OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS

Items are posted in reverse chronological order, newest at top. All written by Glenn Hauser, u.o.s.

Posted Sept 10, 1998: Ch 45 Cornerstone TV translator relaying ch 40 in Greensburg PA, back on the air in Enid Sept 10 after several weeks off (gh) Mixed feelings department: KOSU, 91.7, Stillwater, is making increasing use of syndicated generic classical music hours, in the wake of the resignation of longtime music/program director Paula Price, who got a big sendoff recently as she apparently married somebody and moved to New Jersey (!) -- and the ever- increasing dearth of students capable of announcing classical. The casual listener may not be aware of it, but the sudden absence of local references, except for programmed pre-taped breaks for promos, etc., and the careful billboards at :00-:01 top of the hour, give it away. Now we get more professional announcing, but it's the same stuff heard in several other markets and the job opportunities for qualified classical announcers shrink even more. Of course, if I were one of the nationally syndicated announcers now, I'd be all for it...! (gh) Is this a problem everywhere? A nice Handel organ concerto was rudely interrupted by tones and an EAS (formerly EBS) test at 1644 UT Sept 8 on KOSU 91.7 Stillwater. As someone explained previously, these automatic overrides can be manually programmed not to interrupt programming but to be delayed until a natural break, if the station is on the ball (gh) Vance AFB TIS, 1610, near Enid, 3-minute loop now includes base under "Threat Condition Alpha--not an exercise", no doubt prompted by recent terrorist activity. KVLH, 2940 = 2 x 1470, Pauls Valley, already good signal at 1043 Sept 8, before I would have expected increase from 63 to 1000 watts daytime power; no ID on the hour, but then two farm features, and dual ID with KGOK at 1112, back to C&W. KSIW, 1450, Woodward was still splattering well above and below 1450 as we passed thru the town in late August, but not quite so widely as the previous time. Audio is still terrible, less-than- telephone-quality relaying sportstalk from WWLS-640. KCLI, 1320, Clinton, and KADS, 1240, Elk City, which used to be on the same sports network, were still off the air when checked in Enid Sept 7 around 1730 UT. KTJS, 1420, Hobart, noted for the first time in Spanish, Sunday Sept 6 at 1844 UT, religious. May be just one preacher program. Altho Howard Stern still in TV Guide for Sept 5, KOCO played Access Hollywood instead Saturday at 11:05+ pm. Apparently another station backs out; wonder if the syndication will have enough stations to last much longer? Sept. 5: 2940 harmonic, KVLH, Pauls Valley, OK, 2x1470, 1124-1140. Very strong with country music, lots of ads mentioning Pauls Valley and local news, but no actual ID. My first harmonic heard from Oklahoma, I believe. Also in strong following evening, so this one should be widely heard, at least until they fix it (Don Moore, IA, Sep 2, Cumbre DX) Not heard when I checked in daytime Sept 4 or evening UT Sept 5 but loud and clear at 1159 on 2940, as country music paused for brief ID as "With your country favorites back to back, KVLH and KGOK"; no news on the hour. Night power is only 63 watts on fundamental versus 1000 day power which probably starts at 1100. The hour after 6 am local is most productive for US harmonic DX. Thanks to Don Moore's tip (gh) Other versions of the KNOR tower story: CITY GARBAGE TRUCK KNOCKS NORMAN RADIO STATION OFF AIR (AP) Fans of KNOR radio's morning talk show heard nothing but static Thursday afer a city garbage truck toppled the station's transmission tower and knocked it off the air. No one was injured in the 1:15 a.m. accident, General Manager Rick Heath said. "I was just glad it happened at night," Heath said. The tower crashed into an empty parking lot that would have been crowded with cars and pedestrians during the day, he said. "We're fortunate that nobody was injured," Assisitant City Attorney Blaine Nice said. Nice said Norman officials are still investigating but the city probably will accept full responsibility. The name of the truck driver was not released. "It appears that our driver was the one that did it," Nice said. "At this point it looks like we'll do what we can." Heath said the city garbage truck was making late-night rounds when it snagged a guy wire and snapped the tower in half. The station was immediately knocked off the air, he said. "We had the phones ringing right off the bat," Heath said. He estimated the tower will cost several thousand dollars to replace. The station is also losing thousands of dollars in advertising revenue while it is off the air. Heath said efforts were under way Thursday afternoon to install a temporary tower until a permanent one is ready. "We'll be up in some form or fashion tomorrow morning," Heath said. (AP via Enid News & Eagle Aug 28) KNOR was broadcasting again Friday, a day later. "We're up with full programming," GM Heath said after technicians installed a temporary transmission tower. "We're trying to ascertain how far our signal goes. It's kind of a temporary setup." Heath said it could take longer than two weeks to erect and secure a permanent transmisison tower similar to the one that was felled on Thursday. City Attorney Blaine Nice said Norman officials are still investigating but the city probably will accept full responsibility (AP via Enid News & Eagle Aug 29; excerpts) Sept. 3: KNOR TOWER DOWN. Glenn, FYI: Though this probably old news I'll tell you what little I learned from KWTV at 6 PM 8/27/98, just a few minutes ago, regarding