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KONO used to be a tv station?
- Thread starter sdh416
- Start date
According to KSAT's web site:
"KSAT 12 hasn't always been called KSAT. In fact, the station went on the air as KONO TV in February 1957, with the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
In 1968, the station was purchased by the Outlet Co. of Providence, R.I. It officially became KSAT 12 in 1969, when the company changed its call letters."
"KSAT 12 hasn't always been called KSAT. In fact, the station went on the air as KONO TV in February 1957, with the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
In 1968, the station was purchased by the Outlet Co. of Providence, R.I. It officially became KSAT 12 in 1969, when the company changed its call letters."
> I saw this on a website that had archives of television
> stations in San Antonio and surrounding areas from the 60s
> to the late 90s. I believe it was the early 60s that SA's
> ABC station was KONO and not KSAT. Anyone have any info or
> history of KONO?
Although I don't have much on the history of KONO-TV, what happened was actually pretty common because, just as every AM was offered an FM when FM was new, most AM's were offered a TV when that was a new technology. I believe KENS-TV was KTSA-TV at one time while KWEX was KCOR-TV.
> stations in San Antonio and surrounding areas from the 60s
> to the late 90s. I believe it was the early 60s that SA's
> ABC station was KONO and not KSAT. Anyone have any info or
> history of KONO?
Although I don't have much on the history of KONO-TV, what happened was actually pretty common because, just as every AM was offered an FM when FM was new, most AM's were offered a TV when that was a new technology. I believe KENS-TV was KTSA-TV at one time while KWEX was KCOR-TV.
M
Mediafrog
Guest
> I believe KENS-TV was KTSA-TV at one time while KWEX was KCOR-TV.
KENS was originally KEYL.
You are correct about KWEX/KCOR.
KENS was originally KEYL.
You are correct about KWEX/KCOR.
> KENS was originally KEYL.
Was there a KEYL AM? Maybe 1250 since 104.5 was its FM side and used to be KEXL? Also, I remember someone telling me about KTSA-TV. Did it ever get off the ground? I was thinking I heard it was on 5, but I must have been mistaken. I was too young when I lived in San Antonio to remember much about the town and its radio/TV stations. So, I'm going on only what I've been told.
Was there a KEYL AM? Maybe 1250 since 104.5 was its FM side and used to be KEXL? Also, I remember someone telling me about KTSA-TV. Did it ever get off the ground? I was thinking I heard it was on 5, but I must have been mistaken. I was too young when I lived in San Antonio to remember much about the town and its radio/TV stations. So, I'm going on only what I've been told.
> According to KSAT's web site:
>
> "KSAT 12 hasn't always been called KSAT. In fact, the
> station went on the air as KONO TV in February 1957, with
> the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
>
> In 1968, the station was purchased by the Outlet Co. of
> Providence, R.I. It officially became KSAT 12 in 1969, when
> the company changed its call letters."
>
KONO-TV; it has a nice ring to it. they should change it back like they did when they changed KMOL back to WOAI. What other TV stations bear the W west of the Mississippi? I know dallas has one or two.
>
> "KSAT 12 hasn't always been called KSAT. In fact, the
> station went on the air as KONO TV in February 1957, with
> the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
>
> In 1968, the station was purchased by the Outlet Co. of
> Providence, R.I. It officially became KSAT 12 in 1969, when
> the company changed its call letters."
>
KONO-TV; it has a nice ring to it. they should change it back like they did when they changed KMOL back to WOAI. What other TV stations bear the W west of the Mississippi? I know dallas has one or two.
D
dualux
Guest
> KONO-TV; it has a nice ring to it. they should change it
> back like they did when they changed KMOL back to WOAI. What
> other TV stations bear the W west of the Mississippi? I
> know dallas has one or two.
>
Cool idea, no static, but it probably won't happen. KSAT-12 is very sucessful with adverisers and viewers as KSAT -- they've had many years to get people familiar with it.
When I worked there in the late 70's, there was still quite a bit of older equipment sitting around with the KONO-TV call letters painted on it.
As for TV stations that start with a "W" west of the Mississippi River -- in addition to WFAA-TV in Dallas and WOAI-TV, San Antonio -- there's WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa (Ch. 5-ABC)and WOI-DT (Channel 59).
