Television exploded in 1948.
At the start of the year, there were 18 TV stations in the U.S. At the end, Television magazine reported 52 were on the air with 69 more approved by the FCC.
When the calendar flipped over to January 1948, television was mostly for eastern eyes. The exceptions were two stations in Los Angeles, one in Chicago, and one in St. Louis. As the year rolled along, people in several other cities in the West were able to buy sets and pick up a brand-new local station.
One of those cities was Albuquerque, probably known in those days for being a Santa Fe rail stop where people could buy Native American goods.
The city had (and still has) a clear-channel radio station named KOB whose owners decided, like other broadcasters, to jump into television. The war got in the way.
The Albuquerque Journal was in the radio business and decided television was its next step. The paper announced on Dec. 17, 1943:
Plan Television Station Here
Sports and Film Broadcasts Proposed
The Albuquerque Broadcasting Co. has filed application for construction of a new experimental television station here, the first of its kind filed in the Rocky Mountain area, company officials announced Thursday [16]. Pending approval of the application in Washington, officials of the company are studying plans for purchase of the latest type of equipment. It probably will be after the war before equipment can be obtained and the station constructed even with the approval of the federal officials.
The company proposed the purchase of a number of receiving sets to install in public places here and it was stressed that all equipment would be standardized.
Although most of the programs from the station here would consist of film, the television counterpart of transcription, stress would be laid on experimental broadcasting of local events, such as football games. One official said experiments in New York have shown that radio “games,” such as Charades, in which the general public can participate, have been highly successful.
The films would be obtained through a new television library service in the East.
Other cities in the country which have extensive plans for post-war television broadcasts are Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The Albuquerque Broadcasting Co. operates station KOB.
The application was revised the following year. The Journal’s rival, the Albuquerque Tribune, published this story on July 18, 1944.
NEW TELEVISION BID MADE BY KOB
Requested Commercial Set-up Would Mean Wider Use of Facilities
The station will be operated on channel No. 1, from 50,000 to 56,000 kilocycles, he said.
Application previous made for en experimental license was withdrawn and a commercial license asked to permit wider use of facilities and more complete public service, according to Mr. Quinn.
The company already has placed an order for a television transmitter with RCA and will begin broadcasting as soon as a transmitter is received and set up, regardless of how few people as yet own television receiving equipment.
Broadcasts will be for a limited number of hours each day at their inception, and will in no way resemble current programs.
Some programs may be rebroadcast from film recordings, as was done by NBC with the Republican convention, he said.
The Albuquerque Broadcasting Co., was among the first in the country, and the first station in the western mountain group, to apply for a television license.
Things remained relatively quiet for about a year. Broadcasting magazine gave an update on May 27, 1946; Channel 1 had been retired for commercial purposes.
Tuesday, May 21
TWO MORE commercial televisiostations for Baltimore and one for Albuquerque were authorized by the FCC last Tuesday [21].The Baltimore grants went to Hearst Radio Inc. (WBAL) and Radio-Television of Baltimore Inc. The one for Albuquerque went to Albuquerque Broadcasting Co. (KOB). ...
KOB's television grant was for use of Channel No. 2, 54-60 mc, with 15-kw visual and 8-kw aural power and antenna height 100 feet above ground and 5,240 above sea level.
1946 became 1947 which became 1948. It almost became 1949 before the station began full-time televising. The Journal of Oct. 7, 1946 noted a plot of land for the station had been picked and studio equipment was to arrive in the spring. Along the way, the FCC reassigned the station to Channel 4 and kept allowing the owners to push back the day of the first broadcast. There was a demonstration broadcast for reporters and RCA dealers on July 28, 1948, though not all the equipment had been installed.
The station’s premiere was on November 29, 1948. The day before, the Journal gave a page-one preview.
KOB Television Starts Regular Programs Monday
Albuquerque Station To Present 5-Day Weekly Schedule
Television comes to Albuquerque Monday afternoon via Station KOB-TV, New Mexico's first television station.
First official TV broadcast is a two and one half hour program scheduled from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Monday and the station thereafter will operate five days each week—Monday through Friday, it was announced by George Johnson, KOB [engineer].
At first the station will use tele-transcriptions for its broadcasts, but later plans to televise local events. Equipment for televising programs in Albuquerque is already on hand. The tele-transcriptions are recordings of eastern network programs shipped here by air express. They consist chiefly of sporting events, variety and informative programs featuring New York talent.
Equipment Best
The KOB-TV broadcasts are sent on a different wave band than the regular KOB broadcasts and will in no way interfere with the regularly scheduled network and local programs.
Johnson emphasized that KOB's television equipment "is the best obtainable" and is comparable to that being used by large TV stations in the east.
He said KOB-TV would "start slowly and expand steadily, with our chief concern being to produce the best possible results." In other cities some TV stations attempted to do too much in the initial stages, with a result that programs suffered, he added.
