KSDK

KSDK virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 35) is an NBC-affiliated television station located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The station is owned by Tegna, Inc. KSDK maintains studio facilities and offices located on Market Street in Downtown St. Louis, and its transmitter is located in Shrewsbury.

History

The station first signed on the air as KSD-TV on February 8, 1947; it was owned by the Pulitzer Publishing Company, publishers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and owners of KSD radio (550 AM, now KTRS). It was the ninth television station to sign on in the United States, the first station in Missouri and the second station located west of the Mississippi River. In the early days, KSD produced much of its own programming and developed its own talent pool. Many St. Louis television pioneers from KSD-TV came from radio, including Frank Eschen, Kay Morton, Russ Severin and Dave Russell.

Because of a freeze on new television station licenses imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, KSD-TV was the only television station in the St. Louis market, until WTVI (channel 54, now KTVI channel 2) signed on in August 1953. Channel 5 has always been an NBC affiliate, owing to KSD radio's longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network; the station is currently the longest-tenured affiliate of any major broadcast television network. In its early years, channel 5 also carried secondary affiliations with CBS, DuMONT and ABC. In the early 1960s, Channel 5 became the first St. Louis television station to broadcast in color.