KTTV leads local Emmy nominations

KTTV-TV Channel 11 is the top recipient of nominations being announced today for the 59th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, which honor local programming on TV and cable. The Fox-owned station garnered 17 of the 139 nominations unveiled by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, with KNBC-TV Channel 4 nabbing 16 and KCET-TV Channel 28 receiving 15.

KTTV's nominations came in a wide range of categories, including live special events, entertainment programming, serious news story, investigative reporting and education.

KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9, which are owned by CBS and share news-gathering facilities, combined to grab 12 nominations. KCAL picked up seven more on its own while KCBS collected five. Fox Sports Net West got 10 and KTLA-TV Channel 5, which is owned by L.A. Times parent Tribune Co., earned nine.

The awards will be handed out Aug. 25 at the academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.

Nominations for outstanding hard news reporting went to David Ono of KABC, Gina Silva of KTTV, Joel Grover and Matt Goldberg of KNBC and Norma Roque of KMEX-TV Channel 34.

Nominated for outstanding news feature reporting were Josh Rubenstein, Lisa Joyner and Kimberly McWatt of KCBS/KCAL, Rob Hayes of KABC and Susan Hirasuna of KTTV.

KNBC's Grover also picked up two nominations for investigative reporting on "Is Your Mechanic Cheating?" and "Taxicab Deception." Other nominees in the category are KTTV's "Underage Photos" and three from KCBS/KCAL, "Pet Store Dangers," "Trustline" and "Sex Offender Shuffle."

Public-television station KCET collected two of the nominations for best studio-based informational/public affairs series, for "A Place of Our Own" and "Los Niños En Su Casa." Also nominated are KCBS' "Studio 2" and KTLA's "Making It! Minority Success Stories."

The academy's Governors Award, honoring broadcasting achievement in the L.A. market, will go to "Mejorando Su Vida" (Improving Your Life), a series of informational spots aimed at Latino immigrants, which runs in news programming on Telemundo-owned KVEA-TV Channel 52.

lee.margulies@latimes.com