News Operation
KION has morning and evening newscasts seven days a week, totaling 23 hours of news per week (including the broadcast on KCBA). On weekdays, a two-hour morning news block begins at 5 a.m., followed by a half-hour newscast at 5, 6, and 11 p.m., respectively. KION also produces its half-hour 10 p.m. newscast over on KCBA, seven nights a week. On weekends, asides from the KCBA broadcast, while KION does not have weekend morning newscasts, KION only has half-hour newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m. The CBS Evening News has its timeslot at 5:30 p.m. due to current ownership. KION previously had the CBS Evening News at 6 p.m.
In October 2009, KION became the first station in the Salinas - Monterey market to begin broadcasting local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen high definition. The 10 p.m. newscast on KCBA was included in the upgrade. KION and KCBA broadcast news in high definition using HD studio cameras, HD field cameras and a new HD control room installed in August 2009. Live shots are still done using upconverted widescreen standard definition signals. KCBA and KION were the only stations in the Monterey Bay and on the Central Coast to broadcast their news in HD until August 25, 2010, when rival KSBW started to broadcast the majority of its local news, as well as weather and sports segments, in HD. This comes after KSBW had been the first to launch a widescreen newscast a few weeks before KION, though the KSBW newscasts were in merely widescreen standard definition, and no pillarboxes were inserted until late-February 2010. Sports segments originate from the KCOY studios and are currently in 16:9 widescreen.
Under current ownership (as of May 2010), the slogan has changed from "Your Eye on the Central Coast" to "Right Now" at the start of newscasts. This slogan is used on other Cowle media stations in California, where they are also branded as Central Coast News, however, the slogan mirrors other stations in that group, including The KHQ Television Group. KION has previously used the "Central Coast News" branding in the 1990s when it was branded as "KCCN Central Coast News".
As of late 2010, KION and KCBA introduced a new slogan, "A New Leader is Emerging." The new promos include viewership, news, weather, and political coverage. In addition, weekend weather anchors also produces weather segments for sister stations KCOY and KKFX.
On January 6, 2012, sister stations KCOY and KKFX announced that in an effort to cut costs, a round of layoffs was announced that includes the elimination of the sports department, cutting the morning show produced at the Santa Maria studios to only one hour on weekdays, and having the evening newscasts to be based at the KION/KCBA studios. Layoffs at KCOY/KKFX include chief meteorologist Jim Byrne and sports anchor Kevin Roose, although KCOY weeknight anchor Arturo Santiago will shift to reporting duties.
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