Norman's KNOR 1400 and their facility. Apparently a trash truck backed into one of the guy wires of the KNOR antenna, bring the structure crashing to the ground and into what appears to be the station building and perhaps some dishes used for uplink/downlink. According to the reporter for channel 9, the employees (I assume John Carson still works there and WOR is part of their programming) are feverishly working to get the station back on the air by rigging up some sort of antenna from a very short (50'?) structure and hope to be going again sometime this evening. I am assuming because there was no mention of injury that there was none except no doubt (after the lawyers get ahold of it) financial. (LeRoy Long, Edmond) KWTV reports that early on August 27, 1998, an accident with a sanitation truck caused the tower of KNOR, 1400 in Norman, OK, to fall. As this is being sent (1710 UT August 27) the station is off the air but management says they are working to get the station back on as quickly as possible (John Norfolk, OKCOK) KNOR Norman now has a web site, although it is under construction and has only one page at the moment: http://www.knor.com (John Norfolk, OKCOK) Also works as http://knor.com (gh) TRASH TRUCK TOPPLES TOWER 08/28/1998 By Michelle Sutherlin Staff Writer NORMAN -- A Norman sanitation truck picked up more than the trash when it left a radio station parking lot early Thursday. The truck's fender snagged a support wire, toppling a 100-foot radio tower for KNOR-Radio AM 1400. The tower collapsed onto a satellite dish, the station's roof and a parking lot. The truck was making a routine stop about 1:15 a.m. at the station at 2020 E Alameda St. No one was at the station when the tower tumbled, and no one was hurt. When KNOR listeners tuned in Thursday, they heard nothing. KNOR General Manager Rick Heath said the station should be back on the air with a temporary tower this morning. Heath said a new tower will replace the mangled mess that workers took apart Thursday afternoon. Heath said city officials, including Norman City Attorney Jeff Raley, inspected the damage. "The city has been very cooperative since their sanitation truck pulled it down," Heath said. (oklahomam.com August 28 via John Norfolk, OKCOK). KNOR was back on the air Friday morning (jn) August 10: OETA, the state public television network has finally gone stereo! I first noticed it during a tropo opening from KOED-11 in Tulsa, per VCR info display, and also SAP was activated, but unmodulated. Engineering at Norman HQ told me Aug 10 that the stereo conversion happened about two weeks ago (while I was away), and that KETA-13 OKC is also now in stereo. Sure enough, it is, tho I hadn't noticed; no SAP here yet. He says the only plans for SAP are DVS-- Descriptive Video Service (gh) REMOTE CONTROL FAILS TO TURN OFF KXTD-1530. For the past six months [at least two, maybe three YEARS! -gh], an open carrier has been bothering DXers in the midwest. John Tudenham suggested it was KXTD in Wagoner, OK, as it direction was SW from him in Joplin MO; from me it was due S. Nearly every night a 10 over S9 signal of open carrier over and under WSAI, but we could never hear the station sign on or off; it's a Spanish station. On 11/30 [sic --old report?] visiting Tulsa the OC was very strong on the east side. (Locating the station personnel was difficult). On 1/9 I received a phone call from George Chambers of KQLL-1430 in Tulsa, contract engineer for KXTD. He found the transmitter in Wagoner on in the night with full power of 5 kW. The problem was found in what I had suggested: a welded contact on a relay of the remote control unit. The owner was wondering why her power bill was so high! (Ernie Wesoloswki, Omaha, NRC DX News July 20) KXTD-1530 Wagoner may be the source of the all-night open carrier as Ernie Wesolowski reported to NRC DX News, and the station may have been notified about it--but it hasn't been fixed, as I assumed on WOR remark. Still there, dominating the channel, Aug 9 at 0504. Per M-Street Directory, this station operates out of Tulsa as La Tremenda Radio Mexico, 5 kW DA-D. My prime suspect was another Spanish station, KCLR, Ralls TX near Lubbock. What a commentary on US radio engineering today that this has gone on for YEARS without the local people responsible noticing or fixing it, at a great waste of power and money, not to mention illegal interference to nighttime stations on the frequency (gh) Updating previous report on Enid translators: 89.5 Oasis came back after about 2 weeks, again blocking public radio KWGS from Tulsa; ch 45 Cornerstone TV came back after about a month off. (gh) On a good day, KOSU 91.7 Stillwater OK made it into Wichita KS, but another goddamn gospelhuxter translator has gone on there, blocking it (gh) Indulge me, please with an item which has nothing to do with broadcasting, since Phillips University never got around to putting a public radio station on the air in Enid. This seems to have been a non-news-story beyond the borders of Oklahoma, but the 91-year-old institution has gone bankrupt and will not be opening this fall. Students and faculty only got final word Aug 1, sending them scrambling to line up some other college this fall if possible. The closure is bound to have a negative effect on Enid's economy and what little cultural life exists. The Enid-Phillips Symphony Orchestra, despite losing many of its players, is proceeding with renovation of an old downtown masonic building into a concert hall; most of the funds for this have already been raised. See how it's progressing at http://www.daystudio.com (gh; URL from Enid News & Eagle)

