KOCO-TV

KOCO-TV
Channels
BrandingKOCO 5
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
July 18, 1954 (1954-07-18)
Former call signs
KGEO-TV (1954–1958)
Former channel numbers
Analog: 5 (VHF, 1954–2009)
Call sign meaning
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID12508
ERP65.7 kW
HAAT451 m (1,480 ft)
Transmitter coordinates35°33′45″N 97°29′25″W / 35.56250°N 97.49028°W / 35.56250; -97.49028
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.koco.com

KOCO-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. Its studios and transmitter are located on East Britton Road (Historic Route 66)—between North Kelley and North Eastern Avenues—in the McCourry Heights neighborhood of northeast Oklahoma City.

Channel 5 was originally allocated to Enid, where this station began broadcasting as KGEO-TV on July 18, 1954. An ABC affiliate from its first day, it was owned by Streets Electronics, a consortium including an appliance store owner and a radio station owner, and had studios in Enid and a transmitter east of the city. Under its first three owners, operations of the station shifted south from Enid to Oklahoma City in phases. The tower moved twice—from Enid to Crescent in 1956 and to its present site in 1964. In 1958, the call sign was changed to KOCO-TV and a secondary studio opened in Oklahoma City, and the station was formally redesignated an Oklahoma City outlet in 1963. In its early years, the station produced a number of local non-news programs, including the children's program Ho-Ho the Clown, on air from 1959 to 1988.

Combined Communications Corporation acquired KOCO-TV in 1970. Combined attempted to trade the station in 1977 for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., but the deal foundered over concerns related to WJLA's owner, Washington Star Communications. Instead, Combined merged with Gannett in 1979; the new owners built the current studio facility in 1980. During Gannett ownership, the station won two Peabody Awards.

In 1997, KOCO-TV was traded to Argyle Television, which merged with the broadcasting division of the Hearst Corporation to form Hearst-Argyle Television.