This year, KENS 5 TV is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Much has changed over the six decades KENS 5 has been broadcasting.
Channel 5 signed on the air February 15, 1950, as KEYL while television was still in its infancy. The number of sets could be measured in the mere thousands.
KENS 5 TV President and General Manager Bob McGann was a child when television first arrived.
"We were first on our block to get a set, and everyone came in to watch the small little screen. We'd all gather around and watch together," McGann said.
Jerry Townsend, who teaches media history at San Antonio College, said the price of the TV sets made their spread slow at first.
"TV sets were 9 to 12 inches and cost $300 to $500 each. That was an impediment to the early growth of television," he said.
Back then, a television cost roughly half the price of a car. As the price came down, the popularity skyrocketed.
By the time KEYL became KENS TV in 1954, nearly half of all Americans owned a television. But there was only something to watch four hours a day.
"Network programming began at 7 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m. I remember the early days of television, watching TV until 11 o'clock and then they played the National Anthem and then on came the test pattern. You didn't see anything else until the following evening," Townsend said.
Variety shows and comedies like "I Love Lucy" were popular, and everything was in black and white. Newscasts were only 15 minutes long. By the time color TV became available in the 1960s, KENS had started expanded its news coverage.
"In 1969, we had two newscasts a day at 5 o'clock and 10 o'clock and nothing on the weekends," said Bob Rogers, who was KENS 5 news director from 1969 to 1996. "By 1972, we had graduated to five newscasts a day and two on weekends."
"I'm happy to say for that six-decade period we've been broadcasting, KENS 5 has been a news leader," McGann said. "As a news leader we've been able to lead in other ways by contributing to the community through programs like the San Antonio Food Bank. We can help charities like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the the M.S. Society, to name a few."
Few inventions have had as much effect on society. From a few hours of entertainment a night, television has evolved into a powerful force that entertains, informs and serves the community.
This is the first in a series of weekly stories about KENS 5 TV leading up to the station's 60th anniversary on Feb. 15, 2010.
