History
Channel 10 in Goodland had a turbulent early history. The construction permit was awarded to James E. Blair, trading as the Goodland Broadcasting Company, on May 11, 1955,[1] and test patterns for what was then called KWGB-TV were first broadcast in August 1958; the station installed microwave links to receive CBS and NBC network programs from Denver.[2] The Federal Communications Commission granted KWGB-TV program test authority on September 11, 1958. Channel 10 had only come to air after Blair transferred the construction permit to Tri-State Television, which was 25 percent owned by South Dakota broadcaster Helen Duhamel.[3] A week later, the call letters of KWGB-TV and KWGB radio (730 AM) were changed to KBLR-AM-TV. It was not until mid-October that the microwave from Denver was installed.[4]
Citing poor health and financial difficulties, Blair sought to sell his radio and TV stations to a group of businessmen from Denver, in two transactions totaling $440,000, in May 1959.[5] Financial difficulties continued, however, and both stations were put into bankruptcy in 1960. Bob Schmidt of Hays acquired the radio station, while channel 10 went to one of its creditors, equipment supplier Standard Electronics Corporation.[6] Standard took over channel 10 in January 1961 and changed its call letters two months later to KWHT-TV.
Standard sold KWHT-TV to Schmidt, who also owned KAYS-TV at Hays, in 1962. To connect the Hays and Goodland television stations, a two-hop microwave system was built.[7] The deal reunited the radio and TV stations, which became KLOE and KLOE-TV. The combination of the two stations was known very briefly as the High Plains Network,[8] though by the fall, KAYS-TV, KLOE-TV, and KTVC all formed part of the Kansas Broadcasting System, originating at KTVH in Hutchinson.[9]
In 1983, the Cowles family, which owned KTVH, began selling off its vast media holdings. The station was sold to the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation, owned by Ross Beach and Schmidt; for the first time, the main KBS station was co-owned with some of its semi-satellites. (KTVC was acquired by KBS in 1988.) In 1989, the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation was purchased by Smith Broadcasting; the sale separated KLOE-TV from its radio sister, however KLOE radio (as well as its sister radio stations) continues to operate from KBSL's facility on 31st Street. After the sale was completed, the station changed its call letters to KBSL-TV, as part of an effort that saw KWCH's three semi-satellites change their call letters to help viewers think of the stations as part of one large network. Smith sold the station to Spartanburg, South Carolina–based Spartan Communications in 1994; Spartan merged with Media General in 2000. In 2005, KWCH began operating a digital automation system from its Wichita studio facility, which handled the scheduling of advertisements and master control operations for all four KBS stations.
On April 6, 2006, Media General announced that it would sell KWCH, its satellites, and four other stations as a result of its purchase of four former NBC owned-and-operated stations (WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama; WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio; WNCN serving Raleigh, North Carolina; and WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island). South Bend, Indiana–based Schurz Communications eventually emerged as the winner and took over on September 25, at which time Schurz formed a new subsidiary known as "Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc.", which became the licensee for its Wichita media market broadcasting properties.[10][11][12]
Schurz announced on September 14, 2015, that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including KWCH-DT and its satellites, to Gray Television for $442.5 million. Gray already owned KAKE and its satellites (including KLBY channel 4); however, it sold that station to Lockwood Broadcast Group and kept the KBS stations.[13][14][15]
