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ST. LOUIS RADIO (AND TV) HISTORY

B

Bob E. Nelson

In spite of this board being quiet (at least compared to Dallas/Ft. Worth, where I now live), I see that there are enough posters that drop by here to perhaps answer a few questions.

1). Did what is now KTVI channel 2 ever exist as KWK-TV, even for a brief period of time? If not, did the old KWK ever apply for any TV facility after WWII?

2). Apropos the 1490 facility in ESL (just chanhed to WFFX): Is that the descendant of the old WTMV, which dates back to at least the 1940's?

3). Concerning KSD (now KTRS), I saw that they (as well as KWK) filed to go 50,000 watts at 940 around 1942. Supposedly WWII put an end to that. But, moreover, how could that have even been possible considering that 940 is a Canadian clear? Was there some kind of exemption that the Post-Dispatch (and KWK) hoped to have gotten?

4). Finally, there an A frame tower on one of the older office buildings downtown (near Market on Broadway or maybe 4th). It looks like it has TV batwings or maybe an older FM antenna. What was/is that (and is it still in use)?
 
KTVI Channel 2, started life as WTVI, Channel 54, licensed to Belleville, Ill. It was the first of three UHF stations on the air in the St. Louis area. Shortly after WTVI went on the air, KEMO, Channel 36 went to the air from a 500 foot tower and studio next to Forest Park. After several years of operation, Channel 36 went dark. The owners of WTVI, bought the 500 foor tower and studio near Forest Park, and began a new operation of Channel 36 with the calll sign KTVI. Around 1958, KTVI was allowed to move to Channel 2, using the same tower. The big St. Louis tornado in 1959. destroyed the top 400 feet of this tower. The current KTVI studios and offices remain at this site.

Channel 4 in St. Louis signed on the air as KWK-TV. It was a CBS affifiate. It was localled owned with ownership of 1380 KWK Radio. Now the dirty deal. CBS network obtained the construction permit for Channel 11. But CBS wanted the lower channel 4 frequency, SO they forced KWK-TV to sell to them at a reduced rate, by threatning KWK with loss of the valuable CBS TV network affiliation. CBS then spun off it's CP for Channel 11 to the Harold Koplar family who stated KPLR-TV. The call sign KWK-TV became KMOX-TV.

At 12th and Olive, there is a tower on top of the old Post Dispatch bulidng that still hold the KSD-TV (KSDK)
batwing antenna. It is not known if this site is still operable as a Channel 5 standby site.
 
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