KOKI-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KOKI-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Breaking News.
Breaking Weather.
Solving Problems.
station_branding = Fox 23 Tulsa (general)
Fox 23 News (news)
analog = 23 (UHF)
digital = 22 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = October 26, 1980
location = Tulsa, Oklahoma
callsign_meaning = OKlahoma Independent
(possible disambiguation from Oklahoma City Fox station KOKH)
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Newport Television, LLC
licensee =
sister_stations = KMYT-TV
former_affiliations = independent (1980-1986)
effective_radiated_power = 3160 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 400 m (both)
class =
facility_id = 11910
coordinates = coord|36|1|35.8|N|95|40|42.3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.fox23.com/ www.fox23.com]

KOKI-TV, commonly referred to as "Fox 23" is the Fox affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma, owned by Newport Television. KOKI broadcasts from its studios on South Memorial Drive in Tulsa, and its transmitter is located in Broken Arrow. KOKI is a typical Fox station with about 35 to 40 hours a week of news along with syndicated first run court/reality shows, off-network sitcoms and dramas, Fox primetime network programming and Saturday morning children's programming, and sports.

The station broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 23, and its digital signal on UHF channel 22. On cable, KOKI-TV can be seen on channel 5 on Cox Tulsa.

KOKI is a relative newcomer to the field of local newscasts in Tulsa. KOKI began offering local newscasts in 2002, but has made significant gains in news viewership.

History

Channel 23 signed on in its current incarnation on October 26, 1980 as an Independent station. Another station, call-letters KCEB, occupied the Channel 23 slot in the 1950s, and was an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network. That station signed off shortly after the failure of the DuMont network in December 10, 1954.

The station was owned by a local group of businessmen known as "Tulsa 23 Ltd" back in 1980. The programming was a blend of old movies, westerns, a few old sitcoms, drama shows, and cartoons. They were known as "Tulsa 23 - Oklahoma's Independent". As the only full time independent general entertainment the station had good ratings. But the programming was lower budget than most stations being the owners were local and did not have deep pockets.

KOKI-TV 23 did affiliate with the Fox network in 1987. Eventually they became known as "FOX23". In the late winter/early spring of 1990, KOKI was sold to Clear Channel Communications. Under Clear Channel, the programming was improved to include more recent sitcoms, better movies, and some first run talk shows. In the '90s, KOKI moved toward more talk/reality/court shows and away from the classic sitcoms. They began a Local Marketing Agreement programming crosstown KTFO 41 in 1994, making Channel 41 "UPN41" in 1995.

As the children's shows disappeared from syndication, KOKI moved toward even more talk and reality syndicated shows.

In 2001, Clear Channel moved the broadcast facilities for KOKI, KMYT-TV and its radio stations from South Yale to a newly converted state-of-the-art facility located at 31st and South Memorial Drive, formerly home to a Burlington Coat Factory store.

On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners. [http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1943]

Programming

KOKI clears the entire Fox network schedule (nightly primetime, Saturday late night, and Fox Sports programming, the 4Kids TV Saturday morning animation block, and the political talk show Fox News Sunday). However, Fox News Sunday airs one hour later than on most affiliates airing at 10AM due to a three-hour block of children's shows on Sunday mornings. KOKI, like most Fox stations, airs a mix of talk/court/reality shows in the daytime and sitcoms in the evening. KOKI is one of numerous Fox stations that carry Judge Judy (which airs before the 5PM newscast) and Seinfeld (which airs in late night). The station also airs The Insider and TMZ on TV weeknights after the late airing of The King of Queens, and airs weekend telecasts of the sitcoms it airs on weeknights.

The station is also the 'official station' of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, airing shows involving the team, including the weekly shows of the head coach of the university's basketball, baseball and football teams, hosted by sports director Rob Loeber. The shows are also syndicated on Oklahoma City's Fox affiliate KOKH (which is the 'official station' for the Cowboys for the Oklahoma City market). The station is also the Tulsa area home of The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon airing each Labor Day on KOKI, it is one of a few stations not affiliated with NBC, CBS or CBS to air the telethon.

