a class action lawsuit from the patients. In 2007, a longtime newscast director sued Meredith and charged that the company had engaged in systematic harassment and dismissal of older employees. A judge denied KCTV's move to dismiss the suit; station management later reached a monetary settlement with the plaintiff. As part of the acquisition of KSMO-TV, Meredith promised to add a newscast to its lineup for its first time. The 30-minute KCTV 5 News at 9:00 debuted in October 2005, following the closure of the Meredith purchase, promising the same experience "lock, stock, and barrel" as the station offered at 10 p.m. even though KCTV general manager Kirk Black had previously declared it would have its own presentation style. By 2010, the station was also airing a 7 a.m. morning newscast and simulcasting a noon newscast also aired on KCTV. Though the station also experimented with a 6:30 p.m. newscast on KSMO in 2014, this newscast had been canceled by 2018, when channel 62 shifted to airing news in the 7 p.m. hour. Black left in 2009 when Meredith promoted him to run its largest and most troubled television station, WGCL-TV in Atlanta. Citing research showing that the station was perceived as "annoying", his successor, Brian Totsch, moved to tone down the station's style, ditching the "live, late-breaking, investigative" tagline he called a "punchline"; reducing the number of severe weather cut-ins; and dismissing lead investigative reporter Ash-har Quraishi. Ratings fell, and KCTV was in third place again by 2011. However, the station's performance outside of news continued to be strong: in 2013, it won total-day ratings, especially prime time, despite not winning any of the local news races, which were split among WDAF-TV and KMBC-TV. After being abruptly let go in 2015, former news anchor Karen Fuller sued Meredith, alleging age discrimination specific to female anchors, though Meredith cited poor performance as the reason for her dismissal. Though a district judge in Kansas refused to dismiss the case, before it was to go to trial in Kansas City, Kansas, the two parties settled in 2018. As KCMO-TV, the station won a Peabody Award in 1978 for a documentary, "Where Have All The Flood Cars Gone?", on the sale of damaged cars after a flood hit the Kansas City area. The story was reported by investigative reporter John Ferrugia. Sports programming From 2002 through 2019, KCTV was the preseason television home