It was announced recently that KXOK, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., has applied for permission from the Federal Communications Commission to operate a commercial television station in St. Louis on Channel No. 4. The applicant is the licensee of standard broadcasting station KXOK and frequency modulation station KXOK-FM. KXOK-FM is the only commercial frequency modulation station remaining on the air in St. Louis, the four other frequency modulation broadcasters having voluntarily surrendered their licenses.
KXOK was one of the first applicants for television in St. Louis, having applied originally in 1944. Today’s filing of an application by KXOK, Inc. was in accordance with a ruling by the FCC that all applicants must reapply using new forms.
The proposed new station will use the tower owned by KXOK, Inc. atop the Boatmen’s Bank Building, Broadway and Olive Streets, St. Louis. This structure is the tallest broadcasting tower currently erected in the city. The tower, 565 feet above street level, is now being used by KXOK-FM and Transit Radio. It rests on the 21st floor of the building, in the penthouse of which will be located the television transmitter if FCC approval is given.
An RCA television transmitter has been purchased by KXOK to insure prompt inauguration of service if and when the grant is received. The main portion of the transmitter is stored in the RCA warehouse in Camden, N.J., but part of the studio equipment is storied in the KXOK Building at 12th and Delmar in St. Louis where the general offices and radio studios are housed. The building, a modern five-story structure with three basement levels, is completely air-conditioned.
(Originally published in the Ad Club Weekly 7/7/1952).