KCMH

(channel 4) is a television station in Sunset Hills, California, United States, serving the Tri-City Bay Area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
==History==
===Sign on and events that led to it (Mid-70s-1977)===
KCMH-TV signed on for the first time in the early hours of August 4, 1977 as an O&O station of NBC, after all ties with KABC-TV (now known as KABG) were cut as a result of the relations between the latter and the former reaching a souring point of no return in the Mid-70s, leading KABC to become an independent station, before becoming a Fox affiliate in the Mid 1980s and remaining that way until around the Mid-90s.
===Rocky Start (August–November 1977)===
During the first 2 months, KCMH had no local newscasts and was not widespread over-the-air, only reaching as far as the Northeast portion of Palm Harbor with its Sunset Hills transmitter. Despite this, residents believed that this station was here to stay, and within those two months, the transmitter had been upgraded to reach a majority of the TCB area (though its presence has been significantly reduced since June 12, 2009).
===Newscast's Early Days (November 1977-1979)===
Around early November, KCMH introduced their own newscasts at 6PM and 11PM (all Pacific Standard Time), the introduction was assisted by the station's choice of news team, Denny David, Jenna Ryan, meteorologist Eric Clayton, and director Oliver Donahue (all four have since retired). All of this leading up to the premiere of "NewsCenter 4" on November 26, 1977. KCMH equipped a news broadcasting format that was considered (for lack of a better term) "unique" by the local press, placing brief recaps of stories towards the end of a newscast, as well as giving the news somewhat satirically, just to name a few. This format wound up being immediately overhauled, the semi-satirical nature went unused, while the brief recap portion was made to also be midway through a newscast, it would ultimately be dropped by late 1999. 
===The Rise (1983-1995)===
Halfway through 1983, KCMH had officially become a force to be reckoned with, and by 1986, their primetime newscasts had risen to become #1 in Tri-City Bay, before dropping to a #2 spot from 1987-1989. 1987 oversaw the introduction of a noon newscast hosted by the late Zimmer Welles, and 1990 saw the reinstatement of weekend newscasts after their quiet cancellation in 1978. That same year, they would return to the top spot and remain there until around 2005. 1992 also saw an update to their logo as a result of O&O standardization. 
From 1994-1996, a chain reaction of realignments occurred in a number of markets , and Tri-City Bay was no exception, with all stations switching to new affiliations on September 19, 1995 (KTCB went from CBS to Fox, KABC went from being KABC Fox 7, to being Channel 7, and KVRO moved to CBS), as a result of NBC's ownership, Channel 4 was immune to the realignment, making it the only privately owned station to not change affiliations. 
The "Eyewitness News" branding, after being in use for 15 years, would be retired that same year, being replaced by the "News 4" branding.
===Prosperity (1996-2005)===
KCMH was doing well, both in newscasts, and programs. To commemorate this, KCMH announced in 1998 that they would start filming their newscasts in 720p High-definition, introducing them later in the year, along with a new logo to replace the '92 logo, the new logo would receive mixed reactions due to it being less creative than the logos preceding it. By Fall 1999, the station's newscasts were renamed to "NewsChannel 4" (Which lasted until March 2003 before the newscasts were renamed to NBC 4), and VHF Digital Transmitters were constructed and put into operation. KCMH's years of newscast dominance would come to an end in 2005 when it fell down to the #2 spot as a result of KTCB's growing lead. While it still remains at #2, it continues to compete with said station.
===The permanent move to Palm Harbor, and O&O no more (2005-2006)===
December 2005, staff were feeling light headed, some even collapsing, and no one knew why. Their solution, was to move to a temporary studio in Palm Harbor for a few months and investigate what the cause was. By February 2006, the investigation came to an end, and the cause was now clear and simple, Sewer Gases. More specifically, the studio was, for obvious reasons, built underneath a sewer pipeline. A crack in the foundation and floor of one of the washrooms in the studio, went unnoticed for 28 years, allowing it to emanate both sulfur dioxide & methane gas. That crack had recently gotten bigger, allowing more harmful gases to emanate. The investigation had given the station a good reason to seal that crack in the studio. This would become moot, as KCMH would make their Palm Harbor studio their permanent studio. June 2006 saw the station be one of the few NBC O&O stations sold off to Media General, bringing its 23 years as an O&O station to an end.
