HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - KTVQ (Oklahoma City)
OR:
KTVQ (Oklahoma City) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

KTVQ,
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...
channel 25, was an
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
- affiliated
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, which operated from November 1, 1953, to December 15, 1955. The station was owned by the Republic Television and Radio Company. KTVQ's studios were located on Northwest 19th Street and North Classen Boulevard in northwest Oklahoma City's Mesta Park neighborhood (in a building that presently houses a commercial retail complex), and its transmitter was located atop the First National Bank Building on North Robinson and Park Avenues in downtown Oklahoma City. Two years after the station ceased operations due to financial difficulties that led to KTVQ's
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
, Republic Television and Radio sold the UHF channel 25
license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
and
construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
to Independent School District No. 89 of
Oklahoma County Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
(now
Oklahoma City Public Schools The Oklahoma City Public Schools, abbreviated OKCPS, is a multicultural public school district serving most of the urban area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the second largest primary and secondary education district in the state of Oklahoma, ...
) in July 1958; the school district launched a new station on that channel, KOKH-TV, in February 1959.


History


Early history

On June 26, 1952, the Oklahoma County TV and Broadcasting Company—a Chickasha-based company co-owned by Philip D. Jackson and Clarence E. Wilson, joint owners of Chickasha radio station KWCO (1560 AM, now Oklahoma City-licensed KEBC; the KWCO call letters now reside on a radio station on
105.5 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 105.5 Hz: Argentina * Antena 7 in Las Lajitas, Salta * Atractiva in Presidencia de la Plaza, Chaco * Balcarce Salta in Salta * Cielo in Córdoba * Concierto in Concepción, Tucumán ...
in Chickasha)—submitted an application to the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) for a
construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
to build and license to operate a broadcast television station in the Oklahoma City market that would transmit on UHF channel 25. The FCC eventually granted the license to Oklahoma County TV and Broadcasting on February 11, 1953; the group subsequently requested and received approval to assign KTVQ (for "Television Quality") as the call letters for his television station. Subsequently, on April 27, the company's principals reached an agreement to transfer the license and permit to the Republic Television and Radio Company, owned by John Esau (then the stockholder and manager of radio stations KTUL KTBZ">KTBZ_(AM).html" ;"title="ow KTBZ (AM)">KTBZin Tulsa, Oklahoma">Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
and KFPW in Fort Smith, Arkansas">KFPW (AM)">KFPW in Fort Smith, Arkansas), oil prospectors Frank E. Brown, Frank Smith and R. P. Green, and attorney A. C. Saunders. Jackson and Wilson received 12¼% interest in Republic in consideration for the transfer. The FCC granted the permit transfer to Republic Television and Radio on August 5. KTVQ first signed on the air on November 1, 1953, operating as an ABC affiliate. (Plans originally called for the station to sign on October 1, later pushed back to October 11.) Channel 25 was ABC's first full-time outlet in the Oklahoma City media market">television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
 and at the time was one of the relatively few ABC-affiliated stations operating on the UHF dial; it assumed the affiliation from primary NBC affiliate WKY-TV (channel 4, now
KFOR-TV KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside independent station KAUT-TV (channel 43). Both stations share studios in Oklahoma ...
)—which had continued to carry select ABC programs under a secondary basic affiliation afterward—as it had carried programming from the network since its sign-on in June 1949. KTVQ was the first television station to sign on in Oklahoma City since the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC)-imposed freeze on television broadcast licenses was lifted in 1953. KTVQ was the first of three commercial television station to sign on in the Oklahoma City market during 1953: another UHF station,
KMPT KMPT (930 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve East Missoula, Montana. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. It airs a talk radio format. History KYSS signed on the air June 27, 1959. Treasure State Broadcasting signed the station o ...
(channel 19, later used by Cornerstone Television affiliate
KUOT-CD KUOT-CD, virtual and UHF digital channel 21 is a low-powered, Class A 3ABN- affiliated television station licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. Founded March 7, 1995, the station is owned by The Edge Spectrum, Inc. Digital tel ...
), debuted as a
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
affiliate on November 8; KWTV (channel 9) launched as a CBS affiliate on December 20. As with many early UHF stations, reception of KTVQ required television set owners to purchase a standalone UHF tuning adapter. (Set manufacturers were not required to equip televisions with UHF tuners until the Congress passed the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1961, with UHF tuners not included on all newer sets until 1964.) The station conducted a series of promotions to encourage converter adoption including events intended for electronics dealers as well as radio and television commercials directed at the general public. Local programs on KTVQ included ''Moods in Music'' (an innovative music series that utilized projection cards containing song lyrics that were superimposed on-screen, accompanied by a
hat pin A hatpin is a decorative and functional pin for holding a hat to the head, usually by the hair. In Western culture, hatpins are almost solely used by women and are often worn in a pair. They are typically around in length, with the pinhead bei ...
, acting similarly to the "bouncing ball" seen in singalong versions of movie musicals, moving across the card within the projector), ''Sidewalk Cafe'' (a half-hour, weekly variety series featuring instrumental music, interviews and anecdotes, and conducted from a set in the style of a European sidewalk cafe), and sporting events that included Oklahoma A&M Aggies basketball games (which, due to limitations that prevented live broadcasts of away games, aired as pre-filmed telecasts accompanied by separately recorded play-by-play description), local
high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
games, and Monday and Tuesday night home games from the now-defunct
Oklahoma City Indians The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...
minor league franchise. To promote programs scheduled to air on the station, as area newspapers (such as '' The Daily Oklahoman'' and the ''
Oklahoma City Times Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
'') were not willing to distribute free radio/TV listings logs at the time, KTVQ announced such shows in a format mirroring local children's programs of the period (and was used for a mid-afternoon children's program featured on the station), in which a puppet carried on a conversation with staff announcer Dick Kirchner discussing upcoming KTVQ programs while written program notes rolled past an opening in the back of the stage housing the puppet.


