KSTP-TV

KSTP-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities television market. KSTP-TV is the flagship television property of Saint Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception. The station's offices and studios are located on University Avenue, on the Saint Paul-Minneapolis border, and are shared with sister stations KSTP Radio (1500 AM), KSTP-FM (94.5 FM), KTMY (107.1 FM), and KSTC-TV (channel 45). KSTP-TV's transmitter is located at Telefarm Towers in Shoreview, Minnesota.

KSTP-TV's programming is also seen on two full-power satellite stations: KSAX (channel 42) in Alexandria, Minnesota; and KRWF (channel 43) in Redwood Falls, Minnesota.

History

Stanley E. Hubbard, founder of KSTP radio, was one of broadcasting's foremost pioneers. In June 1939, he purchased one of the first television cameras available from RCA and began experimenting with television, but the television blackout brought on by World War II prevented any transmissions from being made. The first telecast by KSTP-TV reportedly occurred on December 7, 1947, when Jack Horner hosted a 25-minute program. On April 27, 1948, KSTP-TV signed on as the first commercial television station in Minnesota, although an experimental mechanical television station had been set up by WDGY station engineers more than a decade earlier. That station's license expired in 1938 as the Federal Communications Commission was not interested in continuing mechanical TV broadcasts.