===Media General Era (2006-2017)===
Not too long after changing owners, KCMH would change newscast themes from Gari Media's NBC Collection, to JDK Music's Media General News Package. 2007 saw the station celebrate its 30th anniversary with a temporary change to their logo that made it morph from the regular version of the 1998 logo (NBC Peacock on top of text that reads "NBC4"), to an anniversary version of the said logo (1975 Trapezoid "N" logo, on top of text that read, "Happy" on top of more text that reads "30th birthday"), which lasted from August 4 to the end of the year. The first significant change happened in 2008, with KCMH's 1998 logo getting the "MG retool", but for almost a month, that was it. In fact, the 2008 retool of the 1998 logo didn't even appear in newscasts yet. The next major change was, of course, the switch to Media General's proprietary GFX package, doing away with the previous GFX that the station held from their O&O days. The third and final significant change, was the switch to HD on July 27, 2008, which coincided with the new aforementioned GFX package. The switch made KCMH-TV the 2nd television station in Tri-City Bay to go High-definition.
 By 2009, KCMH would suddenly go from second to last. There were many reasons for this, such as the hiring of news director Robert Lewis in late-2008, the digital TV transition, which significantly reduced the station's reach, and said news director employing some very controversial changes that led to the departure of Clark DuPre among others. Lewis would step down as news director after less than a year, being replaced with current news director Patrica Hamilton, regardless, KCMH would remain in last place for over 2 years, and wouldn't return to pre-2009 status until 2012. 
On May 26, 2010, news anchor Zimmer Welles had suffered a heart attack hours after what would unexpectedly be his final noon newscast. After being airlifted to the area's hospital, Welles was pronounced dead at the age of 53. This announcement took staff and colleagues of Welles aback, the 5, 6, and 11 P.M. newscasts that day would feature odes to the late-news anchor, as well short documentation of his news career. 
In 2014, NBC 4 premiered a new 4:30PM newscast. This one takes place at the studio's newsroom, rather than in the main set that the rest of the newscasts use. In 2016, it was announced the Media General was to acquire Meredith Corporation which, had the deal gone forward, would lead to the company being renamed "Meredith Media General". However, that same year, the Nexstar Broadcasing Group announced that they'll acquire Media General (Cancelling out the planned Meredith Corporation acquisition MG announced). by January 2017, the Nexstar acquisition went through, and KCMH became an asset of the Nexstar Media Group.
===Present Day (2017-Present)===
That same month, they would change their news GFX to one used by Media General's other stations mere weeks before their owners merged with Nexstar. Another event of note was KCMH celebrating their Fortieth Anniversary. On March 12, 2019, it was announced that KCMH would be moving to a new studio, as the existing Palm Harbor studios were starting to get too costly to manage. The year before, NBC4 had experimented with 4K cameras on select newscasts, with plans to start using them in the studio full-time by summer of 2019 or early 2020. On June 25, KCMH quietly transitioned from its Palm Harbor Studios, to their new "State-of-the-Art" studio in Port Crescent.
