We're delighted to be able to tell you about our broadcast center.

KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS, then an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in April of 1954, from its first location in downtown Weslaco. At the time, we had a 945-foot transmitter in La Feria. We now transmit to your homes from our 1,500-foot tower in Santa Maria, located south of La Feria.

In 1964, KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS was purchased by Mobile Video Tapes, Inc. under the leadership of the Manship family. The Manships brought growth and a commitment to quality television programming to the Rio Grande Valley.

As Weslaco grew, so did KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS and with the expansion of the station, a new building was erected in 1969 at 900 East Expressway 83, the address we still have today. But a new building was not enough for the Manships... they wanted to bring the Valley the best television available, so in March, 1976, affiliation changed to the ABC Television Network.

A major change came in 1988, when the Manships' dedication to the Valley resulted in a state-of-the-art telecommunications center, second to none. With this new building came an extensive investment in the latest electronic equipment to enhance the efforts of Eyewitness News and our production staff.

The arrival of the 21st Century brought even more changes to KRGV-TV. On October 8, 2002, KRGV-TV made a quantum leap in broadcast technology with the launch of KRGV-DT 5.1, the first digital television station on the air in the Rio Grande Valley. This new technology featured high definition (HD) programming from the ABC Network.

A few months later, KRGV-DT added digital channel 5.2 displaying local weather information around the clock. In May of 2007, LATV was introduced on 5.2, providing music and entertainment programming oriented to the young Hispanic audience. December 2008 marked the launch of Retro TV on channel 5.3. This network brought back many of the favorite programs from the early years of television, available 24 hours a day.

June 12, 2009 was the final date for regular programming on the original channel 5. It was replaced with information
concerning the transition to digital-only broadcasting, and 30 days later, the KRGV-TV analog signal signed off forever.

On September 9, 2009 KRGV-TV 5.1 transitioned to a full HD program schedule, featuring CHANNEL 5 NEWS produced live in HD, as well as Regis and Kelly, Dr. Phil, Oprah Winfrey, ET, and other syndicated programming presented in HD for the first time. Other advancements are planned for the near future, taking advantage of the latest and best technology available
for providing news and entertainment.

Another part of our station is dedicated to doing standard and high definition production work for many other companies,
TV stations, agencies and individuals.

Producing the News

There is a big difference between making a commercial and broadcasting news. Commercials can take hours to produce, but a newscast is done live--so everything has to be done right the first time. We also add another person called the news producer. The producer is in touch with everyone, from the technical people to the news anchors as well as to the reporters located miles away in our news bureaus or Mobile Breaking News Room - 5 Alive news unit. The producer is responsible for everything in the newscast--including which stories will be shown to finishing the newscast on time--down to the last second.

Have you ever wondered how our anchors can remember all those lines and never look down at a script? Well, the scripts are fed from a computer into special television screens called teleprompters, located on the front of the television cameras. By using special mirrors, we can read the scripts while looking straight into the camera lens.

These same scripts which are fed through the teleprompter, are used for closed captioning our newscasts. CHANNEL 5 NEWS' commitment to closed captioning our shows allows the hearing impaired to watch the news and get the same information as our other viewers.

First Warn 5 Storm Tracking Center

Every evening you see, Chief Meteorologist Tim Smith standing in front of the weather maps. But if you visit the studio, you'll notice it is just a big green wall. Because the wall is so large, when the national maps are super imposed Tim can walk across the entire country with just a few steps!

The FirstWarn 5 Storm Tracking Center is where we prepare the weather casts each day. From the Valley's first severe weather system, FirstWarn 5, to complete computer access to the Valley's own Doppler Radar in Brownsville, you can count on CHANNEL 5 NEWS to bring you the latest in hurricane tracking and forecasting technology. Add our staff of nearly 100 meteorologists at AccuWeather, and our state-of-the art computer graphics system, and you have one of the best equipped and most experienced weather teams in Texas.

The Newsroom

Being the Valley's News Channel means CHANNEL 5 NEWS is committed to covering breaking news and weather and investigating issues to keep viewers informed. Thus News is the largest department at CHANNEL 5 NEWS and our job is getting the news to you accurately and quickly. All news and sports stories are written and put together by our reporters, anchors and producers.

First Warn 5 Weather tacks storms with dependable accuracy using the latest in tracking and forecasting technology along with the most experienced storm tracking team in Texas, let by Chief Meteorologist Tim Smith. Behind them is a team of nearly 100 meteorologist at AccuWeather, allowing us to keep a protective eye on every city, neighborhood and street in the Valley.

Programming and other Departments

There are many other departments in the station as well. They include the Programming Department which is responsible for purchasing and scheduling the shows that you watch on CHANNEL 5 NEWS, like "Ellen", and "Live with Kelly & Ryan." Our Promotion Department promotes all KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS programming, news and community events, like Tim's Coats and The Sharing Basket.

The Sales Department sells commercials in the shows you see on CHANNEL 5 NEWS. Our Accounting Department bills the clients who purchase commercial time. These departments along with News, Production, and Engineering, all report to our General Manager, John Kittleman.

We appreciate your watching KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS, and hope that this page has given you a better understanding of what we are all about.

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