| KVII-TV / KVIH-TV | |
|---|---|
| KVII: Amarillo, Texas KVIH: Clovis, New Mexico | |
| Branding | ABC 7 (general) ABC 7 News (newscasts) Amarillo's CW (DT2) |
| Slogan | The Panhandle Spirit |
| Channels |
Digital: |
| Affiliations | ABC The CW (DT2) Comet (DT3) TBD (DT4) |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Licensee | KVII Licensee, LLC |
| First air date | KVII: December 21, 1957 KVIH: December 2, 1956 |
| Call letters' meaning | KVII: VII = Roman numeral 7 KVIH: variation of KVII with an H |
| Former callsigns | KVII: none KVIH: KICA-TV (1956-1964) KFDW-TV (1964-1979) KMCC-TV (1979-1986) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: KVII: 7 (1957-2009) KVIH: 12 (1956-2009) Digital: KVII: 23 KVIH: 20 |
| Former Affiliations | KVII: none KVIH: CBS (19??-1979) |
| Transmitter Power | KVII: 21.9 kW KVIH: 5 kW |
| Height | KVII: 519 m KVIH: 204 m |
| Facility ID | KVII: 40446 KVIH: 40450 |
| Website | KVII & KVIH's Website |
KVII-TV, better known as ABC 7, is an ABC affiliated TV station in Amarillo, Texas that also operates satellite KVIH-TV DT ch. 12 in Clovis, New Mexico. It was owned by Stanley Marsh 3 since 1967 until he sold it to Atlanta-based, New Vision Group in 2002. In 2005, New Vision Group's parent company sold the station to Barrington Broadcasting for $22.5 million, as of 2013, the station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. KVII-TV uses the "Circle 7 logo"
KVII & satellite station KVIH serve viewers across a 4-state region including the Texas & Oklahoma panhandles, eastern New Mexico & southwestern Kansas. The station is broadcast over-the-air & via cable carriage & several UHF translators. In addition to Amarillo & Clovis, cities served include Canyon, Dumas, Pampa, Borger, Hereford, Muleshoe, Dalhart, Clarendon & Childress, Texas; Clayton, Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon & Portales, NM; Guymon, Boise City & Beaver, OK & Elkhart & Liberal, Kan.
History[]
KVII signed on for the first time on December 21, 1957. This made Amarillo 1 of the smallest markets to have full service from all 3 networks
KVII formerly operated another satellite, KVIJ-TV ch. 8 in Sayre, Oklahoma from 1976-1992 - that station ceased operations due to the fact that most viewers in it's area of western Oklahoma received their network programming via cable which gave them access to stations from the Oklahoma City or Wichita Falls-Lawton DMAs including ABC affiliates KOCO-TV & KSWO-TV, respectively & very few actually tuned in to KVIJ directly. The former studio & transmitter site of KVIJ now sit vacant northwest of Sayre @ the intersection of state highways 6 & 152 @ 35°25′23.9″N 99°50′35.2″W. Ch. 8 began operations in 1961 as CBS affiliate KSWB-TV (licensed to Elk City, Oklahoma; it's call sign related to original owner South West Broadcasting) & changed it's call letters to KFDO-TV in 1966 when it became a satellite of Amarillo's CBS affiliate, KFDA-TV (at that time, ch. 8 moved to Sayre). In 1976, it was sold to Marsh.
Also in 1976, KFDA's then-satellite station in Clovis, KFDW ch. 12, was sold to Mel Wheeler (manager & a part owner of KFDA's then-ownership). The station remained a satellite of KFDA until 1979, when the station was sold to McAlister TV in Lubbock, Texas & began operating as an adjunct to ABC affiliate KAMC (ch. 28) in Lubbock under the call sign of KMCC. After death of Bill McAlister, KMCC was sold to Marsh in 1986 & became a KVII satellite, changing the call letters to KVIH in the process.
From 1999-2006, KVII helped provide an Amarillo affiliate station of The WB TV Network. KVII promoted & sold advertising for the network, while Amarillo's cable TV operator broadcast the station on a cable channel. On September 18 2006, KVII's DT2 subchannel became the area's new affiliates of The CW TV Network.
By mid-October, the DT signal was fully operating, coinciding with the introduction of a viewer-interactive newscast, in which viewers can send e-mails with questions & concerns in regards to the stories & features in the newscasts. On February 28, 2013, Barrington Broadcasting announced the sale of it's entire group, including KVII, to Sinclair Broadcast Group. The sale was completed on November 25 of that year. On April 6, 2015, KVII unveiled it's new studio and discontinued the ProNews 7 brand name in simply of ABC 7 News.
Personalities[]
Current On-Air Staff[]
Current Anchors
- Anthony Pittman - weekday mornings "ABC 7 Daybreak" and midday
- Tiffany Lester - weekends @ 10 PM (also reporter)
- Lisa Schmidt - weeknights @ 5, 6 & 10 PM
- David Bradley - weeknights @ 5, 6 & 10 PM
- Niccole Caan - weeknights @ 9PM on Amarillo's CW 11
Reporters
- Drew Powell - multi-media journalist
- Kendra Hall - multi-media journalist
- Tatiana Toomer - mulit-media journalist
- Jala Washington - multi-media journalist
- Abby Aldrich - multi-media journalist
- Tiffany Lester - multi-media journalist/weekend anchor
StormSearch 7 Weather Team
- Steve Kersh (AMS/NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights @ 5, 6 & 10 PM
- Delaney Wearden - Meteorologist; weekends 6PM @ 10 PM
- Alyssa Pawlak (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "ABC 7 Daybreak" & midday
Sports Team
- Lee Baker - Sports Director; weeknights @ 6 & 10 PM
- Amanda Atwell - Sports Anchor; weekends @ 10 PM
News/Station Presentation[]
Newscast Titles[]
- The Panhandle News Report (1957-1962)
- The Jim Harris Report (1962-1966)
- Channel 7 News (1966-1974)
- Pro News (1974-1996)
- Pro News 7 (1996-2015)
- ABC7 News (2015-present)
Station slogans[]
- Let's Get Together on Channel 7 (1970-1971, local version of ABC campaign)
- Still the One on Channel 7 (1979-1980, local version of ABC campaign)
- You & Me & Channel 7 (1980-1981, local version of ABC campaign)
- Now is the Time, Channel 7 is the Place (1981-1982, local version of ABC campaign)
- We're With You on Channel 7 (1984-1985, local version of ABC campaign)
- You'll Love It on Channel 7 (1985-1986, local version of ABC campaign)
- Together on Channel 7 (1986-1987, local version of ABC campaign)
- The Panhandle Spirit (1987-present; uses variant Catch The Panhandle Spirit since 2009)
- Something's Happening on Channel 7 (1987-1990, local version of ABC campaign)
- America's Watching Channel 7 (1990-1991, local version of ABC campaign)
External links[]
- ABC 7's website
- Storm Search 7 sky cam — LIVE pictures of downtown Amarillo & surroundings from KVII's SkyCam