KHQA-TV

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KHQA-TV
Hannibal, Missouri-Quincy, Illinois
Branding	KHQA-TV7/KHQA-TV7 News
Slogan	People You Can Count On
Channels	7 (VHF) analog, 6 (VHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS (since 1953)
Owner	Barrington Broadcasting
Founded	September 23, 1953
Call letters meaning	Keokuk Hannibal Quincy Area
Former affiliations	DuMont-secondary 1950s; ABC-secondary 1960's UPN (secondary) (ended September 2006)
Website	http://www.khqa.com/

KHQA-TV Channel 7 has been the CBS affiliate for the Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk area, which encompasses Northeastern Missouri, West Central Illinois and Southeastern Iowa, since it first went on the air on September 23, 1953. The station is currently owned by Barrington Broadcasting.

Although the station is licensed to Hannibal, its studios have long been located across the Mississippi River in Quincy.

[edit] History

At one point, KHQA was owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa. In December 1986, Lee Enterprises sold the station to A. Richard Benedek, whose television holdings eventually became Benedek Broadcasting. Benedek merged with Gray Television in 2002 (following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy), but KHQA was not part of the merger; it was sold to Chelsey Broadcasting. KHQA, along with WHOI in Peoria, Illinois, became the first two stations owned by the newly-formed Barrington Broadcasting in January 2004.

KHQA has a rich history of developing very successful news talent. Former KHQA on-air personalities and behind-the-scenes personnel have gone on to successful careers in St. Louis, Missouri, Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Sacramento, California. Some of those personalities were profiled in two series entitled Where are They Now? airing on KHQA newscasts in July, 2003 and July, 2004. Former on-air personalities include Brian Bolter, Kelly Jackson, and Elissa Lynn.

For much of its 50-plus year history, KHQA lagged behind the market's NBC affiliate, WGEM-TV, in both ratings and quality. The station underwent somewhat of a metamorphasis in the mid 1990's, with a new set and several talent shifts. In early 1998, KHQA left its longtime home in the Western Catholic Union building in downtown Quincy. The station moved into a new state-of-the-art facility located on South 36th Street. The move improved the quality of KHQA newscasts, and eventually the ratings. While the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts still finish second, the station has closed the gap, even inching ahead of WGEM in the May, 2003 6 p.m. ratings for the first time since 1985. Meanwhile, Tri-States This Morning and the Noon News continue to thrive, usually finishing atop the ratings charts.

[edit] News Personalities

Rajah Maples and Matt Schmidt co-anchor KHQA's 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. They are joined by Chief Meteorologist Landon Mitchell and Sports Director Chris Duerr.

In addition, longtime KHQA personality Sarah Deien anchors the #1 rated morning show in the market, Tri-States This Morning. Deien's joined by co-anchor Chad Douglas and Meteorologist Tegan Orpet. Deien was KHQA's first morning anchor when Good Morning Tri-States debuted in 1991. It was the Tri-States' first early-morning newscast in the Quincy/Hannibal market. Douglas and Orpet are also at the helm of the top-rated Noon News on KHQA.

Other personalities include Weekend Anchor Stephen Johnson and Weekend Weather Anchor Lisa Sparrow.

[edit] External links

• KHQA Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KHQA