News operation
In 1993, Scripps announced that it would start a local newscast for KNXV in 1994. It had already started a 9 p.m. local newscast for one of its other Fox affiliates, KSHB-TV in Kansas City, and the proposed newscast was intended to be unconventional to match the target demographic of Fox network programming. A news director had been hired in September 1993;[59] the set was already under construction; and anchors and staff had reported to Phoenix in the first weeks of May 1994. However, the New World deal and consequent affiliation switch to ABC occurred late in the development of the newscast. This forced Scripps to rethink both the product to go out on air and the long-term trajectory of KNXV's news department. As a result, the intended style was toned down slightly; a staff of 30 was expanded to 85;[60] and what was once a 9 p.m. newscast slated to launch July 7 turned into a 10 p.m. newscast, News 15, that debuted on August 1, 1994. The new newscast was fast-paced with a high story count, and it was also the start of a rapid expansion to fit the needs of a Big Three affiliate. A 6 p.m. newscast soon followed, with a 5 p.m. show added in December and 6 and 11 a.m. programs in January 1995.[61]
The founding news director, Mary Cox, soon exited; she was replaced by Susan Sullivan, who created an environment focused on enterprise and investigative reporting that employees described as "utopian".[62] Bob Rowe, a station manager "excommunicated" by Scripps to Phoenix, was just as influential in the early years of KNXV's news operation, laying the groundwork for a "no chit-chat" approach. The resulting news product attracted increased viewership: News 15 rose as high as second place at one point. It also led to critical acclaim: in 1995, channel 15 won the most regional Emmy Award nominations for a Phoenix station. After Sullivan left the station in 1996, Michael Kronley was installed as station manager from Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC-TV. Under Kronley, the investigative reports were discontinued and replaced by more live shots, and the station acquired a helicopter. KNXV and KPHO both adopted the slogan "Live, Local, Late Breaking", requiring KPHO to alter its version[63] and ultimately leading KNXV to adopt a new slogan, "We won't waste your time".[64] Under Jeff Klotzman, channel 15's fourth news director, ratings generally fell for the station's newscasts; he resigned in 1998 and was replaced by Bob Morford,[65] whose format tended to deemphasize reporters.[66] A 2000 Columbia Journalism Review study of local newscasts nationwide gave KNXV an "F" rating for its short stories lacking investigations and mentioned sources,[67] though it praised the focus on local issues and geographic diversity in local news coverage.[68] Morford defended KNXV's news format as an alternative to the longer-established newscasts that already drew frequent news watchers and noted that his station sought to attract "low-use TV news viewers".[69]
On April 1, 2009, Scripps joined with Fox Television Stations, owner of KSAZ-TV, to form Local News Service, a model for pooling newsgathering efforts for local news events in which each station provided employees to the pool service in exchange for the sharing of video.[70] KPHO-TV eventually joined the Phoenix LNS agreement shortly after the announcement.[71] By 2020, all four English-language television newsrooms in Phoenix shared a helicopter.[72]
In the 2010s, KNXV steadily expanded its news product to additional time slots. In 2012, KNXV relaunched an 11 a.m. newscast, and it added weekend morning news in 2013[73] and a 6:30 weeknight half-hour in 2014,[74] among other new newscasts. After acquiring KASW, Scripps launched extended morning, midday, and 9 p.m. newscasts on that station over the course of 2020.[75]
In the mid-2010s, KNXV also became a leader at digital news within the Scripps group, particularly under the leadership of Chris Kline, who was promoted to news director from digital director. It was the first station in the company to launch a channel on Roku, later expanded throughout the group,[76] and the use of a "digital-first" newsroom methodology helped lead to ratings increases for channel 15's newscasts.[77]
KNXV-TV has won five George Foster Peabody Awards. The first, in 2007, was for "Security Risks at Sky Harbor", which exposed lapses in security at the airport overnight.[78] The station won a second in 2012 for "Ford Escape: Exposing a Deadly Defect", which led to a recall of SUVs.[79] KNXV won three more Peabody Awards in the early 2020s for a series of investigations about the Phoenix Police Department. In 2020, Chief Investigative Reporter Dave Biscobing was awarded for "Full Disclosure", on the state of Brady lists in the state,[80] which also received an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award[81] and The Hillman Prize.[82] Another Biscobing report, "Politically Charged", won another Peabody in 2021[83] along with a George Polk Award.[84]