History
The station began broadcasting on June 3, 1955.[2] Owned by Camellia Broadcasting at the time alongside KLFY radio (AM 1420, now KPEL), it was intended to share time on channel 10 with KVOL-TV, owned at the time by the Morgan Murphy Stations along with KVOL, KVOL-FM (96.1, off-air and moved to Lake Charles by 1976), and The Daily Advertiser. However, prior to the station's launch, KVOL's owners decided to yield the channel's operations to Camellia Broadcasting; Morgan Murphy later filed an interest to broadcast on channel 3, but this was denied. Its original studio facilities were located on Jefferson Street in downtown Lafayette.[3] It has always been a CBS affiliate, though it aired some ABC programming until KATC signed on in 1962. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[4] In 1965, Camellia Broadcasting sold KLFY to Texoma Broadcasters, which owned KWTX-TV in Waco, Texas, and was partially owned by Lyndon B. Johnson along with businessman Milford N. "Buddy" Bostick. The station currently operates out of newer, larger purpose-built studio facilities on Eraste Landry Road, on the city's south side. KLFY was the first station in Lafayette and one of the earliest in Louisiana to broadcast in stereo, launching stereo broadcasting in mid-1986.
Young Broadcasting acquired the station from Texoma Broadcasters in 1988. Young, and KLFY with it, was sold to Media General in 2013. This marked Media General's return to Louisiana after selling Alexandria NBC affiliate KALB-TV to Hoak Media in 2008.
After an aborted merger plan with Meredith Corporation, Media General announced on January 27, 2016, that it was being acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group with the new company named "Nexstar Media Group". As Nexstar had already owned KADN-TV and since the Lafayette market is too small to allow duopolies in any case, in order to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as planned changes to rules regarding same-market television stations which would prohibit future joint sales agreements, the company was required to sell either KLFY or KADN to another company. NBC affiliate KLAF-LD, KADN-TV's sister station, was the only station involved in the deal that could have been legally acquired, since FCC rules allow for common ownership of full-power and low-power television stations, regardless of the number of stations in a market.[5][6] However, four months later, Nexstar agreed to sell KADN and KLAF-LD to Bayou City Broadcasting, allowing it to retain KLFY.[7]
Upon being acquired by Nexstar, the station upgraded its set and look. It has retained the "Hello Acadiana" greeting as well as the morning newscast title Passe Partout. However, in November 2017, the station dropped its hurricane eye logo it has used for over four decades, has renamed its noon newscast (formerly titled Meet Your Neighbor) to KLFY News 10 at Noon, and has changed its news theme to Stephen Arnold Music's "Canvas", which was and is still used by numerous former Media General stations.
On September 23, 2024, KLFY became the Lafayette market's third affiliate of The CW once its contract with KATC expired, as part of a plan for Nexstar to carry the network on more of its owned and operated stations.[8][9] The CW replaced Dabl on subchannel 10.2.[10]
