KTLA, channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW television network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson. The station's signal covers the Southern California region, and KTLA is also available as a regional superstation via cable and satellite in the United States and Canada. KTLA was the first commercially licensed television station in the western United States, having began operations in 1947.
From January 1995 to September 2006, KTLA had been an affiliate of the WB television network. Prior to 1995, KTLA was one of the leading independent stations in the country.

History
Originally owned by Paramount Pictures subsidiary Television Productions, Inc., and located on the Paramount studio lot, the station was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission in 1939 as experimental station W6XYZ, on channel 4, but did not go on the air until September 1942. Klaus Landsberg, already an accomplished television pioneer at the age of 26, was the original station manager and engineer. On January 22, 1947, it was licensed for commercial broadcast as KTLA on channel 5, becoming the first commercial television station to broadcast west of the Mississippi River. Estimates of television sets in the Los Angeles area at the time ranged from 350 to 600.
Bob Hope served as the emcee for KTLA's inaugural broadcast, which was broadcast that evening from a garage on the Paramount Studios lot. The program, titled as the "Western Premiere of Commercial Television", featured appearances from many Hollywood luminaries. Hope delivered what was perhaps the most famous line of the evening when, at the program's start, he identified the new station as "KTL", mistakenly omitting the "A" at the end of the call sign.
KTLA originally carried programming from Paramount's partner, DuMont, but discontinued the practice after the 1947-48 season. Despite this, the FCC still considered KTLA and sister station, WBKB (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago to be DuMont owned-and-operated stations because Paramount held a minority stake in DuMont. As a result, the agency would not allow DuMont to buy additional VHF stations -- a problem that would later play a large role in the failure of the DuMont network, whose programming was splintered among other Los Angeles stations until the network's demise in 1956. In 1958, KTLA moved to the Paramount Sunset Studios on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, now the Warner Sunset Studios.
In 1964, KTLA was purchased by actor and singer Gene Autry and merged with his other radio properties (including Los Angeles' KMPC) into an umbrella company, Golden West Broadcasters. From 1964 to 1995, the station was the broadcast TV home of the Los Angeles/California Angels baseball team, which was also owned by Autry. KTLA carried selected Los Angeles Lakers games from the early-to-mid 1970s. During the 1970s, KTLA became one of the nation's first superstations, and was eventually carried on cable systems across much of the country west of the Mississippi.
In the 1960s and 1970s, KTLA ran a mix of syndicated westerns, drama shows, first-run talk shows, movies, and pro sports. It also launched a 10 p.m. newscast in the 1960s, the simply-titled News at Ten (now KTLA Prime News). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the station added syndicated sitcom reruns into the mix.

Early years
KTLA continued with this format into the 1980s. In 1982, Golden West sold KTLA to investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for $245 million. In 1985 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts sold KTLA to Tribune Broadcasting. Under Tribune, KTLA continued to acquire high rated off-network sitcoms as well as talk shows. In July 1991, KTLA added the first live, local morning newscast, the KTLA Morning News, to compete with major network morning shows. At first, the KTLA Morning News suffered from low ratings. However, the ability to cover breaking news live (as opposed to the network morning programs, which were aired on a three-hour tape delay) attracted more viewers to channel 5. As time went on, the KTLA Morning News has enjoyed great ratings success, generally ranking number one in its main 7-9 a.m. time period. The program's success spawned rival KTTV to launch its own local morning program, Good Day L.A., in 1993.
In March 1991, KTLA was the first station to air the infamous video of the Rodney King beating by Los Angeles police. From 1994 to 1995 the station aired gavel to gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial anchored by Marta Waller.

A Tribune Broadcasting Station
In January 1995, KTLA became a charter affiliate of The WB Television Network, in which KTLA's parent company Tribune held a 25 percent ownership stake. That fall, KTLA added afternoon cartoons from Kids' WB, entering the children's television business for the first time in years. KTLA also broadcasts the annual Tournament of Roses Parade live from the city of Pasadena as well, with Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards as the commentators from 1978 to 2007. Michaela Pereira replaced Stephanie Edwards in 2007. The station has aired the Rose Parade since 1948, and while other local stations also broadcast the parade (most notably, one-time Sunset Boulevard neighbor, KTTV) over the years, KTLA remains the sole English-language outlet in the Los Angeles area to continuously broadcast the Rose Parades. The station has also returned as host broadcaster of the Hollywood Christmas Parade (which is syndicated to all Tribune and WB stations).
Tribune purchased Times Mirror, parent company of the Los Angeles Times, in 2000, bringing the Times into common ownership with KTLA. Ironically, the Times had been the original owner of Los Angeles' Fox station KTTV.

