SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – KELOLAND News has won an Emmy award for their hour-long newscast, First@4, in its second year on air.
During the Upper Midwest Regional Emmys on October 19, KELOLAND’s First@4 show took home the Emmy for daytime newscast in the 76-120 market.
“You put on a newscast not to win awards, you put on a newscast to inform your viewers of what’s happening across the region, nationally and locally, but when you’re recognized by your peers for doing some outstanding work, it feels pretty good,” First@4 anchor Don Jorgenson said.
KELO launched First@4 in September 2022 and continued to grow their audience and ratings. Now, it’s the number one local news program at 4 p.m. This is the program’s second Emmy nomination and its first win.
According to News Director Beth Jensen, back in 2022, the station had a programming hole after a national talk show went off air. Rather than replace the show with another national program, KELO decided to create a new newscast that focused on local, regional and national news. The program also teased upcoming content for the later newscasts and highlighted KELOLAND.COM Originals.
“It feels like we’ve always had a four o’clock newscast, and I think that’s the credit to the bench strength here at KELO,” Jensen said. “That we can create something entirely new, but it doesn’t feel new because it has people who’ve produced newscasts before, it has anchors you’re familiar with, it has meteorologists. It has a format that feels familiar. I think that’s the longevity and the legacy of KELO is the reason it’s been such a success.”
Longtime anchors for the station, Don Jorgenson and Kelli Volk, became the face of the show. Jorgenson said he likes anchoring the hour-long program because it lets them talk more and show their personalities, rather than the more cut-and-dry news content of the regular 5, 6 and 10 shows.
“Especially with Kelli, having a good co-anchor who you can have a little fun with and she takes it all in good stride,” he said. “We like to poke fun at each other a little bit.”
Jensen said the Emmy win in the show’s second year is a testament to the station’s ability to work together and adapt, as well as
“It’s also validating to see that someone who may not be familiar with our reputation or this area could watch a newscast and judge it well, so we appreciate that too,” she said.
The Emmy-winning First@4 newscast recognized everyone who was involved in production including:
- Hannah Foster, producer
- Bridget Bennett, anchor
- Don Jorgensen, anchor
- Tom Hanson, reporter
- Meghan Chada, meteorologist
- Summer Raderschadt, multimedia journalist
- Jacob Newton, digital reporter
- Tyler Louder, multimedia journalist
- Haili Cornell, director
- Anya Joseph, sports reporter