Ratings

In the February 2008 Nielsen ratings, "Fox 23 News" had significant growth in all newscasts. "Fox 23 News at Nine" was ranked 2nd overall in late news behind KOTV and ahead of KTUL and KJRH. Fox 23 was named the number one Fox affiliate in the country, according to the November 2007 Nielsen ratings. [http://www.fox23.com/content/pressreleases/default.aspx]

News Operation

Prior to its full-scale newscasts in 2002, KOKI provided only daily, three-minute updates during daytime and Fox primetime programming from a small closet studio. At the time, it was one of only a few Fox stations not owned by the network with some local news presence, albeit KOKI's was a minor one. The station also produced "First Weather on FOX23", a five-minute weathercast that aired nightly at 10PM, with one-minute updates at 10:35 and 11:05PM.

The station launched its news department with the debut of FOX23 News at 9:00, a nightly hour-long local newscast that premiered on February 3, 2002 immediately following Fox's telecast of Super Bowl XXXVI, becoming the first independently produced newscast in the Tulsa market outside of the major-network affiliates (NBC affiliate KJRH (Channel 2); CBS affiliate KOTV (Channel 6); and ABC affiliate KTUL (Channel 8)), since now-sister station KMYT (then KTFO) dropped local news in the early 1990s. In June of the same year, KOKI added a daily early evening newscast at 5:30pm. Then a year later, a daily 5:00pm newscast was added, creating an hour-long block of news weekdays from 5:00-6:00pm, allowing the station to compete with KJRH, KOTV and KTUL.

KOKI launched a four-hour weekday morning newscast ("FOX23 News This Morning") in April 2006, airing from 5:00-9:00am; it is now the only four-hour fully local morning newscast in the Tulsa market (although KOTV did run a four-hour morning newscast until 2008, when the 8-9AM hour of "Six in the Morning" was moved to sister station KQCW). Upon the morning newscast's launch, KOKI moved its syndicated children's program block to Sunday mornings. Two months later, it launched a hour-long noon newscast, with KOTV as its only competition (KJRH's midday newscast airs one hour earlier and KTUL does not air news at midday).

KOKI currently broadcasts 37 hours of local news per week (seven hours on weekdays, two hours on weekends), more than any other television station in the Tulsa market, or any individual station in Oklahoma. Its current news schedule can be compared to that of the former New World-owned stations that are now Fox-owned, as well as those formerly owned by Fox and now owned by Local TV, LLC. The main difference being that KOKI does not currently carry weeknight 6PM or nightly 10PM newscasts, or any weekend newscasts in the mornings and/or early evenings.

FOX23 Solving Problems Unit

KOKI has also gained a reputation in the Tulsa area for its investigative team, the Solving Problems investigative unit. The station is one of several Fox stations carrying investigative reports. The team is assigned to help people with various problems, and has uncovered numerous scams. Originally called the FOX23 Problem Solvers, the unit was rebranded to its current name in 2007, in order to avoid confusion with NBC affiliate KJRH's similarly-named investigative unit, now known as the "2NEWS Problem Solvers".

FOX23 Notable Personalities

Current On-Air Talent (as of August 26, 2008)

Current Anchors
*Mia Fleming: weekends on FOX23 News at 9PM (also weeknight reporter)
*Chera Kimiko: weeknights on FOX23 News at 5, 5:30 and 9PM
*Clay Loney: weeknights on FOX23 News at 5, 5:30 and 9PM
*Ann Sterling: weekdays on FOX23 News This Morning and FOX23 News at Noon
*Ron Terrell: weekdays on FOX23 News This Morning and FOX23 News at Noon

Reporters
*Abbie Alford: General Assignment Reporter
*Anne Bassett: General Assignment Reporter
*Kaci Christian: General Assignment Reporter
*Douglas Clark: General Assignment Reporter
*Janna Clark: General Assignment Reporter
*KC: "In the Fox Light" Entertainment Reporter
*Marianly Mendez: General Assignment Reporter
*Carrie Netherton: General Assignment Reporter, seen weekday mornings
*Sharon Phillips: General Assignment Reporter
*Frank Wiley: General Assignment Reporter

