Construction and early years
In 1977, two groups filed before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for channel 34 in Oklahoma City. The first was Rockford, Illinois–based General Media Corporation on January 24.[1] On April 12, a second application was filed by Oklahoma City Broadcasting, Inc., whose majority owner was Ted Baze, then manager of WPHL-TV.[2] General Media and Oklahoma City Broadcasting reached a settlement agreement, under which the former owned 80 percent of the combined group, and won the construction permit in March 1979.[3] The new station took the call sign KGMC[4] and built studios on NE 85th Street.[5]
After a series of technical difficulties,[6][7] KGMC began broadcasting on November 1, 1979.[8] Baze, a baseball fan, attempted to add KGMC to the Philadelphia Phillies television network, but after one game, he was denied; Major League Baseball ruled that Oklahoma City was outside the team's television territory, forcing him to substitute the Houston Astros[9] and later the Texas Rangers.[10]
KGMC formed part of an independent stations boom in Oklahoma City in 1979 and 1980. Oklahoma City had quickly gone from being the largest market with no independent to having three of them. KOKH-TV (channel 25) had relaunched as a commercial independent the month before, and KAUT debuted on channel 43 in October 1980.[11] Baze later cited KAUT's entrance into the market for soaring programming costs that "destroyed everything here for all of the stations". As a result, the market was suddenly saturated in its boom years, and unlike in other Oklahoma industries, the number of stations did not decrease through the state's economic downturn.[12]
General Media Corporation began to liquidate its assets in late 1982.[13] That December,[14] Oklahoma City Broadcasting bought out General Media's share of channel 34 in a deal that valued KGMC at $7 million and was finalized in April 1983.[15] Four months later, Baze agreed to sell an 85-percent interest in the station to the Beverly Hills Hotel Corporation (owned by New York City financier Ivan Boesky) for $7 million,[16] a transaction the FCC approved in December 1983.[17]
The Boeskys and a buyout attempt
In November 1986, Ivan Boesky agreed to pay a $100 million financial penalty for insider trading and stock fraud.[18] The next month, it was revealed that in September, Boesky had transferred direct control of KGMC to his wife, Seema, without FCC approval; under voting trusts, Ivan Boesky controlled more of the company than previously known. The FCC designated a routine renewal of the station's broadcast license for review in January 1987.[19][20] The Boeskys and Baze pleaded with the FCC to let the transaction stand, noting that the former had infused $5 million of cash into a station that still had yet to turn a profit.[21] The commission ignored their appeals and designated the license renewal for hearing in November 1987 on the unauthorized transfer of control issue.[22] The Boesky family began to pursue a buyer for channel 34 under the FCC's distress sale policy,[23]
Bankruptcy reorganization
The collapse of the second Pappas deal hurt KGMC considerably. Prior to 1988, channel 34 had reliably been the second-place independent station in Oklahoma City, behind KOKH but ahead of KAUT. Baze later told The Daily Oklahoman that, with a purchase close at hand, the station had ceased competing as vigorously, and KAUT pushed past it in the ratings. After the deal fell apart, on February 9, 1989, KGMC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; the company had $5.5 million in assets against $14.2 million in liabilities.[38] in May, Baze filed to purchase the station out of bankruptcy.[39] During bankruptcy, KGMC operated under a cash collateral agreement with its secured creditor, NCNB Texas,[40] which held the station's assets as collateral. The bankruptcy case became tortuous after NCNB Texas objected to Oklahoma City Broadcasting's reorganization plan, which had already received the support of the official committee of unsecured creditors. NCNB Texas had signed an option contract with KAUT pledging $3 million for the station's assets if it were to be liquidated. It requested that the value of KGMC's assets be fixed at $3.25 million. The judge overseeing the case, John TeSelle, denied a motion to foreclose on the assets because there was still a chance of a successful reorganization of the business.[41]
Superior Communications ownership and UPN affiliation
The sale of KOCB from Oklahoma City Broadcasting to Pittsburgh-based Superior Communications, Inc., owned by broadcasting executives Al Holtz and Perry Sook, was announced in May 1993.[47] The $11 million transaction[48] received FCC approval in October and closed on January 28, 1994; Baze stepped down as general manager and was replaced by Sook.[49]
Under Sook and Superior, the station revamped its on-air look, upgraded its syndicated programming inventory, and acquired telecast rights to Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball. The improved programming also helped KOCB secure cable carriage in localities on the fringe of the market such as Woodward and Altus. Sook described KOCB as the company's flagship and the larger revenue producer of its two stations.[50] As early as November 1993, KOCB was signed up to become an affiliate of a new network proposed by Paramount Television
Sinclair acquisition and duopoly with KOKH-TV
Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired Superior Communications' two stations, KOCB and WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 4, 1996, for $63.5 million.[53][54][55]
On July 21, 1997, Sinclair signed an affiliation agreement with The WB to switch the affiliations of KOCB and four other UPN affiliates to the network.[56] The move put UPN on the back foot; the network contested the validity of the action in Maryland courts, where it lost twice.[57] The affiliation switch left UPN without an Oklahoma City affiliate beginning in January 1998;
CW affiliation and loss
In 2006, The WB and UPN were shut down and replaced with The CW, which offered programming from both predecessor networks. However, Sinclair was late to sign an agreement with The CW.[73][74] The news of the merger resulted in Sinclair announcing, two months later, that most of its UPN and WB affiliates would join MyNetworkTV,[75] a new service formed by the News Corporation, which was also owner of the Fox network.[76] Sinclair did not agree to terms with The CW, for KOCB and several other stations, until May 2, 2006;[77] KAUT, which had just been sold to
