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KAUT-TV
KAUT-TV (channel 43) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios in Oklahoma City's McCourry Heights section; KAUT-TV's transmitter is located on the city's northeast side.
KAUT went on the air on October 15, 1980. It was built by Golden West Broadcasters, a company owned by station namesake Gene Autry, and aired Golden West's VEU subscription TV service at night and news programming during the day. The news programming lasted less than a year before being discontinued, while VEU was shuttered in October 1982, leaving KAUT to become one of three independent stations in the market. Rollins Broadcasting bought the station in 1985; it became Heritage Media in 1986, the year that channel 43 affiliated with the Fox network. Fox programming improved the station's ratings, which previously had run third among the three Oklahoma City independents.
After a previous proposal in 1988 and 1989 failed, Heritage Media acquired competing independent KOKH-TV (channel 25) in 1991. It moved the Fox affiliation, programming, and staff from channel 43 to channel 25. KAUT was then donated to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state's public TV broadcaster, and revamped as a secondary service known as The Literacy Channel under KTLC call letters. It aired telecourses and literacy programming during the day and reairs of PBS children's programs at night. The Literacy Channel did not receive state money; operating funds came from private donors and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The OETA put KTLC on the market in 1997 to help defray the costs of converting its statewide network to digital broadcasting. Paramount Stations Group placed the winning bid and returned channel 43 to commercial operation as UPN affiliate KPSG on June 20, 1998. The station returned UPN programming to the market after KOCB (channel 34) switched to The WB earlier that year. After Autry died that October, the station reclaimed its original KAUT call sign in his honor. The New York Times Company, then-owner of KFOR-TV, purchased KAUT in 2005; the station affiliated with MyNetworkTV when UPN and The WB merged into The CW in 2006, and KFOR introduced prime time and morning newscasts on channel 43. In 2023, KAUT replaced KOCB as the CW affiliate in Oklahoma City.
The Christian Broadcasting Company of Oklahoma applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on March 29, 1979, for a construction permit to build a new commercial television station on channel 43 in Oklahoma City. The non-profit corporation proposed a religious-oriented station, similar to KXTX-TV in Dallas. At the time, applications were open on three different Oklahoma City UHF channels—14, 34, and 43—and the Trinity Broadcasting Network also sought a religious station using channel 14. Christian Broadcasting Company placed an order for equipment in September 1978 and received the construction permit that November.
In 1979, less than a year after obtaining the permit for KFHC-TV, Christian Broadcasting Company sold the permit to Golden West Broadcasters, a joint venture of Gene Autry and his wife Ina and The Signal Companies. Golden West's intention for the station was to broadcast subscription television (STV) programming to paying subscribers. Golden West was branching into the STV business with microwave distribution systems in other cities; it chose Oklahoma City for the venture because of an initial investment climate and Autry's ties to Oklahoma. The FCC granted approval of the $60,000 transaction on January 24, 1980. The station occupied a 32,500-square-foot (3,020 m2) building constructed on a 95-acre former dairy at 11901 North Eastern Avenue; excess heat from the station's transmitter heated the building, the first setup of its kind in Oklahoma. The call letters KAUT were chosen in honor of Autry.
On October 15, 1980, KAUT began broadcasting Golden West's VEU subscription TV service, featuring first-run motion pictures and other entertainment specials. Subscribers paid $22.50 per month plus a $49.95 installation fee to be connected to the service, which began airing at 7 p.m. In 1981, VEU added sports: a package of Dallas Mavericks basketball games and Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball and wrestling.
During the day, beginning on November 3, 1980, KAUT broadcast an all-news format from noon to 5 p.m. Jerry Birdwell, the first general manager, noted the high interest in news in the Oklahoma City market and stated the objective of the 24-person news operation was to serve as a "newspaper of the air". Bob Barry Jr. was among the on-air staff for KAUT's newscasts. In between, from 5 to 7 p.m., the station aired syndicated programs. For several months in late 1980, the station broadcast Trinity Broadcasting Network programs until KTBO-TV could complete construction on channel 14.
