KFOR-TV, channel 10, was a VHF

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 eart ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, that operated from May 1953 to March 1954.

History

KFOR-TV signed on May 31, 1953, three months after the launch of the first Lincoln station,

KOLN Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

. It was founded by Lincoln-based Cornbelt Broadcasting, which also operated KFOR radio. New studios were built for the station at 48th and Vine streets. The station's transmitter was located on the KFOR radio tower a few blocks away from the studio. It was the ABC affiliate for the Omaha-Lincoln market. However, according to longtime KOLN personality Leta Powell Drake, Omaha stations

KMTV KMTV-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on Mockingbird Drive in southwest Omaha, and its transmitter is located on a "tower ...

and WOW-TV (now

WOWT WOWT (channel 6) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located on Farnam Street near downtown Omaha, and its transmitter is located on a "tower farm" ...

), both of which had a secondary ABC affiliation, had first choice on ABC programming and blocked KFOR from airing ABC's most popular shows during prime time. In February 1954, broadcasting pioneer

John Fetzer John Earl Fetzer (March 25, 1901 – February 20, 1991) was a radio and television executive who was best known as the owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1961 through 1983. Under his ownership, the 1968 Tigers won the World Series. Biography Bo ...

— who had purchased KOLN in August 1953 — purchased KFOR-TV for $300,000. The purchase included the station license and equipment but not the studio building or KFOR radio. To avoid running afoul of

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 jurisdicti ...

ownership regulations (and to create a commercial broadcast monopoly for himself in the Lincoln market), Fetzer moved KOLN from its sign-on channel 12 to KFOR's channel 10 and donated the channel 12 facilities and the KFOR license to the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

for its educational station, KUON-TV. KFOR-TV was shut down on March 13, 1954; KOLN picked up KFOR's ABC affiliation until Fetzer successfully persuaded the FCC to split Lincoln from the Omaha market, after which time it switched its primary affiliation to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. '' Backyard Farmer'' originated on KFOR-TV in 1953; it moved to KUON in 1955 and continues to air on what is now known as

Nebraska Public Media Nebraska Public Media, formerly Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), is a state network of public radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC ...

. The former KFOR-TV studio became a

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

, then was later converted to office space that was known for a time as the Egan Building. The KFOR-TV call sign was adopted by the former WKY-TV/KTVY-TV in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 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, and ...

, in 1990.

References

External links

"TV Comes to Town,"
a short film documenting the process of building KFOR-TV, which was commissioned by the station's owners and filmed by the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. {{Lincoln TV Television stations in Nebraska Defunct television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1953 1954 disestablishments in Nebraska 1953 establishments in Nebraska Television channels and stations disestablished in 1954 Defunct mass media in Nebraska