Editing KPRC-TV (section)

===News operation===
[[Image:KPRC - IAH.jpg|220px|thumb|Chopper 2 departing [[George Bush Intercontinental Airport]]]]
KPRC-TV presently broadcasts {{frac|39|1|2}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with {{frac|6|1|2}} hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays). The station also carries ''Sports Sunday'', which has been a staple of the station since its days as a locally owned station in the 1980s, at 10:20&nbsp;p.m. following its late Sunday newscast, as well as ''Houston Newsmakers'' (a local [[Sunday morning talk show]] similar in format to NBC's ''[[Meet the Press]]'') at 10:30&nbsp;a.m.

Appropriate for a station with roots in a newspaper, KPRC-TV has long been a very news-intensive station, and in particular one with a history of innovation in television journalism. In its early years under the stewardship of [[news director]] Ray Miller, KPRC-TV often led the local news ratings with such notable personalities as Miller and fellow anchors Steve Smith and Larry Rasco. 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, Texas|Austin]], to hire female and African American reporters, and to hire a Hispanic news anchor for an English-language newscast.  The station's first female anchor was Sara Lowrey, who had co-anchored the 6 p.m. news with Rasco.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sachse |first1=Dominique |last2=Barker |first2=Aaron |date=March 1, 2021 |title=Sara Lowrey: Houston's first female primetime newscast anchor |url=https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/03/02/sara-lowrey-houstons-first-female-primetime-newscast-anchor/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=Click2Houston}}</ref>
[[Image:KPRC CIMG0415.JPG|thumb|200px|KPRC [[studio transmitter link|STL]] tower off [[Interstate 69 in Texas|Interstate 69]]/[[U.S. Route 59]] in the [[Greater Sharpstown]] area of [[Houston]]]]
In 1973, after Smith departed for [[KDKA-TV]] in Pittsburgh (at the time, a larger market than Houston), the station hired former KHOU anchor [[Ron Stone (reporter)|Ron Stone]] and paired him with weatherman Doug Johnson and sportscaster [[Bill Worrell]] (who had formerly co-anchored the news with Rasco) for its evening newscasts, then known as ''Big 2 News'' (Smith would eventually return to Houston as the lead anchor at KHOU in 1975). In addition to Stone, other news anchors for ''Big 2 News'' included Cindy Martin, former [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] correspondent George Caldwell (later George Sells) and New York anchorwoman Anna Bond.<ref>[https://www.broadcastpioneers.com/bp5/georgecaldwell.html George Caldwell] ''Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia'' Retrieved January 30, 2021</ref><ref>{{Cite video |url=https://texasarchive.org/2018_00996 |title=Inside Big 2 News |date=1978 |last=KPRC-TV |type=Television production |access-date=March 13, 2021 |via=[[Texas Archive of the Moving Image]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Churcher |first=Sharon |date=May 31, 1982 |title=Anna Bond and the Melting Pot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-cCAAAAMBAJ&dq=anna+bond+wnbc+1982&pg=PA9 |access-date=November 3, 2024 |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |page=9 |volume=15 |issue=22}}</ref> Three KHOU personalities, news anchor Bob Nicholas (in 1979), along with sportscaster [[Ron Franklin]] and news anchor Bill Balleza (both in 1980) would follow Stone to KPRC-TV.  On September 15, 1980, KPRC-TV rebranded their newscasts from ''Big 2 News'' (which was used since 1969) to ''Channel 2 News'' (presented on air as ''2News'').<ref>{{Cite web|last=Boles|first=Travis|date=September 14, 1980|title=Big 2 News - September 14, 1980 - Kenny and Cynthia Boles Collection|url=https://texasarchive.org/2022_00081|access-date=December 30, 2023|work=[[Texas Archive of the Moving Image]]|language=en-US}}</ref><!-- Last 28 seconds of video shows a promo for (Channel)2News begining the following Monday; September 14, 1980, was on a Sunday -->  During this time, KTRK overtook KPRC-TV and became the dominant news station in Houston, even though KPRC-TV would continue to fare a strong second from the late 1970s well into the early 1990s as KHOU began to struggle with management and ownership issues during this period. From 1985 to 1992, the station's newscasts were branded as ''ChannelTwoNews'', broadcasting round-the-clock news updates throughout the day, including during NBC prime time shows. For several years during the early 1990s, updates also aired during the overnight hours with producers and other newsroom personnel serving as anchors. During this time, national voiceover announcer [[Charlie Van Dyke]] served as the station's image announcer, with KPRC-TV personality Don Armstrong serving as the local promo announcer.

With anchors such as Stone, Balleza, Nicholas, Jan Carson, [[Linda Lorelle]], and Dan O'Rourke, weathermen Johnson and Ted Shaw, and sports anchors Ron Franklin, Craig Roberts and Lisa Malosky, the station's newscasts often competed for and even placed first at times. In the fall of 1994, shortly after [[Post-Newsweek Stations]] bought KPRC-TV, its newscasts were retitled as ''News 2 Houston'' with a somewhat more tabloid presentational style (in contrast to its more traditional format under local ownership) similar to that of its Detroit sister station, WDIV-TV. Two years later, KPRC-TV constructed a new newsroom within one of its three studios, using 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 [[1989 South Florida television affiliation switch|losing its NBC affiliation]] and switching to a similar tabloid-style format. This set was referred to as the "News Center" and was used on-air until 2006, even though the physical newsroom continued to exist until the move to its current facilities in 2017.  In addition, KPRC also added longtime WSVN voiceover Scott Chapin as promotional announcer during the late 1990s.