August 8: TRIBE BUYS SHAWNEE RADIO STATION. Shawnee (AP) -- The Citizen Potawatomi Nation has agreed to buy radio station KGFF-AM [1450], which has served the Shawnee area since 1930.

Michael Dodson, director of public information for the tribe, will become station manager, the Shawnee-based tribe said in a news release Tuesday.

"Acquiring KGFF is an extension of our philosophy of operating professionally run businesses that serve Citizen Potawatomi Nation citizens and the community at large while earning a profit to support the tribe's programs," said John "Rocky" Barrett, tribal chairman.

The tribe is buying the station from the Sanders/Cantrell Partnership. The price was not disclosed.

The purchase, which requires approval from the FCC, would make KGFF one of about 30 US radio stations that are owned by American Indian tribal governments, companies or entrepreneurs. (Enid News & Eagle Aug 7 via gh)

JULY 7: The hybrid situation at KPSG-43 OKC, the new UPN-owned station is quite strange. As I reported before, M-F 9 am-noon they carry PBS children's programming, on behalf of OETA we were told by OETA, but there is no mention of OETA. I checked at 9:28 am between Puzzle Place and Reading Rainbow; there were no KPSG/UPN commercials, but PBS promos continued, apparently right off the PBS network feed, with a brief ID for KPSG only; with so many commercial underwriting plugs at beginning and end of shows, PBS fits right in on a commercial station, anyway. Of course, this is KPSG's way of fulfilling its kidvid obligation the easy way, but I've not heard of such a situation anywhere else. Meanwhile, no sign of any of the local or PBS programs formerly on KTLC-43 only showing up on the OETA network (gh)

JULY 6: It wasn't until I saw my remarks about the OKC tornado on your website and in RIB that I remembered that, for some reason, KXXY- FM does not use its legal ID on its RDS display, and neither does the "TWISTER," whose call I can't recall at the moment. KOCO had problems with their cable connection but came back there with sound and a test pattern around, oh, 9 pm I think, and picture around 10 or so with the anchor and weatherman in a dark studio trying to pull everything together.

When severe weather threatens the Tulsa area, the best bet here is KRMG-740. On June 18 the storm center was activated at 5:30 pm when a tornado warning was issued for southern Tulsa County. Occasionally, a brief "ding-dong" type tone will be heard in the background when they are under a warning, even in commercials (if any). One of the voices heard on KRMG is that of Jeff Lazalier, ex-KFOR, who I felt got a bum rap from KFOR when they hired Mike Morgan as their chief meteorologist instead of promoting him, but Jeff got the last laugh as it was he, not Morgan, who appeared in the movie Twister (he's seen interviewing the villain, Jonas). Incidentally, did you notice the error at the beginning of the movie? The prologue takes place in 1969, yet it shows Gary England on the air, when in fact he did not appear on KWTV until 1972. Lazalier is actually with Tulsa's Channel 2 but, like many TV meteorologists, also reports on the radio. ...RIBOLD is just great (John Norfolk, OKCOK, June 22)