"Solving Problems" Investigative Unit
*Mia Fleming
*Clay Loney
*Emily Sinovic

FOX23 Local Weather First
*Michael Seger (AMS Seal of Approval): weeknights on FOX23 News at 5, 5:30 and 9PM, weekends on FOX23 News at 9PM
*Paul Heggen (AMS Seal of Approval): weekdays on FOX23 News This Morning and FOX23 News at Noon

FOX23 Sports
*Steve Layman: Sports Director, weeknights on FOX23 News at 5, 5:30 and 9PM
*Nathan Thompson: weekends on FOX23 News at 9PM (also sports reporter)

Former On-Air Talent

*Sarah Bennett: "Solving Problems" Investigative Reporter (2005-2007; now assistant communications director at The Assembly at Broken Arrow)
*David Briggs: Weekend Sports Anchor (2002-200?; now at WHDH in Boston)
*Jack Bunds: News Anchor (200?-200?; later sports director at KTUL)
*Kenny Choi: Sports Anchor/Reporter (200?-200?; now with Sportsnet New York)
*Joe Daues: 5PM Anchor/Reporter (2002-200?)
*Darren Dedo: 9PM Anchor (2002-2004; now at KCPQ in Seattle)
*Vic "Golden Hammer" Faust: Sports Director (2002-2004; now weekend sports anchor at WXYZ in Detroit)
*George Flickinger: Weekend Meteorologist (2002-2005; now weekend morning meteorologist at KJRH)
*Jeff Gradney: Reporter (200?-200?; now at KTNV in Las Vegas)
*Sheinelle Jones: 5PM Anchor (2003-2006, now morning anchor and reporter at WTXF in Philadelphia)
*Dave Jordan: Reporter (2003; now reporter at KWTV in Oklahoma City)
*Kathy Kuretich: Reporter (2005?-2007?)
*Patricia Lopez: Reporter (2002-2003; now reporter at WPIX in New York)
*Rob Loeber: Sports Director (2004-2008)
*Noelle Newton: Reporter (200?-2007; now reporter at KVUE in Austin)
*Jennifer Pierce: Reporter (2001-2003; now weekend morning anchor at KWTV in Oklahoma City)
*Markova Reed: Weekend Anchor (2002; now morning anchor at WREG in Memphis)
*Barak Shapiro: Morning Meteorologist (2006-2008)
*Jon Slater: Chief Meteorologist (2002-2008; now morning meteorologist at KOKH in Oklahoma City)
*J.R. Stone: Morning Reporter (200?-2008; now reporting at WKMG in Orlando, FL)
*Diane White: Weekend Anchor (2004-2006; now vice president of media and production and principal at Emerge Interactive Media in Tulsa)
*Marcus Washington: Reporter (2006-2008; now reporter at WTVF in Nashville)
*Justin Wilfon: Weekend Anchor (2005-2008; now morning and midday anchor at KJRH)

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"Tulsa 23 News" (1980-1986)
*"FOX23 News" (2002-present)

tation Slogans

*"There's Only One, Tulsa 23" (Early 1980's)
*"Tulsa 23 Oklahoma's Independent" (1980's)
*"First. Complete. Local." (2002-2004)
*"Breaking News. Breaking Weather. Solving Problems." (2004-present)

Trivia

*KOKI was seen in a fictional sense in the 2000 film "Where the Heart Is", starring Natalie Portman. This was rather unusual since KOKI at the time only broadcast news from a small studio on an hourly basis, as opposed to the more developed news operation that the station has now.

References

* [http://www.tulsatvmemories.com/koki.html Tulsa TV Memories: KOKI-TV]

External links

* [http://www.fox23.com/ Fox 23 Website]
*TVQ|KOKI-TV
*BIA|KOKI|TV|TV