KABL-TV

(channel 7) is a television station in Los Santos, San Andreas, United States, serving as the market's ABC outlet. It is owned and operated by network's ABC Owned Television Stations division.
==Programming==
===News programming===
KABL-TV currently broadcasts 51 hours, 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours, 35 minutes each weekday and seven hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).
Lew Irwin Reports, the station's first locally produced newscast, debuted in 1957. Initially, the 15-minute program was broadcast Monday through Saturday at 11:00 p.m. and featured Irwin delivering a news summary prepared by KABL Radio news writers, followed by a seven-minute feature written by Irwin that included footage shot for the program by the MGM-owned newsreel company Telenews. Irwin interviewed a host of public figures for the program, including former President Harry S. Truman, former Senator John F. Kennedy, philosopher Bertrand Russell, actor Marlon Brando, H-bomb scientist Edward Teller, and poets Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg. Irwin's features often included news-breaking investigations into such controversial topics as migrant workers, police brutality, proprietary hospitals, disc jockey payola, the Vinewood blacklist, and the John Birch Society. In a letter to the chief of ABC News, James Hagerty, in 1961, Sandburg wrote: "He is one of the great reporters in America today. I could make a case that he is one of the most useful citizens." In 1962, a new KABL-TV program director for the station mounted a second newscast on the station (following John Daly's network newscast in the early evening) presented by Ed Fleming, who had previously worked for rival KNX-TV. A few months later, he decided to feature Fleming and Irwin on both the early-evening and late-night newscasts, with Fleming delivering the news and Irwin a long-form feature. After numerous clashes between the program director and Irwin, Irwin resigned in 1962 citing creative differences. He was eventually succeeded by KIFT newscaster Baxter Ward, who was backed by the station's first staff film crew.
KABL-TV first adopted the Eyewitness News format for its newscasts in February 1969, not long after it became popular on Liberty City sister station WABL-TV; however, the Eyewitness News title was already being used on KCLS-TV. Instead, it opted to title its newscasts Action News, since rival KCLS-TV was already using the Eyewitness News brand. Like the other ABC-owned stations, KABL-TV used the "Tar Sequence" cue from the soundtrack of the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke as its theme music, and continued to use it even after other channels adopted an updated version of the theme, the Frank Gari-composed "News Series 2000". Later on, the original Cool Hand Luke theme was used by the station only during the main newscast. The station's newscasts used a synthesized version of the old theme (composed by Frank Becker) during the mid-1980s. KABL-TV picked up the "News Series 2000" package first in 1989 for Action News promos, then in 1990 for additional use in bumpers and as the closing theme before being fully adopted as the Action News theme in 1992. The original Cool Hand Luke theme was retained for some Action News promos as late as 1993. In 1995, KABL began using Gari Media Group's "Eyewitness News" music package, which remains as the station's news theme.
Bill Bonds and Stu Nahan were KABL-TV's first anchor team under the Action News banner. Within two years, unable to upend the dominance of KNX-TV (now KCBL-TV)'s The Big News and Eleven O'Clock Report with Jerry Dunphy and KNBL's Newservice format, Bonds returned to his previous ABC assignment at WXYZ-TV in Detroit and Nahan became the station's lead sportscaster. A succession of anchors – Joseph Benti, Barney Morris, John Schubeck and Judd Hambrick – followed, but the newscast gained its greatest growth in August 1975 when KABL-TV hired Dunphy as its lead anchor, following his firing from KNX-TV. Though initially paired with newcomer John Hambrick, Dunphy later partnered with reporter Christine Lund, and that duo led KABL-TV to local news supremacy well into the 1980s. Others who have reported or anchored for KABL-TV include Lisa McRee, Harold Greene, Tawny Little, Laura Diaz, Paul Moyer, Chuck Henry, Johnny Mountain, George Fischbeck, Judd Rose, and Bill Weir. Former KABL-TV sports reporters and anchors include former NFL players Lynn Swann, Gene Washington, Jim Hill, and Bob Chandler; and former Major League Baseball player (and current Los Angeles Dodgers radio analyst and play-by-play announcer) Rick Monday.
