KNUZ-TV

On September 11, 1952, radio station KNUZ filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a construction permit to build a television station on channel 39 in Houston, which was granted on January 7, 1953.{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=84885 |title= History Cards for KNUZ-TV (with KIAH)|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) As part of promotional activities, the station set up a temporary UHF transmitter for what was billed as "the first public UHF transmission in Texas", a demonstration at the downtown Houston Joske's store.{{cite news |title=See...Thursday afternoon...Joske's Second Floor Appliances! UHF! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-seethursday-aft/175090161/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=May 13, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=B12 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In May 1953, groundbreaking was held on KNUZ-TV's studios, which would be located at 4343 Cullen Boulevard in the Texas Television Center on the campus of the University of Houston; channel 39 would share the tower of the university's KUHT.{{cite news |title=Ground-Breaking For TV Slated |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-ground-breaking-fo/175092866/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=May 21, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=H6 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Television Center was designed to accommodate other stations: the construction permit for KXYZ-TV 29 also specified the site.{{cite news |title=McCarthy Gets TV Permit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-mccarthy-gets-tv-p/175092794/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=June 18, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=F2 |via=Newspapers.com}} Programs began October 22, 1953, after a test pattern was sent out starting on the 11th.{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV Starts Test Pattern |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-starts-tes/175092730/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 12, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A3 |via=Newspapers.com}} However, some broadcasts were made during the test period: the first broadcast of a Houston high school game, between Austin and Pasadena, on September 15{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV To Show Grid Game |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-to-show-gr/175092658/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 15, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=D11 |via=Newspapers.com}} and a DuMont boxing telecast two days later.{{cite news |title=Channel 39 Will Air Network Show Tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-channel-39-will-ai/175092587/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 17, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A11 |via=Newspapers.com}} After the initial launch, however, the station had to go off the air and wait for the antenna to be properly mounted on the tower,{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV Officially On the Air |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-officially/175092494/ |access-date=June 23, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 23, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=B5 |via=Newspapers.com}} which took a week.{{cite news |title=All's Well at KNUZ-TV After False Alarms |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-the-tv-scene-all/175521887/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 29, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=G7 |via=Newspapers.com}} At the outset, in addition to network programming, KNUZ-TV aired a local cooking show and shopping program, as well as the sports programs.{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV to Make Its Program Debut on Channel 39 Tuesday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-to-make-it/175521949/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=October 21, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=F1 |via=Newspapers.com}} By December, the majority of its lineup consisted of local fare.{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV Adds Three More Local Shows |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-the-tv-scene-knuz/175527578/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=December 3, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=C15 |via=Newspapers.com}} The station even produced a remote telecast direct from HMS Sheffield when it was in Houston in March 1954.{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV Plans Shipboard Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-plans-ship/175527774/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=March 9, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=B11 |via=Newspapers.com}}

As an early UHF station in the days before the All-Channel Receiver Act, like others, channel 39 was hindered by the fact that many televisions of the day did not receive UHF stations without tuning strips or converters fitted. The station claimed that 45,000 sets were converted by November 1953{{cite news |title=Television Developing New American 'Types' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-the-tv-scene-tele/175527849/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=November 21, 1953 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A11 |via=Newspapers.com}} and that 77,000 had converted by May 1954,{{cite news |title=KUHT Joins In Education Center Salute |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-kuht-joins-in-educ/175527952/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle Feature Magazine |date=May 16, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com}} but that was little comfort to the parents of a girl who sung on a channel 39 program; they had to drive to a television showroom to watch their daughter perform.{{cite news |last=Evans |first=Charlie |title=Cash for Most Unusual Event You Have Ever Witnessed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-night-and-day-cas/175528102/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle Feature Magazine |date=May 9, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=24 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Despite boasting that business was up and more people were buying UHF-equipped television sets,{{r|joins}} not all was well at channel 39. On May 20, 1954, the station filed a protest with the FCC. It claimed that, in allowing KGUL-TV channel 11 in Galveston to move to a site that also provided coverage of Houston, the commission was "starving" KNUZ-TV, which "undoubtedly" would have been Houston's CBS affiliate otherwise.{{cite news |title=Protest Is Filed: Claim F.C.C. Action 'Starving' KNUZ-TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-protest-is-filed/174955834/ |access-date=June 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=May 21, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=B11 |via=Newspapers.com}} The VHF station responded by claiming that channel 39 sought to "minimize the amount of television service to Houstonians".{{cite news |title=KGUL Answers KNUZ Protests |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-kgul-answers-knuz/174955760/ |access-date=June 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=May 22, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A20 |via=Newspapers.com}}