The WB comes to KTLA
The station launched a new branding campaign in January 2005, which omitted all references to its channel 5 position (Although when rebranding as a CW affiliate, the channel 5 reference would return). It adopted a new logo, and became known on the air as KTLA The WB: Where L.A. Lives. The new look also featured a brand new black and orange color scheme for news broadcasts and other functions of the network.
On January 24, 2006, Time-Warner and CBS Corporation announced it would be ceasing operations on its WB and UPN networks in September 2006, and have created a joint-venture to form a network, The CW. KTLA became the Los Angeles affiliate of the new network. KCOP became the area's My Network TV affiliate. The channel officially rebranded itself as "KTLA 5 The CW" on September 18, 2006.

"Where L.A. Lives"
Today, KTLA is a typical CW affiliate running the usual blend of syndicated shows such as first-run talk and reality shows, off-network sitcoms and dramas, cartoons from Kids' WB, first-run prime time programming from the CW, early morning and 10 p.m. newscasts, and sports. KTLA is the over-the-air home of the Los Angeles Clippers; the station carried Clippers games from 1985 to 1991, and picked them up again in 2002 and was also the TV home of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1993 to 2001. Although not as wide-spread in national carriage as its Chicago sister station, WGN-TV, KTLA is available via satellite as a superstation, through out North America on Ku-band, C-band, and Dish Network systems, as well as on cable systems in selected cities throughout the Southwestern part of the United States and in Canada nationwide.
KTLA offers around 30 hours per week of local news, and its 10 p.m. newscast was #1 rated for decades until KTTV took the No. 1 spot consistently since 2000. The KTLA Morning Show is the number two-rated local morning show, behind Good Day L.A. This is one of many major stations in Los Angeles offering plenty of local news. However, they do not yet offer an early evening and midday newscast. They still run many syndicated sitcoms in the evenings, such as According To Jim, Will & Grace, My Wife and Kids, Friends, and Everybody Loves Raymond.
KTLA is also home to Tribune Studios, where shows like Family Feud (current version), Greed, Fox's Celebrity Boxing specials, WKRP in Cincinnati, Judge Judy, Name That Tune (Tom Kennedy and Jim Lange versions), The Newlywed Game, and Judge Joe Brown have been produced over the years. With this location, KTLA and KCET are currently the only Los Angeles area broadcasters based in Hollywood.
On January 13, 2007, KTLA became the second TV station in the Los Angeles market (after KABC-TV) to offer newscasts in high definition. In addition, KTLA also introduced the "KTLA Telecopter HD," a news helicopter capable of broadcasting in High Definition. KABC-TV became the first station to offer news in High Definition a year before. However, as of now, only the in-studio cameras and their Telecopter are able to transmit HD signals for KTLA News. Their field cameras and all other footages remain in standard definition. In April 2007, CBS Owned and operated stations KCBS and KCAL became the 3rd and 4th stations in Los Angeles to broadcast news in HD.
On January 22, 2007, KTLA celebrated its 60th anniversary of continuous broadcasting in Los Angeles. Two days later, on January 24, 2007, KTLA was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming the first television station or network to receive such an honor. In addition to the station itself, five other individuals associated with the station — former owner Gene Autry, reporters Stan Chambers and Larry McCormick, longtime news anchor Hal Fishman, and KTLA founder Klaus Landsberg — have also received stars on the Walk of Fame.

