KEYE-TV

KEYE-TV, virtual channel 42 (UHF digital channel 43), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Austin, Texas, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. KEYE's studios are located on Metric Boulevard in North Austin (it is one of two area television stations whose studios are located in that section of town – ABC affiliate KVUE, channel 24, being the other), and its transmitter is located on Waymaker Way on the west side of Austin.

History

Early years

The UHF channel 42 allocation in Austin had originally been used by NBC affiliate KHFI-TV, when that station signed on in February 1965. That station moved to channel 36 in 1973 and is now KXAN-TV.

KEYE-TV signed on the air on channel 42 on December 4, 1983 as KBVO-TV; the call letters came from the University of Texas at Austin's mascot, Bevo. It was Austin's first independent station. The station was originally owned by Steve Beard, an Austin advertising executive, and a small group of investors. On October 6, 1986, the station became a charter affiliate of the upstart Fox network and began branding itself as "Fox 42" on-air in the late 1980s. In 1993, Beard sold KBVO to the Granite Broadcasting Corporation for $54 million – a handsome return on his original investment.