ENID news: KBFQ is the call assigned for the as yet not activated X-band outlet of KCRC-1390, on 1640 (via Robert Wien, IRCA Broadcasting Info, June 20) We're enjoying the absence, presumably temporary of two pesky satellators, Oasis Network on 89.5, uncovering Tulsa's public radio KWGS; and Cornerstone Network on ch 45 (gh)

KWGS, 89.5, says on their website that they are continuing to pursue a second outlet on 88.7 devoted to classical music, despite commercial classical KCFM 94.1, which does not have its own record library, does not broadcast local symphonic concerts or OK Mozart festival (which KWGS produces and does broadcast on 89.5 in season). ( http://www.kwgs.org via gh July 4)

KROU/KGOU have replaced Bridges, 10 am Sundays, with Only a Game, from NPR - an hour on stupid ball games! Thank god, I have an hour back to do something else with! (gh, July 5)

KCSC, 90.1, Edmond/OKC, has moved The First Art, on vocal music into 6 am Sunday, bumping Pipedreams half an hour later, 7-8:30 am, and 8:30 am Sing for Joy; now at 9 am St. Paul Sunday is on at exact same time as on KOSU 91.7, but a few seconds out of sync; what a waste (gh, July 5)

July 4: in Enid we are enjoying the absence, presumably temporary of pesky translators, Oasis Network on 89.5 which uncovers KWGS, public radio from Tulsa; and TV ch 45, Cornerstone Network.

Posted here July 2: In case you didn't see it on the news, see how the tower of WKY 930 Oklahoma City came crashing down during the tornado here 6/13 on KWTV 9's website. It's at http://www.kwtv.com

73 (John Zondlo, Yukon, OK, FM DX Web http://members.aol.com/fmdxweb amfmtvdx)

July 2: Loved your coverage of the OKC tornado. I was watching ch. 9 when WKY's tower came crashing to earth. Quite a sight; a friend who works at Clear Channel (KTOK, WKY etc.) said that the engineers suspect that one or several of the tower guy wires gave way, but he said the investigation continues and no one is aware when and if the tower will be rebuilt at the existing site behind WKY's orginal radio xmtr building (John Carson, Norman OK)

July 2: While in Woodward June 22, KSIW-1450 was active and //WWLS-640 with no satellite delay, at 2100 UT during CNN news with audio dropping out every few seconds; but, worse, overmodulated 1450 was splattering all the way from 1200 to 1600! The 93.5 station was still there, not moved to 100.1 as expected by FM Atlas for years. The KANZ translator for Guymon on 96.3 is normally best heard west of the town, but this time, was very poor both east and west. (Later in Amarillo, it was also missing from 94.9--tho there were noises indicating a carrier on, lacking input) (gh)

JUNE 20: The Big Switch in OKC has just happened -- KTLC, "The Literacy Channel", signed off ch 43 just before midnight Friday with the final airing of Charlie Rose from PBS, and when I checked at 6:05 am, All in the Family was on, soon interrupted by a UPN promo giving the new calls KPSG, June 20. Supposed to be 24h, and I missed the first and perhaps only sign-on!

Until a few years ago, ch 43 was an independent commercial station. OETA bought it as a second outlet to KETA-13, but never exploited its potential; its inherited coverage area was the greatest of any OKC UHF station, but except for brief periods was not even on the air Sat and Sun until 5 pm. Its weekday programming was mostly repeat and repeat of PBS kidvid, also weeknights, with very little mainstream PBS, except for some repeats Saturday evenings. Although there were a few programs about literacy, it was silly to name the entire channel that. By selling it now to the UPN network, OETA supposedly has more money to position itself for the DTV age, which presumably will once again bring multiple channels. OKC was without a UPN affiliate since the end of last year when KOCB ch 34 switched from UPN to WB network (gh)

JUNE 15, 1998: The OKC Tornado of June 13. WKY 930 was off the air for a brief period after their tower was blown down, the destruction of which was broadcast live on KWTV Channel 9. I checked the two RDS FM stations to see if they would use it for tornado warnings, but they didn't--at least as far as the DX-398 is concerned. KX[X]Y- FM 96.1, which relayed Channel 9 audio for much of the evening, lost their RDS for a while, and while the display for 101.9 did read "TWISTER", that is their slogan and not a warning broadcast by the station. KOCO Channel 5 was brushed by the storm and was off the air for a time, as were the two PBS outlets and KOCB Channel 34. FM stations were also reportedly off for a while, but the only one I noticed down was 105.7 KROU, OU's Spencer relay, which was back the following morning.