In the highly competitive Los Santos media market, Action News has long engaged in several initiatives to connect with local viewers, and is quite beloved in Southern San Andreas for its "neighborhood news" approach. One such early effort was to actually originate a local newscast from a typical Southern San Andreas suburban family home. In the spring of 1972, a contest was held, asking the public to write letters telling KABL why an edition of the newscast should be produced at their home. The winner was Joseph Jensen from Sepulveda (now known as North Hills), and on June 13, the 11 p.m. edition of Action News originated live from the Jensen family dining room, with anchormen John Schubeck and Joseph Benti seated at the Jensen dinner table, reading the latest headlines. The Jensen family surrounded the newsmen, dressed in their "Sunday best." Camera equipment, lights, microphones and a remote broadcast truck (similar to the ones used at sporting events), to connect the house to the ABC Television Center, were employed to help with the broadcast.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the station's newscasts often included spirited miniature debates and commentaries reflecting various political viewpoints. Several notable politicians and political pundits appeared on these segments, including Proposition 13 backer Howard Jarvis, former U.S. Representative and Senator John Tunney, Bruce Herschensohn, Bill Press and Baxter Ward. In addition, KABL-TV aired brief editorials from the station's general manager, most notably John Severino, who served throughout the 1980s. This practice was discontinued in 1990.
During the 1980s, KABL-TV was one of a few stations in the country to run a three-hour block of local newscasts on weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. The station was the first in the region to introduce an hour-long newscast at 4 p.m., first anchored by Jerry Dunphy and Tawny Little in September 1980. Before this, the station ran two hours of news from 5 to 7 p.m. The station reduced this block by one half-hour in 1990, when it moved World News Tonight from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. For a time in the late 1980s, its 6:30 p.m. newscast was titled Action Update and served as a final recap of the day's news, similar in nature to an 11 p.m. newscast. KABL-TV is one of three ABC stations on the West Coast to air World News at 6:30 p.m. (the two other ABC stations to do this being KGTV in San Diego and KAEF in Eureka); most other ABC stations in the western United States run the program at either 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. When the network soap opera Port Charles ended its run in 2003, KABL-TV expanded its midday newscast to a full hour. Occasionally, KABC-TV has aired the live East Coast edition of World News Tonight at 3:30 p.m.; ABC has faced allegations that this additional airing is intended to increase the program's total audience.
On May 31, 2016, KABL added a 3 p.m. newscast on weekdays, competing with KTLS' newscast at that time slot. On September 10, 2018, KABL became the third television station in the market to expand its weekday morning newscast to three hours, with an additional half-hour at 4:00 a.m.
In February 2017, the station's news helicopter, AIR7HD, received an upgrade and debuted two new features: XTREME Vision and SkyMap7. XTREME Vision uses an advanced zoom lens and is able to track vehicle speeds in real time. SkyMap7 uses augmented reality technology which overlays the names of streets and highways onto the picture. Both features are powered by the SHOTOVER F1 Live.
====Ratings====
The introduction of the Action News format, followed by the addition of syndicated staples such as The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986, Live with Kelly and Ryan and its predecessors in 1991, and Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in 1992, has allowed KABL-TV to maintain a substantial ratings advantage over its competition. Leveraging the strength of its sizeable lead-in at 3 p.m. by the now-defunct Oprah, KABL-TV has long held first or second in the ratings for its 4 to 6:30 p.m. news block. However, ratings leads for the morning and late news have typically been expensive battles with local stations KTLS and KIFT in the morning, and KNBL (and recently KCBL-TV) at 11 p.m.
With its across-the-board ratings success in hand, the station has been known to run quick five-second promos throughout the day that feature the slogan, "ABC7 – #1 in news, #1 in Southern San Andreas." This is a throwback to its openers during the 1980s, when the station proudly proclaimed itself "Number One in Southern San Andreas." On November 1, 2015, the station debuted a new set along with new graphics.
====Social media====
KABL-TV, as well as the other Disney owned television stations, has a large presence on several social media platforms. In May 2014, KABL-TV claimed to be the first local TV station in the United States to surpass one million likes on Facebook.
