Channel 8 is the oldest station in San Angelo, signing on as KTXL-TV in 1953 and changing call signs to KCTV in 1957. It was a CBS affiliate from its first day on air. KCTV became KLST in 1983 when its call sign was purchased by a TV station in Kansas City, Missouri. Nexstar acquired KLST in 2004 and consolidated operations with Mission-owned KSAN-TV.
History
On October 21, 1952, Armistead D. Rust—the mayor of San Angelo—and B. P. Bludworth of Brownwood, trading as Westex Television Company, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a television station in the city on channel 8.[3][4] Rust and Bludworth owned KTXL (1340 AM), the city's Mutual Broadcasting System radio affiliate.[5] Approval was swift and came on November 26, 1952.[3]
Channel 8 was the first television station in San Angelo, signing on the air on July 6, 1953.[6] The station was an affiliate at launch of the CBS and DuMont networks and additionally aired national news from NBC;[7][8] NBC entertainment programs were added to the schedule in August.[9] Rust and Bludworth sold KTXL radio in 1956[10] and a majority stake in KTXL-TV to Roy Simmons and Angelo Broadcasting-Telecasting, the owners of radio station KGKL, in 1957;[11] on August 4, the station changed call signs to KCTV to sever itself of any connection to KTXL radio.[12]
In 1959, Big Spring Broadcasting, a company led by Houston Harte Jr., acquired majority control of KCTV.[13] Houston and his brother, Edward Harte, became full owners in 1962.[14] The station was sold once more in 1971 to T. B. Lanford, trading as the Jewell Television Corporation. Lanford owned broadcast stations in other Southern cities and in Colorado;[15] Jewell Television was named for Lanford's wife. That same year, the station began local broadcasting in color.[16] Lanford died in 1978, but his estate continued to own the station, with Tom Gresham as executor and later president of Jewell. Under Jewell, the station built its current transmitter site near Eola, Texas, in 1981.[17]
In 1983, the station changed its call letters again to become KLST. The change had been induced by channel 5 in Kansas City, Missouri, which needed to change its call sign and was interested in becoming KCTV; the Missouri station paid all of channel 8's name change expenses.[1]
The Kimbell family, related to the Lanfords, bought Jewell in 1994; the Louisiana radio stations were sold off, leaving channel 8 the company's only holding. It no longer became economically feasible to run KLST as a standalone property.[18] KLST was purchased by Nexstar Broadcasting in 2004 from the Jewell Television Corporation.[19] Nexstar was already operating KSAN-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting;[20] it had made several offers to Jewell in the early 2000s and particularly after the Mission purchase.[18] On June 1, 2004, Nexstar assumed control of KLST while the sale was finalized;[21] KLST's news director assumed responsibility for KSAN-TV's newscasts,[18] and Nexstar consolidated traffic—the scheduling and logging for commercials—for the San Angelo stations in Abilene at KTAB–KRBC, leading to layoffs at KLST.[22] On February 17, 2009, both stations converted to exclusively digital broadcasts.[23]
News operation
KLST presently broadcasts 19 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 3+1⁄2 hours each weekday, one hour on Saturdays and switches between a half-hour and one hour on Sundays during sports seasons).[24]
^ abJordan, Gerald B. (January 14, 1983). "Goodbye KCMO-TV; hello KCTV". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 2B. Retrieved December 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^"TV Application Is Filed For Angelo". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. November 4, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"T-V Day Has Arrived!". San Angelo Standard-Times (Advertisement). San Angelo, Texas. July 4, 1953. p. 9. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Something New Has Been Added". San Angelo Evening Standard (Advertisement). San Angelo, Texas. August 10, 1953. p. 8. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"TV Change Is Approved". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. March 14, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"It's Station KCTV Beginning Today". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. August 4, 1957. p. 2D. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"TV Station Sale Okayed". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. March 27, 1959. p. 2. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"FCC Okays TV Change". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. December 5, 1962. p. 4B. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Sale of KCTV gains approval". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. January 21, 1971. p. 2A. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"KLST turns 35, sets open house". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. July 3, 1988. p. 3B. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^Lee, Renee (September 1, 1981). "TV executive says tube 'titillating'". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. p. 2B. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Transactions". Radio Business Report. July 6, 2004. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
^"TV station KLST gets new owner". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. May 22, 2004. pp. 1A, 11A. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^Boyle, Jayna (February 14, 2009). "Local stations switching to digital". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. pp. A1, A5. Retrieved February 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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