KDBC-TV

KDBC-TV, virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 18), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in El Paso, Texas, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as part of a duopoly with Fox affiliate KFOX-TV (channel 14). KDBC maintains studio facilities located on South Alto Mesa Drive in northwest El Paso, and its transmitter is located atop the Franklin Mountains on the El Paso city limits.

The station's signal is relayed on low-power analog translator stations KCWF-CA (channel 20) in Las Cruces and KKNJ-LP (channel 36) in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

History

The station first signed on the air on December 14, 1952 as KROD-TV; it was the first television station to sign on in the El Paso market. The station was founded by Dorrance Roderick, owner of KROD radio (600 AM) and the El Paso Times. The station's original studio facilities were located on Wyoming Avenue (I-10) in El Paso. Early programs on the station included the children's shows Red Brown and Anna Lee and Bozo's Big Top, and wrestling program Mitchell's Mat Time. The station has been a CBS affiliate since its sign-on, however it maintained secondary affiliations with ABC and the DuMont Television Network until 1956 (it lost the ABC affiliation to KILT (channel 7, now KVIA-TV) and lost DuMont as a result of the network's decision to cease operations). During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. Roderick sold the station to Trigg-Vaughn of Dallas, Texas in 1959.