporter (1980-2006)
• Roland Galvan: meteorologist (1986-1988; later moved to KTLA in Los Angeles, last at KIII in Corpus Christi, died December 2005)
• Stephen S. Gauvain: (died in 1996 when a Ford Explorer SUV flipped over during the coverage of the Hilton Crawford murder trial in Huntsville, TX. The cause of the accident, a defective Firestone tire, would later lead to an investigation exposed by rival KHOU that led to numerous lawsuits and a complete recall of the tires.)
• Jan Glenn: Host of morning talk show "Good Morning Houston" from 1977-1991. Co-hosted with Don Nelson, and was once married to sports anchor Bob Allen. She retired from KTRK and briefly worked with Channel 39 covering special events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
• David Glodt: anchor/reporter)
• Van Hackett: anchor/reporter
• Nydia Han: currently at WPVI in Philadelphia
• Charles Harrison: Meteorologist/ voice announcer (now retired)
• Alan Hemberger: (1989-1998, now at KHCW)
• Corin Hoggard: sub-anchor/reporter (currently reporter at KFSN)
• Cynthia Hunt: (Currently at Cynthia Hunt Productions and afternoons 2-4 at KPRC-AM "Chris Baker & Cynthia Hunt Show")
• Debbie Johnson:
• Heidi Jones: (Current weekend meteorologist at WABC-TV in New York)
• Ed Kilgore sports anchor/reporter (1971-1973, now at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo)
• Don Kobos
• Dan Lovett:
• Darren Lyn: (left to become a Houston-based reporter for ABC's corporate cousin ESPN)
• Tim Malloy anchor (1989-1994, now at WPTV in West Palm Beach)
• Jeff McShan reporter (1992-1993, now at KHOU)
• Doug Murphy: sportscaster - replaced by Tim Melton (Died in 2005; Moved to KPIX-TV in 1982 and reported for Eyewitness News until his death in December 2005 in a house fire in Lafayette, California)
• Gene Norman: weekend meteorologist (presently chief meteorologist at WGCL-TV in Atlanta)
• Minerva Perez: (1992-2007, left because of disagreement of morning newscasts)
• Dan Rather: (1959-1961, eventually succeeded Walter Cronkite as anchor of CBS Evening News until his 2005 retirement)
• Bunny Orsak: (1954-1972), The Kitirik Show. Orsak holds the honor of being the first woman in television for KTRK.
• Sylvan Rodriguez: (1977-1986, left for ABC News' West Coast bureau, later returning to Houston with KHOU-TV. Died on April 6, 2000.)
• Jim Rosenfield anchor (1983-1989, now at WCBS-TV in New York)
• Tim Ryan reporter (1981-1983, now at KDFW-TV in Dallas)
• Lisa Trapani co-host of Good Morning Houston (1991-2000, now marketing director at KHOU)
• Alvin Van Black: entertainment/nightlife reporter, particularly during 10 p.m. newscasts on Friday nights (1987-1998, died in 2001)
• Marvin Zindler "Action 13" Consumer Reporter, Investigative Journalist (mostly 6 P. M.) (1973-2007, died of pancreatic cancer in 2007)

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

• The Texas News (1962-1965)
• Channel 13 News (1965-January 11973)
• 13 Eyewitness News (January 11973-present)

Station Slogans

• Houston's News Leader (1995-present)

This list related to film, television, or video is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

Logos

KTRK's "Circle 13" logo is the same as that for KTRK's Toledo sister station, WTVG, only that KTRK calls itself "ABC 13", while WTVG is known as "13 ABC".

Its previous logo, which ran from 1971 until the mid 1990s, was a "Crooked Circle 13." It recalled livestock branding of the Old West and was set in Helvetica font, with the bottom of the "3" trailing off out of the circle.

For many years since the mid-1990s, both logos have been superimposed on an image of the Texas state flag.

Today, KTRK uses 2 different logos. One is the logo shown above, and they have 2 other variations of that they also use. The other is the number 13 in a circle shown at an angle. This is only used during newscasts.

See also

Circle 7 logo (The Circle 13 is the derivative of the Circle 7.)

Trivia

KTRK's old callsign KXYZ was, by coincidence, a western reflection of today's ABC affiliate WXYZ in Detroit based on the last few letters of the alphabet.

External links

• KTRK-TV
• Template:TVQ

29°34′28″N 95°29′38″W / 29.57444°N 95.49389°W / 29.57444; -95.49389

• American Broadcasting Company affiliates
• Television stations in Houston
• Channel 13 TV stations in the United States