KOKH-TV
KOKH-TV is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside KOCB, an independent station. The two stations share studios and transmitter facilities on East Wilshire Boulevard and 78th Street on the city's northeast side.
History
As a non-commercial educational station
On July 25, 1958, amidst bankruptcy hearings involving its predecessor station, KTVQ's owner, the Republic Television and Radio Company, donated the license for UHF channel 25 to Independent School District No. 89 of Oklahoma County. Although the Federal Communications Commission had designated the allocation for commercial use, the district proposed operating it as a non-commercial independent station. The district requested the KOKH call letters, assigned at the time to its public radio station on 88.9 FM.KOKH-TV signed on February 2, 1959, operating from the district's Broadcasting Center at the former Classen High School on North Ellison Avenue and Northwest 17th Street. The station shared facilities with KETA-TV. Programming only aired during the academic year, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and consisted primarily of instructional telecourses developed with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, many offering college credit.
In the summer of 1970, KOKH became the last Oklahoma City station to broadcast in color after receiving $500,000 worth of donated RCA color transmission equipment. By that time, its schedule expanded from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but was cut back from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the 1975–76 school year due to operating costs. Programming was also suspended on Fridays entirely. Beginning in 1976–77, programming gradually expanded again, adding afternoon instructional shows and some off-network syndicated series. By September 1977, KOKH introduced prime time programming, consisting of science and documentary series and some adult education programs, and expanded its broadcast day to 13 hours. It also began limited weekend morning operations for the first time.
As a commercial independent station
In fall 1978, Oklahoma City Public Schools decided to sell KOKH-TV in order redirect funds used to operate KOKH toward teacher salaries. The district cited high operating costs, the need for $350,000 in matching funds to replace the aging transmitter and tower, and limited classroom use of the station's instructional programming. Because the FCC allocation for channel 25 was commercial and the Oklahoma City market was now large enough to support a commercial independent station, the district explored selling the station to a commercial operator.On December 14, 1978, John Blair & Co. bought the KOKH-TV license for $3.5 million, outbidding The Outlet Company and Trinity Broadcasting Network. The FCC approved the sale on June 6, 1979, and KOKH temporarily suspended programming during the summer transfer period.
Blair assumed control on October 1, 1979, converting KOKH into Oklahoma's first commercial independent station, while KETA-TV became the city's sole educational outlet. KOKH launched with a general-entertainment format featuring cartoons, classic sitcoms, religious programs, some sports programming, movies, and select network programs preempted by the Big Three affiliates. From 1979 to 1986, it branded itself as "Oklahoma's Greatest Movie Station", often airing multiple films daily. Competition emerged soon after with KGMC-TV signing on four weeks later on October 28, and KAUT-TV following one year later.
In May 1980, KOKH moved into a new studio on East Wilshire Boulevard in northeast Oklahoma City; a new transmission tower was built adjacent to the new studio. During the early 1980s, the station added eight low-power translators across western Oklahoma and northwest Texas to expand coverage.
During the early and mid-1980s, KOKH aired locally produced and syndicated sporting events, including Oklahoma City rodeo competitions such as the National Finals Rodeo. In August 1983, it became the first U.S. station to air syndicated NFL preseason games outside a team's individual home markets.
As the Oklahoma City market's strongest independent station, KOKH was approached by News Corporation in 1986 to become a charter affiliate of its new Fox Broadcasting Company. Station management declined due to Fox's programming conflicting with the station's prime time movie schedule. Fox affiliated with KAUT instead.
In July 1986, John Blair & Co. agreed to a friendly takeover by private equity firm Reliance Capital Group in order to avoid a hostile bid by minority shareholder Macfadden Holdings. Later that year, Blair sold KOKH and two California NBC affiliates to Gillett Communications for $86 million in order to focus on expanding its Spanish-language network NetSpan and to pay off debt incurred by the Reliance purchase. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 30 and finalized the next day. Gillett then transferred KOKH and several other stations to Busse Broadcast Communications in order to resolve ownership issues related to Gillett's purchase of a majority stake in Storer Communications; the transfer was completed in August 1987.
By the late 1980s, the Oklahoma City market was too small to sustain three independent stations, nor was there a supply of syndicated programming that could sufficiently fill their respective schedules. In the summer of 1988, Pappas Telecasting Companies proposed a complex $30 million deal to buy KOKH and consolidate programming from KGMC and KAUT onto channel 25, making KOKH the market's dominant independent. The plan also called for KGMC to be transferred to OETA as a secondary PBS station and for KAUT to be sold to a religious broadcaster. Governor Henry Bellmon raised concerns about OETA's ability to adequately fund a second Oklahoma City station.
