Historical Marker Program

Oklahoma’s First Television Station Channel 4

Oklahoma County
Location: 444 East Britton Road in Oklahoma City
Coordinates: 35.564470, -97.507036
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): KFOR and the Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Industrial Period, 1941 to 1982; Mass Communication; Modern Period, 1982 to present

Engineering pioneers launched the first television broadcast in Oklahoma on June 6, 1949, in Oklahoma City. Prior to the premiere of WKY-TV (Channel 4), citizens were limited to newspapers and radio to stay informed. Sporadic entertainment programming and news updates filled the early broadcast days on WKY-TV. Images were black-and-white until 1954, when Channel 4 became the first locally owned television station in the nation to transmit its own programs in color. In 1950, the station was the first in the nation to use a mobile unit to produce live broadcasts from the field. In 1952, the weather department issued what is now considered the first live on-air tornado warning. The station continued to break new ground in 1999 by transmitting Oklahoma’s first digital television signal. Channel 4 in Oklahoma City has operated under the call signs WKY-TV, KTVY, and KFOR.