KVIJ-TV was a television station on channel 8 licensed to Sayre, Oklahoma, United States. It was owned by Marsh Media and served as a satellite station of its KVII-TV in Amarillo, Texas. The transmitter was located northwest of Sayre at the intersection of State Highway 152 and State Highway 6.
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Originally a separate station in Elk City under the KSWB call letters, it was soon acquired and moved to Sayre, where it served in turn as a semi-satellite of two different Amarillo television stations—first KFDA-TV, then KVII-TV. Marsh shut the station down on December 2, 1992, citing the availability of Oklahoma-based ABC affiliates on cable in KVIJ-TV's service area.
KSWB began broadcasting on August 7, 1961, nearly four years after the award of its construction permit on November 20, 1957.[2] It was owned by—and named for—the Southwest Broadcasting Company;[3] its primary investor was Lonnie Preston, who owned radio station KWOE at nearby Clinton and had previously owned Elk City station KASA.[2] KSWB-TV was an independent station, with local program features including a children's hour, women's show, and a 9:00 newscast.[4]
KSWB was not a financially successful venture. In June 1965, Southwest Broadcasting sold channel 8 to the Bass Broadcasting Company, which owned KFDA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Amarillo. While the sale was pending, Bass filed to move the channel 8 license and facility from Elk City to Sayre; meanwhile, the station also suspended operations on August 11, 1965, due to financial difficulties.[3] The call letters were changed to KFDO-TV, and Bass received program test authority from the Federal Communications Commission to begin broadcasting as a satellite from Sayre on May 13, 1966.[3] Under Bass management, KFDA-TV stationed a reporter in the Sayre–Elk City area and also employed four technical personnel at the transmitter.[5]
In 1975, Marsh Media purchased KFDO-TV for $300,000, from Bass—its direct competitor in Amarillo.[6] In time for coverage of the 1976 Winter Olympics on ABC, the sale was closed and KFDO-TV became KVIJ-TV, rebroadcasting KVII-TV, on January 29, 1976.[7]