KEZI
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| KEZI | |
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| Eugene, Oregon | |
| Branding | KEZI 9 |
| Slogan | Connecting You |
| Channels | Analog: 9 (VHF) |
| Translators | K07JS Coos Bay K11BX Roseburg (for others see article) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Chambers Communications Corporation (KEZI, Inc.) |
| First air date | December 19, 1960 |
| Call letters’ meaning | formerly "E-Z on the I"; no longer used or promoted |
| Former callsigns | KEZI-TV (1960-1986) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1960-1982)[1] |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 13.5 kW (digital) |
| Height | 539 m (analog) 457.8 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 34406 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.kezi.com |
KEZI is a broadcast television station operating in Eugene, Oregon, USA. It is the ABC affiliate for Eugene and produces more than 14 hours of newscasts a week. The station is owned by Chambers Communications Corp., a Eugene corporation, making KEZI the sole locally-owned television operation in the counties it serves.
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[edit] History
In 1959, a group of investors — among them Carolyn S. Chambers — formed Liberty Communications and was granted a license for KEZI. The station went live at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 19, 1960. During its inaugural broadcast, KEZI's operators boasted that it was Eugene's first full-power television station. Broadcasting at a powerful 316 kW, KEZI reached 146,000 viewers at its inception. When the station first started, it not only carried ABC programming, but it carried CBS programming as well (before CBS moved to then-NBC affiliate KVAL-TV in 1982, at which point, Channel 13's NBC affiliation moved to KMTR, which had just launched that year).
Over the next 24 years, Liberty grew exponentially, becoming one of the nation's largest cable system operators. In 1983, Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) purchased Liberty's cable and television assets for $186 million USD.
Chambers then formed Chambers Communications Corp., and purchased several entities back, including KEZI. Chambers Communications moved on to purchase the Medford and Klamath Falls ABC affiliates, KDRV and KDKF. Today, Chambers owns many media-related businesses, including an Internet service provider and a multimedia production house, Chambers Productions.
On February 14, 1998 KEZI's entire operation was moved from the original studio on Coburg Road to the recently completed Chambers Media Center. This 100,000 square foot building is now home to most Chambers Communications projects. Among the amenities at CMC are five sound stages, one of the largest such facilities on the West coast (Chambers Productions' two films, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze and The Sisters, were shot at CMC and in Eugene). KEZI enjoys a fully digital master control and an advanced newsroom facility in the new building.
In September 2006, Chambers Communications established KOHD channel 51 in Bend, Oregon. KOHD, KEZI's sister station, broadcasts in digital only.
[edit] News department
[edit] News operations
The KEZI news department is a large operation serving several counties. KEZI's sister stations KDRV Medford and KDKF Klamath Falls provide news and video for KEZI's broadcasts, and vice versa. The news department also operates bureaus in Corvallis, Roseburg, and Coos Bay. For national stories, the station primarily relies on ABC NewsOne and CNN. KEZI also carries Portland-area stories from KOIN and KGW.
Weather is overseen by veteran chief meteorologist John Fischer. Aaron Ofseyer delivers the forecast on the morning newscast, and Melissa Frey delivers the forecast on weekends.
KEZI's sports department prides itself in its coverage, of which the news segment (anchored by Sam Adams and Derek Diederich) is only a small part. KEZI is also the flagship television station of the Oregon Sports Network, the official radio and television carrier of the Oregon Ducks. The sports department produces several original shows including regular, sit-down interviews with Ducks football coach Mike Bellotti.
[edit] Notable personalities
[edit] Rick Dancer
Rick Dancer has resigned and is running as a republican for the Oregon Secretary of State position in the November 2008 election.
Rick Dancer, a long-time veteran of the news industry, anchors KEZI's primary evening newscasts. A native of Hillsboro, Dancer got his start in broadcasting in Coos Bay before settling on Eugene, a market he's been in for nearly 18 years, 16 of them at KEZI. Among his accomplishments are several AP awards for news stories, as well as interviewing Peter Jennings for Dancer's sit-down Watercooler interview segment (pieces of which aired in memory of Jennings after his death). Dancer also travels to produce features for KEZI, including recently travelling to Guatemala with photojournalist Kurt Richter to document the living conditions there.
[edit] John Fischer
Another long-time KEZI figurehead, John Fischer is one of the more recognizable weather personalities in the market for his light on-camera demeanor and gardening segments (gardening is merely one of his many passions). Fischer, a graduate of UC Davis, was a weekend meteorologist at WBAY in Green Bay, Wisconsin before becoming KEZI's chief meteorologist in 1985. He has earned the nickname "The Fish" (Based on his last name) and is commonly referenced in local radio shows when weather is discussed.
[edit] Al Peterson
Former co-anchor of the morning newscast with Kerri Stewart, Al Peterson was at KEZI 1990 to January 2007. Al is working toward American Meteorological Society certification. He is famous nationally for a clip regularly played on news "bloopers" programs — alongside John Fischer, he mistakenly reads "black angus cows" as "Black and Gus", and Fischer points it out afterward. [2]In September 2007, Peterson joined cross-town rival station KVAL TV co-hosting the morning show with Shelley Kurtz.
[edit] Alumni
Many KEZI personalities have moved on to larger markets. Ron Magers, anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast on WLS-TV Chicago, started at KEZI in 1965. Jack Penning moved from KEZI to KGW in 2003 to become their aviation reporter. Tim Gordon, briefly at KEZI, reports in Portland for KOIN-TV.
[edit] Recent awards
KEZI's Rick Dancer and Al Peterson were highlighted in the Oregon Associated Press Best Feature category for Division II in 2005. [3] The station is also currently airing advertisements touting that it was awarded Oregon AP Overall Excellence for 2005.
[edit] Programming
KEZI's programming is primarily news and variety. Sports also dominates KEZI's schedule during Ducks seasons, as well as ABC network sports coverage. In addition to ABC network programming, KEZI airs such shows as The Insider, Judge Judy, and the syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?.
In seasons past KEZI aired reruns of Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Taxi (which are kept in the station's 1" tape library to this day). KEZI also has a number of feature films on 1" tape it can air for lack of other programming.
[edit] Original shows
The bulk of original programming on KEZI goes to sports, with shows such as Oregon Football: Monday Night Live, Oregon Football with Mike Bellotti, Oregon Basketball with Ernie Kent and Oregon Basketball with Bev Smith. The news department occasionally airs a special culled from a feature seen on news — Rick Dancer's aforementioned Guatemala trip became a one-time special in 2005.
In late 2005, KEZI pioneered high definition television (HDTV) programming in the Eugene market by airing a local-origination Oregon Ducks game in HDTV, by coordinating with ESPN Plus and the Oregon Sports Network. Up until that point, no other broadcast station had aired local HDTV programming in the Eugene market (all HDTV broadcasts had been network).
[edit] Translators
KEZI is rebroadcasted on the following translators:
Low power translators for Newport and Black Butte Ranch have been discontinued.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- KEZI.com
- Jack Penning, KGW Aviation Reporter
- Ron Magers, WLS-TV Anchor
- KEZI History
- KEZI Anchors and Reporters from KEZI.com
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KEZI
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KEZI-TV
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