DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about WBAP-TV, Channel 5 — the first television station in Texas. Now, every great Texas story needs a first, and this one's got several. Pull up a chair, because we're going back to September 27, 1948, when a man named Amon G.
Carter — noted publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram — decided Texas needed to see the future, and the future needed to be on television. Carter founded WBAP-TV, Channel 5, and for its very first program, he didn't start small. No test pattern, no local weather.
The first thing to appear on that Texas screen was the President of the United States — Harry Truman himself, making a public appearance. That moment made Texas the sixteenth state in the nation to open a commercial television station. Sixteenth.
Out of all forty-eight. Not bad for a state that tends to think it ought to be first in everything. And WBAP-TV wasn't done collecting firsts.
The station also put on the first live entertainment program in Texas — a group called the Flying X Ranchboys. Then, in 1954, came the first Texas colorcast, broadcast via NBC-TV. Color.
On your screen. In Texas. 1954. Now, to appreciate how remarkable all that was, you've got to understand how young this whole television business really was.
Back in 1927 — in Washington, D.C. — Herbert Hoover appeared on what's considered the first major telecast in the nation. And at that point, Hoover wasn't even President yet. He was Secretary of Commerce.
So the very first major television appearance in America was made by a cabinet official, not a head of state. Something to chew on. Then in 1931, a company called H. and W.
Corset Company, up in New York, ran the first experimental use of closed-circuit television — piping pictures to a buyer to display their models — and sold five thousand dollars' worth of merchandise doing it. Five thousand dollars. For a corset company.
Television was already in the sales business before most folks knew it existed. But modern commercial telecasting didn't truly begin until ten years after that 1931 experiment, when New York opened the first commercial station in the country. Even then, things moved slow.
It wasn't until 1947 and 1948 that the industry really hit its stride — which is precisely when Amon Carter planted Texas's flag in the middle of it all. By July 1, 1967, the United States had 628 commercial stations and 128 educational stations, with another 224 under construction. Of those, Texas alone claimed 49 commercial and 5 educational.
The state that was the sixteenth in had become one of the most wired in the union. And Channel 5? By the time this story was set down for the record, WBAP-TV was serving approximately 60 counties across Texas and Oklahoma.
All of it growing out of one broadcast, one president, one publisher with a vision, and one autumn evening in Fort Worth — September 27, 1948 — when Texas looked into a camera and the rest of the country looked back.
What the marker says
Founded by Amon G. Carter, noted publisher of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram", the first progam--a public appearance, Sept. 27, 1948, by President Harry Truman--made Texas the sixteenth state in the nation to open a commercial station. Among other "Firsts" of WBAP-TV are the first live entertainment in Texas ("Flying X Ranchboys"), and first Texas colorcast via NBC-TV, 1954. Today Channel 5 serves aproximately 60 counties in Texas and Oklahoma. Since its birth, television has made many advances. In Washington, D.C., 1927, Herbert Hoover (at that time Secretary of Commerce) appeared on the first major telecast in the nation. In 1931, H. & W. Corset Company in New York conducted the first experimental use of closed-circuit television to display its models to a buyer and sold $5,000 worth of merchandise. Modern commercial telecasting did not begin, however, until 10 years later, when New York opened the first station in the country. After a slow start, major strides were made in 1947 and 1948. As of July 1, 1967, the U.S. had 628 commercial and 128 educational stations, with 224 under construction. Of these, Texas had 49 commercial and 5 educational.