KATU

KATU is a television station broadcasting on channel 2 in Portland, Oregon, USA. It has been owned by Fisher Communications of Seattle, Washington, owner of the Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, since its inception and is currently affiliated with the ABC Television Network. Its transmitter is located in Portland.

KATU also owns and operates local Univision affiliate KUNP-LP channel 47.

History

A construction permit for Channel 2 was issued to Fisher's Blend Station, Inc. (now Fisher Communications) as early as 1958. It was assigned the call letters KATU. However, the station did not take to the airwaves until March 15 1962, initially as an independent station.

On January 19 1964 KATU moved its transmitter site , to Portland's West Hills to improve coverage. The site had previously been on Livingston Mountain A little over a month later it took over the ABC affiliation from KPTV on March 1, 1964. This made KATU the fourth station in the Portland market in less than a decade to have affiliated with ABC full-time (after KLOR, KGW and KPTV). It is also Portland's longest-tenured ABC affiliate to date. KATU is the only one of the first five television stations in Portland to have operated out of the same studio (at 2153 N.E. Sandy Blvd.) since it went on the air, although the building had previously operated for many years as a laundry.

KATU is also one of the few television stations in the country (not counting owned-and-operated stations) that has had the same call letters, the same owner and the same channel number throughout its history.

In 2002, KATU cerebrated their 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, they updated their graphics as well as a new set.They also aired stories from past newscasts.

In the November 2006 and February 2007 sweeps periods, KATU finished in third place overall in the local newscast ratings, behind KGW and KPTV.

In 2006, KATU won two Edward R. Murrow Awards, including an investigative piece reported by Anna Song on a newborn that was left severely brain damaged by OHSU hospital. Song also won dual 1st place (2006) Associated Press Awards in Best Writing, and Best Investigative Reporting.

On October 11, 2007 KATU became the third Portland TV Station to broadcast its daily newscasts in widescreen.

KATU has plans to broadcast its newscasts in high definition starting in early 2009.

On-air personalities

KATU News Anchors

Carl Click: KATU News This Morning, KATU News @ Noon
Steve Dunn: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, And 11:00
Susan Harding: KATU News This Morning (weekend)
Debora Knapp: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, And 11:00
Natali Marmion: KATU News This Morning, KATU News @ Noon
Anna Song: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, And 11:00 (weekend)
Angelica Thornton: KATU First News @ 4:00
Dan Tilkin: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, And 11:00 (weekend)
Brian Wood: KATU News @ 4:00

KATU Storm Tracker Weather

Joe English: KATU News @ 4:00
Carlos Faura:Weekend weather Meteorologist
Rod Hill: KATU News at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, and 11:00 (Chief Meteorologist)
Rhonda Shelby: KATU News This Morning, KATU News @ Noon

KATU Sports

Craig Birnbach: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, And 11:00 (weekend)
Katy Brown: KATU News @ 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, And 11:00 (weeknights)

AM Northwest

Dave Anderson: Host
Helen Raptis: Host

KATU Reporters

Lauren Allison: Traffic Reporter
Shellie Bailey-Shah: On Your Side: Problem Solver
Brian Barker: General Assignment Reporter
Joe English: General Assignment Reporter
Adam Ghassemi:General Assignment Reporter
Susan Harding: General Assignment Reporter
Bob Heye: General Assignment Reporter
Valerie Hurst: General Assignment Reporter
Jeff Jaeger: General Assignment Reporter
Thom Jensen: On Your Side: Investigator
Melica Johnson: Salem Bureau Chief
Meghan Kalkstein: General Assignment Reporter
Anita Kissee: General Assignment Reporter
Margy Lynch : General Assignment Reporter
Anna Song: On Your Side: Investigator
Dan Tilkin: On Your Side: Investigator
Melanie Wingo: General Assignment Reporter

Former personalities

Jim Bosley came to KATU in 1962 when the station first went on air as a creative programs director. He then became the Chief Meteorologist and became the host of KATU's morning talk show AM Northwest in 1976. Jim retired from Television broadcasting in 2000. He died in April 2008.

Bill O'Reilly, one of the original anchors of Inside Edition and now of Fox News, came to KATU in 1984 as an anchor and reporter. He left the station in 1986 to join ABC News, and was replaced by reporter and weekend weathercaster Jeff Gianola. At the time of O'Reilly's departure, KATU's "Channel 2 News" held the top spot in the Portland TV market ratings.

Lou Gellos was a former Sports Director at KATU in the early 1990s. Prior to joining KATU, he also held that position briefly at Seattle's KING-TV. He is now spokesman and communications director for Microsoft.

KATU's "Channel 2 News" was also the highest-rated news program in Portland under the anchor team of Jeff Gianola and Julie Emry. Julie Emry left in the mid-1990s for family reasons, and Gianola left in 1997 after being suspended for apparently getting into an argument with a female reporter. Incidentally, Gianola and Emry were back anchoring the news together on rival TV station KOIN-TV Channel 6 from September 2002 until late 2005, when she left the station (also for family reasons). Gianola appeared as himself in the film The Hunted starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro.

Jeffrey Babcock appeared regularly in the early 1990s as a commentator on capital markets and personal finance, but left to become an investment manager. Formerly he was a correspondent at WABC-TV's Good Morning New York, as well as a reporter at KIRO-TV in Seattle and WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

Eyewitness News (1967-1975)
Channel Two News (1975-1990)
Channel 2 News (1990-1998)
KATU 2 News (1998-Present), Pronounced as "K2 News"

Newscast Slogans

The Spirit Of The Northwest (1990-1996, 2003-2007)
On Your Side (2007-Present)

Newscast Music

ABC World News Tonight: Synthsized Version, Score Productions (1978-19??)
Spirit (of Texas), TM Productions (1990-1996)
ABC News Affiliate Music Package, Score Productions (1998-2003)
Pinnacle, Stephen Arnold Music (2003-2006)
Breakthrough, FirstCom (2006-2007)
K2 News, FirstCom (2007-Present)

Digital Television

On July 17, 2008 at 6:15 PM, KATU turned off its analog signal for 10 seconds to test if viewers' TV sets were ready for DTV.

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 , KATU will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 43. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display KATU's virtual channel as 2.