austinTVnews
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KTBC fox 7
KVC
KLRU pbs 18
KVUE abc 24
KXAN nbc 36
KEYE cbs 42
KNVA cw/mynet 54
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A 15-Second Guide To...
CBS 42, more commonly known as KEYE-TV, launched in 1982 as KBVO, an independent, before becoming an inaugural Fox affiliate. In 1995, Channel 42 switched networks with KTBC, becoming KEYE, a CBS affiliate. CBS bought the station in 1999; KEYE is currently being sold off to Cerebrus Capital Management, the company which also recently bought the Chrysler automobile company.
Whatever Happened To...
Kristine Kahanek has been working the radars in Dallas recently, first at WFAA 8 and now as Chief Met at KTVT CBS 11. She was named Best Meteorologist 2005 by D Magazine. (Image: cbs11tv.com)
There is one station, and one station only, that has the distinction of being more or less the same station it was when it signed on. No affiliation changes. No channel number slides. Old Reliable, some people call it. Austin's Old Reliable is KVUE.
KVUE 24 signed on June 20, 1971, and since that day has always been an ABC station. There's not much historical analysis this site can provide. Unfortunately station brass have been somewhat unwilling to provide much info between sign on and the mid-80s when Gannett took control of the station.
There is one incident that we did manage to dig up from 1980. According to a now defunct page on a website. A man named Walter Sauder went into the station and held a female employee at gunpoint, demanding that he read a statement on the air. He was placed in front of a camera, and was tape-recorded, not live as he thought. At least one bullet was fired, into the control room ceiling. That's the extent of the information we were able to recover.
(If you have any historical information about KVUE, please don't hesitate to contact us.)
The 1980s were a time of intense technological advances in broadcasting, from more advanced satellite hookups to Doppler and Nexrad radar systems, and Gannett's KVUE spared no expense, making its "Action News" really describe what it set out to do.
The ninties came in quickly, and Gannett sold off the station to Dallas based Belo, who had its sights set on creating a news monopoly in the state with flagship WFAA, and stations up and down the I-35 corridor, including channel 24.
Around this same time, stations to the left and right of KVUE on the dial were joining up with new networks, swapping new networks, and creating general confusion to the Austin public. KVUE and KXAN were spared from the madness, and their ratings equally improved in the process. With Belo's cash flow, ratings improved even further.