If you are looking for a trustworthy news station in East Texas, there is one news source which stands head and shoulders above the rest: KLTV, channel 7.
KLTV Tyler has dominated the local TV scene. I remember growing up with the “bunny ears” antenna, and there was only one channel we knew we could pull in: Channel 7. It was an ABC station, so we could watch all the TGIF nonsense our young minds could want. The other station, channel 56, was on that smaller UHF dial, and would come in with a snowy distortion. And channel 51, too, was too weak to watch regularly.
Years later, nobody is thinking about snowy reception anymore, nor of the limited access to more obscure channels. Almost everyone has cable or satellite. So maybe it is the higher budget, or maybe it is just tradition. Whatever the reason, KLTV Channel 7 is still the crystal clear choice for the vast majority of East Texans after so many years. [ad#large-blog-block]
What makes KLTV better? Their news programming is simply lightyears ahead of its competitors in reliability and in professionalism.
One of the most trusted men in the city has to be meteorologist Mark Scirto. Mark has served as the channel 7’s peppy weatherman for years, and East Texans routinely berate him or laude him, depending on whether they actually enjoy the weather outside. But as Mark will tell you, he does not make the weather. He does, however, give a fine weather forecast in an always upbeat manner. No weather man is perfect, of course, but Mark’s forecasts are clear and just about as accurate as you are going to find.
In addition to Mark Scirto, Channel 7 also has superior anchor men. Clint Yeats has been there forever. Clint served as the station’s chief anchorman for years, and is still with the station, co-anchoring the morning program and serving as a managing editor. But everyone knows that Joe Terrel is the best anchorman in the city. Joe has led the evening newscasts for many years. His passion, clarity, and humor have endeared Joe to the entire city. For most of his tenure, Joe has worked opposite co-anchor Gillian Sherridan. The two shared a wonderful rapport. Even though Sherridan moved on recently to CBS 19, Joe and company still rule the roost.
KLTV’s sports is now led by Kansas native Ryan Peterson, who serves ably despite being a bigger fan of the Denver Broncos than the Dallas Cowboys. Sports is another area of domination for KLTV Channel 7. Try as they might, NBC 56 and CBS 19 have never been able to come close.
The KLTV reporters also do a fine job. Joan Hallmark, specifically, has been a Tyler favorite for decades, airing her human interest segment “Proud of East Texas” to highlight some of Tyler’s many bright spots.
In short, KLTV is still the best news station in Tyler Texas. It’s not even close.