News operation
Before it switched to CBS, KBVO-TV had no newscasts with the exception of nightly updates aired during Fox prime time programming from a small closet studio.[40] After the affiliation swap, on July 3, 1995, KEYE immediately launched a full slate of newscasts, under the moniker K-EYEWitness News. Veteran anchorman Neal Spelce, formerly of KTBC, was hired as part of the new operation, and the station's Metric Boulevard studios were expanded to house the news department.[41]
In launching a news operation, station management hoped that the locally high ratings for CBS network news on KTBC would transfer to channel 42. This was not the case, and technical miscues in the weeks after opening alienated viewers. Early on, the station rated fourth of the four major TV news operations in town, but it soon surpassed KTBC, whose news ratings severely slumped after the switch.[42] Its news programs were faster-paced than the competition with a higher-than-average reliance on props and unconventional methods of storytelling.[43] Spelce retired in 2002, becoming "anchor emeritus" and a commentator with occasional contributions to KEYE's newscasts.[44] By that time, the station was struggling in the ratings, with sitcom reruns occasionally drawing more viewers than channel 42's newscasts; it canceled its noon newscast as a result.[45] It fired three anchors—including Cile Spelce, Neal's daughter—at the end of 2002 and hired Judy Maggio from KVUE several months later.[46] CBS also made investments in weather forecasting and anchor salaries as well as $15 million to make KEYE the city's first TV station with high-definition local newscasts in 2007, with the Four Points sale in progress.[47]
The station canceled its 5 p.m. newscast in September 2009, replacing it with We Are Austin Live, an hour-long 4 p.m. lifestyle show anchored by Michelle Valles and Jason Wheeler. A few weeks later, the weekday morning newscast was canceled and later replaced with a simulcast of the J. B. and Sandy Morning Show from KAMX (94.7 FM), leaving KEYE with its 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts and a 5:30 p.m. newscast on Sunday evenings.[48] On June 30, 2011, after the station was unable to renew its agreement with KAMX owner Entercom, KEYE replaced the simulcast of the J. B. and Sandy Morning Show with the in-house newscast We Are Austin Mornings, a morning extension of We Are Austin LIVE similar in format to national network morning newscasts.[49] We Are Austin Mornings lasted less than a year before being replaced with a more conventional morning newscast.[50] The 2009 afternoon news changes were reversed in June 2012, when We Are Austin Live was canceled to make way for the reinstatement of a 5 p.m. newscast.[51] The We Are Austin name was revived in 2014 when the station reintroduced it for a 9 a.m. lifestyle show; simultaneously, KEYE extended its morning news to start at 4:30 a.m., giving it a weekday news output of five hours.[52] During this time, the station had a short-lived improvement in its ratings; in the May 2012 sweeps, it had the highest-rated 10 p.m. newscast in the market.
In 2017, the station placed third or fourth in all of the time slots where it aired a newscast.[54] In March 2021, it tied KVUE for second place at 10 p.m. but had half as many viewers in the target demographic of viewers 25–54.[55]
KEYE-TV also provides weeknight weather updates for Sinclair-owned WUCW in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, which are presented by KEYE's chief meteorologist Chikage Windler.[56]
- Robert Flores – sports director, 2000–2004; fired for an expletive in a mistakenly aired recorded segment[57]
- Shaun Robinson – 5 p.m. anchor, 1995–1996[58]