==Website & Station Slogan History ==
===Website History ===
*tricitybaynbc.com (1997-2000)
*nbc4tcb.com (2000-2011)
*working4you.com (2011–Present)
===Slogan History ===
*The latest Tri-City Bay station (General, 1977-1979)
*Channel 4, Proud as a Peacock! (General, 1979-1981)
*Channel 4, Our Pride is Showing. (General 1981-1982)
*KCMH 4, Just Watch Us Now! (General, 1982-1983)
*Channel 4 There! Be There! (General, 1983-1984)
*Tri-City Bay's News Team (1980-1987)
*Channel 4, Let's All Be There! (General, 1984-1986)
*Come Home to Channel 4. (General, 1986-1988)
*Tri-City Bay's Leading Station for News & Information (Newscasts, 1987-1991)
*Come Home to The Best. Only on Channel 4. (General, later shortened to "Only on Channel 4" in '89, 1988-1990)
*KCMH 4, The Place To Be. (General, 1990-1992)
*The Stars are Back on Channel 4! (General, 1993-1995)
*Coverage You Can Count On (Newscasts, 1991-1995)
*We're 4 Tri-City Bay (Universal Slogan, 1995-1997)
*Working 4 You (Universal Slogan, 1997–Present)
==Digital Television==
Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
4.1 	1080p	16:9 	NBC4KCMH 	Main KCMH/NBC Programming
===Analog-to-Digital Conversion===
KCMH ceased all regular broadcasting on its analog VHF Channel 4 signal, as part of the federally mandated transition to digital on June 12, 2009. The station remained on its pre-transition UHF Digital Channel 32, using PSIP to display the virtual channel of KCMH as 4. As part of the SAFER Act (which KCMH and two other stations participated in), KCMH had kept its analog transmitters running for "Nightlight" service announcements, before permanently shutting down said transmitters on June 30, making it the last station in the Tri-City Bay market to do so.
==Newscast Titles==
* NewsCenter 4 (1977-1984)
* Channel 4 Eyewitness News (1984-1995)
* News 4 (1995-1999)
* NewsChannel 4 (1999-2003)
* NBC 4/NBC 4 Today (2003–Present)
==Newscast Themes==
* None (1977)
*NBC TV-Radio Newspulse - Fred Weinberg Productions, Inc. (1977-1979)
* NewsCenter Theme - Michael Randall Music (1979-1984)
* NewsCenter II Theme - Michael Randall Music (1984-1987)
* WRC 1986 News Theme (1987-1991)
* WMAQ 1989 News Theme (1991-1993)
* KNBC 1993 Theme (1993-1995)
* WTVJ Custom News Package - Metro Music (1995-1997)
* WRC - Working 4 You (1997-1999)
* Prime News (NBC Version) - Newsmusic Central (1999-2001)
* The Tower V.1 - 615 Music (2001-2005)
* The NBC Collection - Gari Media Group (2005-2007)
* Media General News Package - JDK Music (2007-2015)
* Canvas - Stephen Arnold Music (2015-2017)
* WCMH 2016 News Theme & WCMH 2016 Morning News Theme (2017-2019)
* Inergy - Stephen Arnold Music (2019–present)
==Owner(s)==
* NBCUniversal (1977-2006, Sold to Media General)
* Media General (2006-2017, Owner acquired by Nexstar Media Group)
* Nexstar Media Group (2017–Present)
==Notable On-Air Staff==
===Anchors ===
====Weekday Edition====
*Jerry McConnell (NBC 4 Today, Main Anchor. 2007–Present)
*Riley Williams (NBC 4 Today, Main Anchor. 2002–Present)
*Daniel Brown (NBC 4 Today, Fill-In Anchor. 1997–Present)
*Jennifer Broadwell (NBC 4 at Noon, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 11PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1997–Present)
*Jack Winn (NBC 4 at Noon, Fill-In Anchor. NBC 4 at 4:30PM & 5PM, Main Anchor. 2005–Present)
*Len Michaels (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 6PM & 11PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1994–Present)
*Finn Strom (NBC 4 at 5PM, Main Anchor. 2011–Present)
*Karen Grant (NBC 4 at 5PM, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 11PM, Main Anchor. Mid 1980s-Present)
