History
KLAS was the first TV station in Nevada (beating KOLO-TV in Reno by two months and five days) and was started by Hank Greenspun on July 8, 1953. Greenspun also owned the Las Vegas Sun. Greenspun sold it to aviation magnate Howard Hughes in 1968, reportedly because the tycoon was dismayed that the station never played his favorite late-night movies. After Hughes' death in 1976, the station was held in an outside trust for another two years until 1978 when it was sold to its current owner, Landmark Communications. Landmark Communications renamed itself to Landmark Media Enterprises in September 2008.
On April 16, 1996, KLAS-TV became the first commercial station in Nevada (and one of the first in the United States) to carry a digital broadcast signal. This was for the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention. A little more than four years later on April 6, 2000 the first scheduled high definition network broadcasts in Las Vegas began on KLAS' digital signal.
On January 30, 2008, Landmark announced its intention to sell KLAS, along with its other TV station WTVF in Nashville. No suitable buyer for KLAS was found until Landmark took most of its properties off the market in October 2008 due to the credit crisis. KLAS and WTVF remains owned by Landmark for the foreseeable future.
On September 4, 2012, Journal Broadcasting announced that it would purchase WTVF in Nashville for $215 million. The sale was finalized on December 6. This leaves KLAS-TV as the only television station in Landmark's portfolio. It also makes WTVF a sister station to KLAS's rival, KTNV-TV.
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