Newscasts and Local Programming
KPNX currently broadcasts a total of 27 hours of local newscasts each week (with five hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays); KPNX's newscasts (currently branded as 12 News) is among one of the highest-rated local newscasts in Arizona during evening timeslots, with newscasts during that time period having dominated ratings for several years.
On March 1, 2009, KPNX began to share a news helicopter operated by Helicopters Inc., as part of a Local News Service agreement with KPHO-TV and KTVK; the helicopter is named "News Chopper 20", as a combination of the over-the-air virtual channel numbers of the three stations (3, 5 and 12). In November 2009, KPNX's newscasts were beaten by KPHO in the ratings at 10 p.m., ending 50 consecutive sweeps victories in the timeslot (dating back to 1996) as the latter's ratings increased due to CBS' strong primetime linup. Although KPNX has traditionally been known as a very news-intensive station, it is currently going through a period of transition. Nearly all of its tenured reporters have left; most recently, long-time consumer reporter Rick DeBruhl retired in November 2009.
KPNX produces a daily local lifestyle show. Arizona Midday, a general lifestyle show with paid segments hosted by Jan D'Atri and Destry Jetton, runs weekdays at 1 p.m. A new lighter news and entertainment show, EVB Live (named after KPNX's new operations at 200 East Van Buren), debuted in August 2011; the 4 p.m. program, which initially ran 90 minutes, was shortened to one hour on April 20, 2012, with the 5 p.m. half-hour replaced by a traditional newscast. Since the program's debut, ratings for EVB Live have been substantially lower than when Ellen aired in the 4 p.m. timeslot previously.
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