KGO-TV - History

History

The station signed on the air for the first time on May 5, 1949, as Northern California's second-oldest TV station, behind Associated Broadcasters' KPIX (channel 5, later sold to Westinghouse Broadcasting). In fact, KPIX had a hand in getting KGO-TV on the air, as the CBS-affiliated (and now CBS-owned) station produced informational programming on how to receive and view ABC's channel 7. KGO-TV's original studios were located in the renovated Sutro Mansion atop Mount Sutro in San Francisco, next to the transmitter tower it shared with KPIX.

Channel 7 was the fourth original ABC-owned and operated TV station to sign-on, after outlets in New York, Chicago and Detroit. KGO-TV is ABC's oldest O&O station in California, as its sister station KECA-TV (now KABC-TV) in Los Angeles did not sign on the air until September 1949. In addition, it is the only ABC station to keep its original call letters, which were inherited from KGO radio (810 AM and 103.7 FM, now KKSF). In addition to airing ABC programming, KGO-TV also aired syndicated programs from the Paramount Television Network. Among the Paramount programs aired were Time For Beany, Hollywood Reel, Sandy Dreams, Hollywood Wrestling, and Cowboy G-Men.

Channel 7 had a limited broadcasting schedule during its first year on the air. It wasn't until September 1950 that the station announced, in the San Francisco Chronicle, that it would finally broadcast seven days a week. For much of the 1950s, the station signed on late in the morning, especially on the weekends.

In 1954, KGO-TV moved to one of the most modern broadcasting facilities on the West Coast (at the time), at 277 Golden Gate Avenue. This building was torn down between 2010 and 2011.

For many years, Saturday programming began with King Norman's Kingdom of Toys, a popular children's program hosted by the owner of a San Francisco toy store, Norman Rosenberg. Born in 1918, Rosenberg was a former naval officer when he began the program in 1954, joined by his wife Doris as Page Joy. It ran until 1961. The Rosenbergs eventually owned a chain of 21 stores in three states. Doris Rosenberg died from colon cancer on January 10, 2009, at the age of 85.

As an ABC O&O station, KGO-TV originated some daytime network shows, including programs hosted by fitness advocate Jack La Lanne, singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, and entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. Syndicated game shows Oh My Word and The Anniversary Game were produced at KGO-TV for Circle Seven Productions. In the mid-1950s, KGO-TV telecast live weeknight variety shows hosted by KSFO disc jockey Don Sherwood, until Sherwood was fired for making a political commentary in defiance of a warning from the station's management. Today, KGO-TV broadcasts from studios at 900 Front Street, which it has occupied since 1985. It shares the facility with KGO Radio (AM 810), KSFO and KMKY, although the former two are now owned by Cumulus Media.

In September 1962, KGO began carrying ABC's first color program, the animated series The Jetsons, followed by The Flintstones. In the mid 1960s KGO became the first Bay Area station to transmit local programs in compatible color, including its newscasts.

For most of its existence, KGO-TV was the only network-owned-and-operated station in the Bay Area, even throughout the time when ABC was going through ownership changes when Capital Cities Communications bought out ABC and merged with the network in 1985 before being sold to Disney in 1996. As such, the station did not heavily pre-empt network programming unlike its local competitors or its sister stations—such as Philadelphia's WPVI-TV, Houston's KTRK-TV and Fresno's KFSN-TV -- which were known for doing so in those days. The distinction ended in 1995 when several other stations over the next ten years became network-owned stations—notably KBHK (today's KBCW) becoming a charter member of UPN (which the station's then-owner was a partner in), KPIX becoming a CBS O&O and KNTV becoming an NBC O&O, in that order. (As of 2007, some exceptions to this policy may be made when breaking news events or selected ABC Sports programs warrant exclusive coverage, in which case Granite Broadcasting Corporation's independent station, KOFY, may pick up the pre-empted ABC programming scheduled for the time period.) After ABC sold WXYZ in Detroit to Scripps Howard in 1986 as part of the Capital Cities/ABC merger, KGO-TV went on to be the longest running ABC O&O outside of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.