Cascade Broadcasting Group
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Cascade Broadcasting Company was based in Yakima, Washington. It consisted of four television stations and two AM radio stations.
- KIMA-TV Channel 29, Digital 33, Yakima, Washington
- KEPR-TV Channel 19, Digital 18, Tri-Cities, Washington
- KLEW-TV Channel 3, Digital 32, Lewiston, Idaho
- KBAS-TV Channel 43, Later Channel 16 (Now Dark) Ephrata, Washington
Although Cascade Broadcasting originally produced its own programming schedule selecting shows from all major networks and syndicators under the direction of James "Jimmy" Nolan, all three remaining television stations are now CBS affiliates. Limited original programming was also produced from the beginning of the regional network. This included news programming, a children's program called "Uncle Jimmy's Clubhouse," starring Jimmy Nolan, and a country-western music program titled "Buckaroo Time," starring Bert Wells.
In 1954, Cascade Broadcasting became the first company in the United States to receive permission from the Federal Communications Commission to operate satellite stations. KEPR-TV, KLEW-TV, and KBAS-TV were given permission to receive KIMA-TV directly off of the air and to retransmit its signal. The only provision the FCC made was that the KIMA-TV station identification announcements were not to be retransmitted by any of its satellites. This saved Cascade the expense of installing American Telephone and Telegraph network television microwave service to its satellite stations. KBAS-TV ceased operations and went dark on November 30, 1961.
In 1961, Cascade Broadcasting's original owner, Archie W. Talbot, sold the company to the HalTom Corporation. On October 7, 1968, Cascade was sold to Filmways, Inc. At the time of this sale, Cascade's two AM radio stations, KIMA, 1460, and KEPR, 610, were split off under the ownership of Thomas C. "Tom" Bostic, Cascade's original owner-manager. Filmways was later purchased by Orion Pictures, which included the Cascade television stations. In 1972, Orion sold Cascade to NWG Broadcasting. In 1986, it was sold to Retlaw Enterprises, Inc., a private Disney concern, and, sometime in 1995, it was sold to Fisher Communications of Seattle, Washington.
[edit] External links
- KIMA-TV Channel 29, Digital 33
- KEPR-TV Channel 19, Digital 18
- KLEW-TV Channel 3, Digital 32
- Fisher Communications, Inc.
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