I didn't check for amateur activity, but on the Sunday morning 3900 Oklahoma Phone Emergency net one check-in said that they needed to "question the mission and purpose of this net" as he had checked during the storm and heard no HF ham stations on the air (John Norfolk, OKCOK, June 15)

JUNE 17: OKC FINALLY GETS UPN BACK TV Guide starts showing UPN programs on ch 43 suddenly as of June 16, and various syndicated commercial shows such as Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, I Love Lucy -- but still some kids' PBS educational shows at 9 am-noon! Could the hybrid I proposed to OETA finally be happening? Well, not yet, as TVG jumped the gun. As of June 16, still nothing but the PBS lineup is actually airing on KTLC. Next week's TV Guide does the same and still calls it KTLC. We stand to lose some worthwhile stuff like Charlie Rose, unless OETA moves that to the primary network such at KETA-13, but Star Trek: Voyager is on the horizon! Later: OETA tells me June 17 that the transfer has been delayed until Sat June 20 when 43 will become fulltime UPN except OETA will provide children's programs 9 am-noon weekdays, and there will be new calls (gh)

JUNE 15: THE OKLAHOMA CITY TORNADOES. This time I had no objection to OKC TV stations totally pre-empting regular programming, during prime time Saturday evening June 13! As tornadic storms closed in on OKC, the major network affiliates went to continuous and totally non-commercial weather coverage.

KFOR-TV ch. 4 (NBC) had only very brief power interruptions, and did its usual excellent job of weather warning and coverage. Its coverage was reduced by heavy T-storms, compared to ch. 9, at a higher frequency less affected by such noise. Thanks to remote cameras on various city buildings and its own tower-cam, we were able to watch live shots of tornadoes dipping out of the wall clouds. Went back to normal programming at 11 pm with half-hour delayed SNL special tribute to Phil Hartman.

KOCO-TV ch. 5 (ABC), geographically a near neighbor of KFOR-TV, was knocked off the air shortly after some very dramatic near- vertical shots from their backyard of the storm about to hit them. Sudden and continued absence caused concern and KFOR-TV finally reported that KOCO had some damage, but no one was hurt. Could not get back on the air until next morning around 10 am running This Week earlier than the scheduled 11 am. So perpetual 3rd-place finisher in local news and weather had more bad luck, unable to broadcast during the worst of the storm and immediate aftermath. However, they later indicated they continued on local cable until 1 a.m. A sporadic E opening up to ch. 4 that morning had me hoping I would have a rare opportunity to see some DX on channel 5 without local QRM, but the MUF did not cooperate. I never heard them explain exactly what kept them off the air.

KWTV ch. 9 (CBS), hot competitor to KFOR, did much of the same type of coverage, but had the advantage of Ranger 9, their chopper with anchor Jenifer Reynolds aboard, for some more good views of the storms from the side. Did not seem to lose any airtime. Their tower-cam caught the actual collapse of the WKY-930 tower. I was watching both 4 and 9 throughout until normal programming resumed after 11 pm.

KETA ch. 13 (PBS) was knocked off the air after 8 pm and did not return until next morning.

KTBO ch. 14 (TBN) was off the air all evening at least.

KOKH ch. 25 (Fox) was knocked off the air, but back by 10 pm for Mad TV. Has had a news department for a year, but not on weekends! Did run weather-warning streamers.

KOCB ch. 34 (WB) was off the air after 8 pm but back next day.

KTLC ch. 43 (OETA/PBS), which I was trying to tape with modern version of Swan Lake, had several interruptions but finally went off and stayed off after about 8:30.

KSBI ch. 52 (Locke Supply), antenna in SE OKC rather than NE antenna farm like all the above, seemed to stay on with usual religion.

KXOC-LP ch. 54, (Locke), Edmond, visible at times w/tropo help.

KOPX, ch. 62, seemingly unaffected, with usual super-signal (see previous report). Antenna may also be elsewhere in OKC.

WKY-930, lost a single tower and was off the air until late in the evening. TV reports never made this clear, but I think WKY uses other towers at least at night for directional. The downed tower was supposedly a relic dating from the 1920s, and also served as backup for KFOR-TV (originally WKY-TV). It was also reported to have been 930 feet high, a strange coincidence. A full wave at 930 kHz would be about 1050 feet high. Not clear if sheer force of wind blew it down, or snapped a guy causing the collapse.

