WKMG-TV

WKMG-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Graham Media Group. The station's studios are located on John Young Parkway (SR 423) in Orlando, and its transmitter is located on Brown Road near Christmas, Florida.

Channel 6 is the oldest TV station in Central Florida, signing on as WDBO-TV in July 1954. It was built and owned by the Orlando Broadcasting Company alongside Orlando radio station WDBO (580 AM). WDBO-TV aired local programming as well as shows from all major networks of the era; it became a sole CBS affiliate in 1958, by which time the market had three commercial stations. It was owned by Rhode Island interests, first the Cherry Broadcasting Company and later The Outlet Company, from 1957 to 1986; late in the latter's ownership, it changed its call sign to WCPX-TV, an artifact of an attempted merger with Columbia Pictures that ultimately never transpired, and moved to its present studio facilities.

Channel 6 led local news ratings until its tower in Bithlo collapsed during construction work in June 1973, killing two workers. The station was not at full-power until the mast was replaced more than two years later; its ratings fell, and in the late 1970s WFTV moved from worst to a dominant first. The slide was aggravated after Outlet sold WCPX-TV to First Media for $200 million, a then-record price for an Orlando TV station, at a peak of broadcast station valuations. For most of its ownership, First Media shied away from making major investments, in part crimped by the high purchase price. The newscasts struggled and went through multiple changes in format, anchors, and presentation; meanwhile, First Media used WCPX-TV as a springboard to produce programming for national syndication.

First Media put its television stations on the market in 1996. They were purchased by the Meredith Corporation, which traded WCPX-TV to Post-Newsweek Stations. WCPX-TV became WKMG-TV in January 1998 in honor of Katharine Meyer Graham, the longtime publisher of The Washington Post. High turnover continued in the news department, but the station on the whole became more competitive, particularly in late news ratings, against WFTV and WESH.

After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended its multi-year freeze on new TV station assignments in April 1952, it allocated two very high frequency (VHF) channels to Orlando, channel 6 and 9. Orlando radio station WDBO (580 AM) applied for channel 6 and remained unopposed until Central Florida Enterprises, a group of local businessman, filed a competing application in September. The competing bids for channels 6 and 9 made a comparative hearing necessary and delayed the arrival of television in Orlando, as the commission continued to work on awarding stations in larger, higher-priority cities.

Central Florida Enterprises withdrew its application for channel 6 on October 13, 1953, unblocking the channel for WDBO. Their decision won formal praise from the Orlando city council for accelerating the arrival of television to the area. The next day, the FCC awarded WDBO's parent company, the Orlando Broadcasting Company, a construction permit for channel 6. Management predicted they would be on the air by late April 1954. WDBO-TV secured primary affiliation with CBS as well as supplemental agreements to air the programs of the ABC, DuMont, and NBC networks. A tower on Texas Avenue, west of US 441, was constructed in the spring of 1954 as part of a TV Center, containing new transmitter facilities for WDBO radio and television as well as television studios. Technical issues postponed the start of broadcasting several times. Mark Barker, the station's first production manager, recalled that the noisy metal roofing in the studio was a major issue, and insulation lowered the ceiling height.

WDBO-TV signed on the air on July 1, 1954, as the first television station in Central Florida. It remained the only Orlando-area station until November 1957, when WESH (channel 2) in Daytona Beach moved its antenna and began covering the full market as an NBC affiliate. In February 1958, WLOF-TV (now WFTV) began on channel 9 as Orlando's ABC affiliate.

In addition to network programming, WDBO-TV featured a variety of local programs. William D. "Don" McAllister came over from WDBO radio and hosted Hunting and Fishing with Don, which aired on the station from its 1954 launch until 1972. Walter Sickles, channel 6's first program director, hosted the children's show Adventures with Uncle Walt; it aired until February 27, 1967, when the host was abruptly fired moments before airtime. For three years, the station had a weekly program of organ music. A freelance photographer sold still images of accidents and news events for the station's newscasts.