Independent KTMA
KTMA, still on the market when Spectrum closed, adopted a format of music videos programmed by local radio station KTWN. K-Twin Communications, owner of KTWN, made an $11 million offer to United Cable to purchase channel 23 outright. United rejected the bid and was reported to have accepted a $12 million offer from an Atlanta-based group.[20] In the end, KTMA-TV Acquisition Corporation, owned by general manager Donald H. O'Connor, bought the entirety of the station—including Beaudoin's stake—for $13.8 million.[21] O'Connor purchased another $2.5 million in equipment and changed KTMA to a more traditional general entertainment station, acquiring a number of older syndicated programs such as The Andy Griffith Show and Laurel and Hardy.[22] A late 1986 billboard campaign centered around Elvira's Movie Macabre ended prematurely after the station received a dozen complaints over the slogan "features that will scare you to death".[23] The majority of complaints over the billboard came from Farmington, where their city council also lodged a complaint to KTMA.[24] One programming tradition began on New Year's Eve 1986: TV23's 23rd Annual New Year's Eve Extravaganza, a live comedy special emceed by station stagehand Kevin Murphy as "Bob Bagadonuts"[25] culminating with a melon drop at midnight from the station's rooftop;[26] this special was revisited in 1987,[27] 1988[28] and 1989.[29]
Despite a major $1.2 million marketing campaign at the relaunch, after the station was acquired, the station was only moderately successful at attracting viewers and revenue from commercial advertising. By February 1988, KTMA's ratings were still only half that of KITN-TV, which had become the Twin Cities area's other major UHF independent.[30] The first signs of financial trouble also occurred that year: KTMA had to temporarily stop carrying some programs in August because it needed to refinance to pay its syndicators in a timely fashion.[31] That same year, attempts were made at creating locally produced shows: to fill a hole in the Saturday night line-up, the station created Saturday Night at Ringside, a multi-hour block of professional wrestling programming hosted by Mick Karch,[32] and a late-night talk show, Sports Week with Stretch and Z, also was created.
Late 1988 brought two debuts, one ambitious and one low-key. On December 14, 1988, O'Connor announced the formation of the Minnesota Independent Network, which would unite KTMA with KXLI channel 41 in St. Cloud and KXLT-TV channel 47 in Rochester; low-power TV stations owned by Red River TV in Bemidji (K26AC), Brainerd, and Grand Rapids; and several additional low-power stations to be leased or built at Alexandria, Donnelly/Herman, Park Rapids, and Austin.[33] The St. Cloud station was also slated under the proposal to move its tower northwest toward Sauk Centre and change to channel 19. The Minnesota Independent Network would give KTMA and KXLI the regional circulation necessary to compete with other Twin Cities-market stations for viewers and programming rights. Further, KTMA would become KMIN.[34]
The other debut came with less bombast but cemented KTMA's place in popular culture. As production manager Jim Mallon sought to fill a gap in the Sunday night line-up, he talked to his contacts in the local comedy community and ended up meeting Joel Hodgson, who had a warehouse in the same building as office space Mallon was using at the time. After a successful lunch meeting with Mallon to produce a new locally produced program for KTMA, Hodgson created Mystery Science Theater 3000 (also known under the abbreviated title MST3K), which began in November 1988.[36] The show quickly attracted the involvement of Kevin Murphy, who had been an associate of Mallon dating back to his horror film project Blood Hook, performing multiple tasks from camera operator to show writer[37] to set builder.[38] Hodgson recruited local comedians Josh Weinstein and Trace Beaulieu as his co-stars; owing to the show's low budget, Weinstein and Beaulieu were only paid $25 per episode. A phone line Mallon established specifically for MST3K viewers netted such a favorable response[37] that KTMA increased their show order from 13 episodes to 21.[39]
As MST3K grew, the Minnesota Independent Network collapsed. At the start of July 1989, O'Connor told a St. Cloud radio station that KTMA and the owner of KXLI and KXLT (which had gone silent awaiting the network's launch) had "bigger fish to fry" and blamed the complexity of the arrangement for scuttling the plan.[40] The nature of his remarks was explained at the end of the month, when the station filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with O'Connor noting that KTMA had been undercapitalized from the moment he had purchased it.[41] Presaging the fate of MST3K in the years to come, KTMA ended production of the show after the June 1, 1989, season finale; the second issue of the show's fan club newsletter included a direct appeal to KTMA to reconsider.[42] Hodgson and Mallon purchased MST3K 's intellectual property under the production company Best Brains, Inc.,[37] along with a new studio in Eden Prairie.[43] The Comedy Channel—recently established as an extension of HBO
Despite the failure of MIN to emerge, KTMA showed up in St. Cloud and Rochester anyway when new owners of KXLI and KXLT opted to simulcast channel 23 after returning to the air in 1990.[45] The station, however, remained in bankruptcy for more than two years. Even during bankruptcy, the station moved from its original studios on Kennedy Street to a facility on Como Avenue as 1989 ended.[46] It was not until the fall of 1991 that two groups emerged seeking to buy the station out of Chapter 11, at the same time that the court-appointed trustee fired O'Connor in a cost-cutting effort. The successful bidder, Lakeland Group Television, was headed by Linda Rios Brook, who had resigned from her position as general manager of KARE—reportedly over her conservative religious beliefs—and planned to reposition the station with Christian programs.[47]
