News operation
KUTV's first news anchor was Doug Mitchell, who worked for the station from 1957 to 1984. Mitchell was recalled for his "authoritative" style and ability to read the news without a script.[72] The station's coverage of the 1965 crash of United Air Lines Flight 227 was cited by former news director Mike Youngren as defining for local TV news; KUTV newsfilm of the event was seen on NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report.[73] By early 1967, the station's newscasts were entirely in color.[74] In 1971, the station won an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for a documentary, Warrior Without a Cause, profiling the Goshute tribe of Utah;[75] a second came in 1980 for Clouds of Doubt, examining atomic testing in Nevada.[76]
KUTV's newscasts spent the better part of five decades as a solid runner-up to dominant KSL-TV. Even though the two stations had little difference in news content, KSL's ownership by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shaped perceptions of KSL and its rival in turn. In 1979, KUTV general manager Robert Temple noted that faithful LDS Church members often considered it their duty to watch the news on KSL; in turn, KUTV tended to have a strong preference among non-LDS viewers.[77] After a period in which KSL-TV dominated the ratings, KUTV spent most of the late 1970s and early 1980s in a neck-and-neck contest with KSL, with KTVX a distant third. The KUTV news viewer was younger and more affluent than their KSL-TV counterpart, enabling channel 2 to charge higher advertising rates within its newscasts. One factor in the rise was the development of a homegrown meteorologist talent in Mark Eubank, who joined the station in 1967;[78] Eubank's counterpart at KSL-TV, Bob Welti, admitted in a 1980 interview that, after seeing tapes of meteorologists in other markets, Eubank was the best in the country. Another was the popularity of KUTV's main anchor in the 1970s and early 1980s, Terry Wood, who started at KUTV in 1971 and proved popular with local viewers until he departed in 1984 for a job at WSB-TV in Atlanta.[79] Wood's departure prompted changes in KUTV's anchor lineup. Wood was succeeded as KUTV's top anchorman by Randall Carlisle, a reporter and anchor at the station since 1981;[80] he was joined by Michelle King on the evening newscasts.[81] Carlisle remained until 1988.[82]
Mark Eubank departed in June 1989 after signing a contract with KSL-TV and its parent, Bonneville International Corporation, though a non-compete clause in his contract kept him from appearing on KSL-TV until early 1991.[83] The move came at a time when the financial reverses the Hatches were experiencing led to low morale and low pay at KUTV. The departure was a significant loss for KUTV; Harold Schindler of The Salt Lake Tribune called it the most devastating talent raid in local television since KSL-TV poached Bob Welti and Paul James from channel 4 (then known as KCPX-TV), a move that allowed KSL-TV to surge ahead as Utah's news leader.[84] When Eubanks debuted on KSL-TV at the start of 1991, KUTV fell eight rating points and KSL rose four, blunting a challenge channel 2 had been posing in the late 1980s.[85] This was in spite of rehiring Terry Wood, who returned to Utah after a stint in New Orleans.[86] Though channel 2 continued to command a healthy lead in morning news and at noon and ran closer in early evening news, KUTV fell back to a weaker second-place versus KSL-TV after the Eubank hiring.[87][88]
Ahead of the 1995 affiliation switch, KUTV was fending off a challenge from an advancing KTVX. The change to CBS came at a time when that network was weaker than NBC in the ratings.[90] KUTV's late news viewership declined by about a third after the switch, owing to poor lead-in programming from CBS,[91][92] but ratings in other time periods held steady.[93] After the introduction of metered rankings to the Salt Lake City market in late 1996, KUTV slipped to third place at 11 p.m.[94]
The station retooled its anchor lineup in 1996 and 1997; Wood's contract was not renewed, and he was replaced nearly a year later by Mark Koelbel.[95] The 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts were replaced with a combined hour at 5.[96] Through this period, KUTV continued to be a solid number-two in late news to KSL,[97] whose newscasts were among the highest-rated in major markets;[98] the challenge from KTVX faded as that station underwent newsroom and ownership turnover.[99] KUTV's strength in mornings was such that CBS let the station air a local newscast at 7 a.m. in lieu of the first hour of The Early Show.[100] King departed in 2007 after 29 years at KUTV, including 23 in evening news.[101]
Between 2008 and 2009, KUTV served as the producing station for a local newscast on Four Points–owned WTVX serving West Palm Beach, Florida. The half-hour CW West Palm News at Ten was produced using local reporters in the market—with a total of 30 West Palm Beach-based staff—and news and weather presenters at KUTV.[102] On June 7, 2009, the station abruptly canceled its weekend morning newscasts; this was followed the next day by the cancellation of the newscast that the station produced for WTVX; as with many newscast cuts at that time, it was likely due to the Great Recession, while WTVX's newscast was stunted by low ratings.
Over the course of the late 2000s and early 2010s, KUTV narrowed the ratings gap with KSL before surpassing it. KUTV narrowly edged KSL in seven-day news ratings in May 2006,[103] and though its ratings dipped after King's departure,[104] the station rebounded. In the November 2008 Nielsen survey, the gap between the two stations at 10 p.m. shrank to one percent of the audience,[105] and two years later, they tied at 10 p.m.[106] The 10 p.m. ratings shift was the last step in a process that had been going on for years; Scott D. Pierce noted in The Salt Lake Tribune, "The truth is that [KSL] hasn't been No. 1 in much of anything other than the 10 p.m. news for quite some time."[107] This rise occurred amid a backdrop of cuts during the Great Recession, which included two rounds of layoffs[108] and the non-renewal of its news helicopter lease that August.[109]
While KUTV continued to lead in households, KSTU built a substantial franchise with younger viewers. As early as 2014, KUTV was leading in households at 10 p.m. but third in viewers aged 25–54 behind KSL and KSTU.[112] By 2022, KSL had surpassed KUTV in household ratings.[113]
KUTV also airs newscasts on KJZZ-TV. From 2005 to 2010, when KUTV provided operational assistance to channel 14 under a local marketing agreement,[114] the station produced weekday morning 9 a.m. and nightly 9 p.m. newscasts for KJZZ-TV.[115] In 2017, KUTV launched the 8 a.m. hour of its morning newscast for KJZZ. The 7 a.m. hour moved from KUTV to KJZZ in 2018 when a new affiliation agreement required KUTV to clear the entirety of CBS This Morning.[116]
Notable current staff
- David Osmond – host of Fresh Living, 2021–present[117]
- Kathy Brock – anchor/reporter, 1984–1990[118][119]
- Christianne Klein – 4 p.m. anchor, 2003–2005[120]
- Ric Romero – PM Magazine host, 1982–1985
