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KOMO-TV is a television station in Seattle, Washington. It is affiliated with the ABC network. It broadcasts on analog channel 4 and digital channel 38.
The station is owned by Fisher Communications, which also owns KATU in Portland, as well as a number of smaller television stations acquired from Retlaw Enterprises in 1998, along with several radio stations (including KOMO AM 1000, KOMO-TV's immediate sister radio station). The station's studios are located just south of the Seattle Center in the Denny Regrade neighborhood in a new broadcasting center, Fisher Plaza, opened in 2000.
KOMO-TV has won the most broadcast awards out of any Seattle TV station. Its newscasts, "KOMO 4 News", have been rated consistently the "Best Newscast in America" for more than 15 years.
It is one of five local Seattle TV stations seen in Canada on the Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice satellite providers.
History
KOMO-TV has set many broadcast "firsts" in the industry. In 1957, a KOMO news photographer discovered a way to develop color film in a new process that took just a couple hours instead of days. His discovery allowed KOMO-TV to become the first TV station in the nation to broadcast in true color.
In 1985, KOMO became the first TV station to broadcast daily programming in full stereo sound.
In 1994, KOMO applied for the first test license for broadcasting new high-definition signals. KOMO began broadcasting HDTV in 1997, and on May 18th, 1999, KOMO became the first TV station in America to broadcast its daily newscasts in HDTV.
KOMO nearly lost one of its own in the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18th, 1980. Dave Crockett, who had been with KOMO since 1975, had been covering the mountain every day for three weeks until being rotated out a few days prior. On the morning of May 18th, he woke up at 3AM in Seattle on a hunch that he would get some impressive video that day, and loaded up his news car and headed towards Mount St. Helens without anyone at KOMO knowing about it. He arrived at the mountain just as it was eruupting. His news video, which shows an advancing ash cloud and mud flows down the South Fork Toutle River, was made famous by its eleven-minute long "journey into the dark", six of those minutes of which were recorded in "total darkness" as Crockett narrated to what he thought would be his "last day on Earth."
His video made worldwide news and was used in a movie remake of the disaster starring Art Carney. The car he drove, with the remains of KOMO lettering still visible, is now a part of a Mount St. Helens Volcano Museum just ouside Toutle.
KOMO anchors Dan Lewis, Kathi Goertzen, and weather anchor Steve Pool have the third-longest running tenure out of any anchor team in America. Steve Pool has been at KOMO since 1977, and Kathi Goertzen joined KOMO-TV just after the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980. Dan Lewis, who had just finished working at WJLA in Washington DC, came to KOMO in 1987 to replace retiring news anchor Jim Harriott.
Past Personalities
During the 1960s, local television personality Don McCune became well known for two programs. Mr. McCune was known to thousands of Seattle-area children who came to know him in the role of Captain Puget, hosting a tasteful and well-prepared children's entertainment program. KOMO and Don McCune also produced the "Exploration Northwest" documentary series, which explored many of the places and people of the Pacific Northwest.
During the 1970s and 1980s, weather reporter Ray Ramsey played a memorable role as the KOMO News meteorologist. He brought an enthusiasm to his work which is remembered by viewers many years later.
Current Personalities
The station's flagship 5 o'clock news broadcasts have long been anchored by the team of Dan Lewis and Kathi Goertzen. On Sept. 16th, 2005, she announced she was taking a leave of absence to treat a benign brain tumor [1].
Trivia
In the movie Life or Something Like It (2002), Angelina Jolie's character works for a fictional Seattle TV station, KQMO 4, which is based on the real-life KOMO-TV. Parts of the movie were shot on ___location at KOMO's studio, and KOMO's equipment was also shown in some scenes (with KOMO's logo on the equipment and in the studio modified to say "KQMO" instead). Some of KOMO's anchors (such as Steve Pool, Margo Myers, Dan Lewis, and Theron Zahn) also made appearances in the movie. (Margo Myers has since moved to rival KIRO-TV.)
Longtime KOMO anchors Dan Lewis and Kathi Goertzen also made a brief appearance in the movie "Assasins" (1995) starring Antonio Banderas and Sylvester Stallone.
In "Harry and the Hendersons" (1986) starring John Lithgow, then-hosts Dana Middleton and Dick Foley of KOMO-TV's "Northwest Afternoon" made an appearance as news anchors on KOMO 4 News, reporting the mysterious appearance of a Sasquatch in downtown Seattle. Several of KOMO-TV's news vehicles, bearing KOMO's old logo and paint scheme, also made an appearance.
In 1993, anchor Dan Lewis became the first reporter to interview former president Bill Clinton following the inauguration ceremony. The interview was conducted at the White House.
In 1989, Kathi Goertzen was the first American local TV news reporter to broadcast live from Germany as the Berlin Wall came down. Her broadcasts originated from what was then known as "West Berlin."
External links
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