KTVO - News Operation

News Operation

Although KTVO is the only local source of newscasts in the market, it shares resources with sister station KHQA to provide additional coverage of the territory. In addition to its main studios, KTVO operates a bureau on South Market Street in Downtown Ottumwa which is just around the corner from the original studios. KTVO-DT2 airs a Southeastern Iowa-focused newscast on weeknights called KTVO CBS 3.2 News at 6:30 originating from the bureau. To meet the needs of the areas increasing Hispanic population, a five-minute Spanish-language "mini-newscast" was begun on KTVO-DT2 in October, 2011. It airs at 10 p.m. weeknights, featuring news headlines and local weather forecasts. Otherwise, the subchannel airs no other local news. Unlike most ABC affiliates in the Central Time Zone, KTVO does not air a full two-hour morning or midday show on weekdays.

In March 2009, KTVO received national attention as the victim of viewer prank. A list of fake names many considered crude or obscene (i.e. Dixie Normus and Craven Moorhead) was submitted to its weekday morning show birthdays/anniversaries segment. This list was aired in February 2009 and by March a video of the incident began appearing on websites such as YouTube and Break.com. Over 400,000 viewings occurred on YouTube before KTVO management forced the removal citing copyright violation. However, it had gained enough national attention that the Howard Stern radio show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! exposed the prank to a larger audience.