Product Code Database
KKOG-TV (channel 16) was an independent television station in Ventura, California, United States. It was the first full-power broadcast station in Ventura County and was owned by Julian F. Myers, a Hollywood talent agent and publicist, through his New Horizons Broadcasting Corporation. The station—dependent entirely on live and local programming—had a brief history, lasting only nine months from December 1968 to September 1969. It struggled to attract viewers and advertisers.
Construction of KKOG-TV proceeded slowly. Myers had struggled financially in 1966 and sold shares in the business to his brother and nine other friends, who received a minority interest in the venture. The May 1967 opening date was reset to August 1, then November 1. Though Myers leased the transmitter site land at the start of 1967, he did not obtain county zoning approval for a tower there until December. Delays continued throughout 1968; a planned August date was missed, but that month, a contract was let to construct the transmitter building. In October, construction began to refit an old post office and glass factory at 133 S. California Street into the station's studios. A launch was announced for November 23 and then November 30, but KKOG-TV only appeared on television screens on December 14, 1968. This was the last day of the construction permit; the opening broadcast was marred by technical issues, including a 15-minute loss of video and multiple audio failures. In the lead-up to launch, the station's advertising asked whether the much-delayed station was the "World's Longest Pregnancy".
KKOG-TV eschewed the typical programming composition of an independent station. The staff of 40 aimed to produce some 65 hours of live programming a week without the use of any syndicated or filmed shows. This plan was seen as bold and implausible. In a feature article for Broadcasting, Morris Gelman wrote, "No other television station in the country, no network, probably has ever before attempted to rely totally on live programming." The programming ran the gamut and aimed to focus on Ventura County interests. A discussion show, Hollywood and You, featured professionals being asked questions by local residents. Gary Lord Dyer, the manager of a local hamburger restaurant, doubled as the station's children's host on Prince Gary's Kingdom of KKOG, dressed in a clown suit. Other shows covered surfing, travel, fashion, gardening, Spanish-language programming, and news. The production style of the shows was also unusual. No shows had scripts, not even newscasts. Programs were shot with a single camera, with no communication between cameramen and the control room on most productions.
By August, desperation had set in. The station was $325,000 in debt, making $1,500 a month in advertising but spending $15,000 a month, even with just one employee on salary. In a last-ditch attempt to get viewers, the station held a "Konstant Kontest"—interrupting almost every program every 20 minutes with questions to which viewers could answer and receive prizes. Myers wrote to 500 businesses in Ventura County soliciting advertising with little success. Creditors were piling up, including RCA, which supplied the station's equipment, and the Internal Revenue Service. Myers—who had divorced from his wife shortly before the station started—himself only had $10 in total assets. On September 11, 1969, Myers announced KKOG-TV would leave the air on the evening of September 13 unless it could receive more cash. Of the shutdown, Bob Holt of the Ventura County Star-Free Press newspaper wrote, "The last hour of the station's life represented the only sustained viewing that I ever did of Channel 16. In part, this was because the quality of their picture had always been poor in our area. However, on the final night, our picture quality was almost good. It reminded me that the vision of an almost blind person is said to clear in his death hour."
Myers returned to the public relations field after KKOG-TV folded, working for American International Pictures and other firms. Ventura County did not have another local TV station until 1985, when KBEH debuted on channel 63 from Oxnard.
|
|