> back like they did when they changed KMOL back to WOAI. What
> other TV stations bear the W west of the Mississippi? I
> know dallas has one or two.
>
Cool idea, no static, but it probably won't happen. KSAT-12 is very sucessful with adverisers and viewers as KSAT -- they've had many years to get people familiar with it.
When I worked there in the late 70's, there was still quite a bit of older equipment sitting around with the KONO-TV call letters painted on it.
As for TV stations that start with a "W" west of the Mississippi River -- in addition to WFAA-TV in Dallas and WOAI-TV, San Antonio -- there's WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa (Ch. 5-ABC)and WOI-DT (Channel 59).
Kent- KEXL's sister station was KITE AM 930.
And I had to wince when I read the comment about AM operators being offered a TV license. Back in the mid to lake 50's, there was a contested application for Channel 12. It was between KMAC's Howard W. Davis and KONO's Bob Roth Sr. KMAC chief engineer Clarence Betts told me the FCC grilled Mr. Davis for days. They picked at every minor glitch, technicality and apparent violation, no matter how minor. Clarence says it took the heart right out of Mr. Davis; that he was never the same. Mr. Roth won.
BTW- KEYL was owned and operated by Dumont. KENS kept a Dumont transmitter as a back-up behind the second floor newsroom at Ave. E and 4th until they moved out to Fred. Rd. I doubt it's still there. Dumont sold to Huntress, the local Coca-Cola bottlers who owned the Express News, hence; K-Express News Station. They also bought KABC-AM 680 from Alamo Broadcasting and turned it into KENS Radio back in the 50's. It's now KKYX.
KEYL-TV was in the Transit Tower (Tower Life Building). That's their old tower on top of the building. The transmitter moved over to Ave. E when the studio moved, then they built the new transmitter near Calaveras. KEEZ-97 FM used the top floors and the tower into the '70's. It's now KAJA-FM, and I imagine the transmitter moved back in the '90s.
g
And I had to wince when I read the comment about AM operators being offered a TV license. Back in the mid to lake 50's, there was a contested application for Channel 12. It was between KMAC's Howard W. Davis and KONO's Bob Roth Sr. KMAC chief engineer Clarence Betts told me the FCC grilled Mr. Davis for days. They picked at every minor glitch, technicality and apparent violation, no matter how minor. Clarence says it took the heart right out of Mr. Davis; that he was never the same. Mr. Roth won.
BTW- KEYL was owned and operated by Dumont. KENS kept a Dumont transmitter as a back-up behind the second floor newsroom at Ave. E and 4th until they moved out to Fred. Rd. I doubt it's still there. Dumont sold to Huntress, the local Coca-Cola bottlers who owned the Express News, hence; K-Express News Station. They also bought KABC-AM 680 from Alamo Broadcasting and turned it into KENS Radio back in the 50's. It's now KKYX.
KEYL-TV was in the Transit Tower (Tower Life Building). That's their old tower on top of the building. The transmitter moved over to Ave. E when the studio moved, then they built the new transmitter near Calaveras. KEEZ-97 FM used the top floors and the tower into the '70's. It's now KAJA-FM, and I imagine the transmitter moved back in the '90s.
g
In Austin...
KVET had a permit for 24, but it went on the air as KVUE.
KHFI AM 970 (now KIXL) and KHFI-FM 98.3 (now KVET-FM 98.1) started KHFI-TV 42 now KXAN 36.
And I understand KTBC (now KLBJ) besides putting channel 7 on the air was instrumental in getting KLRN on the air as a non-com. It seems the FCC had originally alloted channel 9 to Austin as a second commercial VHF channel.
KVET had a permit for 24, but it went on the air as KVUE.
KHFI AM 970 (now KIXL) and KHFI-FM 98.3 (now KVET-FM 98.1) started KHFI-TV 42 now KXAN 36.
And I understand KTBC (now KLBJ) besides putting channel 7 on the air was instrumental in getting KLRN on the air as a non-com. It seems the FCC had originally alloted channel 9 to Austin as a second commercial VHF channel.
radioeye said:
I don't think anyone was offered a TV permit.
