The 2011 small market station of the year honor marks the second time in three years the Lafayette news station has received the top award. Following what KATC's president calls the most successful year in the news station's history, KATC has been named the 2011 small market Television Station of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.
The Lafayette news station received the honor at a recent awards luncheon in Baton Rouge, where the association names a station that "best exemplifies the very highest standards and practices ... of the broadcasting industry."
The LAB examines multiple aspects of the TV station's operations, according to KATC, including news and weather, Nielson ratings, community service, station promotions, sales, online and mobile products, local programming and other special efforts.
KATC attributes its successful 2010 to several factors, like winning more Associated Press Awards than any other TV news station in the state, adding the CW network to its lineup, raising more than 2.5 million dollars for charity organizations and "ratings victories" for all of its newscasts.
Andrew Shenkan, KATC president and general manager, says the award "signifies our staff's outstanding effort to quality and their steadfast commitment to the Acadiana community."
KATC, an ABC affiliate and division of Cordillera Communications owned by Evening Post Publishing Company, also nabbed the 2010 LAB Community Service Award for its St. Jude Dream Home project and the 2009 Community Service Award for its Tools for Schools drive.