*Stephen Symone (NBC 4 at 6PM, Main Anchor. 1995–Present)
*Brandon Milo (NBC 4 at 6PM, Fill-In Anchor. NBC 4 at 4:30PM, Fill-In Anchor. 1992–Present)
*Ken Shepard (NBC 4 at 11PM, Main Anchor. 1983–Present)
====Weekend Edition====
*Steve Lawrence (NBC 4 Today Weekend, Main Anchor. 2013–Present)
*Sarah Brandt (NBC 4 at Noon Weekend, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 6PM Weekend, Fill-In Anchor. 2000–Present)
*Franklin Nelson (NBC 4 at 5PM & 6PM Weekend, Main Anchor. 1987–Present)
*Jim Franz (NBC 4 at 11PM Weekend, Main Anchor. NBC 4 at 5PM Weekend, Fill-In Anchor. 1990–Present)
===4Warn Stormteam Meteorologists ===
*Geoff Pennant (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, 6PM, and 11PM, Weekday Edition. 1985–Present)
*Keri Bates (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist (NBC 4 at 4:30PM, 6PM, and 11 PM, Weekend Edition. 1995–Present)
*Zachary Greene - Meteorologist (NBC 4 Today Weekday. 2009–Present)
*Kevin Shepard - Meteorologist (NBC 4 Today & NBC 4 at Noon, Weekend Edition. 2002–Present )
*June Powell - Meteorologist (NBC 4 at Noon Weekday & NBC 4 at 5PM Weekday/Weekend Editions. 1998–Present)
===Aerial4ce (Bell 412 Helicopter)===
*Ryan Davis - Main Pilot (2011–Present)
*Larry Lewis - Fill-In Pilot (2005–Present)
*Sandra Wynne - Main Arial Reporter and Photographer (2014–Present)
*Nicolas Willis - Fill-In Arial Reporter and Photographer (2001–Present)
===NBC 4 Sports Staff===
*Kenny Burns - Sports Anchor (2001–Present)
*Lewis Burrows - Sports Anchor/Reporter (2009–Present)
*Jeff Dalewood - Sports Reporter (2004–Present)
*Pete Kramer - Sports Director (1979–Present)
===Reporters ===
*Patricia Loft - Reporter (1989–Present)
*Stephanie Winston - General Assignment Reporter (1993–Present)
*Larry Harris - Traffic Reporter (1986–Present)
*Ren Bauer - Reporter (2015–Present)
*Conner Hurst - General Assignment Reporter (1998–Present)
*Benny Powers - Reporter (1986–Present)
==Notable Former On-Air Staff==
*Denny David - Anchor (6PM & 11PM) - NewsCenter 4, Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1977-1984, later at KLLL-TV, retired in 1995)
*Jenna Ryan - Anchor (6PM & 11PM) - NewsCenter 4, Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, & News 4 Era (1977-1998, later at KPAD-TV, retired in 2003)
*Eric Clayton - Meteorologist/Chief Meteorologist (5PM, 6PM and 11PM) - NewsCenter 4, Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, NewsChannel 4, & NBC 4 Era (1977-2004, retired)
*Sean Lewis - Reporter - NewsCenter 4, Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1978-1990, later at KRSK-TV & KOCC-TV, retired 2001)
*Dean Walker - Sports Anchor (Morning and Noon Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, & NewsChannel 4 Era (1989-2000, now at KTCB-TV)
*Steven Woodward - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1985-1990, now at KCB-TV)
*Jonas Peterson - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News & News 4 Era (1993-1999, now at KCB-TV)
*Mackenzie Gray - Sports Anchor (Weekend Noon Newscasts) - News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1996-2002)
*Ray Bison - Reporter & Fill-In Anchor (Weekday Newscasts) - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2001-2012)
*Zimmer Welles - Anchor (Noon Weekday Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (1987-2010, died from a heart attack in 2010)
*Terry McCormick - Special Assignments Reporter - Eyewitness News & Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1982-1991, later at KFPL-TV & WNBS-TV, retired in 2014)
