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KOAT-TV
KOAT-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Carlisle Boulevard in Northeast Albuquerque, and its transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, northeast of Albuquerque. Twenty-seven repeaters carry its broadcast signal to much of New Mexico as well as southwestern Colorado and northeastern Arizona.
KOAT-TV was the second station to broadcast in Albuquerque, signing on in October 1953 as one of two new TV stations in the city in the same month. It suffered financial difficulty twice in its first four years of operation, though ownership by Clinton D. McKinnon and the Steinman Stations group steadied operations. KOAT-TV's newscasts have generally led the Albuquerque–Santa Fe market in viewership since the mid-1970s.
After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on television station licenses in 1952, channels 7 and 13 were authorized for commercial use in Albuquerque in addition to the existing KOB-TV (channel 4). Among the various interests whose applications had languished at the FCC prior to the freeze was the Alvarado Broadcasting Company, owner of radio station KOAT (1450 AM). The original application had specified channel 13, but this was changed to 7, This took it out of competition with KGGM, which had also filed for channel 13. Another application had also been filed for channel 7, by E. John and Salome Greer of Santa Fe, but by February 1953, E. John Greer had died. The Greer interests withdrew on June 16, 1953, leaving Alvarado unopposed. Two days later, on June 18, the FCC granted Alvarado a construction permit for KOAT-TV.
Work began within two weeks to enlarge the KOAT radio studios at 122 Tulane SE to accommodate the television extension, including adding a kitchen studio, and on a transmitter site on Ten Mile Hill, west of Albuquerque. KOAT-TV also arranged to match its sister radio station by affiliating with the ABC television network. Meanwhile, a minority stake in KOAT-TV was sold to two new investors.
KOAT-TV was scheduled to start on September 15, but the launch date was missed when factory inspectors and a critical piece of equipment failed to arrive on time. KOAT-TV beat KGGM-TV (channel 13, now KRQE) in being the first station to air when it began broadcasting on October 2, 1953; channel 13 followed two days later. Beginning in 1954 until the network's dissolution, KOAT-TV was the Albuquerque-area affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, displacing KOB-TV.
Alvarado sold its two radio stations—KOAT and KRSN in Los Alamos—in October 1954. Financial difficulty was evinced by the fact that KOAT had cut all but one live local show from its schedule. Six months later, in April 1955, KOAT-TV filed for bankruptcy reorganization in a plan that brought in 20 new stockholders and saw Albuquerque Exhibitors, a movie theater owner that had bought a stake in the station prior to launch, become the largest stockholder in the venture. Even while in bankruptcy, the station applied to the FCC to relocate its transmitter to Sandia Crest, which already was the home of KOB-TV and KGGM-TV. The FCC granted approval in May 1956, allowing construction of a tower at the site.
The reorganization in 1955 was ultimately unsuccessful at repairing KOAT-TV's financial condition. Just as the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien on KOAT-TV, Clinton D. McKinnon, a former U.S. congressman from California and owner of KVOA radio and KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona, came to the station's rescue by buying it for $12,500 plus the assumption of debts. At the time, KOAT's liabilities exceeded its assets by some $150,000. The FCC approved the next month. McKinnon merged the holding companies for KVOA-TV and KOAT-TV in 1959, under a contract that called for McKinnon to resign if Alvarado Television lost money in six consecutive months.
KOAT-TV unsuccessfully suggested that channel 2 in Santa Fe be jointly assigned to both cities or to Albuquerque so it could move there. KOAT had desired channel 2 to improve its coverage in fringe areas from Albuquerque, and McKinnon had previously protested an attempt by a proposed Santa Fe station to locate its transmitter on Sandia Crest.
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KOAT-TV
KOAT-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Carlisle Boulevard in Northeast Albuquerque, and its transmitter is located on Sandia Crest, northeast of Albuquerque. Twenty-seven repeaters carry its broadcast signal to much of New Mexico as well as southwestern Colorado and northeastern Arizona.
KOAT-TV was the second station to broadcast in Albuquerque, signing on in October 1953 as one of two new TV stations in the city in the same month. It suffered financial difficulty twice in its first four years of operation, though ownership by Clinton D. McKinnon and the Steinman Stations group steadied operations. KOAT-TV's newscasts have generally led the Albuquerque–Santa Fe market in viewership since the mid-1970s.
After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on television station licenses in 1952, channels 7 and 13 were authorized for commercial use in Albuquerque in addition to the existing KOB-TV (channel 4). Among the various interests whose applications had languished at the FCC prior to the freeze was the Alvarado Broadcasting Company, owner of radio station KOAT (1450 AM). The original application had specified channel 13, but this was changed to 7, This took it out of competition with KGGM, which had also filed for channel 13. Another application had also been filed for channel 7, by E. John and Salome Greer of Santa Fe, but by February 1953, E. John Greer had died. The Greer interests withdrew on June 16, 1953, leaving Alvarado unopposed. Two days later, on June 18, the FCC granted Alvarado a construction permit for KOAT-TV.
Work began within two weeks to enlarge the KOAT radio studios at 122 Tulane SE to accommodate the television extension, including adding a kitchen studio, and on a transmitter site on Ten Mile Hill, west of Albuquerque. KOAT-TV also arranged to match its sister radio station by affiliating with the ABC television network. Meanwhile, a minority stake in KOAT-TV was sold to two new investors.
KOAT-TV was scheduled to start on September 15, but the launch date was missed when factory inspectors and a critical piece of equipment failed to arrive on time. KOAT-TV beat KGGM-TV (channel 13, now KRQE) in being the first station to air when it began broadcasting on October 2, 1953; channel 13 followed two days later. Beginning in 1954 until the network's dissolution, KOAT-TV was the Albuquerque-area affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, displacing KOB-TV.
Alvarado sold its two radio stations—KOAT and KRSN in Los Alamos—in October 1954. Financial difficulty was evinced by the fact that KOAT had cut all but one live local show from its schedule. Six months later, in April 1955, KOAT-TV filed for bankruptcy reorganization in a plan that brought in 20 new stockholders and saw Albuquerque Exhibitors, a movie theater owner that had bought a stake in the station prior to launch, become the largest stockholder in the venture. Even while in bankruptcy, the station applied to the FCC to relocate its transmitter to Sandia Crest, which already was the home of KOB-TV and KGGM-TV. The FCC granted approval in May 1956, allowing construction of a tower at the site.
The reorganization in 1955 was ultimately unsuccessful at repairing KOAT-TV's financial condition. Just as the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien on KOAT-TV, Clinton D. McKinnon, a former U.S. congressman from California and owner of KVOA radio and KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona, came to the station's rescue by buying it for $12,500 plus the assumption of debts. At the time, KOAT's liabilities exceeded its assets by some $150,000. The FCC approved the next month. McKinnon merged the holding companies for KVOA-TV and KOAT-TV in 1959, under a contract that called for McKinnon to resign if Alvarado Television lost money in six consecutive months.
KOAT-TV unsuccessfully suggested that channel 2 in Santa Fe be jointly assigned to both cities or to Albuquerque so it could move there. KOAT had desired channel 2 to improve its coverage in fringe areas from Albuquerque, and McKinnon had previously protested an attempt by a proposed Santa Fe station to locate its transmitter on Sandia Crest.
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