As the Tri-State area's first television station, it went on-the-air on UHF channel 50 on September 27, 1953 as a CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. It was owned by the Malco Theater Corporation of Memphis, Tennessee (minority interest was held by several Henderson businessmen for the first year). Hilberg Packing of Cincinnati bought the station in 1957 and Gilmore bought it in 1964.