KATC is an ABC affiliate serving viewers in the parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion. TV3 is Scripps' first station in the state of Louisiana. It is one of 15 television stations in 10 markets that Scripps acquired from Cordillera Communications.
KATC journalists live by the station promise to be "Everywhere" news and weather breaks, and to deliver information on every platform. Acadiana's NewsChannel is the dominant television and digital news source in its market. The Emmy-winning station also has been named the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters station of the year multiple times, and TV3 routinely wins more Associated Press awards than any other station in Louisiana.
The KATC commitment to weather is punctuated by Power Doppler HD, the only television station doppler radar in South Louisiana. It features a 14-foot satellite dish towering more than 75 feet high that instantly reports back to the StormTeam3 Weather Lab.
KATC helps raise millions of dollars every year for their partner community service agencies. Their St. Jude campaign tops more than a million dollars annually. Another KATC home raffle is Home for the Holidays, in which one KATC viewer wins a home worth approximately $450,000. The Holidays initiative benefits local shelters, Habitat for Humanity and an area homeless shelter for veterans.
KATC hit the airwaves in 1962, the same year John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, the average cost of a new automobile was $3,125 and annual tuition at Harvard University was $1,520.
TV3 originally was locally owned by Acadian Television Company. Acadian sold the station to the Abellor Corporation (Jesuits of NOLA) in 1982, with ownership transferring to Loyola University in 1986. In 1987, the station was purchased by RP Companies/ML Partners, who then sold the station to Evening Post Industries, the parent company of Cordillera.
In October 2018, Scripps announced it would acquire KATC and 14 sister stations from Cordillera. The company closed on the deal May 1. The acquisition increases Scripps' local television station footprint to 52 stations in 36 markets, with a reach of nearly 21 percent of U.S. TV households.
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