KFGT-TV

KFGT-TV
Location	Eloy/Casa Grande, Arizona
Branding	ABC 31 (general) ABC 31 Eyewitness News (newscasts)
Slogan	Number 1 in Eloy/Casa Grande!
Channel(s)	Digital: 50 (UHF) (to move to 29 (UHF)) Virtual: 31 (PSIP)
subchannel(s)	31.1 ABC-HD 31.2 ABC Weather 24/7 31.3 ABC News Now 31.4 Laff
Affiliation	ABC
First air date	October 28, 1956
Former call letters	none
Former channel number	Analog: 31 (UHF, 1956–2009)
Former Affiliation	DT2: The AccuWeather Channel (2006–2010) Live Well Network (2010–2013) Odyssey (2013–2016)
Owner	ABC Owned Television Stations

KFGT-TV is an ABC owned-and-operated television station that serves the Eloy/Casa Grande/Florence, Arizona market. It broadcasts on Channel 31. Syndicated programming on KFGT includes: Live! with Kelly and Ryan, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! among others. The station has studios located on West Battaglia Drive in Eloy with transmitting facilities located in Casa Grande.

History

KFGT signed on the air back on October 28, 1956 and signed on as an affiliate of ABC. Like the other ABC affiliates in the country, because ABC's ratings were less that spectacular, KFGT's ratings were coming in third behind KETY and KWFG. The station finally gained a traction in the ratings in the 1970s when, thanks to CBS and ABC on the rise and NBC on the decline, KFGT's saw their ratings rise and they became in a fierce ratings battle with KETY. From 1975-84, KFGT and KETY traded spots with each other. Suddenly in 1985, KWFG started rising thanks to NBC being no. 1 overall in the nation. Meanwhile, KFGT saw their ratings falling to a distant 3rd. Meanwhile, the original Capital Cities Communications (who owned the station) shocked the media when they bought ABC in 1985 and became an ABC owned and operated station.

In 1996, the Walt Disney Company bought the original Capital Cities/ABC company (which included KFGT) and changed the name of the company itself to ABC, Inc., and KFGT remained an O&O affiliate of ABC. KFGT was not affected by the 2014 fictional tv station realignment. In 2013, the station added Odyssey to digital subchannel 31.2, the affiliation lasted until April 2016 when the station replaced it with ABC Weather 24/7, an all new fictional weather channel. On May 28, 2017, Disney/ABC sold KFGT to Nexstar Media Group, now making it the only 4 ABC affiliates in Arizona not owned-and-operated by the network, the others are KYBC-TV, KJYA, KYHD, and KSRC.

Digital Television

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
31.1	720p	16:9	KFGT-DT	Main KFGT-TV Programming / ABC
31.2	480i	4:3	KFGT-WX	ABC Weather 24/7
31.3			KFGT-NEWS	ABC News Now
31.4			LAFF	Laff

Programming Schedule

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
7:00 am	Good Morning America					Good Morning America Weekend
7:30 am
8:00 am						Litton's Weekend Adventure	This Week with George Stephanopoulos
8:30 am
9:00 am	Live! with Kelly and Ryan						Various Religious Programs
9:30 am
10:00 am	The View
10:30 am
11:00 am	ABC 31 Eyewitness News Midday						ABC Sunday Afternoon Schedule (programming varies by season)
11:30 am	Jeopardy!
12:00 pm	GMA3: What You Need to Know					ABC Saturday Afternoon Schedule (programming varies by season)
12:30 pm
1:00 pm	General Hospital
1:30 pm
2:00 pm	Right This Minute
2:30 pm	Right This Minute
3:00 pm	Tamron Hall
3:30 pm
4:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Four
4:30 pm
5:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Five
5:30 pm	ABC World News Tonight with David Muir					ABC World News Tonight Weekend
6:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Six					Wheel of Fortune	ABC Prime Time
6:30 pm	Wheel of Fortune					Jeopardy!
7:00 pm	ABC Prime Time
7:30 pm
8:00 pm
8:30 pm
9:00 pm
9:30 pm
10:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Ten
10:30/10:35 pm	Jimmy Kimmel Live					Castle
11:00 pm
11:30/11:37 pm	Nightline					Scandal
12:00/12:07 am	Scandal	Right This Minute					Scandal
12:30/12:37 am	Supermarket Sweep	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Ten (repeat)					Supermarket Sweep
1:00/1:12 am	The Nanny						Supermarket Sweep
1:30/1:42 am	The Nanny					Paid Programming
2:00 am	World News Now	Family Matters
2:30 am		Family Matters
3:00 am		The Mothers-In-Law
3:30 am		The Mothers-In-Law
4:00 am	America This Morning
4:30 am	ABC 31 Eyewitness News Good Morning Eloy/Casa Grande
5:00 am
5:30 am
6:00 am
6:30 am