*Riley Blue - Reporter - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1990-2003, later at KFPL-TV as an Editor, was one of the many survivors in the latter station's 2004 studio explosion. Retired)
*Shaun Bucklead - Fill-In anchor (6PM & 11PM) - NBC 4 Era (2006-2017, now at WPAD-TV)
*Kelly Verond - Reporter - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2003-2018, left to pursue other careers)
*Clark DuPre - Anchor (Weekend Morning and Noon Newscasts) - News 4, Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (1996-2009, now at KALW)
*Mike Carter - Sports Anchor - News 4 & Newschannel 4 Era (1995-2002)
*Johnathan Springsteen - Fill-In Anchor (Weekday Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News Era (1984-1993, later at KVRO-TV, retired in 2000, passed away in 2013 from Lung Cancer)
*Eric Pool - Anchor (Morning Newscasts) - Newschannel 4 and NBC 4 Era (2002-2006, now at WWRC)
*Jared Maloney - Anchor (12PM & 5PM Weekday Newscasts, and 11PM Weekend Newscasts) - Channel 4 Eyewitness News, Newschannel 4, and NBC 4 Era (1993-2018, now the main 11PM Anchor at KNBS)
*Amy Glennendale - Meteorologist (12PM) - NBC 4 Era (2004-2013, now at KHAX)
*Jessica Walker - Anchor (5PM & 6PM weekend newscasts) - NBC 4 Era (2005-2015, now at KOKR as an anchor for the latter's morning newscasts)
*Sam Taft - Sports Anchor - Newschannel 4 & NBC 4 Era (2000-2017. Now at WBTV)
*Glen Flynn - Anchor (Morning Newscasts) - Eyewitness News, Channel 4 Eyewitness News, News 4, Newschannel 4, and NBC 4 Era (1982-2006. Later at WFIX from 2006-2013, and WWJ from 2013-2019, retired January 1, 2019)
==Gallery==
KCMH 1980.png|1980-1986 Logo
KCMH 1986.png|Short-Lived variant with current 6-Feathered Peacock (1986-1987)
NBC 4 1987.png|1987-1992 Logo
NBC 4 1992.png|1992-1998 Logo
KCMH 1997.png|1998-2008 Logo
KCMH Olympics.svg|Olympics logo, first used during Vancouver 2010
KCMH 2002 open.png|News open from 2001-2003
NBC 4 2003 open.png|2003-2005 open
File:KCMH 2005-2008 News Open.png|2005-2008 news open
KCMH 2008-2011 open.png|2008-2011 News Open
NBC 4 2011 open.png|News open from 2011-2015
KCMH 2015-2017 open.png|News open from 2015-2017
KCMH 2017-19 open.png|Last Media General Era news open (2017-2019)
KCMH current open.png|News open since 2019
Channel4EWN87logo.png|Channel 4 Eyewitness News Logo from 1987-1992
NBC 4 Eyewitness News Logo.png|Channel 4 Eyewitness News Logo from 1992-1995
KCMH News 4 1995 Logo.png|News 4 Logo from 1995-1998
KCMH News 4 Logo.png|News 4 logo from 1998-1999
News Channel 4 Logo.png|News Channel 4 Logo from 1999-2003 (before they started titling their newscasts as "NBC 4")
KCMH Studios Pre-2006.png|KCMH's first studio in Sunset Hills used from 1977-2006 (Image taken in 2001)
File:KCMH 1984 Station ID (VHS).png|Station ID from 1984
KCMH 1986 ID.png|"Come Home To Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "Come Home To NBC" campaign (1986–87)
KCMH1987IDwithinNewsOpen.png|1987-1991 Station ID as seen in this news open (Recorded in 1990)
KCMH1988StationID.png|"Come Home To The Best. Only On Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "Come Home To The Best. Only On NBC" campaign (1988–89)
The Stars are Back on KCMH 4VHS.png|"The Stars are Back on Channel 4!" Localized Station ID for NBC's "The Stars are Back" campaign (1993-1995)
NBC Next ID with KCMH Legal Identification.png|KCMH's Legal Identification Bug on this NBC Next ID (Late-1994)
Category:Tri-City Bay, California
Category:California
Category:NBC network affiliates
Category:Channel 4
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1977
Category:Nexstar Media Group
Category:Former Media General stations
Category:Former owned-and-operated stations