As the new year gets underway, it is time to start thinking about Fiesta in San Antonio. The event, taking place April 18-28, dates back to the late 1800s when heroes from the Alamo and Battle of San Jacinto were celebrated with what was known as the Battle of Flowers. It was a parade, with tossed flowers as the centerpiece.
These days, there are parades down Broadway and past the Alamo, and a boat parade at the River Walk. There is food, drink and music, and merriment all over the city.
KSAT is the official Fiesta station, but all the news players in San Antonio cover the gala. “It’s a huge city-wide event,” Ashley Parker, KSAT VP and general manager, said. “The whole town gets behind it.”
Graham Media Group owns ABC affiliate KSAT. Tegna has CBS station KENS. Sinclair owns NBC outlet WOAI and Fox station KABB, and manages Deerfield Media’s CW affiliate KMYS. NBCUniversal has Telemundo station KVDA and Univision holds KWEX.
KLRN is the public broadcaster in San Antonio, and Spectrum is the dominant pay TV operator.
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San Antonio is located in South Central Texas, around 70 miles southwest of Austin. Parker has 20 years at KSAT and became general manager in 2022. She spoke of the market’s considerable growth over the years, including a shift from Nielsen DMA No. 36 to No. 31 in the past decade.
Stations are hustling to connect with the new arrivals. KSAT launched “Know My Neighborhood” last year, hearing directly from hyperlocal residents about hyperlocal issues. “We go into a neighborhood in our market and talk to the community and find out the good, the bad, the indifferent,” Parker said. “We help them tackle the issues that are occurring right in their neighborhood.
KENS, for its part, works hard to mix some positive news into the daily content mix. “Viewers will tell you that KENS certainly keeps the community informed,” Tom Cury, president and general manager, said. “But we make a concerted effort to connect with the greater good of our community and lean into the positive stories.”
KENS 5 boasts notable anchor seniority. Early-evening anchor Deborah Knapp arrived way back in 1987, chief meteorologist Bill Taylor in 1996 and morning anchor Barry Davis in 2003.
KSAT and KENS are local news powers, with KSAT the leader. KWEX is the primary Spanish-language station. In November, KSAT took the 6-7 a.m. household impressions battle, according to Nielsen, with WOAI in second, just ahead of KENS. KABB was tops in adults 25-54 impressions in that a.m. slot. KSAT won at 5 and 6 p.m., with KENS the runner-up at 5 and KWEX the demo runner-up at 6.
In late news, KSAT averaged 45,300 household impressions, ahead of KENS’ 32,700, KWEX’s 21,800, KABB’s 20,400, WOAI’s 16,600 and KVDA’s 3,800. In the 25-54 late news impressions race, KWEX scored 15,600, KSAT 11,200, KENS 8,600, KABB 8,400, WOAI 6,400 and KVDA 1,200.
KSAT connects with relatable content and personnel. “We’re real and we’re authentic,” Parker said. “We live with you. Our kids go to school with your kids.”
Las Noticias Locales
Nearly 66% of San Antonio residents claimed Hispanic origin in 2022, according to Census.gov. KWEX, known as Univision San Antonio, and KVDA, known as Telemundo 60 San Antonio, offer lively local content lineups. KWEX launched the weekly Contacto Sports program on Saturdays last year, and has a daily digital newscast at 4 p.m. “Our plans are to continue implementing a strategic expansion of our digital news offerings for today’s news consumers,” said Chris Morris, KWEX regional president and general manager.
KVDA is the Spanish-language station of the Dallas Cowboys, with three preseason games in 2023. The station airs 14½ hours of local news weekly. “KVDA is present whenever and wherever our viewers need us,” said Patrica Buchanan, president and general manager. “We go from covering breaking news to providing the most up-to-date weather to the Hispanic community we serve.”
Every station is hustling to reach users on the move. OTT offering KSAT Plus has news on demand, weather radar and high school sports, and the KSAT12 YouTube page had 334,000 subscribers at deadline. KENS 5 Plus has “bite-size chunks” of local content, said Cury, and regular weather updates. KVDA reaches beyond San Antonio with segments for FAST channel Telemundo Texas.
Wemby Watch
San Antonio has a strong military presence, including Joint Base San Antonio. Medical is a major employer, and technology is growing. Multiple general managers likened the market to a big city with a small-town feel.
The economy is crawling back from the COVID-19 era. “We all took a gut punch, but we’re coming back,” Parker said.
It is a hot summer in San Antonio, but not quite as hot as other areas. “San Antonio is typically humid, but not humid like the Southeast,” Cury said. “It gets cold, but it doesn’t get cold like the northeast.”
One high-profile new arrival in San Antonio is Victor Wembanyama of France. Standing 7’ 4”, the basketball superstar is a Spurs rookie who turns 20 on January 4. He’s averaging nearly 19 points a game, but the Spurs are a miserable 5-27.
KENS has 11 Spurs games this season. Despite their grim record, they are an attraction in San Antonio. “The Mavericks are in Dallas and the Rockets are in Houston,” Cury said. “New Orleans has the Pelicans, but further west, it’s all Spurs.”
The Spurs won’t be a smash this year, despite the presence of rookie star Victor Wembyana, but Fiesta surely will, and so will Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in late October. “What I like the most [about San Antonio] is its sense of culture and rich history,” Buchanan said. “Fiesta is an incredible example of this, as you see many events, parades and concerts that three million San Antonioans and tourists enjoy, and then you learn of its rich history.”
