KFOR-TV (Nebraska)
{{Short description|Television station in Lincoln, Nebraska (1953–1954)}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KFOR-TV
| city =
| logo =
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| analog = 10 (VHF)
| digital =
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| founded = October 1952
| network =
| airdate = {{start date|1953|5|31}}
| enddate = {{end date|1954|3|13}}
({{age in years and days|1953|5|31|1954|3|13}})
| location = Lincoln, Nebraska
| country = US
| callsign_meaning = KFOR
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| former_channel_numbers =
| owner = Cornbelt Broadcasting Co.
| licensee =
| sister_stations =
| former_affiliations = ABC (primary)
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}}KFOR-TV, channel 10, was a VHF television station in Lincoln, Nebraska, that operated from May 1953 to March 1954.
History
KFOR-TV signed on May 31, 1953, three months after the launch of the first Lincoln station, KOLN. It was founded by Lincoln-based Cornbelt Broadcasting, which also operated KFOR radio. New studios were built for the station at 48th and Vine streets. The station's transmitter was located on the KFOR radio tower a few blocks away from the studio.{{cite web|url=http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/jim-mckee-television-comes-to-lincoln/article_2e5bf6eb-f5c2-5c98-a05c-78c3b362c741.html| title=Jim McKee: Television comes to Lincoln |last=McKee|first=Jim|work=Lincoln Journal Star|date=September 16, 2017| access-date=December 31, 2017}} It was the ABC affiliate for the Omaha-Lincoln market. However, according to longtime KOLN personality Leta Powell Drake, Omaha stations KMTV and WOW-TV (now WOWT), both of which had a secondary ABC affiliation, had first choice on ABC programming and blocked KFOR from airing ABC's most popular shows during prime time.{{cite book |last=Powell Drake |first=Leta |date=2014 |title=The Calamities of Kalamity Kate: A History of Nebraska Children's TV Shows|publisher=J&L Lee Co. |page=6 |isbn=9780934904667}}
In February 1954, broadcasting pioneer John Fetzer — who had purchased KOLN in August 1953 — purchased KFOR-TV for $300,000. The purchase included the station license and equipment but not the studio building or KFOR radio.{{cite web|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-02-22-BC.pdf| title=Fetzer Pays $300,000 For KFOR-TV Lincoln |work=Broadcasting-Telecasting|date=February 22, 1954|page=66| access-date=December 31, 2017}} To avoid running afoul of Federal Communications Commission ownership regulations (and to create a commercial broadcast monopoly for himself in the Lincoln market{{cite web| url=https://huskeralum.org/alumni-stories/-/asset_publisher/ERkkhz8DM30I/content/alumni-profile-jack-mcbride| title=50 Years of Service NET| last=McGuire| first=Jana| work=Nebraska Alumni Magazine| date=Fall 2004| access-date=March 11, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}), Fetzer moved KOLN from its sign-on channel 12 to KFOR's channel 10 and donated the channel 12 facilities and the KFOR license to the University of Nebraska for its educational station, KUON-TV.{{cite video|url=http://nebraskastudies.org/0900/stories/0901_0104_01.html|title=TV Comes to Lincoln, Nebraska|last=Ganzel|first=Bill|work=NebraskaStudies.org|access-date=March 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908080817/http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/stories/0901_0104_01.html|archive-date=September 8, 2007|url-status=dead}} KFOR-TV was shut down on March 13, 1954;{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-03-15-BC.pdf| title=KFOR Tells FCC It Is Going Off Air |work=Broadcasting-Telecasting|date=March 15, 1954|page=86| access-date=December 31, 2017}} KOLN picked up KFOR's ABC affiliation until Fetzer successfully persuaded the FCC to split Lincoln from the Omaha market, after which time it switched its primary affiliation to CBS.
Backyard Farmer originated on KFOR-TV in 1953; it moved to KUON in 1955 and continues to air on what is now known as Nebraska Public Media.
The former KFOR-TV studio became a funeral home,{{cite web|url=https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/jim-mckee-a-big-undertaking-for-lincoln/article_d0a6deec-78c0-5a8c-9791-f5913c3a1003.html| title=Jim McKee: A big undertaking for Lincoln |last=McKee|first=Jim|work=Lincoln Journal Star|date=May 29, 2021| access-date=May 30, 2021}} then was later converted to office space that was known for a time as the Egan Building.
The KFOR-TV call sign was adopted by the former WKY-TV/KTVY-TV in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1990.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/learning-services/tv-comes-town-lincoln "TV Comes to Town,"] a short film documenting the process of building KFOR-TV, which was commissioned by the station's owners and filmed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
{{Lincoln TV}}
Category:Television stations in Nebraska
Category:Defunct television stations in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953
Category:1954 disestablishments in Nebraska
Category:1953 establishments in Nebraska
Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 1954