Financial troubles and shutdown

Along with its existing struggles being a UHF outlet, KTVQ also had to deal with other local stations. WKY-TV had a stronghold on network programming in the market, which Esau contended had exhibited "malicious in BC'smonopolistic collusion" with channel 4. In December 1954, Republic Television and Radio filed a petition for bankruptcy reorganization in the
United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ...
, citing a lack of adequate working capital and temporary financial difficulties, with an estimated debt load totaling $400,000. Later that month, KTVQ was placed under a trusteeship managed by Esau and attorney Duke Duvall, who were appointed by the court as trustees. The FCC granted transfer of control of Republic Television and Radio to the Esau-Duvall trusteeship on January 11, 1955. As part of the reorganization, National Affiliated Television Stations (NATS)—an organization backed by
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
and National Telefilm Associates to assist financially struggling television stations with finances, management, programming and advertising services—and ABC agreed to a two-year agreement to provide programming and financial services (including the sale of common stock in the company to Republic stockholders and a one-year equipment payment deference) while the station attempted to emerge from bankruptcy; attorney, oilman and rancher E. A. Farris would also become controlling owner of KTVQ, planning to cancel all debts owed in the station in exchange for the station's common voting stock. ABC's cooperation in the reorganization also intended to substantially increase the number of network programs shown on KTVQ's schedule. The Western District Court approved the reorganization plan in May 1955. In January 1955, shortly before the FCC proposed rules to limit television transmission antennas from being located more than from the outskirts of a station's principal city of license, Streets Electronics—owner of Enid-based ABC affiliate KGEO-TV (channel 5, now
KOCO-TV KOCO-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. Its studios and transmitter are located on East Britton Road (Historic Route 66)—between North Kelley ...
)—filed a construction permit application to build a new -tall transmission tower west-northwest of Crescent. Republic Television and Radio Company charged that KGEO wanted to "straddle" its transmitter between Enid and Oklahoma City to serve both cities, as between 75% and 85% of television set owners in the Enid area owners had oriented their home antennas to receive signals from Oklahoma City and the new tower would provide improved reception in Enid by allowing the signal to propagate into the area at the same direction that these home antennas were aimed, a claim Streets denied. Republic management expressed concern that KGEO's move to the Crescent site would create unfair competition that could hamper the station's already untenable financial situation. Petitions by Republic Television and Radio to set aside the recommendation to grant of the transmitter application and to reopen the record and call attention to the issues the move would cause was denied by the FCC on December 15, 1955. (The agency later granted the Streets transmitter relocation request in a 6–1 vote on May 4, 1956.) That same day, KTVQ suspended operations under court order from the Western Oklahoma District Court "until a VHF channel ssignment wasmade available to it"; the FCC—was considering a proposal to allocate a minimum of three commercial VHF channels in all major markets—did not act on KTVQ's request, resulting in the station being forced to cease transmissions. Station representatives asked the FCC for special temporary authorization to operate on VHF channel 11—which had been assigned to Tulsa as a
non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements (TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was or ...
allocation—until the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) could sign on KOED-TV, a satellite of its Oklahoma City
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
KETA-TV (channel 13), intending to broadcast over the transmitter facility of the then-recently defunct KMPT.
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Raymond D. Gary Raymond Dancel Gary (January 21, 1908 – December 11, 1993) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 15th governor of Oklahoma from 1955 to 1959 and the first governor to be born in Oklahoma since statehood. Born in southern ...
was among those who supported the proposal; in contrast, OETA and the Joint Committee on Educational Television filed objections to the request, contending that the proposal was "tantamount to scrapping the whole table of educational television assignments". Sales and acting manager Troy Hoskins stated the station's shutdown had resulted in about 80% of ABC's programming lineup being unavailable to Oklahoma City viewers. The FCC refused the STA request on February 1, 1956; KTVQ management re-submitted the STA request for channel 11 on May 11, with the intent to operate the station on that channel either through the remainder of the term of the construction permit or until OETA—which had withdrawn its opposition to temporary use of the Tulsa channel—was ready to sign on KOED-TV. The station's fate was ultimately sealed when the request was rejected for the second time on July 5, 1956. ABC programming subsequently returned to WKY-TV as a secondary affiliation (KGEO-TV displaced WKY as the network's Oklahoma City affiliate when it moved its operations and changed its
city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...
from Enid to Oklahoma City in 1958).


