Phoenix

KTVK, the independent station in Phoenix, has hired Dennis Welch as political editor, TVNewsCheck reports. He will begin June 1.

Welch will oversee the station’s political coverage and co-host “Politics Unplugged,” the station’s political affairs show. He joins KTVK from the Arizona Guardian, where he was owner and editor. He has been a frequent guest on “Politics Unplugged” for the past several years.

“Dennis gives us a first-rate political reporter who really knows Arizona’s political landscape,” executive news director Brad Remington said.  Read more

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Jerome Parra will take over as news director of KXTV, the ABC-affiliate in Sacramento, on May 14.

Parra began his career as a writer and assignment editor at KXTV. He is currently the assistant news director at KPNX, the NBC-affiliate in Phoenix.

“He is a smart, innovative journalist who is passionate about news,” KXTV president and general manager Maria Barrs said in a statement. “He has great energy and ideas, along with the right experience, skills and drive to lead our team.” Read more

KTVK has moved swiftly to counter reports that anchor Kaley O’Kelley dropped the f-bomb on-air this morning after hearing that Peyton Manning had decided to sign with the Broncos.

The station posted a video to YouTube this afternoon in which O’Kelley’s co-anchor, Scott Pasmore, sets the record straight.

“Kaley, sitting right next to me, said, ‘Oh, I just lost a buck,” Pasmore says in the video, referring to a $1 bet O’Kelley had about where the star quarterback would end up (video above).

KTVK anchor Kaley O’Kelley appeared to drop the f-bomb this morning after she heard that Peyton Manning was signing with the Broncos (video above).

During a segment about this recent study, O’Kelley was speaking with two local radio personalities when one of them mentioned that he had just seen a tweet about Manning signing with the Broncos, instead of the hometown Cardinals.

KTVK had yet to report on Manning’s decision at the time. It’s unclear exactly what spurred O’Kelley’s apparent curse, though. >Update: KTVK news director Brad Remington tells TVSpy that O’Kelley said “buck.” Read more

The mystery behind the big flash of light that appeared in the sky during a KSAZ traffic update last Thursday morning has been solved.

The KSAZ news team was initially unable to determine the origin of the flash, which appeared on a live traffic camera, but now, after some sleuthing by reporter Miriam Garcia, the Fox O&O has determined that the orb of light was caused by an electrical breaker.

Garcia interviewed a woman who witnessed the breaker malfunction, which occured at 5:10 a.m. on Thursday. Video inside… Read more

As KSAZ‘s Andrea Robinson delivered a traffic update Thursday morning, a mysterious orb of bright light appeared in a live shot of a Phoenix highway.

The flash of light, reminiscent of an explosion, comes just days before the 15th anniversary of the famous “Phoenix Lights” incident, in which a series of lights were observed in the skies over Arizona.

KSAZ checked with local utilities companies to see if perhaps a transformer had blown, but there were no reports of such an explosion.

The station has asked viewers to share any information they may have about the flash on Facebook and Twitter. So far, there is no evidence that the flash was caused by visitors from outer space (there is also no evidence that is was not caused by aliens). Video inside… Read more

KPNX reporter Melissa Blasius is a fixture at Arizona’s state legislature building, having covered local politics for the past seven years.  So it came as a shock to Blasius today when she and a photographer were blocked from entering the state house chamber.

Blasius, along with photojournalist Ed Ayala, were at the state legislature building working on a story about a minimum wage bill that was up for a vote.  After gaining admittance to the house floor earlier in the day, Blasius and Ayala were blocked from re-entering the area by the House Speaker’s news spokesman, Rey Torres.

“When we attempted to re-enter the chamber, Torres told us (to my great surprise) that we had to scan state-government-issued badges to re-enter,” Blasius recounted.  “When we could only produce our company-issued media credentials, he forced us to leave the area.” Read more

KTVK, the independent station in Phoenix, was the only local station in the country to simulcast yesterday’s CNN debate from Mesa, Arizona.

According to Nielsen Fast Nationals, the 6pm-8pm KTVK simulcast of the GOP primary debate averaged 119,000 Total Viewers and 55,000 A25-54 viewers. More than 4 million people watched the debate on CNN.

KTVK’s coverage included pre- and post-debate coverage anchored by Fields Moseley, with Carey Pena and Frank Camacho reporting live from the Mesa Arts Center.

KPSP morning anchor Stella Inger has been hired at KTVK, the independent station in Phoenix.

Inger was the morning anchor at Palm Springs CBS-affiliate KPSP, and she will serve in the same role at KTVK.

“I love the mornings because I’m able to show my personality more and have a great time while still bringing the viewers the news,” Inger told the Desert Sun. “Waking up with people — I love it.”

Inger has worked at KPSP since 2008. Her last day at the station will be February 29, and she will begin at KTVK in mid-March.

Facilities at KPHO, the CBS-affiliate in Phoenix, are undergoing extensive renovations that will bring upgrades to the studio and the newsroom.

The renovations will cost nearly $1 million, the Phoenix Business Journal reports.  The studio renovations include an upgrade to energy-efficient technology, while the newsroom renovations will give every KPHO staffer the ability to edit video at their desks and filter it through a “content center hub.” Station employees will be located on a newly-constructed second-floor mezzanine (pictured).

“This really changes that way that people think about story assignments and where a story goes first,” KPHO vice president and general manager Edward Munson told the Business Journal. Read more