Programming Schedule from 1997-1998

Time	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
7:00 am	Good Morning America					101 Dalmatians	Good Morning America Sunday
7:30 am						Doug
8:00 am						Recess	This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts
8:30 am
9:00 am	Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee					Pepper Ann	Various Religious Programs
9:30 am						The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show
10:00 am	The View
10:30 am						Jungle Cubs
11:00 am	ABC 31 Eyewitness News Midday					The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
11:30 am	Port Charles					Science Court
12:00 pm	All My Children					The Facts of Life	Alice
12:30 pm						Gimme a Break!	The Buckle Family and Friends
1:00 pm	One Life to Live					Alice	The Landry Sisters
1:30 pm						The Golden Girls	Gimme a Break!
2:00 pm	General Hospital					Full House	Amen
2:30 pm						Family Matters	The Facts of Life
3:00 pm	Ricki Lake					Rosie	227
3:30 pm						Mama's Family	Mama's Family
4:00 pm	The Oprah Winfrey Show					The Jeffersons	Rosie
4:30 pm						The Lucy Show	Family Matters
5:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Five					ABC World News Tonight Saturday	ABC World News Tonight Sunday
5:30 pm	ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings					ABC 31 Eyewitness News at 5:30	The Beverly Hillbillies
6:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Six					Inside Edition	The Wonderful World of Disney
6:30 pm	Wheel of Fortune
7:00 pm	Timecop	Soul Man	Spin City	Nothing Scared	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	C-16
7:30 pm		Over the Top	Dharma & Greg		Boy Meets World
8:00 pm	Monday Night Football	Home Improvement	The Drew Carey Show	Cracker	You Wish	Total Security	The Lucy Show
8:30 pm		Hiller and Diller	Ellen		Teen Angel		I Dream of Jeannie
9:00 pm		NYPD Blue	Primetime Live	20/20 Thursday	20/20 Friday	The Practice	Bewitched
9:30 pm							Laverne & Shirley
10:00 pm	ABC 31 Eyewitness News at Ten
10:30/10:35 pm	Nightline					Boy Meets World	The Facts of Life
11:00/11:05 pm	Inside Edition					The Buckle Family and Friends	I Love Lucy
11:30 pm	Family Feud					Roseanne	Family Ties
12:00/12:05 am	Rosie					Rosie	Maude
12:30/12:35 am	Three's Company					The Golden Girls	Rosie
1:00/1:07 am	World News Now					Mama's Family	Alice
1:30 am						Paid Programming	The Facts of Life
2:00 am							Boy Meets World
2:30 am							Paid Programming
3:00 am
3:30 am
4:00 am
4:30 am
5:00 am	World News This Morning
5:30 am	Good Morning Eloy/Casa Grande
6:00 am						Good Morning Eloy/Casa Grande Weekend
6:30 am