An awful lot of AM stations asked for TV permits in the late 1940s and early/mid 1950s. Often, several stations asked for the same TV channel. (especially when it was a VHF channel.)
And an awful lot of stations surrendered their TV permits unbuilt when they learned just how expensive it was to operate a UHF station and how few viewers would watch. In a few cases they'd actually build the station & put it on the air, and only then learn they were going to bankrupt themselves...
w9wi said:
Funny thing is the same can be said about a lot of early FM radio stations.
1
1st of 5
Guest
Not intending to change the subject, but I recall that KABC-AM 680 was KBAT-AM 680 before it became KKYX. My mom used to listen to it every morning as we got ready for school in the mid to late '60s. KBAT didn't play country, but some kind of mellow adult music. And thank you for answering a nagging question for me. I couldn't remember the call letters of the station on 97.3 before it was KAJA. I used to listen to KEEZ-FM 97.3 on my brand new Soundesign alarm clock. It had a very sensitive tuner for such an inexpensive radio. With just taping the power cord to the window pane I could pick up WLS-AM from Chicago, WHO from Iowa, XROCK-80 from El Paso (?) and many other distant AM stations, mainly at night and in the winter. I wish those kind of radios were still available today. My latest shortwave receiver has trouble picking up semi-local AMs like KWKH, KOA, WBAP and others.
Willis1000 said:
That's not quite my understanding, let's see how our stories square with each other.
My understanding is that 9 was originally assigned to San Antonio as an educational station. At one point, the owners of KWEX TV (41) came to the FCC and petitioned for the educational license to be made commercial so they could better reach their audience as UHF in the mid 60s has pretty poor penetration around here. At that point, the folks up in Austin joined with the people who had been trying to get a public station on the air in SA, and convinced the FCC to move the license, temporarily, to New Braunfels so that KLRN could serve both markets.
As those of us who grew up here will remember, the resulting signal was, well, mediocre at best in both cities. But it preserved the educational allocation for channel 9 in Central Texas until KLRU went on in the early 80s (IIRC). With that, KLRN moved 9 back to San Antonio and that created what we have today.
I'll have to admit I heard the channel 9 story from a couple of oldtimers from KTBC.
I did notice that KLRN clains to have gone on the air in 1962 and KWEX (then KCOR-TV) claims it went on in 1955. Was the fight over 9 & 12 so intense that COR decided to go with a UHF from the start?
I did notice that KLRN clains to have gone on the air in 1962 and KWEX (then KCOR-TV) claims it went on in 1955. Was the fight over 9 & 12 so intense that COR decided to go with a UHF from the start?
The Spanish market was given a UHF allocation from the start, as 9 was, in the beginning, intended to be educational TV for San Antonio. However, there was precious little movement to getting it on the air until 41 started casting eyes at the frequency.
IIRC, the fight was between the educational TV supporters and the folks who owned 41. You can't blame the folks at KWEX/KCOR. Here they had been assigned a UHF frequency, reaching precious few Spanish-speaking folks in one of the largest Spanish-speaking markets in the country, when this nice, ripe, VHF was sitting there completely unused. It took quite an effort on the part of the people in San Antonio and Austin to save 9 for educational broadcasting. Of course, support from the University of Texas didn't hurt (which provided studio space in Austin) and I'd be surprised if the Johnson's didn't have a hand in it either.
The Spanish-speaking market in SA got screwed, IMHO, but in the place of a VHF voice for them we wound up having two very strong PBS stations in the area.
IIRC, the fight was between the educational TV supporters and the folks who owned 41. You can't blame the folks at KWEX/KCOR. Here they had been assigned a UHF frequency, reaching precious few Spanish-speaking folks in one of the largest Spanish-speaking markets in the country, when this nice, ripe, VHF was sitting there completely unused. It took quite an effort on the part of the people in San Antonio and Austin to save 9 for educational broadcasting. Of course, support from the University of Texas didn't hurt (which provided studio space in Austin) and I'd be surprised if the Johnson's didn't have a hand in it either.
The Spanish-speaking market in SA got screwed, IMHO, but in the place of a VHF voice for them we wound up having two very strong PBS stations in the area.
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