KPTV

KPTV, channel 12, is the Fox-affiliated television station for Portland, Oregon. The station is owned by Meredith Corporation, as part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX (channel 49). The two stations share studios on NW Greenbrier Parkway in Beaverton, while its transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of Portland. Master control operations for both KPTV and KPDX are located at Meredith's West Coast hub facility at the studios of Phoenix, Arizona sister station KPHO-TV.

History

Early years

KPTV signed on the air on September 20, 1952, as Oregon's first television station. KPTV originally broadcast on channel 27, making it also the nation's first commercial television station to broadcast on the UHF band. (the first experimental UHF station was Bridgeport, Connecticut's KC2XAK on channel 24). The station was originally owned by Empire Coil. As Portland's only television station at the time, it carried programming from all four networks of the time: ABC, CBS, NBC and the DuMont Television Network. CBS programming was dropped from KPTV's schedule when Portland's first VHF station, KOIN (channel 6), signed on the air on October 15, 1953. KPTV then became a primary NBC affiliate, and also continued to air some ABC and DuMont programming.