KTVU (Stockton, California)

Last updated

KTVU
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
  • Independent (1953–1954)
  • NBC (1954–1955)
Ownership
OwnerSan Joaquin Telecasters
History
First air date
December 18, 1953 (1953-12-18)
Last air date
April 30, 1955 (1955-04-30)
Technical information
ERP 537 kW [1]
HAAT 1,630 ft (500 m)
Transmitter coordinates 37°49′17″N121°46′49″W / 37.82139°N 121.78028°W / 37.82139; -121.78028

KTVU (channel 36) was a television station in Stockton, California, United States, which broadcast from December 18, 1953, to April 30, 1955. An independent station and later an NBC affiliate, KTVU failed because of economic problems common to early UHF television stations.

Contents

Construction and operation

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on new television station applications in 1952, it designated 70 new UHF channels, including channel 36, which was allocated to Stockton. Knox LaRue and Lester E. Chenault applied for the new channel 36 in July 1952, [2] and after refiling as a corporation known as San Joaquin Telecasters in December, [3] the commission granted the application on January 8, 1953. [4]

The antenna was erected at a mountaintop site dubbed Teleview Hill, 27 miles (43 km) west of Stockton in the Altamont Hills. [5] The facility would deliver a then-record effective radiated power of 525,000 watts. [6] Meanwhile, the former East Theater, erected in 1949, was renovated and converted into a television studio. [7]

KTVU began broadcasting on the evening of December 18, 1953. [8] [9] The opening night of telecasting was curtailed because of a power failure. [10] Originally an independent station, KTVU affiliated with NBC in May 1954. [11]

A July 1954 reorganization saw original owners LaRue and Chenault exit their stakes, with the former devoting time to his radio ventures including Stockton radio station KSTN, and KTVU become fully owned by Browen Industries, owned by Warren Brown, Jr., and Leo Owens. [12] In September, Stockton gained a second television station, KOVR (channel 13), which initially provided regional coverage to Stockton and San Francisco from its transmitter on Mount Diablo. [13]

Demise and legacy

On April 30, 1955, the station broadcast for the last time. Its general manager told the Stockton Record newspaper, "It is economically impractical to continue daily scheduling of programs for the present." [14] Dwight Newton, radio and television columnist for the San Francisco Examiner , also cited competition with KOVR, a VHF station that could be received on all television sets. [15]

Ashley L. Robison and Harry McCart, officers in Sacramento UHF station KCCC-TV (channel 40), purchased KTVU in August 1955 with the intention to operate it as a satellite of the Sacramento outlet; KTVU would eventually have its antenna pattern changed to focus on Stockton, Modesto, and Merced. [16] The Sacramento UHF had previously been eyeing the establishment of a repeater in Pittsburg, in Contra Costa County. [17] Sale talks were announced in July but collapsed in early August over the Stockton venture's indebtedness [18] before being completed. [16] In April 1956, Browen sued the two men that had bought San Joaquin Telecasters's capital stock and assets with the intention of restoring KTVU to service with KCCC; by this time, regional utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company had obtained a writ on the land because of an unpaid $12,000 electricity bill. [19] Robison and McCart charged that Browen failed to fulfill certain conditions of the sale agreement. [20] Other unpaid bills led to lawsuits that continued into 1956, including two motions filed by distributors of television films. [21] For lack of prosecution of the construction permit, the FCC canceled it and deleted the KTVU call letters on May 22, 1956. [22] In 1957, the former East Theater where KTVU had operated was reconverted to a picture house, the Capri. [23]

In 1958, a new television station, KTVU, began broadcasting in Oakland. While it was stated that the call sign had no specific meaning at the time, [24] a 1985 newspaper article posits that engineers for the new Oakland station, having worked for Stockton's KTVU, named it in tribute. [25] By the end of 1964, channel 36 would be re-allocated to San Jose, and a new station, today's KICU-TV, now a sister station to Oakland's KTVU, would begin broadcasting in 1967.

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References

  1. ↑ "KTVU" (PDF). Television Factbook. Spring 1955. p. 78. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2022– via World Radio History.
  2. ↑ "LaRue Files For TV Channel 36". Visalia Times-Delta. Visalia, California. July 19, 1952. p. 10. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Stockton TV Applicant Files For Channel 36". The Modesto Bee. December 25, 1952. p. 5. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Stockton Television Permit Is Granted". The Sacramento Bee. January 8, 1953. p. 21. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Stockton T-V Station Site in Altamont Hills". Tracy Press. Tracy, California. July 30, 1953. p. 9. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Antenna Arrives for Stockton TV Station". Stockton Record. October 28, 1953. p. 21. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "KTVU, Stockton, Will Go On Air Tomorrow Night". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. December 17, 1953. p. 27. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "TV Station Makes Debut Tonight". Stockton Record. Stockton, California. December 18, 1953. p. 13. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "KTVU, Stockton's First TV Station, Launches Its Program Telecasting". Stockton Record. Stockton, California. December 19, 1953. p. 18. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Power Failure Hits Television Station". Stockton Record. December 19, 1953. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "KTVU (TV) Joins NBC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 31, 1954. p. 91. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Richmond Firm Buys Stockton TV Station". The Modesto Bee. July 7, 1954. p. 9. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Newton, Dwight (September 6, 1954). "Day and Night with Radio and Television". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 10. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "TV Station KTVU Goes Off Air Here". Stockton Record. May 2, 1955. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Newton, Dwight (May 3, 1955). "Day and Night with Radio and Television". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 24. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 "KTVU Satellite Operation Set: Sacramento Video Firm Buys Stock". Stockton Record. August 27, 1955. p. 17. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "KCCC Seeks To Acquire Stockton Television Station". The Sacramento Bee. July 19, 1955. p. 12. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "TV Station Sale Said Collapsed: KTVU Negotiations Reported Dropped". Stockton Record. August 6, 1955. p. 33. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "KCCC Officials Face $50,000 Suit Over Stockton TV". The Sacramento Bee. April 17, 1956. p. A-10. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Suit Against KCCC Moves To Capital". The Sacramento Bee. July 19, 1956. p. A-3. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "KTVU-TV Operators Sued For $29,120". Stockton Record. July 21, 1956. p. 15. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 28, 1956. p. 105. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Former Theater on East Main Reopens as Capri". Stockton Record. April 13, 1957. p. 12. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "KTVU". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. January 6, 1958. p. 19. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Adams, Bruce J.; Heaton, Michael; Marine, Craig R. (November 10, 1985). "Station identification". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. A-2. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
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