People in Acadiana thought TV might catch on

WDSU in New Orleans was the only television station operating in Louisiana midway through the 1900s. Applications from three other New Orleans broadcasters and from Baton Rouge and Shreveport sat on some bureaucrat’s desk at the Federal Communications Commission, but no new licenses were being issued because of a “freeze” that began Sept. 30, 1948.
The Commission had been inundated with hundreds of applications as broadcasters began to realize television’s potential, causing the commissioners to struggle over a score of technical questions, and to come up with a fair (or apparently fair) way to allocate what turned out to be very valuable licenses. This time out was originally intended to last only six months while the FCC held hearings and delved into the issues, but the outbreak of the Korean War and other things caused the freeze to go on for four years.
Stations that were already on the air continued to operate, but they were all in big cities; small communities were left listening to the radio.
Finally, in the last weeks of November 1951, federal regulators began to act like they might be ready to grant more licenses. The FCC made “tentative” allocation of channel numbers (not licenses) to towns in Louisiana, including some smaller ones in Acadiana.
Alexandria (channels 11, 13), Baton Rouge (10), Lafayette (5), Lake Charles (7), New Orleans (2, 4, 6, 8), and Shreveport (3, 12) were allocated the more powerful VHF channel, UHF channel numbers were assigned to Abbeville (42), Baton Rouge (28, 34, 40), Crowley (21), Eunice (64), Franklin (46), Jennings (48), Lafayette (38), Lake Charles (19, 25), Morgan City (36), New Iberia (15), and Opelousas (58).
“The end of the freeze won’t mean instantaneous television in the areas without it,” according to a Lafayette newspaper report, “but that action will clear away one big obstacle.”
Two other hurdles had to be cleared:
“One is that the commission must approve the construction applications and license the stations,” according to the report. “This will take considerable time in view of the backlog of pending applications and a flow of new applications which will come in with the end of the freeze.
“Second is the fact that an approved applicant will have to find the necessary materials and equipment – which may be difficult in these days of shortages.”
Nonetheless, on Dec. 27, Evangeline Broadcasting Co., operators of radio station KVOL, applied for a television license. George Thomas, managing director of the company, said it planned to spend half a million dollars to put the station on the air. KVOL manager Evan Hughes predicted the station would be a “great new entertainment facility for this area.”
They weren’t the only ones to see a bright future for TV. Camellia Broadcasting Corp., headed by Paul Declouet was quick to follow with a proposal that his radio station, KLFY, be given the television permit.
Both companies wanted a VHF signal, but there was only one VHF station authorized for Lafayette. After more than a year of back-and-forth, the FCC decided not to decide. It gave the single license to both stations. They had to share time on the air.
As The Lafayette Advertiser explained it on Sept. 17. 1953, “Each station will operate 3 1/2 consecutive days, at the end of which period the other station will take over. Complete reversals of broadcast schedules will be made every 13 weeks.”
After about six months of this, KVOL sold its part of the station to KLFY and the confusing sharing plan went by the wayside.
KVOL applied again in the early 1960s for a second VHF license that had been approved for Lafayette. But that license went instead to Acadian Television Corp., first owners of KATC. They went on the air on Sept. 19, 1962. Acadian Television sold the station to Loyola University in 1971, and for about ten years it was a sister station to WWL in New Orleans, which was also operated by Loyola.

You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.