Station Slogans

• Eloy's New Full Power Station (1956-1964)
• Broadcasting In Color (1963-1971)
• Let's Get Together on 31 (1970-1971)
• In Touch with Eloyland (1971-1983)
• This is the Place to Be on 31 (1971-1974)
• Hello Eloyland, Hello 31 (1974-1975)
• Welcome to the New Bright World on 31 (1975-1976)
• Let Us Be the one on 31 (1976-1977)
• You're Still Having Fun, 31 is Still the One (1977-1978)
• We're the One on 31 (1978-1980)
• You and Me and 31 (1980-1981)
• Now is the Time, 31 is the Place (1981-1982)
• Come on Along with 31 (1982-1983)
• Eloy's Biggest News Force (1983-1987)
• That Special Feeling on 31 (1983-1984)
• We're With You on 31 (1984-1985)
• You'll Love It on 31 (1985-1986)
• Together on 31 (1986-1987)
• Your 24-Hour News Source (1987-1996)
• Something's Happening on 31 (1987-1990)
• Eloyland's Watching 31 (1990-1992)
• If It's in Eloy, It Must Be 31 (1992-1993)
• Watched By More Eloyland, 31, ABC (1993-1996)
• Number 1 in Eloy! (1996–present)
• Nobody Does It Like 31 (1996-1997)
• TV is Good on ABC 31 (1997-1998)
• We Love TV on ABC 31 (1998-1999)
• ABC Eloy, Start Here (2009-2013)
• ABC 31, Start Here (2013-2015)
• The Only Place to Be, ABC 31 (2015–present)

Ownership History

• 1956-1958: KFGT, Inc.

• 1958-1986: ABC

• 1986-1995: Capital Cities/ABC

• 1995-2017 and 2021–present: Disney/ABC
• 2017-2021: Nexstar Media Group

Logos

KFGT logo from 1977 promoting ABC's Still the One campaign

KFGT logo from 1978 promoting ABC's We're the One campaign

KFGT logo from 1985 promoting ABC's You'll Love It campaign

KFGT ID bumper from 1986 taken from Heart of the City

KFGT ID bumper from 1987 taken from Dynasty

KFGT ID bumper from 1992 taken from Full House

KFGT logo from 1992 promoting ABC's It Must Be ABC campaign

KFGT logo from 1993 taken from Boy Meets World

KFGT logo from 2005-2007

KFGT "Wheel of Fortune" promo from May 2006.

KFGT logo from 2009-2013

KFGT logo from 2013-2015

KFGT Weather Lab logo

News/Station Presentation

Current On-Air Staff

Janice Errington - News Director

• Sheryl Ramoray - anchor; weekday mornings "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Good Morning Eloy" and "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Midday"
• Lana Heidemann - anchor; weekday mornings "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Good Morning Eloy" and "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Midday"
• Rich Robertson - anchor; weeknights at 5, 6, and 10
• Lori Adams - anchor; weeknights at 5, 6, and 10
• Daphne Mendoza - anchor; weekend evenings

ABC 31 Weather Lab Meteorologists

• Trisha Williams - meteorologist; weekday mornings "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Good Morning Eloy" and "ABC 31 Eyewitness News Midday"
• Patrick Burgess - chief meteorologist (AMS Seal of Approval); weeknights at 5, 6, and 10
• Bailey Skoff - meteorologist; weekend evenings
• Tedy Trextor - meteorologist (AMS/CBM Seal of Approval); weekend mornings

ABC 31 Sportsdesk Team

• Tracy Gallop - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10
• Heidi Richter - sports reporter; weekend evenings

Current On-Air Reporters

• Sandra Lewiston  - general assignment reporter
• Tyler Bateman - general assignment reporter
• Randy Stokes - general assignment reporter
• Quincy Johnson - general assignment reporter
• Kathy Kirkland - general assignment reporter
• Courtney Beard - general assignment reporter
• Rob Conner - general assignment reporter

Newscast Titles

• The Eloy News Report (1956-1964)
• KFGT-TV News (1964-1968)
• (Channel 31) Eyewitness News (1968-1997)
• ABC 31 Eyewitness News (1997-2005; 2013–present)
• NewsChannel 31 (2005-2009)
• ABC Eloy Eyewitness News (2009-2013)

News Themes

• Cool Hand Luke - Lalo Schifrin (1968-1985)
• News Series 2000 - Gari Media (1985-1995)
• Eyewitness News - Gari Media (1995–Present)