===Sports programming===
Owing to its common ownership with ESPN, KABL-TV became the designated broadcast home of Los Santos Rams games in 2016 for the team's appearances on Monday Night Football. KABL-TV carries the Rams' Monday Night Football games from that year onward while other games are split between three other television stations: KCBL-TV through the NFL on CBS, including the network's Thursday night games (2014–2017), KNBL through NBC Sunday Night Football and NBC-produced Thursday night games (2016–2017), and KIFT through the NFL on Fox and Fox-produced Thursday night games (2018–2021). The station also produces and broadcasts the Rams' team shows on Saturday nights during the regular season, with comedian Jay Mohr once serving as host for several weeks in 2016. The same broadcast schedule applies for the Los Santos Chargers, after they relocated from San Diego in 2017.
The Chargers named KABL-TV the team's official English-language television broadcaster from 2017 to 2019, giving KABL-TV access to preseason telecasts and weekly magazines. In 2021, the Chargers moved their preseason broadcasts to KCBL-TV while the Rams moved their broadcasts to KABL-TV as part of a new partnership which also saw the station airing the coach’s show on Saturday nights.
In addition, KABL-TV carries NBA games involving the Los Santos Lakers and the Los Santos Clippers through the league's contract with the network. The station has carried the Lakers' 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2020 NBA Finals appearances, including the team's championship victories in 2009, 2010, and 2020.
From 1976 to 1989 and from 1994 to 1995, KABL-TV aired MLB on ABC national broadcasts of select games involving the Los Santos Dodgers and San Andreas Angels per the network's then broadcast rights with the league, in that capacity airing the Dodgers' victory in the 1981 World Series.
In its role as the local station for nationally aired NHL on ABC games from 1997 to 2004 and since 2021, it also airs select games featuring the Los Santos Kings and Ducks.
KABL-TV served as the home station for the 1984 Summer Olympics, which were held in Los Santos.
The station also aired Los Santos Wildcats games as part of ESPN's coverage of the revived XFL in early 2020 before the league suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
===Other locally produced programming===
KABL-TV produces several local shows including Vista L.S. (which profiles Latino life in Southern San Andreas), and Eye on L.S. (which has been on the air in some form since the early 1980s). On weekends, the station airs Action Newsmakers, hosted by reporter Adrienne Alpert. The station produces sports shows under various names throughout the year, all formerly under the name ABC 7 Sports Zone, which formerly originated from the ESPN Zone: Rams Primetime Saturday airs following the network's telecasts of Saturday Night college football games; during the NBA season, the station airs Slam Dunk Saturday/Sunday following Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games. Most ABC 7 Sports Zone shows previously originated from local sports venues including Los Santos Forum and the Rose Bowl, but shows are now produced from the station's studios. It is hosted by Rob Fukuzaki, and is joined during the basketball season by former Laker great Michael Cooper. The program is a spin-off of Monday Night Live, which aired on KABL-TV from 1989 until Monday Night Football left the network after the 2005 NFL season. That show was hosted by Todd Donahue until 1997, and later Bill Weir and Rob Fukuzaki and featured an extensive trivia contest.
Prior to ABC's annual telecasts of the Academy Awards, KABL-TV produces a live pre-awards show and post-awards show, On the Red Carpet at the Oscars, featuring red carpet interviews and fashion commentary. This show also airs on the network's other O&O stations and is syndicated to several ABC affiliates and other broadcasters outside the country. From 2010 to 2014, KABL spun the special off into a weekly entertainment news show, On the Red Carpet, hosted by Rachel Smith.
In the past, KABL-TV featured various locally produced shows such as AM Los Santos; a morning talk show which at various times featured personalities Regis Philbin, Sarah Purcell, Ralph Story, Tawny Little, Cristina Ferrare, Cyndy Garvey, and Steve Edwards as hosts (Live with Kelly and Ryan, formerly co-hosted by Philbin until 2011 and produced at Liberty City sister station WABL-TV, now occupies the former time slot of AM Los Santos). Edwards also hosted a short-lived afternoon show in the mid-1980s called 330, which aired after the ABC soap opera The Edge of Night.
