KSAS-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KSAS-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Your News. Your Time.
station_branding = Fox Kansas
analog = 24 (UHF)
digital = 26 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = August 24, 1985
location = Wichita, Kansas
callsign_meaning = KanSAS
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Newport Television
licensee = Newport Television License, LLC
sister_stations = KMTW
former_affiliations = Independent (1985-1986)
effective_radiated_power = 3,310 kW (analog)
350 kW (digital)
HAAT = 341 m (analog)
303 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 11911
coordinates = coord|37|46|40.4|N|97|30|37.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.foxkansas.com/ foxkansas.com]

KSAS-TV, channel 24, is the Fox-affiliated television station for Wichita, Kansas. Its transmitter is located in Colwich. Owned by Newport Television, the station operates MyNetworkTV affiliate KMTW (that is owned by Mercury Broadcasting Company, Inc.) under a local marketing agreement (LMA). The two stations share studios on North West Street in Wichita. Syndicated programming on KSAS includes: "Seinfeld", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Two and a Half Men", and "Family Feud".

History

KSAS began broadcasting on August 24, 1985 as an independent station. In 1987, the station picked up Fox as a charter affiliate. On April 3, 1988, KAAS-TV channel 18 in Salina signed on as a full-time satellite of KSAS. In 2000, KBDK channel 14 in Hoisington was added as another full power satellite to cover Great Bend and Hays. The signal was extended to western Kansas in 1995 with the addition of low-powered KSAS-LP (on channel 29) in Dodge City and KAAS-LP (on channel 31) in Garden City. In 2006, KBDK changed its call sign to KOCW.

In 2005, KSAS became a crucial location in the search for and apprehension of infamous Wichita serial killer Dennis Rader known for decades as the anonymous BTK Killer. Rader's last known communication with the media and police was a padded envelope which arrived at KSAS' Wichita studios (one of many stations in the market which Rader had contacted over the years) on February 16, 2005. A purple, 1.44-MB Memorex floppy disk was enclosed in the package. Also enclosed were a letter, photocopy of the cover of a 1989 novel about a serial killer (Rules of Prey ISBN 0-425-19519-8), and a gold-colored necklace with a large medallion. Police found metadata embedded in a Microsoft Word document on the disk that pointed to Wichita's Christ Lutheran Church and the document was marked as last modified by "Dennis". A search of the church website turned up Dennis Rader as president of the congregation council.

On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group, including KSAS and its LMA with KMTW, to Providence Equity Partners. The deal closed on March 14, 2008. Newport's President and CEO is longtime Wichita television broadcaster, Sandy DiPasquale. Mr. DiPasquale is the last local owner of CBS affiliate KWCH-TV which he sold in 1994. He moved Newport's headquarters to Kansas City in 2008 from his longtime base in Wichita.

atellite stations

KSAS is the flagship station for Fox Kansas, a term coined by former Program Director Michael Hochman in 1998. The name stood for a "network" of Fox affiliates in the state of Kansas all owned by Clear Channel. The other stations in the quasi-network are repeaters and translators airing virtually the exact programming as the flagship Wichita station. This was necessitated by the unusually large geographic make-up of the Wichita / Hutchinson Plus Market, which covers over 70 counties stretching from the Flint Hills to Colorado. It is the largest DMA by number of counties in the United States. Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997, KOCW did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 17, 2009, which is the end of the digital conversion period for full-service stations, KOCW will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (an action called a "flash-cut"). The other Fox Kansas stations are:

Newscasts

From 1997 to 1999, NBC affiliate KSNW produced a 9 P.M. newscast on KSAS called "Fox 24 News At 9". The broadcast was terminated due to poor rating performance. Today, CBS affiliate KWCH produces a nightly 9 o'clock on KSAS. In 2005, this broadcast received the "Best Large Market Newscast in Kansas" award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. The newscast airs from a secondary set at KWCH's studios on East 37th Street North which was designed by FX Group. In October of 2008, that station will begin broadcasting their local news in high definition. In order to make the change, KWCH will have to upgrade their studios. The KSAS broadcast will most likely be included in the switch.

"Fox Kansas Eyewitness News at 9" "(9 to 9:30 P.M.)"
"Weeknights"
*Anchor:
**Rebecca Gannon
*Weather:
**Merrill Teller
*Sports:
**Bruce Haertl

"Weekends"
*Anchor:
**Kim Wilhelm
*Weather:
**Ross Janssen
*Sports:
**Richard Smith

"KSAS features additional news personnel from KWCH. See that article for a complete listing."

Former talent

*Brad Fanning - now with WUPW in Toledo, Ohio
*Steve Prinzivalli - now with WBGH-CA / WIVT in Binghamton, New York
*Dana Hertneky - now with KSNW in Wichita
*Diana Wilkin - 1997 to 2000
**now GM at WPEC in West Palm Beach, Florida
*Stacey Allen

External links

* [http://www.foxkansas.com KSAS-TV/DT "Fox Kansas"]
* [http://www.kwch.com KWCH channel 12]
*TVQ|KSAS-TV
*TVQ|KAAS-TV
*TVQ|KOCW