| ATSC 3.0 station | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Channels | |
| Branding | CW 43 Oklahoma City |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | |
| KFOR-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | October 15, 1980[a] |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Gene Autry, partner of founding owner Golden West Broadcasters |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 50182 |
| ERP |
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| HAAT | 467 m (1,532 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°34′7″N 97°29′21″W / 35.56861°N 97.48917°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | kfor |
KAUT-TV (channel 43) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios in Oklahoma City's McCourry Heights section; KAUT-TV's transmitter is located on the city's northeast side.
KAUT went on the air on October 15, 1980. It was built by Golden West Broadcasters, a company owned by station namesake Gene Autry, and aired Golden West's VEU subscription TV service at night and news programming during the day. The news programming lasted less than a year before being discontinued, while VEU was shuttered in October 1982, leaving KAUT to become one of three independent stations in the market. Rollins Broadcasting bought the station in 1985; it became Heritage Media in 1986, the year that channel 43 affiliated with the Fox network. Fox programming improved the station's ratings, which previously had run third among the three Oklahoma City independents.
After a previous proposal in 1988 and 1989 failed, Heritage Media acquired competing independent KOKH-TV (channel 25) in 1991. It moved the Fox affiliation, programming, and staff from channel 43 to channel 25. KAUT was then donated to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state's public TV broadcaster, and revamped as a secondary service known as The Literacy Channel under KTLC call letters. It aired telecourses and literacy programming during the day and reairs of PBS children's programs at night. The Literacy Channel did not receive state money; operating funds came from private donors and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The OETA put KTLC on the market in 1997 to help defray the costs of converting its statewide network to digital broadcasting. Paramount Stations Group placed the winning bid and returned channel 43 to commercial operation as UPN affiliate KPSG on June 20, 1998. The station returned UPN programming to the market after KOCB (channel 34) switched to The WB earlier that year. After Autry died that October, the station reclaimed its original KAUT call sign in his honor. The New York Times Company, then-owner of KFOR-TV, purchased KAUT in 2005; the station affiliated with MyNetworkTV when UPN and The WB merged into The CW in 2006, and KFOR introduced prime time and morning newscasts on channel 43. In 2023, KAUT replaced KOCB as the CW affiliate in Oklahoma City.
- ^ "KAUT-TV". Television and Cable Factbook. 2006. p. A-1790.
- ^ "KAUT-TV". Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook. 2006. p. B-73.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KAUT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
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