In 1996, KPRC-TV debuted a half-hour 4 p.m. newscast. During this time, KPRC-TV won more awards and continued to avidly compete in the ratings with KTRK as well as a resurgent KHOU, even occasionally beating KTRK at 10 p.m. on the strength of NBC's "[[Must See TV]]" programming of the 1990s. Notable personalities who rose to prominence in the ''News 2 Houston'' era included Dominique Sachse (who started as a traffic reporter before moving to an anchor role on the morning news), chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley (who left his position as KTRK's weekend meteorologist to succeed Doug Johnson as evening weather anchor), and investigative reporter [[Tony Kovaleski]] (whose reports resulted in numerous awards for the station).  News anchors for KPRC in the 1990s included Brett Lea (who had anchored at KPRC-TV's former sister station under H&C Communications ownership, WTVF in Nashville), future Chicago news anchor [[Rob Johnson (news anchor)|Rob Johnson]] and Khambrel Marshall, a former sportscaster for KPRC's then-sister station [[WPLG-TV]] and news anchor at [[WFOR-TV|WCIX/WFOR-TV]] in Miami.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walker|first=Henry|date=August 28, 1997|title=Desperately Seeking the News|url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/desperately-seeking-the-news/article_09a12aa2-9849-58c3-9be8-d0498f7a290e.html|access-date=June 17, 2022|work=Nashville Scene|language=en-US}}</ref>

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 Corporation|Belo]] (then-owner of KHOU) which shut down just weeks before KPRC-TV's transition was complete. However, by this time the station had gone into a period a decline both in terms of quality and ratings. At one point, KPRC-TV's 5 p.m. newscast even reportedly finished in fifth place, behind English-language newscasts on KHOU and KTRK-TV, a Spanish-language newscast on [[Univision]] station [[KXLN]] (channel 45), and even syndicated reruns of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' on Fox station KRIV (channel 26) which at one point even led all Houston newscasts airing in that timeslot. Despite a strong lead-in from ''Dr. Phil'', KPRC-TV also continued to decline at 4 p.m. and in both the morning and evening hours as NBC's ratings began to enter a steep decline following the ending of several of its 1990s-era staples such as ''[[Friends]]'' and ''[[Frasier]]'', with the station even dropping ''Dr. Phil'' at one point and not even clearing the show for another Houston station to pick up. KPRC-TV was also 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. In response to the controversy, KPRC-TV hired longtime KHOU anchor Jerome Gray, who is African American, to anchor its early evening newscasts as well as serve as a managing editor, and moved former anchor Khambrel Marshall to executive producer, with Marshall eventually moving back on-air as a weekend meteorologist and host of ''Houston Newsmakers''.

Overall, by early 2007, KPRC-TV was in third place behind KHOU and KTRK. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Market Profile: Houston |url=http://www.marketingymedios.com/marketingymedios/market_profile/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003677624 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202063430/http://www.marketingymedios.com/marketingymedios/market_profile/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003677624 |archive-date=December 2, 2007 |website=Marketing y Medios}}</ref> KPRC-TV's morning and late-evening newscasts made the most gains in 2007, competing for second place with KHOU. On July 19, 2008, during its 6 p.m. newscasts, KPRC-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition in the run up to NBC's coverage of the [[2008 Summer Olympics]]. On August 24, 2009, KPRC-TV expanded its morning newscast to an additional half-hour at 4:30&nbsp;am. By 2012, the station's 6 p.m. newscast had ratings gains, boasting its highest viewership in November and December, as well as significant increases in all other time periods; the 10 p.m. broadcast also grew, besting KTRK for first in the timeslot for several consecutive months that year.  KPRC-TV retitled its newscasts back to ''Channel 2 News'' in 2015.