KTOK-1000, the only local radio with a news department, was covering the storm and aftermath, interrupted by commercials. Sorry, watching two TV stations at once was all I could handle.

Enid 88.3 Family Radio translator was absent the next day, and still on Monday morning.

Enid 89.5 Oasis translator was open carrier the next day, and still on Monday morning.

KBVV 91.1 Enid, was open carrier next day around noon. But soon back to normal.

KXXY-96.1, for a while was simulcasting KWTV-9, but then off the air; KWTV didn't notice and claimed again to be simulcast.

KXLS-99.7, Enid/Alva, transmitter site near Helena, was off the air when checked around noon Sunday. In this area there were winds up to 75 mph but no tornadoes per se. Back on by Monday morning.

KMGL-104.1, was simulcasting KFOR-4, but went back to its own programming by 10 pm; KFOR didn't notice and claimed still to be simulcast. A lot more people have portable battery-powered radios than TVs, and FM simulcasts could be very useful during such emergencies.

The path of destruction was on the north side of OKC, where I often visit (in fact, the day before and the week before), and the house where I lived 1954-1961 was probably damaged.

BTW, KWOE-1320 and KADS-1240 were still absent when checked again on June 14 midday (gh)

JUNE 11: Another thing that drives me batty about Oklahoma TV is the severe weather info, a lot of it lately, and how it's handled. Map graphics in the corner of the screen constantly, obliterating any significant graphics on the incoming program, and distracting from whatever is on the screen, sometimes something beautiful which really ought to stand alone. All too frequent interruptions in programming even for minor storms. As far as I'm concerned nothing short of a confirmed tornado on the ground justifies such disruptions. The OKC stations superimpose some beeps to draw attention to a weather streamer, or an upcoming interruption, but I've noticed that KTUL-TV, ch 8 in Tulsa makes its beeps mean something, "WX" in continental code, .-- -..- I wonder what percentage of viewers realise what it means. BTW, KTUL has replaced the defunct Aahs Network on its SAP with NWS, just like another ABC channel 8, WFAA in Dallas - so if you get some DX from around here, check whether it's OK or TX wx you're hearing (gh)

JUNE 8: OKLAHOMA AM STATIONS MISSING. I like to do bandscans on the car radio from restaurant/mall parking lots around Enid, where the noise level is low and the sensitivity level is high compared to the home QTH. On June 7 around 1700, I noticed that KWOE-1320 Clinton OK was missing, and judging from the lack of a het against Wichita, KADS-1240 Elk City was also missing. These two had been relaying sports crap from WWLS-640 Norman, which was overmodulating, perhaps a deliberate attempt to cover these station's areas direct! Furthermore, local KCRC-1390 was off the air, quite a rarity, but back at 2030 recheck. I hear that dark KOKC-1490 Guthrie has been purchased by the KNOR-1400 company, and if site can be moved to Edmond, closer to OKC, might come back as duplicator to cover the city from both sides. BTW, when I was in Taos NM in May, KKIT-1340 was another silent one (gh)

JUNE 8: For at least two weeks, ch 62 in Oklahoma City has been KOPX-TV, new calls and obviously new high power, replacing a low-power station barely visible in Enid. Now it's equivalent to 43 and 25 and could be max 5 megawatts, leaving KSBI-52 in the dust. For now, KOPX-TV is almost nothing but infomercials but they are heavily promoting the Aug. 31 start of PaxNet, apparently nationwide by group owner Paxson Communications, with "quality, family programming," i.e. re-runs of some of the dullest programming from years past, such as Touched by an Angel, Barnaby Jones. BTW, the current angel fad makes me fear for the rationality of the American people. Meanwhile, OKC market still lacks a UPN affiliate as KTLC-43 is still a secondary outlet for OETA (gh)

JUNE 8: I'm glad to see that I'm not the only Oklahoman who is fed up with OETA's dull right-wing extremist outlook on programming. If I wanted to go to church, the Unitarians at the top of my list just notched up even higher (gh)

POINT OF VIEW, the critically acclaimed series considered too controversial to be shown on Oklahoma public television, will be presented as a public service at the First Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13th, OKC. The two-hour showings will continue at 7 p.m. June 5 with "Taken For a Ride," how General Motors destroyed urban streetcar transportation in the 1930s and how that action affects public transportation today. A panel discussion will follow each showing. For more info, call [405] 751-1207 or 232-9224 (June 3 Oklahoma Gazette listings)

This episode is not on the POV 1998 schedule, so I assume they are showing last/past year's episodes (gh)