KCEN-TV
Business Profile
When the 1934 Communication Act of congress established the Federal
Communications Commission and required the licensing of all broadcast
media facilities, interest in this new type of communications intrigued
the folks at the Temple Daily Telegram who formed a new company called
Bell Broadcasting Company and secured a license for Radio Station KTEM
in 1936 to go on the air with the first radio station in Temple and
one of the first stations in the country began operations. While the
Mayborn interests no longer own KTEM, this interest in broadcasting
led to interest in television broadcasting, which began just before
World War II and surged after the war. This led to the Bell Publishing
Company filing for facilities to permit television broadcasting in the
Temple area.
In the early 1950's while most stations were going on the air with modest power and antenna right in the midst of metropolitan markets, KCEN-TV set up an operation in the midst of secondary cities and rural areas with the highest tower in this section of the Southwest with studio and an 830-foot tower at Eddy, Texas.
Initially licensed to Temple only, the facility was actually a Central Texas facility and the FCC later permitted the station identification of Temple-Waco. The signal, which covered some 32 counties, had an authorized maximum power of 100 kwh on Channel 6 VHF. The guyed tower was 833 feet above ground and 830 feet above average terrain.
Difficult days and limited hours of operation were the fare for KCEN-TV for several years until it finally grew up to its full metropolitan status serving three big standard metropolitan statistical areas - Temple-Killeen, Waco and Bryan-College Station.
The transmitter and studios are located halfway between Temple and Waco on a 25-acre tract of land one mile south of Eddy, Texas on IH 35. KCEN-TV also maintains business offices at 7 South Third Street in Temple and a sales and news office in Killeen and Waco.
Since the station went on the air in 1953 as an NBC affiliate in a modern building designed for the television operation, the studios have been remodeled and expanded a number of times and equipment replaced as newer innovations in equipment reach the market.
In 1963, Bell Publishing Company separated its television business from its newspaper business and transferred the assets of its television business to a new corporation called Channel 6, Inc.
KCEN-TV also introduced another landmark upgrade when it began broadcasting the local news in closed captioning as a public service to the deaf and hearing impaired in Central Texas in 1989.
In the 48 years KCEN-TV has been on the air, the technology used to bring you television has changed dramatically. Today, the station stands with the rest of the industry on the brink of another monumental advancement: converting today's analog television signals to digital in the form of High Definition Television, or HDTV. Digital television will allow the station to broadcast in much higher clarity.
KCEN-TV enjoys the rare legacy of having been owned by one family's company since its inception. While many television stations have been bought and sold in Central Texas, KCEN-TV remains strong in its roots as the only locally owned and operated television station. That heritage has contributed to its consistency in leadership, ethical reporting and community service.
Frank Mayborn brought television to Central Texas in 1953. Since his death in 1987, Sue Mayborn, his wife and president of KCEN-TV, is committed to the television station's mission, which remains the same today, and that is to provide news and entertainment and to be involved in the growth of the communities it serves.