Pappas Telecasting

Foundation

In 1967, Pappas Electronics, owner of radio stations KGEN and KBOS in Tulare, petitioned the FCC for the addition of channel 26 at that city; this was granted on July 26, 1967, on the condition that Pappas apply for the channel. The Pappas brothers—Mike, Pete and Harry—received a construction permit for channel 26 on November 6, 1968; KMPH signed on the air on October 11, 1971, as an independent station, broadcasting from studios at Mooney Boulevard in Visalia. While Mike and Pete Pappas originally controlled 45 percent each of the new venture (called Pappas Telivision Inc.), with Harry owning the other ten percent, other investors were brought on, and by 1973 their combined stake in KMPH was only 30.5 percent.

In 1978, Harry Pappas formed a new company, Pappas Telecasting Inc., to buy full control of the station for $3.1 million.

Growth outside California

Pappas Telecasting began conducting community surveys in February 1979 looking toward establishing a station on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 15 in Omaha; the company also leased the building at 2615 Farnam Street, recently vacated by KMTV. Channel 15 was contested by multiple parties, with three groups in the running by June 1979 and a total of eight by early November, when Pappas switched from seeking channel 15 to channel 42.

KPTM began broadcasting on April 6, 1986.

Affiliations with Fox and the WB

In September 1988, the three Pappas independent stations — KPTM in Omaha, Nebraska; KMPH in Fresno, California; and WHNS in Asheville, North Carolina — joined Fox. Pappas expanded its programming in the Omaha market when it began operating the new KXVO (channel 15) in 1995; the station, owned by Cocola Broadcasting, was an affiliate of The WB.

Bankruptcy

On May 10, 2008, thirteen of Pappas' stations filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Pappas cited "the extremely difficult business climate for television stations across the country" in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. The company reported in court filings that it had more than $536 million in debt and $460 million in assets. Problems that led to the bankruptcy included poor performance of The CW network, its now-former involvement with Azteca America, and preparations for the 2009 analog shutdown. Stations involved in the bankruptcy were KMPH-TV, KFRE-TV, KPTM, KXVO, WCWG, KPTH, KMEG, KTNC-TV, KAZH, KDBC-TV, KREN-TV, KAZR-CA and KCWK. It was later ordered on September 10, 2008, that the affected stations must be sold off by February 15, 2009. Its other stations, and the corporation itself, were not part of the bankruptcy. ^{[citation needed]} On May 14 of the same year, company founder Harry J. Pappas filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy at the Delaware court, where a judge could order his personal assets sold to pay off creditors. 13 days later, on May 27, KCWK in Walla Walla, Washington (in the Yakima, Washington television market) ceased operations as a result of the bankruptcy.

On September 17, bankruptcy trustee E. Roger Williams put KREN and its repeaters under contract to Entravision Communications for $4 million, which would double as a minimum bid for the station as it goes up for auction in late October. New World TV Group (later renamed, Titan TV Broadcast Group; unrelated to New World Communications) agreed to acquire the remaining Pappas stations involved in the bankruptcy filing on December 17. The sale was approved by the United States bankruptcy court on January 16, 2009. The remaining stations that weren't involved in the initial bankruptcy filing were later placed in a liquidating trust in December 2011.

KMPH Radio ceased operations September 1, 2010, due to lack of revenue. Two weeks later, KTRB went into receivership with Comerica Bank, under license from KTRB Trust. This marked the end of Pappas era.

By 2014, the company began to sell all of its television stations to other companies such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, and began winding down operations; the company officially ceased operations when its final remaining station, KAZA-TV in Los Angeles, was sold to Weigel Broadcasting in 2018.

Former broadcast network

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