In January 2020, Bill Balleza retired from KPRC-TV.<ref>[https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/trending/article/KPRC-legendary-anchor-Bill-Balleza-to-sign-off-15014371.php KPRC legendary anchor Bill Balleza to sign off Friday, other TV personalities on the move] ''Houston Chronicle'' January 29, 2020 (retrieved January 30, 2021)</ref>  Two months later, Kris Gutierrez, who was previously with KPRC-TV from 2003 to 2007, rejoined KPRC-TV as Balleza's replacement.  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]].<ref>[https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/03/19/kris-gutierrez-joins-kprc-2-as-evening-news-anchor/ Kris Gutierrez joins KPRC 2 as evening news anchor] ''Click2Houston.com'' March 19, 2020 (retrieved January 30, 2021)</ref>  In January 2021, KPRC-TV's newscasts were retitled as ''KPRC 2 News''.  Dominique Sachse departed from KPRC-TV on October 29, 2021.  Three days later, the station announced that former KPRC reporter and weekend anchor [[Daniella Guzman]] (who had anchored at NBC owned-and-operated stations [[WMAQ-TV]] in Chicago and [[KNBC]] in Los Angeles) will succeed Sachse; Guzman returned to KPRC-TV on January 12, 2022.<ref name="kprcGuzman">{{cite web|url=https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/11/01/kprc-2-welcomes-daniella-guzman-back-to-houston-news/|title=KPRC 2 welcomes Daniella Guzman back to Houston news|date=November 1, 2021|website=Click2Houston.com (KPRC-TV)|accessdate=November 1, 2021}}</ref>  Gutierrez departed from KPRC-TV in February 2022 and was later succeeded (officially on June 20) by Keith Garvin, a former ABC News correspondent who had joined KPRC-TV in August 2012 as news anchor and reporter.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Eck|first=Kevin|date=February 4, 2022|title=Kris Gutierrez Leaves KPRC After Two Years|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/kris-gutierrez-eaves-kprc-after-two-years/238521/|access-date=February 5, 2022|work=[[Adweek]]|language=en-US}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=June 8, 2022|title=Keith Garvin named anchor of KPRC 2′s evening and late newscasts|url=https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/06/08/keith-garvin-named-anchor-of-kprc-2s-evening-and-late-newscasts/|access-date=June 17, 2022|work=Click2Houston.com (KPRC-TV)|language=en-US}}</ref>

====Notable current on-air staff====
* [[Melanie Camp]] – correspondent for ''Houston Life'' (2022–present)
* [[Daniella Guzman]] – weekday anchor (was previously with KPRC-TV as a reporter and weekend anchor from 2006 to 2012)<ref name="kprcGuzman"/>

====Notable former on-air staff====
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Mark Alford (politician)|Mark Alford]] – reporter and weekend anchor (1995–1998)
* [[Gayle Anderson]] – "2 On Your Side" reporter/midday anchor (1986–1991)
* [[Charles A. Berry|Dr. Charles "Chuck" Berry]] – House Physician for ''Big 2 News'' (1977-1980s)<ref>[https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/houston-tx/charles-berry-9069172 OBITUARY - Charles Alden Berry MD] ''Dignity Memorial.com'' March 2020.  Retrieved May 22, 2021.</ref>
* [[Bill Enis]] – sports director (1960s–1973)
* [[Ron Franklin]] – sports director (1980–1987)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/Franklin_Ron.htm |title=Ron Franklin bio |publisher=[[ESPN]] |access-date=March 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722080422/http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/Franklin_Ron.htm |archive-date=July 22, 2009 }}</ref>
* [[Joanne Herring]] – host of ''The Joanne King Show'' (1974–1979)<ref>{{cite AV media |title = Joanne King Herring's legacy at KPRC-TV |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-105PIxeqY&t=12s |publisher = KPRC 2 Click2Houston |access-date = January 8, 2023 |via = YouTube |at = 0:00 }}</ref>
* [[Wes Hohenstein]] – weekday morning meteorologist (2003–2006)
* [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] – known on-air as Kay Bailey, Channel 2's first female reporter (1967–1972)
* [[Tom Jarriel]] – worked behind the scenes in the news department as a reporter for a number of years
* [[Rob Johnson (news anchor)|Rob Johnson]] – (1995–1998)
* [[Tony Kovaleski]] – investigative reporter (1997–2001)
* [[Tim Lake]] – weekend anchor and reporter (1987–1992)
* [[Linda Lorelle]] – anchor (1989–2006)
* [[Byron Miranda]] – meteorologist
* [[Sylvia Perez]] – reporter/anchor (?–1989)
* [[John Quiñones]] – reporter/anchor (1975–1978)
* [[Jacob Rascon]] – weekend anchor and reporter (2017–2021)
* [[Jacque Reid]] – reporter/anchor (1997–2000)
* [[Janet Shamlian]] – weekend anchor (1995–1997)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/team/janet-shamlian/|title=Janet Shamlian bio|date=August 13, 2019|publisher=[[CBS News]]|access-date=December 11, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Ron Stone (reporter)|Ron Stone]] – anchor (1972–1992)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Anchorman-Ron-Stone-left-deep-imprint-on-local-1763139.php|title=Anchorman Ron Stone left deep imprint on local news|last=Barron|first=David|date=May 13, 2008|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]|access-date=March 13, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Spencer Tillman]] – sports reporter/anchor (1987–1997)
* [[Charlie Van Dyke]] – announcer (1982–1993)
* [[Bill Worrell]] – news anchor/sportscaster (1970–1980)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2017/03/bill-worrell-houston-rockets-astros-sports-broadcaste|title=Bill Worrell, Play-by-Play Announcer, on His Iconic Sports Broadcasting Career|work=Houstonia Magazine|first=Jeff|last=Balke|date=March 21, 2017|access-date=May 9, 2024}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* [[Chris Wragge]] – sports director (1998–2004)
* [[Paula Zahn]] – anchor (1981–1983)
* [[Marvin Zindler]] – reporter (1950–1954)
{{div col end}}