KTLA today
Several of its well-known evening news anchors include Hal Fishman, who died of cancer in August 2007, and Larry McCormick, who died after a long illness in September 2004. Its veteran field reporters Stan Chambers and Warren Wilson (who has since retired). Stu Nahan and Ed Arnold (who now anchors KOCE-TV's Real Orange) were formerly the sports anchors. Accompanying his news anchoring career, McCormick also hosted KTLA's own public affairs production called Making It!, which featured stories on the entrepreneurial successes of ethnic minorities.
KTLA News has a special partnership with the Los Angeles Times, which has been co-owned with the station since 2000. In 2005 according the Nielsen ratings KTLA's Morning News Show was #1 in Los Angeles, beating Good Day L.A. on KTTV 11. The Popular KTLA Morning Show is now #1 in the ratings within the Los Angeles Market. The Good Day L.A. Broadcast on Fox 11 is a close #2.
For many years KTLA's news operations were considered the benchmark of Los Angeles Television. It's News At Ten program (now called Prime News) was often serious and no-nonsense in nature and has received many awards and distinctions. Over the years, KTLA's newscasts have become more tabloid-based in nature, perhaps to compete with KTTV. Both stations have rivaled each other in ratings for many years. As part of the change, KTLA has placed more emphasis in entertainment news, and has featured personalities including Mindy Burbano Stearns, Zorianna Kitt, and recently Ross King as entertainment reporters. In 2004, KTLA debuted a reality show segment on its morning news titled The Audition, in which several actors and actresses competed for a role as weathercaster on KTLA's 10 p.m. Newscast. Ross King was the winner in the first installment, and Jessica Holmes, of Nickelodeon fame, won in the second and is now their morning traffic reporter. Although KTLA does not cover police pursuits like other stations, they have put more emphasis in local crime stories, as opposed to politics, health, and other serious news. As part of the 2005 graphics change, KTLA's graphics were significantly modernized, and a new, futuristic-looking set was constructed for their newscasts.
On May 29, 2006, the KTLA Morning News became The KTLA Morning Show. On August 7 of the same year, KTLA extended their Morning Show news broadcast by an hour, creating five straight hours of news between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.
KTLA has also created synergy between Tribune Company entities. For example, entertainment reporter Sam Rubin is often seen on WGN in Chicago. Ron Olsen also frequently reports on upcoming stories in the Los Angeles Times from the paper's headquarters in Downtown L.A.
During the 1970s, KTLA operated a well-equipped helicopter known as the "Telecopter" for its news operations (having debuted in 1958); the Telecopter was the most advanced airborne television broadcast device of its time, but was ultimately sold to another Los Angeles station, KNBC, which flew the Telecopter with pilot Francis Gary Powers and cameraman George Spears until its fatal crash on August 1, 1977. KNBC restored the name "Telecopter" with other helicopters starting in the early 1980's.

Controversies

Newscast Lineup

KTLA Morning News First Edition - 5:00AM-6:00AM
KTLA Morning News Early Edition - 6:00AM-7:00AM
KTLA Morning Show - 7:00AM-10:00AM
KTLA Prime News - 10:00PM-11:00PM (replayed from 4:00AM-5:00AM) Monday-Friday

KTLA Prime News - 10:00PM-11:00PM Saturday

Pacesetters - 6:00am-6:30am (Public Affairs Programming)
Making It! Minority Success Stories - 6:30am-7:00am (Public Affairs Programming)
KTLA Prime News - 10:00pm-10:30pm
Sports Plus - 10:30pm-11:00pm Sunday

Carlos Amezcua - morning news anchor/Interim Evening News Anchor As He Been Filling In Since The Death Of Hal Fishman
Frank Buckley - solo weekend news anchor
Cher Calvin - morning news anchor
Gayle Anderson - morning news reporter and anchor
Leila Feinstein - evening news anchor
Michaela Pereira - morning news anchor
Emmett Miller - morning news anchor/business reporter
Walter Richards - field reporter/Substitute Weekend Prime News for Frank Buckley Current News Anchors

Ross King - evening entertainment news/Evening Weather as of July 2007
Mark Kriski - morning weather
Jessica Holmes - Weather anchor from 5am-6am Current Weather Anchors

Damon Andrews - evening sports anchor/sports director/host of Sports Plus Sports Anchor

Lu Parker - Morning Entertainment(occasional substitute for Leila Feinstein)
Sam Rubin - entertainment Entermainent Reporters

Janet Choi - field reporter/special assignments
Kalina Rahal - morning show producer
Jaime Chambers - field reporter
Stan Chambers - field reporter
Nicole Gonzales - Morning traffic from KTLA HD Telecopter (First Edition, Early Edition, part of Morning Show)
Kurt Knutsson ("Kurt the Cyberguy") - technology
Johnny McCool - Helicopter pilot. Reports breaking news from KTLA HD Telecopter for Prime News
Lynette Romero - field reporter
Kim Rouggie- field reporter
Willa Sandmeyer - field reporter
Analia Sarno Riggle - Spanish language translator (SAP) for evening news
Commander Chuck Street - Morning Traffic from Mountain Dew/Pepsi Jet Ranger 1
Bill Smith - field reporter, occasional traffic reporter
Chip Yost- field reporter Reporters