OETA applied to buy KGMC in August 1988 with a proposed $1 million contribution from Pappas, but the deal drew FCC objections and was later rejected by OETA's board. KGMC's owner, Seraphim Media, instead agreed to sell channel 34 to Maddox Broadcasting for $3.6 million. In November 1988, Heritage Media, owner of KAUT, announced plans to sell that station to OETA, with Pappas offering favorable lease terms for the transmitter facility should the acquisition be completed.
On September 12, 1988, Pappas agreed to buy KOKH from Busse for $9 million plus the assumption of liabilities totaling up to $7 million. Pappas planned to change the call letters to KOKC-TV. However, the Oklahoma Legislature barred state funds from being used to support a second Oklahoma City educational station, which undermined OETA's KAUT purchase. In late January 1989, Busse management refused to extend the KOKH deal deadline past the scheduled date of January 31, and the entire transaction collapsed on February 3, 1989; the FCC had also dismissed the related KGMC and KAUT transfer applications three days earlier.
As a Fox affiliate
On April 23, 1991, Heritage Media announced plans to buy KOKH-TV from Busse Broadcast Communications for $7 million. This included donating KAUT's license and transmission facilities to OETA, similar to the proposed Pappas deal. OETA was also given a two-year to purchase the rest of KAUT's assets for $1.5 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 27 and closed on August 12.As part of the transaction, KOKH assumed KAUT's Fox affiliation and became "KOKH Fox 25" on August 15, 1991. The station hired about 30 former KAUT employees, including general manager Harlan Reams, and acquired additional KAUT equipment and programming. Channel 43 was converted to an educational outlet under OETA, later changing call letters to KTLC before returning to commercial operation in 1998.
On March 17, 1997, News Corporation agreed to acquire Heritage Media for $1.35 billion, primarily for its ActMedia division, not its television stations, as the deal would have pushed News Corp beyond federal ownership limits at the time.
Sinclair ownership
On July 16, 1997, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced it would acquire Heritage Media's television and radio stations from News Corporation for $630 million. The deal created ownership conflicts in several markets, including Oklahoma City, where Sinclair already owned KOCB, which it had acquired the previous year. At the time, FCC rules barred ownership of two TV stations in the same market by one entity, so Sinclair relied on local marketing agreements to operate stations it could not legally own. To address antitrust concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice, on August 7, 1997, Sinclair sold channel 25 to Sullivan Broadcast Holdings for $60 million.On February 4, 1998, three days after Sullivan finalized the KOKH purchase, Sinclair exercised an option to purchase KOKH for $60 million and entered into a time brokerage agreement under which Sinclair assumed operational control of the station. This would create a virtual duopoly with KOCB, then a WB affiliate.
In March 1998, Sinclair announced plans to sell KOKH and the rights to the TBA involving KOCB to Glencairn, Ltd. Because Glencairn was 97% owned by the family of Sinclair founder Julian Sinclair Smith, critics argued the transaction would violate FCC ownership rules. Civil rights group Rainbow/PUSH and Kelley International Licensing, a subsidiary of KWTV owner Griffin Television, filed objections, alleging Glencairn functioned as a proxy for Sinclair.
On November 17, 1999, Sinclair restructured the deal, abandoning the Glencairn sale and instead acquiring KOKH directly from Sullivan for $53.2 million as part of a broader transaction involving nine other stations. The FCC dismissed the Glencairn application on July 23, 2001, and approved the Sullivan acquisition in December. The deal was finalized on December 14, 2001, making KOKH and KOCB Oklahoma City's first legal television duopoly. Although the purchase was approved, the FCC still fined Sinclair $40,000 for improperly controlling Glencairn. By that time, the issue had been rendered partially moot by FCC rule changes allowing duopolies under certain conditions. Following the transaction, KOCB moved its operations into KOKH's Wilshire Boulevard studios.
On May 8, 2017, Sinclair announced plans to acquire Tribune Media, owner of KFOR-TV and KAUT-TV. Sinclair proposed retaining KFOR and KOCB while selling KOKH to Standard Media Group and KAUT to Howard Stirk Holdings. The FCC designated the deal for a hearing in July 2018, and Tribune terminated the merger the following month. Tribune later sold most of its assets to Nexstar Media Group.