KBMT

KBMT is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Golden Triangle area of southeast Texas, licensed to Beaumont. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Mauriceville. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 875. Owned by Tegna, Inc., KBMT has studios along I-10/U.S. 69/U.S. 96/U.S. 287 in Beaumont. Syndicated programming on this station includes Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, Judge Judy, and Dr. Oz.

History

The callsign KBMT originally transmitted on UHF channel 31, beginning on May 9, 1954, as the first television station to broadcast in the Golden Triangle. It carried ABC, CBS and NBC, but lost CBS when KFDM-TV went on the air in 1955. Since the FCC did not mandate television sets to have UHF included until 1964, KBMT 31 went off the air on August 1, 1956. Its original tower still stands (though only 250 feet instead of 500 feet tall) west of Vidor south of U.S. Route 90.