Newscasts
In its early years under the direction news director Ray Miller the station was usually first in the ratings. In 1972, KPRC acquired two key KHOU personalities, anchorman Ron Stone and sportscaster Ron Franklin, for its evening newscasts.
From 1985 to 1992, the station used the newscast title "Channel Two News", and broadcast round-the-clock updates throughout the day, including during NBC primetime programming. For several years during the early 1990s, the updates were also aired during the overnight hours with producers and other newsroom personnel anchoring. With anchors such as Ron Stone, Bill Balleza, Jan Carson, Linda Lorelle, Dan O'Rourke, Bob Nicholas, weatherman Doug Johnson and sports anchors Ron Franklin and Craig Roberts, the station's newscasts, while usually in second place, often competed for and even placed first at times. In 1994, when Post-Newsweek Stations bought KPRC, the newscasts were rechristened "News 2 Houston". Three years later, KPRC culminated in the construction of a new set using the newsroom as a backdrop that was similar to the set at WSVN in Miami. This set was referred to as the "News Center" and was used on-air until 2006, though the physical newsroom still exists in the same area. After this point, KPRC won more awards and competed with KHOU and KTRK, even occasionally beating KTRK in the ratings at 10 p.m.
From there, the station saw its ratings slip dramatically. Its newscasts prior to the Post-Newsweek buyout were more traditional in comparison. The station's 5 p.m. newscast at one time even reported finishing in fifth place, behind rival news stations KHOU and KTRK-TV, syndicated reruns of The Simpsons on KRIV, and a Spanish-language newscast on KXLN. The station also saw ratings decline in the mornings and also at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. KPRC was also hit with a boycott by black civil rights activist Quanell X and others after the demotion of two African-American anchors. During the controversy, KPRC hired longtime KHOU anchor Jerome Gray, who is African-American, and moved former anchor Khambrel Marshall to Executive Producer. In May 2008, KPRC announced Marshall would move back on air as Weekend Meteorologist.
Overall, as of early 2008, KPRC was third in the ratings behind KHOU and KTRK. KPRC's morning and late-night newscasts made the most gains in 2007, competing for second place. KPRC however consistently ranks number one in ratings among young men ages 25–35 in Houston, which is KPRC newscast's target audience. The competitiveness is also magnified by Nielsen Media's Local People Meters (LPMs), which were introduced to the Houston market in the Summer 2007 to measure ratings. LPMs replace the old diary method of measuring ratings. Since LPMs went live in October 2007, the ratings picture has changed in Houston. KPRC has seen gains in the morning and at night, while the competition has dropped.
On July 19, 2008 during its 6 p.m. newscast, KPRC debuted its newscast in High Definition. On August 24, 2009 KPRC-TV expanded their morning newscast to begin at 4:30 a.m. The 4:30 a.m. show is anchored by Owen Conflenti with meteorologist Anthony Yanez.
In 2010, the station changed its slogan from "Right Here, Right Now" to "News at the Speed of Life".
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