Gabbert becomes permanent host on KOFY

Former KOFY TV20 owner Jim Gabbert (pictured) has been selected as the permanent host of "Retro Night," a series that airs old shows selected by viewers. Each week, viewers can choose among retro classics such as “Happy Days,” “Mork and Mindy,” “The Monkees,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Barney Miller,” “Laverne & Shirley” and more.

"Retro Nights" (Sunday 8-10 p.m.) has had a number of hosts since it launched last year, but the station announced this week that Gabbert would be the permanent host, according to reports in RBC-TVBC and TVNewsCheck.com.

Gabbert bought KOFY in 1980 and sold it in 1998 to Granite Broadcasting for $174 million. Now, back at the station he built, Gabbert once again has a platform to reintroduce viewers to what KOFY calls "his non-traditional, outrageous ways."

“Our viewers have expressed how much they miss Jim. Having this Bay Area icon host KOFY’s Retro Night couldn’t be a better fit,” said Craig Coane, president and gm of KOFY. “Retro Night involves audiences in the TV-watching experience and, simply put, Jim knows how to engage them further.”

Viewers can vote for their favorite shows at http://www.kofytv.com/whats-on/retronight. At random, guest hosts will be selected from the pool of voters to join Gabbert on air each week. They have the opportunity to participate in dance offs, game shows and program spoofs.

Could KRON, KOFY become a duopoly?

With KRON 4 owner Young Broadcasting entering Chapter 11, the spotlight has shifted to the company's creditors, the people who are really in charge. RBR.comTVBR.com posits an interesting theory. A group called Silver Point Capital apparently owns a substantial piece of Young's debt. Silver Point Capital also acquired Granite Broadcasting, owner of KOFY 20, through the bankruptcy process. "If we were running Silver Point, which we’re not, we would certainly have some interest in exchanging our big chunk of Young’s debt for KRON, creating a duopoly in the sixth largest US market," writes RBR.comTVBR.com.

Four stations will pull analog plug Tuesday

The FCC has allowed four stations here shut off their analog transmitters on Tuesday, but the major network stations all plan to continue transmitting in both analog and digital until June. Bay Area stations switching are:

KCNS 38 SF — to Channel 39

KFTY 50 Santa Rosa — to Channel 32

KICU 36 San Jose (transmitter at Sutro) — staying at 36 (it had used 52 as its digital channel in the past month)

KOFY 20 SF — to Channel 19

The decision by President Obama and Congress to extend analog broadcasting has hit the bottom line of local stations. Continuing to operate an analog transmitter can cost $10,000 to $15,000 a month in power bills. That's an extra $60,000 that stations hadn't put in their 09 budgets — about the amount a reporter would cost over maybe, what, 6 months? Nine months? A year?

• More than 500 stations are switching on Tuesday, according to the AP.
• Not every station was allowed to shut down its analog transmitter, Information Week reports.
• Here's a list of station that will end analog on Tuesday.

(Photo credit: Thomas Hawk)

Two channels may pull analog plug early

The Chronicle reports that Most Bay Area television stations will delay until June the switch to all-digital broadcasts, now that Congress has given them the option. But two stations, KICU 36 and KOFY 20, are apparently going to all digital later this month, according to KGO-TV president and gm Valari Staab, who heads up the Sutro Tower committee this year. Management from those stations couldn't be reached, but shutting down an analog transmitter will save a station between $15,000 and $20,000 a month.

Roller derby returning to local TV

KOFY TV20, which is going retro to attract audiences, says it plans to bring back roller derby starting Feb. 7 for 13 weeks. The pre-recorded races will appear on Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m. The SF Weekly's Peter Jamison explains why full-contact roller skating is returning to TV after a 21-year absence.

TV20 returns to its past as it rebrands itself

TV20 is calling itself KOFY again and is returning to local, low-budget and often wacky programming that drew attention to the station from 1980 to 1998. That was before Channel 20 went corporate and became a WB affiliate.

As this parody of VH1's "Behind of the Music" shows, former station owner Jim Gabbert is playing a key role in the rebranding. Gabbert sold sold Channel 20 in 1998 for $174 million. This video includes clips of Gabbert's "Dance Party" show, a 3-D movie TV20 aired (KOFY bought 500,000 3-D classes for viewers) and a "smell-o-vision" experiment. Here's a press release about the rebranding.

At left are stills from the video including a shot of "Dance Party," a promo for "The Million Dollar Giveaway" and Gabbert urging readers to wrap their fish with the Chronicle.

As for local programming, recently fired Alice FM 97.3 host Brendan ("No Name") Moran and Morris Knight of 98.1 KISS-FM will become regular staples on the station. KOFY is also looking for on-air talent.

And, of course, KOFY has brought back the idea of showing video of dogs during the station ID, something that was extremely popular during Gabbert's tenure. The dogs actually returned in April, as the Press Club blog noted back then.

Want to be a local TV host?

KOFY "Your TV 20" has announced a casting call on Dec. 17 at The Saddle Rack in Fremont for the station's next host. The announcement doesn't say what kind of show the successful applicant will host. "(But) while you're there ride the bull, do a litte line dancing and check out special guest Lisa Lisa Lisa! So much fun all in one night!"

And if that is too much fun, TV20 is asking would-be hosts to upload audition videos. This gig is unpaid. "KOFY TV staff will pick the top 3 finalists and you the viewers make the final decision! One lucky viewer will host KOFY TV the entire month of January. That's right we said the ENTIRE month of January! Sorry no paid stipends just a whole LOT OF FUN! Bay Area... Get ready for your 5 minutes (or hours!) of fame!"

The dogs are back at TV20

Remember the TV20 station IDs that featured dogs (usually) on a couch watching TV? They disappeared in 1998 when Jim Gabbert sold the station. Now the current owners have brought them back. To make a little money, the dog station breaks are sponsored by Comcast. Above is one of the old station IDs and below is promo seeking talent for the new IDs.

KGO-TV to launch 9 p.m. news on TV20

Three months after KRON 4 dropped its "Nine O'Clock News," KGO-TV plans to fill the void with an hour newscast in that time slot that will be shown on KBWB-TV Channel 20 starting Jan. 8. Dan Ashley, who co-anchors KGO's 11 p.m. news, will solo anchor the new 9 p.m. hour. He will be accompanied by Sandhya Patel with weather and Larry Beil on sports. The newscast will also include contributions from 7 On Your Side, the I-Team and Dr. Dean Edell.

This isn't the first primetime newscast TV20 has tried. A few years ago, KNTV Channel 11, then an ABC affiliate focused on the San Jose market, produced a 10 p.m. news for Channel 20 anchored by Cheryl Hurd and Lisa Kim. At the time, both stations were owned by Granite Broadcasting, which later sold Channel 11 to NBC. The 10 p.m. news on Channel 20 didn't have much of a chance competing against Channel 2's long-established "10 O'Clock News."

"We are excited at the opportunity to provide a local newscast to Bay Area viewers in primetime where there has been a demonstrated appetite for news," said KBWB TV 20 president and GM Bob Anderson in a statement. "And we couldn't be happier to be working with ABC7's outstanding news organization to make it happen."

"The launch of ABC7 News at 9 on Your TV20, furthers our goal of providing Bay Area viewers multiple, convenient options for getting their news, weather, and sports." said KGO-TV president and GM Valari Staab in the same statement.

"All of the resources of ABC7 News will be tapped to produce this new newscast." said News Director Kevin Keeshan. "We are excited to have this new venue to continue to tell the Bay Area stories that need to be told."