The History of KLOR

Newspaper and magazine articles about KLOR. 

Terms of the purchase, White said, are subject to approval by the FCC.

KLOR, channel 12, has been in operation in Portland since March, 1955, when it was founded by Jack Meier, William A. Healy, Eberly Thompson and Robert L. Sabin as co-owners.

Stock sought by Haggarty of the independent station, formerly an ABC network outlet, is currently held by the founders and the U.S. National bank in trust for the Hunt Malarkey estate.

John Kendall, attorney for the transaction, said release of the terms was contingent upon approval of the FCC, a matter which he estimated would take 30 to 60 days.

Studios are at 915 N.E. Davis street, with power and transmitter located on Healy heights.

Haggarty, who left Portland for Detroit Wednesday night plans no change in the personnel or policy of the station, White said.

He is expected to return to Portland on approval of the transaction by the FCC. 

KLOR went dark at the end of the broadcast day on April 30, 1957.  When viewers tuned into channel 12 the following morning, it would be to the sounds and shows of KPTV. While her time on the air had been short, it was not without an impact on the viewing community. Many of those people closest to the business knew that television in Portland would never be quite the same.

Publisher and Editor of TV-Radio Prevue Magazine, Jack Hurd, wrote this column, shortly after KLOR's demise.

IN MEMORIUM:

Rest in peace, Portland's only home owned television station.

It was a noble experiment: An independent TV station depending only on its own talent and ingenuity to gain an audience. Talent, Ingenuity and Home Ownership: three factors which, properly combined, could have made Portland a lively center of America's most talked of industry. 

For a while it seemed to be working out fine. KLOR-TV had the talent, the shows. Their production people, the finest crew on the west coast, according to many advertisers, had the ingenuity. Then one link in the chain broke: Home ownership. It seems that only people from Syracuse, Detroit, Seattle and such, have faith in the future of Portland. 

In deference to their place in this community, let's not name the former owners of KLOR who sold us out. Let them be namelessly condemned for selling out the ideals and hopes of all of us who felt proud at being associated with a home owned station; for selling out to the simple expedient of punching a button to bring In shows instead of using brains, talent and ingenuity to send them out. This column cannot hurt them, they just made a couple of million bucks. More than you and I will ever see, probably. 

But this column can, with reflected bitterness, project the animosity of sponsors and performers, of creators and artisans, who will either never be seen or heard from again in this market, or who will have their activities severely curtailed. Many sponsors whose budgets could only afford KLOR and who got results from KLOR will never again be able to afford TV until some future persons unknown have the guts to put on an independent station. We personally know sponsors whose profits were based largely on the results gained from KLOR programs and spots, so let's not hear that inability to produce results was the reason behind KLOR's sale and merger.

Personally I'm tired of Portland being a satellite to New York and Hollywood. I hope someone with a million bucks and a Portland address agrees with me and puts an independent station on the air soon. I'll watch it. How about you?

TV-Radio Prevue, May 12, 1957