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KAUT-TV
KAUT-TV (channel 43) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios in Oklahoma City's McCourry Heights section; KAUT-TV's transmitter is located on the city's northeast side.
KAUT went on the air on October 15, 1980. It was built by Golden West Broadcasters, a company owned by station namesake Gene Autry, and aired Golden West's VEU subscription TV service at night and news programming during the day. The news programming lasted less than a year before being discontinued, while VEU was shuttered in October 1982, leaving KAUT to become one of three independent stations in the market. Rollins Broadcasting bought the station in 1985; it became Heritage Media in 1986, the year that channel 43 affiliated with the Fox network. Fox programming improved the station's ratings, which previously had run third among the three Oklahoma City independents.
After a previous proposal in 1988 and 1989 failed, Heritage Media acquired competing independent KOKH-TV (channel 25) in 1991. It moved the Fox affiliation, programming, and staff from channel 43 to channel 25. KAUT was then donated to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state's public TV broadcaster, and revamped as a secondary service known as The Literacy Channel under KTLC call letters. It aired telecourses and literacy programming during the day and reairs of PBS children's programs at night. The Literacy Channel did not receive state money; operating funds came from private donors and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The OETA put KTLC on the market in 1997 to help defray the costs of converting its statewide network to digital broadcasting. Paramount Stations Group placed the winning bid and returned channel 43 to commercial operation as UPN affiliate KPSG on June 20, 1998. The station returned UPN programming to the market after KOCB (channel 34) switched to The WB earlier that year. After Autry died that October, the station reclaimed its original KAUT call sign in his honor. The New York Times Company, then-owner of KFOR-TV, purchased KAUT in 2005; the station affiliated with MyNetworkTV when UPN and The WB merged into The CW in 2006, and KFOR introduced prime time and morning newscasts on channel 43. In 2023, KAUT replaced KOCB as the CW affiliate in Oklahoma City.
The Christian Broadcasting Company of Oklahoma applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on March 29, 1979, for a construction permit to build a new commercial television station on channel 43 in Oklahoma City. The non-profit corporation proposed a religious-oriented station, similar to KXTX-TV in Dallas. At the time, applications were open on three different Oklahoma City UHF channels—14, 34, and 43—and the Trinity Broadcasting Network also sought a religious station using channel 14. Christian Broadcasting Company placed an order for equipment in September 1978 and received the construction permit that November.
In 1979, less than a year after obtaining the permit for KFHC-TV, Christian Broadcasting Company sold the permit to Golden West Broadcasters, a joint venture of Gene Autry and his wife Ina and The Signal Companies. Golden West's intention for the station was to broadcast subscription television (STV) programming to paying subscribers. Golden West was branching into the STV business with microwave distribution systems in other cities; it chose Oklahoma City for the venture because of an initial investment climate and Autry's ties to Oklahoma. The FCC granted approval of the $60,000 transaction on January 24, 1980. The station occupied a 32,500-square-foot (3,020 m2) building constructed on a 95-acre former dairy at 11901 North Eastern Avenue; excess heat from the station's transmitter heated the building, the first setup of its kind in Oklahoma. The call letters KAUT were chosen in honor of Autry.
On October 15, 1980, KAUT began broadcasting Golden West's VEU subscription TV service, featuring first-run motion pictures and other entertainment specials. Subscribers paid $22.50 per month plus a $49.95 installation fee to be connected to the service, which began airing at 7 p.m. In 1981, VEU added sports: a package of Dallas Mavericks basketball games and Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball and wrestling.
During the day, beginning on November 3, 1980, KAUT broadcast an all-news format from noon to 5 p.m. Jerry Birdwell, the first general manager, noted the high interest in news in the Oklahoma City market and stated the objective of the 24-person news operation was to serve as a "newspaper of the air". Bob Barry Jr. was among the on-air staff for KAUT's newscasts. In between, from 5 to 7 p.m., the station aired syndicated programs. For several months in late 1980, the station broadcast Trinity Broadcasting Network programs until KTBO-TV could complete construction on channel 14.