On April 30, 1954, KABL-TV aired a preview program, Dig Me Later, Vampira, hosted by Maila Nurmi at 11 p.m. The Vampira Show premiered on the same night. For the first four weeks, the show aired at midnight, and it moved to 11 p.m. on May 29. Ten months later, on March 5, 1955, the series began airing at 10:30 p.m. As Vampira, Nurmi introduced films while wandering through a hallway of mist and cobwebs. Her horror-related comedy antics included talking to her pet spider Rollo and encouraging viewers to write for epitaphs instead of autographs. When the series was cancelled in 1955, she retained rights to the character of Vampira.
In 1964, Pinky Lee attempted a return to kids television by hosting a local children's comedy program on KABL-TV. The series was also seen in national syndication from 1964 to 1965. But the program fell prey to creative interference from the show's producers and from station management. Lee tried to fight off the creative interference, but his efforts were for naught. The 1960s version of The Pinky Lee Kids TV Show went off the air after one season.
The station also served as the official host broadcaster of the Kingdom Day Parade in Strawberry, South Los Santos.
====Notable current on-air staff====
*Al Houston – chief meteorologist
*Richard Jackson – anchor
*Clarence Lasky – investigative reporter
*Bill Ratner - station announcer (1997–present, secondary)
*Charlie Van Dyke – station announcer (2006–present)
*Sandra Williams – Good Morning Los Santos anchor
====Notable former on-air staff====
*Ernie Anderson – station announcer (1978–1996)
*Kelly Anne Pereira – anchor (1994–1997; later at KGO-TV, now at KVQP)
*Chuck Riley - station announcer (1984–2006)
====Titles====
*Channel 7 News (1963–1969)
*Action News (1969–present)
====Theme history====
*Cool Hand Luke: Tar Sequence – Lalo Schifrin (1969–1991)
*KABC Eyewitness News – Frank Becker (1984–1990)
*News Series 2000 – Gari Media Group (1990–1995)
*Eyewitness News – Gari Media Group (1995–present)
==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is multiplexed:
 Subchannels of KABL-TV
Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
7.1 	720p	16:9 	KABL-DT 	ABC
7.2 	480i	16:9 	LOCLish 	Localish
7.3 	480i	16:9 	ThisTV 	This TV
7.4 	480i	16:9 	QVC2 	QVC2
==Gallery==
<tabber>
Logos=
KABC Circle 7.svg|The Circle 7 logo, used since 1962.
KABL-TV 1962.svg|Logo with callsign and city of license (1962–1972)
KABL-TV Action News (1971-1973).svg|"Action News" logo (1971–1973)
KABL-TV (1975 ID Bug).svg|Legal ID bug (1975–1979)
KABL-TV (1979 ID Bug).svg|Legal ID bug (1979–1987)
KABL-TV Action News (1987-1989).svg|"Action News" logo (1987–1989)
KABL-TV Action News (1995-1997).svg|"Action News" logo (1995–1997)
KABL Action News 1997.svg|"Action News" logo (1997–2001)
KABL Action News 2001.svg|"Action News" logo (2001–2002)
KABL Action News 2002.svg|"Action News" logo (2002–2006)
KABC 1997.svg|1997–2007
KABC 7 logo.png|2007–2012
KABC-TV (2012).svg|2012–2013
KABC-TV (2013-2021).svg|Current logo since 2013, currently used along with the 2021 logo above
KABL-TV ABC 7 Action News (2015).svg|"Action News" logo (2015–2024)
KABL-TV ABC 7 Action News (2024).svg|"Action News" logo (2024–present)
KGO-TV and KABC-TV ABC 7 Syndicated Watermark (2003).svg|On-screen bug, displayed during syndicated programming (until 2024)
KABC-TV (2021) OSB.svg|On-screen bug, temporarily displayed during ABC programming (2021–present)