The station went dark on June 25, 1954, making it the 15th UHF station to close; station president Max Jacobs noted that the business had continually run at a loss.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1954-07.pdf|access-date=October 6, 2021|page=3|date=July 3, 1954|work=Television Digest|title=Decatur & Missoula Open New TV Markets|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308081339/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1954-07.pdf|url-status=live}} He also cited an inability to obtain enough network programming to secure national advertising accounts.{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV to Make Last Telecast Tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-to-make-la/174955891/ |access-date=June 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=June 25, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A1 |via=Newspapers.com}} While the station said it would analyze the prospects of returning to the air on a limited basis if it could secure enough advertising,{{cite news |title=KNUZ-TV May Return To Air Waves |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-knuz-tv-may-return/174955948/ |access-date=June 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=July 20, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=D12 |via=Newspapers.com}} the University of Houston then proceeded to lease the studio facility and equipment to upstart ABC affiliate KTRK-TV (channel 13) in order to expedite its debut, which took place that November.{{cite news |title=Located At U.H.: Studios Leased By Channel 13 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-located-at-uh-s/174955995/ |access-date=June 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |date=August 7, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=A5 |via=Newspapers.com}} The studios were used by KTRK-TV until that station moved to its current studio on Bissonnet Street in 1961; after being briefly used as a NASA computer center, the studios were then occupied by KUHT in 1964,{{cite news |title=KUHT Moving TV Facilities To New Site |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-kuht-moving-tv-fac/175528194/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=January 14, 1954 |location=Houston, Texas |page=2:6 |via=Newspapers.com}} a move foreseen when the joint facility proposal was agreed between KNUZ and the university.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86643030/school-station-pool-bid-for-tv/|access-date=October 6, 2021|agency=United Press|title=School, Station Pool Bid for TV|work=The Waco News-Tribune|page=1|date=February 18, 1953|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007052840/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86643030/school-station-pool-bid-for-tv/|url-status=live}} The station remained there for more than 35 years; in 2000, it relocated across campus to the current LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting.{{cite news|title=KUHT to move to new studios|url=http://archive.thedailycougar.com/vol65/77/news/news3.html|access-date=October 6, 2021|date=January 20, 2000|first=Reagan|last=Graham|work=The Daily Cougar|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007052818/http://archive.thedailycougar.com/vol65/77/news/news3.html|url-status=live}} The building was then adapted for use by UH as a clinical research facility for audiology and psychological research.

KNUZ-TV remained an active construction permit for more than a decade after its closure and was never deleted or surrendered. In 1955, Supreme Broadcasting Company of New Orleans proposed to revive the station as part of an expansion plan, in association with the manager of KNUZ radio.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1955-05.pdf|work=Television Digest|date=May 7, 1955|page=8|title=Expanding in both uhf & vhf fields...|access-date=October 7, 2021|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308081117/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1955-05.pdf|url-status=live}} It was one of 29 such construction permits that had once operated or had never been built to which the FCC sent letters in November 1964, asking them to activate the channel again or have it stripped so other companies could apply for the allocation.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1964/1964-11-09-BC.pdf|access-date=October 6, 2021|pages=64–65|title=Get on air or give up channel|date=November 9, 1964|work=Broadcasting|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308041518/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1964/1964-11-09-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} That December, KNUZ radio analyzed whether it should reactivate the channel.{{cite news |title=Big City Beat by Maxine |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-big-city-beat-by-m/175528353/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle Zest |date=December 6, 1964 |location=Houston, Texas |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} In May 1965, a controlling 80-percent interest in the KNUZ Television Company was sold to WKY Television System of Oklahoma City, which began making its own plans for construction.{{cite news |title=Oklahoma Firm To Buy Control Of KNUZ-TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-oklahoma-firm-to-b/175528452/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=May 13, 1965 |location=Houston, Texas |page=21 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |last=Hodges |first=Ann |title=Rosenberg Station to Start Area Rush |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-rosenberg-station/175528564/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=October 3, 1965 |location=Houston, Texas |page=5:1 |via=Newspapers.com}} This application was granted in October 1965.{{r|hc}} In the year that followed, the call letters were changed to KHTV; new facilities were commissioned including studios on Westpark Drive and a transmitter at the tower used by KPRC-TV and KHOU;{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Anne |title=Two More TV Stations Due Houston Area |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-two-more-tv-statio/175528734/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=June 26, 1966 |location=Houston, Texas |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-tv-stations-due-to/175528838/ 11] |via=Newspapers.com}} and channel 39 returned to the air as KHTV on January 6, 1967.{{cite news |title=Television Channel 39 Begins Operating Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-chronicle-television-channel/175528910/ |access-date=June 29, 2025 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=January 6, 1967 |location=Houston, Texas |page=3:2 |via=Newspapers.com}}

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{{reflist}}

• [http://houstonradiohistory.blogspot.com/2007/06/knuz-tv-channel-39.html Houston Radio History: KNUZ-TV, Channel 39]

{{Houston TV}}

Category:1953 establishments in Texas

Category:1954 disestablishments in Texas

NUZ-TV

Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 1954

Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953

NUZ