23 Facts About KPRC-TV

KPRC-TV is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group.

In March 1972, KPRC-TV moved into a new state-of-the-art studio facility in the Sharpstown area where it operated from for 45 years.

In January 2015, KPRC-TV dropped the "Local" and began simply calling itself "Channel 2".

In December 2015, KPRC-TV broke ground on a new studio, behind the old studio in the employee parking lot, on the same Sharpstown site.

Since October 1994, KPRC-TV has used the familiar "Lone Star 2" logo, which was modified in 2004 for HD.

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Since its inception KPRC-TV has been an NBC affiliate, and in part because of NBC's affiliation the station was the first in Houston to broadcast in color.

From 1969 to 1998, KPRC-TV produced the longest-running syndicated television program in Texas, The Eyes of Texas, a lifestyle program which focused on segments relating to Texas culture and life.

KPRC-TV was one of the first stations to air telethons, raising $28,000 for the American Cancer Society in 1950.

Indeed, KPRC-TV was the original Houston affiliate for Geraldo, which the station carried from its 1987 debut until complaints from viewers and even station management over its content led KPRC-TV to drop the show in 1990.

When Passions debuted on NBC in 1999, KPRC-TV were the only NBC affiliates that preempted the soap opera until 2002, even though Passions' predecessor Another World was cleared by KPRC for most if not all of its entire run.

KPRC-TV served as the team's over-the-air flagship station from 1973 to 1978.

Appropriate for a station with roots in the Houston Post, KPRC-TV has long been a very news-intensive station, and in particular one with a history of innovation in television journalism.

KPRC-TV was the first station in Houston to use weather radar for its weather reports, to use videotape for field reporting, to have a fully staffed news bureau in Austin, to hire female and African American reporters, and to hire a Hispanic news anchor for an English-language newscast.

Also in 1980, KPRC-TV rebranded their newscasts from Big 2 News to Channel 2 News.

Two years later, KPRC-TV constructed a new newsroom within one of its three studios, utilizing the newsroom as a backdrop that was similar to the "newsplex" set used by Miami Fox affiliate WSVN, itself a former NBC affiliate which became a ratings leader in that market after losing its NBC affiliation and switching to a similar tabloid-style format.

In 2004, KPRC-TV retitled its newscasts as Local 2 News, putting the station in line with its fellow Post-Newsweek stations which adopted similar branding and perhaps to avoid confusion with News 24 Houston, a 24-hour local cable news channel owned by Time Warner Cable and Belo which shut down just weeks before KPRC-TV's transition was complete.

KPRC-TV was hit with a 2006 boycott by civil rights activist Quanell X and other African American leaders following the demotion of African American anchors Linda Lorelle and Khambrel Marshall from its evening broadcasts.

However, since Nielsen Media Research began using Local People Meters in the Houston market in October 2007, KPRC-TV began to see gains in most timeslots, while its competition saw declines.

On July 19,2008, during its 6 pm newscasts, KPRC-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition in the run up to NBC's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

KPRC-TV retitled its newscasts back to Channel 2 News in 2015.

Gutierrez, in between his stints for KPRC-TV, was a Fox News Channel correspondent and an anchor for WBBM-TV in Chicago, as well as for NBC owned-and-operated station KXAS-TV in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.

KPRC-TV had carried This TV from the start of 2009 until May 28,2018, on its second subchannel, being one of the network's longest-tenured affiliates before leaving This TV on that day.

KPRC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12,2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.