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KCOP (Channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles. It is an affiliate of UPN. This station is owned by Fox Broadcasting, which also owns KTTV Channel 11. KCOP went on the air on September 17, 1948 as KMTR-TV. The station brifely changed its call letters to KLAC-TV, and adopted the moniker "Lucky 13."
One of Channel 13's earlier stars included veteran actress Betty White, who starred in her own live sitcom, "Life with Elizabeth." Television personality Regis Philbin and actor-director Leonard Nimoy once worked behind the scenes at Channel 13. In 1954, the Copley Press (owners of the San Diego Union-Tribune) purchased KLAC-TV, and changed its call letters to the present KCOP. Six years later, Chris-Craft Industries bought Channel 13, with an relationship that lasted over 40 years.
Chris-Craft partnered up with various television studios over the years to produce first-run syndicated programming, and gave KCOP some of its best ratings and made Channel 13 one of America's leading television stations. Chris-Craft, and its subsidiary, United Television parterned with Viacom to form the United Paramount Network, in which KCOP would become its West Coast flagship station. KCOP was once the home of the Los Angeles Marathon, carrying the race from its inception in 1986 until 1999, and also carried the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers from 1991 to 1996. They are currently the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, once carried by now-sister station KTTV Channel 11. Those telecasts, however, will move to KCAL Channel 9 starting in 2006.
Chris-Craft/United sold all of its UPN-affiliated stations to Fox in 2002, and soon after that transaction, KCOP intergrated its operations with KTTV. KCOP abandoned its Hollywood studios (once home to classic game shows "The Joker's Wild" and "Tic Tac Dough") to move into KTTV's studios in West Los Angeles. Viacom bought out the other 50% stake of UPN from Chris-Craft, and Viacom became 100% owner of the upstart network. In a seperate transaction in 2002, Viacom purchased KCOP's arch-rvial, KCAL Channel 9, and the rumors persisted that Viacom would move UPN to Channel 9, thus making Channel 13 an independent station once again. However, Viacom said that they would continue to operate Channel 9 as an independent station (at least for the time being), and UPN would stay on KCOP. Fox recently renewed its affilliation agreement with UPN in a 8-year pact. KCOP competes in the 11pm news race with established network stations Channels 2 (KCBS), 4 (KNBC), and 7 (KABC).
KCOP evening news takes a more unconventional approach than its conservative counterparts. To appeal to a younger audience, it mainly features its female news anchors in slightly more revealing, trendy, and tight clothing. Its news stories also tend to be much shorter in detail.
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