Current history of UHF channel 25 in Oklahoma City

On July 25, 1958, the Republic Television and Radio Company donated the construction permit and license to Independent School District No. 89 of
Oklahoma County Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
(now
Oklahoma City Public Schools The Oklahoma City Public Schools, abbreviated OKCPS, is a multicultural public school district serving most of the urban area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the second largest primary and secondary education district in the state of Oklahoma, ...
), while the company was in the midst of protracted hearings regarding KTVQ's bankruptcy. Although the FCC reserved the UHF channel 25 allocation in Oklahoma City for commercial broadcasting purposes, the school district proposed upon acquiring the permit to operate it as a
non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements (TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was or ...
independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
. The district requested for KOKH-TV—the base of which assigned at the time to its
public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
station on 88.9 FM (now KYLV)—to be assigned as the television station's call letters. KOKH signed on the air on
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
, 1959, with programming originally consisting of instructional and lecture-based telecourse programs developed in cooperation with the
Oklahoma State Department of Education The Oklahoma State Department of Education is the state education agency of the State of Oklahoma charged with determining the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of Oklahoma. The State Board of Ed ...
for college credit attribution. The school district—citing that operating expenditures outran any benefits and its inability to raise $350,000 in matching funds to replace its existing transmission tower—sold the station for $3.5 million to Blair Broadcasting (a subsidiary of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-based John Blair & Co.) on December 14, 1978; Blair later converted KOKH into a general entertainment independent station on October 1, 1979, initially carrying a mix of
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s, cartoons, classic
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s, religious programs, some sports programming, and certain network programs preempted by NBC affiliate KTVY (channel 4, now
KFOR-TV KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside independent station KAUT-TV (channel 43). Both stations share studios in Oklahoma ...
), ABC affiliate
KOCO-TV KOCO-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. Its studios and transmitter are located on East Britton Road (Historic Route 66)—between North Kelley ...
(channel 5) and CBS affiliate KWTV (channel 9) to carry local or syndicated programming. KOKH became a
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
affiliate on August 15, 1991, as a result of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA)'s purchase of the network's Oklahoma City charter affiliate,
KAUT Kaut is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: * Ellis Kaut (1920–2015), German author * Helena Kaut-Howson, British theatre director * Martin Kaut (born 1999), Czech ice hockey player See also * KAUT-TV KAUT- ...
(channel 43, now an independent station), which became a
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member station as a companion to OETA
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...
KETA-TV (channel 13). (, KOKH-TV is currently owned by the
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
.)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ktvq (Oklahoma City) TVQ (Oklahoma City) Defunct television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in Oklahoma Television channels and stations disestablished in 1955 1955 disestablishments in Oklahoma
TVQ TVQ is the Brisbane television station of Network 10 in Australia. History In April 1964, the Postmaster-General's Department granted Universal Telecasters a broadcasting licence. The channel was allocated channel 0 (the 0 was pronounced as ...