At the outset programs will be timed to benefit both "the limited number of receiver-owners here and local dealers," Johnson said. He estimated there were perhaps 100 television receivers in the KOB-TV range which extends from Bernalillo to Belen.
Wide Range
During experimental broadcasts, however, KOB-TV has been picked up by receivers as far north as Los Alamos and 18 miles eastward in Tijeras Canyon, Johnson reported.
The engineer assured prospective purchasers of television sets that they need not fear their receivers will soon be outmoded.
"Television receivers are now built with well-standardized circuits,” he said. "Set buyers need not fear obsolescence. Of course, there will be minor improvements as have been developed in radio receivers, but buyers of television sets need not fear their receivers will be outmoded soon."
KOB-TV first signed contracts for its television equipment in June, 1946. First items began arriving in December, 1947 and last of the equipment was delivered only a few days ago.
New Building
Television equipment and studios are housed in a modern structure in the 900 block of South Buena Vista, site of the old airways station.
The equipment includes two complete transmitters--one for sound and the other for pictorial broadcasts—tele-transcription camera, two other cameras for televising local events, and a micro-wave relay system used to relay televised programs from the locality in which they take place to the main station.
One feature of television's debut here will be to bring Albuquerqueans their first experience with Frequency Modulation (FM) sound, which Johnson described as of "exceptional brilliance and clarity."
The paper listed the inaugural schedule:
2:30 Test pattern to adjust cameras and music.
3:00 NBC Salute to KOB-TV
3:35 Doorway to Fame
4:00 Frying Pan in the Fire
4:30 Howdy-Doody (puppet program)
5:00 Sign-off
The Journal gave this assessment of the first day of programming in its edition the following morning, concentrating on the signal rather than the programme quality.
Thousands View Television Debut As Sales Boom
Albuquerque got its first glimpse of television Monday afternoon, as Station KOB-TV went on the air for its official opening.
Several thousand persons saw parts of the first day's program. Television receiving set salesmen reported business was good.
Station officials said quality of the programs and of the transmission will get steadily better. They announced plans to expand the telecasting time to include evening programs twice a week. Pictures of a boxing match are scheduled for Wednesday, beginning at 7 p.m., according to George Johnson, engineer. Pictures of wrestling will be telecast Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. The programs, the same as are shown over eastern stations, are being flown here to be put on the air. Warm-up Period
Afternoon programs will be continued from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The afternoon schedule calls for a half-hour of a test pattern—to permit warming up and adjustment of receiving sets—followed by two hours of programs. A still picture is telecast for five or 10 minutes between the half-hour programs to aid in readjustment of sets, Johnson said.
He said plans call for the evening telecasts to be continued twice a week for several weeks, and then to be increased in number.
"We will schedule our programs in accordance with the needs of those having receiving sets," Johnson said. “This being a small city, we can keep close check on needs of the set owners."
Dealers Display Sets
Most of the several thousand persons who got glimpses of the television programs Monday — their first view of television for most of them—saw the programs on sets installed by dealers. There were several in operation downtown, either in show windows or back in the stores. A number of other persons saw the programs on a set in the lobby of the KOB studio downtown. Several bars which have installed sets reported attendance was good. Dealers reported the response of the public was good, and a number of sets were sold to persons who had dropped in to get their first sight of television.
The front-page of the Journal on December 1 read:
Better Reception Reported on KOB Video Programs
Persons looking—and listening to sets tuned to KOB-TV Tuesday, got better reception on that second day of video programming in New Mexico.
This was the opinion of George S. Johnson, television engineer for KOB, who said that he had received numerous calls during the day complimenting the station on the improved quality of reception over the inaugural day, Monday.
"We had a much more successful operation Tuesday," Johnson said. "A number of the 'bugs' which we expected on the first day on the air and of which we had an over-abundance, were ironed out." The new station will televise its first evening program tonight beginning at 6:15 p. m. A test band will open at that time for fifteen minutes to adjust receivers and then the entertainment will begin. Highlight of tonight's show will be a televising of boxing matches, Johnson said.
Interest in television sets took a sharp upward turn Tuesday, many stores reported. Small crowds gathered around the sets placed in operation for display purposes during the afternoon show. A number of sales were reported.
Johnson estimated that there were between 75 and 100 sets now in operation in Albuquerque. A number of other sets which have been sold during the past few days, will not be receiving until installation by a trained video serviceman has been accomplished. A possibility of a backlog in installation services loomed Tuesday as the sales of new sets boomed.
The present 12-hour weekly program will be maintained for at least a couple of months, Johnson said.
"We want to be sure that we can give consistently good entertainment, both from a technical and program standpoint," he said, "before we try to carry too much of a load.
"A number of persons who have become familiar with television in eastern cities have informed us that our service is comparing very favorably with other established television stations."
KOB-TV was in a fortunate position to build an audience. Earlier in the year, the FCC slapped a temporary ban on new television licenses. After it was ended, Albuquerque didn’t a second TV station until KOAT (which also had a radio operation) went on the air on Oct. 2, 1953.
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