Ed Arnold - sports anchor
Terry Anzur - evening news anchor
Barbara Beck - morning news anchor
Mike Botula - reporter
Mindy Burbano - Entertainment Reporter; returned as substitute entertainment reporter for Ross King on July 24, 2006
Joe Buttita - sports anchor
Jann Carl - News At Ten Anchor, 1988-1996 now a weekend anchor and reporter for ET!
Debby Davison - News At Ten Anchor, 1981-1990; later anchored at KEYT in Santa Barbara from 1990-2006 but has moved on.
Tom Duggan - sports and talk-show host (1956-1969), deceased
Giselle Fernández - morning news anchor
Hal Fishman - evening news anchor, (1975-2007), deceased. As of 2007, Fishman was the longest running anchor of KTLA and longest running news anchor in American television history
Roland Galvan - evening weather (1995-2002)
Ted Garcia - weekend news anchor & reporter
Lissette Gonzalez - evening weather (2006-2007) now weekday morning weather for WFOR-TV in Miami
Tom Hatten - longtime KTLA personality 1956-1992, hosted Popeye cartoons and Family Film Festival on weekend afternoons [4]
Desiree Horton - helicopter pilot/reporter 2005 [5] - (Only female helicopter pilot/on-camera reporter in Los Angeles television history)
Dick Lane (TV announcer) - News reporter later famous for hosting the station's wrestling and Roller Games broadcasts
Tiiu Leek - News At Ten Anchor, early to mid 1980s
Larry McCormick - evening news anchor and host of Making It! - died in August 2004
Keith Olbermann Sports Anchor 1980s.
Stu Nahan - sports anchor
George Putnam
Steve Roan - sports anchor early-to-mid 1980s.
Rick De Reyes - reporter
Michele Ruiz - morning news reporter
Sharon Tay - morning news anchor (initially an evening news anchor and field reporter) Now With KCAL/KCBS
Claudia Trejos - Weekend Sports Anchor
Marta Waller - Medical Reporter and fill-in anchor
Warren Wilson - field reporter
Jennifer York [6] - traffic (from helicopter) - Now a radio personality for KFSH-FM
Vin Scully-Dodgers Games
Ross Porter-Dodgers Games
Rick Monday-Dodgers Games
Ken Wilson-Angels Games
Ken Brett-Angels Games
Joe Torre-Angels Games
Bob Starr-Angels Games
Reggie Jackson-Angels Games
Patricia Del Rio-Now With WPIX-TV Past

1947–64: Paramount Pictures Corporation (also owned a stake in the DuMont Television Network, and WBKB-TV, now CBS-owned WBBM-TV; of note both stations were considered by the FCC to be DuMont O&O's, leading to the collapse of DuMont)
1964–82: Golden West Broadcasters
1982–85: Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co.
1985–present: The Tribune Company, via its Tribune Broadcasting division Previous Owners

Channel 5 News at Ten (1960s-1997)
KTLA News @ Ten (1997-2005)
KTLA News (1990s)
KTLA Prime News (2005-present)
KTLA Morning News (1991-2006)(Still used on the 5am-7am portion of the news)
KTLA Morning Show (2006-present, used for the 7am-10am portion of the news) Newscast Titles

The Channel 5 Movie Theatre (1969-1997)
The Big Picture (1997-1999)
The Family Film Festival (1976-1991)
The Weekend Film Festival (1991-1997)
The KTLA Weekend Film Festival (1997-present)
The Channel 5 Saturday Movie Theatre (1986-1994)
Movie for A Saturday/Sunday Evening (1977-1997)
The KTLA Saturday Night Movie (1997-2005)
The KTLA Saturday Night Screening Room (2002-present)
The KTLA Saturday Cinema Showcase (2002-present)
The KTLA WB Sunday Night Movie (1997-2002)
Movies 'Til Dawn (1969-2002)
Channel 5 Movie Special (1979-1997) Movie Umbrella Titles

The Number One Prime Time News Hour (1970s)
KTLA 5, LA's WB (1994-2004)
KTLA, the WB, Where L.A. Lives (2005-2006)
KTLA, the CW, Where L.A. Lives (2006-present) Station Slogans
KTLA is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

K40HX Morongo Valley
K35BQ Daggett
K03EK Newberry Springs
K16FI Twentynine Palms
K29GK Twentynine Palms
K48AD Lucerne Valley
K05FO Ridgecrest
K57AK Ridgecrest
K61AJ California City
K58GH Sterling, Colorado
K29GO Cortez, Colorado
K32EX Peetz, Colorado Trivia