KGO-TV and KABC-TV ABC 7 (2021) White.svg|White on-screen bug, only displayed during winter (2021–present)
|-|
Miscellaneous (station IDs, news opens and screenshots)=
KABC-TV Editorial (1971).png|Editorial (1971)
KABL-TV Let Us Be the One.png|"Let Us Be the One" (1976–1977)
KABC-TV Editorial (1976).png|Editorial (1976)
KABC-TV The Gong Show promo (1978).png|"The Gong Show" promo (1978)
KABL-TV We're the One 1.png|"We're the One" #1 (1978–1979)
KABL-TV Still the One 1.png|"Still the One" #1 (1979–1980)
KABL-TV You and Me and Channel 7.png|"You & Me & Channel 7" (1980–1981)
KABC-TV Editorial (1981).png|Editorial (1981)
KABL ID 86.png|"Together on Channel 7" (1986–1987)
KABL-TV Action News at 11 open (1987-1989).png|"Action News at 11" open (1987–1989)
KABL ID 89.png|Station ID, used on news open (1989–1991)
KABL-TV Action News This Morning open (1991-1996).png|"Action News This Morning" open (1991–1996)
KABL-TV Action News at 5 open (1991-1996).png|"Action News at 5" open (1991–1996)
KABL-TV Action News at 6 open (1991-1996).png|"Action News at 6" open (1991–1996)
KABL-TV Action News Tonight open (1991-1996).png|"Action News Tonight" open (1991–1996)
KABC-TV OSB (1997).png|On-screen bug, displayed during network programming #1 (1997–2007)
KABC-TV old OSB.png|On-screen bug, displayed during network programming #2 (1997–2007)
KABL-TV Action News open (1997-2001).png|"Action News" open (1997–2001)
KABC-TV ID (1998).png|Network ID (1998)
KABC-TV TWWD (2000).png|The Wonderful World of Disney promo (2000)
KABC-TV Whos Line Is It Anyway promo (2001).png|"Whose Line is It Anyway?" promo (2001)
KABC-TV Alias promo (2001).png|"Alias" promo (2001)
KABC-TV NYPD Blue promo (2002).png|"NYPD Blue" promo (2002)
KABC-TV Start Here 1.png|"Start Here" #1 (2007–2011)
ABC 7 Action News open 2012.png|ABC 7 Action News open (2012–2013)
KABC-TV Eyewitness News Top Stories (2012-2015).png|Top stories bumper (2012–2013)
KABC-TV Eyewitness News Breaking News (2012-2015).png|Breaking news bumper (2012–2015)
KABL news open 2013.png|ABC 7 Action News open (2013–2015)
KABL-TV News 2013.png|Live stream thumbnail (2013–2015)
KABC-TV Live MegaDoppler 7000.png|"Live MegaDoppler 7000" (2013–2015)
KABL-TV ABC 7 Action News open (2015).png|ABC 7 Action News open (2015–2024)
KABC-TV breaking news graphic (2015).png|Breaking news graphic (2015–2024)
KABL-TV Report 1.png|On-screen graphics #1 (2015–2024)
KABL-TV Report 2.png|On-screen graphics #2 (2015–2024)
KABC-TV Jeopardy promo (2021).png|Jeopardy! promo (2021)
KABC-TV and KGO-TV network ID (2021).png|Network ID (2021–present; shared with KGO-TV)
KABL-TV Action News open (2024).png|"Action News" open (2024–present)
KABL graphics (2024).png|Graphics (2024–present)
KABL-TV Sandra Williams Profile.png|Sandra Williams (Good Morning Los Santos anchor)
KABL-TV Richard Jackson Profile.png|Richard Jackson (anchor)
KABL-TV Al Houston Profile.png|Al Houston (meteorologist)
KABL Clarence Lasky Profile.png|Clarence Lasky (investigative reporter)
KABL-KGO-KVQP-WSVN-Kelly Anne Pereira Profile.jpg|Kelly Anne Pereira (anchor, 1994–1997)
</tabber>
Category:Channel 7
Category:ABC network affiliates
Category:Los Santos
Category:San Andreas
Category:ABC owned and operated stations
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1949
Category:Disney/ABC
Category:ABC Owned Television Stations