KAUZ-TV

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KAUZ-TV
Lawton, Oklahoma/Wichita Falls, Texas
Branding	NewsChannel 6
Slogan	Live. Local. Latebreaking
Channels	6 (VHF) analog, 22 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS/The CW on DT2 to begin 9/06)
Owner	Hoak Media Corporation
Founded	March 1, 1953
Former callsigns	KWFT-TV (1953-1956) and KSYD-TV (1956-1963)
Website	www.kauz.com www.thecwtexoma.com

KAUZ or NewsChannel 6 is the CBS affiliate located in Wichita Falls, Texas but also serves Lawton, Oklahoma. Its transmitter is located at the studio in Wichita Falls.

Beginning in September 2006, KAUZ will launch a new digital subchannel to carry the CW Television Network.

[edit] History

KAUZ signed on on March 1, 1953 as KWFT-TV, the television arm of KWFT AM 620. KWFT sold the TV station in 1956 to Sydney Grayson at which time channel 6 became KSYD-TV and later KAUZ-TV in July, 1963. The station has served as the CBS affiliate for the Wichita Falls-Lawton television market since its inception. The newscast, now called Newschannel 6, has also been known under the titles Newsreel 6, Channel 6 News, Newscope, 6 News First, CBS 6 News and Eyewitness News.

On the afternoon of April 3, 1964 as a devastating tornado swept across the northern portion of Wichita Falls and neighboring Sheppard Air Force Base, KAUZ-TV interrupted regular programming to provide a live tornado warning in which the image of the funnel was shown on the station's weather radar by then-meteorologist Ted Shaw and a large and heavy studio camera was dragged outside the Channel 6 studios on Seymour Highway and pointed toward the funnel sighting as it approached the northwest portion of Wichita Falls - one of the first tornadoes ever to be broadcast on live television. That tornado killed 7 people and injured over 100. Damage estimates exceeded $15 million and some 225 homes and businesses were destroyed on the north side of town and at Sheppard AFB.

About 15 years later on April 10, 1979, an even more devastating tornado occurred on the southwest side of Wichita Falls that killed 42 people and injured more than 1,700 along a path that was two miles wide and 45 miles long. Besides the terrible human costs, 3,100 homes were destroyed, with an estimated 20,000 people left homeless. The total damage in Wichita Falls was around $400 million. Then-Channel 6 chief meteorologist Rich Segal was on the air that afternoon and evening with complete warning coverage that culminated with the opening of the 6 p.m. broadcast of Eyewitness News as multiple tornadoes had reached the southwest corner of the city and began their path of destruction. About less than five minutes into the newscast KAUZ-TV and other Wichita Falls TV and radio stations were knocked off the air due to power outages resulting from the damaging storms.

A year later, Channel 6 broadcast a documentary about the 1979 tornado including the events of that day leading to the storm, the destruction and aftermath based upon the station's news footage from a year earlier along with progress of recovery efforts as of April, 1980.

[edit] External links

• Station Website
• Hoak Media Corporation
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KAUZ