Which TV Stations Lost Their License

[Markxxx]

I know that RKO was stripped of their licenses but what other TV stations owners have had their TV station licenses stripped from them, involuntary of course

 

[AlanB]

KLDT-55 Lake Dallas (D/FW) had their renewal denied back in the 1990's.

 

[taylorjsdad]

I know that RKO was stripped of their licenses but what other TV stations owners have had their TV station licenses stripped from them, involuntary of course

The original channel 5 in Boston (WHDH-TV - not to be confused with the current WHDH) lost their license due to cross-ownership concerns. Their parent company at the time owned the Boston Herald-Traveler newspaper, 850 AM and 94.5 FM in Boston.

 

[bpatrick]

Maybe the best-known one: WLBT/3 Jackson, MS, whose
license was transferred to an African-American-owned company
around 1970; WLBT, as I'm sure you all know, is the station that
used to put up "technical difficulties" slides whenever a civil-rights
story came up on "The Huntley-Brinkley Report."

 

[RicoGregg]

KHOF, San Bernardino/Los Angeles was shut down by the Commission in 1983 due to issues with then-owner Dr. Gene Scott. On the last night he held the license, Dr. Scott kept blasting the FCC on the air, depicting them as wind-up monkeys.

The station is now known as KPXN, and owned by the ION network.

 

[Robnoxious]

KHOF, San Bernardino/Los Angeles was shut down by the Commission in 1983 due to issues with then-owner Dr. Gene Scott. On the last night he held the license, Dr. Scott kept blasting the FCC on the air, depicting them as wind-up monkeys.

I miss that crazy old coot. His Church was certainly different to say the least. I never could wrap my head around what his teaching and belief system was but unlike other pay to pray players like Swaggart, Crouch, Robertson and their ilk Dr. Gene Scott was very unique with his sermons.

Besides, was he really that far off saying the FCC is run by clowns and monkeys?

 

[Sammi Brie]

WLNS-6 Lansing (then WJIM) lost its license because of violating the FCC fairness guidelines then regained it on FCC review the next year.

 

[MarcB]

KHOF, San Bernardino/Los Angeles was shut down by the Commission in 1983 due to issues with then-owner Dr. Gene Scott. On the last night he held the license, Dr. Scott kept blasting the FCC on the air, depicting them as wind-up monkeys.

I miss that crazy old coot. His Church was certainly different to say the least. I never could wrap my head around what his teaching and belief system was but unlike other pay to pray players like Swaggart, Crouch, Robertson and their ilk Dr. Gene Scott was very unique with his sermons.

Besides, was he really that far off saying the FCC is run by clowns and monkeys?

Can anyone read what he used to write on those Wipe Boards? From my vantage point it looked like scribble. I used to think Melissa Scott was a cutie and used to wonder what she looked like out of that suit and in a dress. ;D

 

[quadraphonic]

From my vantage point it looked like scribble.

When I've seen Melissa Scott, she always has some Greek or Hebrew on the white board, so that's probably what he had too. ;D

 

[cd637299]

Did KKOG 16 Ventura CA lose their license, or were they just plain bankrupt?

Same question with WSMS 51 Ft. Lauderdale....was always curious. They were dark for 2 years, then came back as WKID, now WSCV (Telemundo).

cd

 

[mysticnitekatt]

I know that RKO was stripped of their licenses but what other TV stations owners have had their TV station licenses stripped from them, involuntary of course

The original channel 5 in Boston (WHDH-TV - not to be confused with the current WHDH) lost their license due to cross-ownership concerns. Their parent company at the time owned the Boston Herald-Traveler newspaper, 850 AM and 94.5 FM in Boston.

They were never "Grandfathered" like Tribune stations in NYC and Chicago?

 

[MarcB]

Is she still on down your way? I haven't seen her in a few years since ION dropped their late night airings of her ministries in favor of more secular programming.

Dr. Gene used to own WHCT Channel 18 in Hartford (now Entravision owned WUVN) until 1985.

http://radiodxer.bravehost.com/whct.html - The UHF Morgue. The site was much better when it was on ad-free Geocities. Damn Yahoo for shutting it down.

Later The Dr. Gene Scott Ministies ended up airing 24/7 on another WHCT in Hartford. This time WHCT-LP Channel 38, which now runs The Spanish Language Azteca Network.

 

[Joey1986]

Did KKOG 16 Ventura CA lose their license, or were they just plain bankrupt?

Same question with WSMS 51 Ft. Lauderdale....was always curious. They were dark for 2 years, then came back as WKID, now WSCV (Telemundo).

cd

Re KKOG: This station went bankrupt, having lasted a whopping nine months (December 1968 to September 1969). Its wikipedia article explains the following five reasons for channel 16's demise:

1) The station, like most UHF stations at the time, had a low ERP (effective radiated power). While many UHF stations now broadcast with 2 to 5 million watts, KKOG had only around 349,500 watts of power, limiting its coverage area.

2) The transmitter for KKOG was on Red Mountain, between Ventura and Ojai. This meant TV antennas pointed toward Mount Wilson near Los Angeles could either not receive KKOG, or received it poorly, since Red Mountain was behind the antenna's aimed direction.

3) Cable television was primarily used to provide over the air signals at the time, basically to communities blocked off from TV signals. While KKOG was carried on all the cable TV systems in Ventura County and in Santa Barbara, most people who could receive signals from the Los Angeles stations' Mount Wilson transmitters were not cable subscribers.

4) While the TV networks were already broadcasting full color primetime programming and many Los Angeles independents, including other UHF stations, had some color programs, KKOG was still showing its entire schedule in black and white.

5) The owners did not anticipate the operating costs of the station until advertising revenue could build in the market. Therefore, when funds dried up, the cash-strapped station was forced to close down. The primary investor in the station pulled out only six weeks into the station's operation, forcing it to operate with an entirely volunteer staff for most of its history.

Ultimately, the channel 16 frequency was transferred from television usage in Ventura to mobile radio usage in Los Angeles. Ventura County would eventually get a new local TV station in 1985, when KTIE-TV, channel 63 in Oxnard (now KBEH) signed on. In 1990, KSTV (now KJLA) signed on the air on channel 57 in Ventura.

As for WSMS, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSCV

Hope this helps.

 

[cd637299]

Interesting that Wiki had so much on 51. Thanks. They never fully explained WSMS' going dark, but I'd have to think it was bankruptcy.

cd

 

[alg2468]

You can view videos of WHDH TV 5 Boston on YouTube by typing WHDH TV 5 in the search bar. And the logo for the station that succeded it in 1972, the current WCVB, has to have the most unique and one of the oldest (since the station went on the air in 1972) continually used channel 5 logos of any US TV station.

 

[recto101]

KQEC in the 1980's due to financial problems.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

(wrong thread)