KTLA-5, WB (TV Station)

KTLA-5 is a Los Angeles, California television station and an affiliate of the WB television network.

Station Owner
Tribune Company

Use of Video News Releases and/or Satellite Media Tours
In the 7am news bulletin on November 9, 2005 the station broadcast an edited and re-voiced version of a video news release produced by D S Simon Productions for Trend Micro on e-mail 'phishing' scams. The VNR was incorporated into a nationally syndicated TV segment hosted by "CyberGuy" Kurt Knutsson. 

According a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation April 1995 grant report, KTLA-5 aired one of their VNRs:
 * Clips from a video news release, "Smokeless Tobacco: A Call for FDA Regulation," were used by 69 television stations for stories on April 26 and April 27, according to ORBIS Broadcast Group, a tracking service. ... KTLA, Los Angeles, CA

Payola
"An anchor at KTLA-TV received a customized dining-room makeover worth more than $10,000 for her own home, in what a local furniture merchant says was meant to be a swap of free goods and services ... for favorable coverage on the station's 'Morning News'," the Los Angeles Times reported. The segment was taped in September 2005 but never aired, leading the merchant to warn, "If it doesn't air," KTLA's Michaela Pereira will "be treated like a paying customer." Pereira agreed to return some items and pay for others. 

Pereira and two other KTLA anchors were also recently exposed for accepting "free accommodations in exchange for" favorable coverage of "the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena." The KTLA anchors stayed in "deluxe guestrooms, which on a weeknight would cost $300 to $400." The "Morning News" executive producer claimed they "try to acknowledge" when services are provided, but admitted that the KTLA anchors "did not specifically mention that the rooms were provided free." 

Contact Details
KTLA-TV 5800 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 Phone: 323-460-5500 Fax: 323-460-5333 Web:http://ktla.trb.com/

SourceWatch Resources

 * Audio news releases
 * B-Roll
 * Brand Hype
 * Branded Entertainment
 * Media releases
 * Satellite Media Tours
 * Radio Media Tours
 * Public Service Announcements
 * Video news releases: PR for California's Schwarzenegger administration