KCPQ, Channel 13 in Tacoma -- First Day Sign-On Nov. 4, 1980

Kelly Television signs on Nov. 4, 1980 with first day of broadcasting on Channel 13 in Tacoma, Wash.
About a minute of control-room jitters at the start of broadcasting, then over to Bob Kelly, legendary broadcaster and station owner.

[@WaverBoy]

This is an amazing artifact. I grew up with this channel in the ‘80s. Hadn’t seen Captain Sea-Tac since I was a young teen in the early ‘80s!

[@SnohomishBroncoOffRoad]

OMG I haven't heard that jingle since I was 9 years old, KCPQ channel 13 ding ding.... love it I miss those days when TV was a treat oh the old days.

[@russhill7151]

Wow! That's me holding the visual tube for the RCA transmitter in 1980 at 25:14 into the video. This really was state of the art for RCA in 1980. I last saw this when we used to air it as a filler for the first year or so that we went on the air. Prior to that KCPQ was owned by the Clover Park School District and operated as a PBS station. The call sign originated from the "Clover Park Quality" slogan.

[@aaronolson5434]

cp class of 1994

[@russhill7151]

@@aaronolson5434 CP class of 1968

[@robatsea2009]

Seriously fantastic to see this!

[@johnnysama]

40 years ago today! Happy 40th anniversary, KCPQ! :D

[@YCDTI]

Oh wow, thanks for posting this! I remember watching Captain Sea Tac after school, but this is the first video I've seen with him since he was on 35 years ago.

[@TheJoeyEmilyShow]

I am originally from Bremerton. That "ding ding" sounds different than what I remember. Granted, I haven't heard that "ding ding" in over thirty years.

[@johnnysama]

Thank you for posting this. :) This is quite an amazing video of Seattle TV history. This year is Q13's 35th anniversary. Cheers.

[@johnnysama]

And this year (2020) is "The New/Q13"'s 40th anniversary! :)

[@thefalcon2k]

42 years, and is no longer known as Q13, but still KCPQ FOX 13

[@RobertSmith-us8xx]

Q-13's tower remains at Gold Mountain near Bremerton.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

They certainly can't move those around so easily!

[@gidzmobug2323]

Robert Smith Is KCPQ still on the air? Or has it changed format since?

[@davidbanks566]

Katheryne Koelker It's still on the air, it's a Fox affiliate.

[@looneytunes9000]

@@davidbanks566 it’s now a Fox O&O station since Q13 FOX KCPQ and sister KZJO as well as WITI in Milwaukee were sold by Nexstar in 2020 (correct me if I’m wrong) to FOX to become FOX O&O and or MNTV O&O stations due to the Tribune Nexstar merger.

[@kevinnelson66]

@@gidzmobug2323 KCPQ recently rebranded as Fox13. Their sibling station Joe TV also rebranded as Fox13+.

[@ApartmentKing66]

Bob Kelly's father, Ewing "Gene" Kelly, founded KCRA AM FM & TV in Sacramento. The font of the call letters on the studio camera behind him is the same as KCRA-TV's was, and the "3" is the same too, only with a "1" in front of it. Good to see what Bob Kelly looks like, or did, in 1980. He became president of KCRA, Inc. in 1960 when his father died. KCRA, Inc. became Kelly Broadcasting Company in 1962 when the Kellys bought out their business partners, the Hansen family.

[@russhill7151]

They were a great family to work for. Bob passed away in 2008. IDK what happened to Jon Kelly.

[@lvdude8631]

Kelly Broadcasting imported some people from Sacramento for Q13. Kent Pierce was a reporter for KCRA; my mom went to school with his daughters. Not in this video is Harry Martin, KCRA's entertainment reporter, who hosted movies for KCPQ.

[@gladfan1989]

Ah, movies hosted by Captain Sacto

[@MrWolfTickets]

Holy cow, I was trying to find 'the wild, wild world of animals' recently but I couldn't remember the name! I used to watch it every night at 7 or 730, but I didn't remember it being on ch 13. It would have been 1982 or so. Thanks so much for posting.

[@kevinnelson66]

Had a hell of a time getting Q-13 in Poulsbo until my parents finally got cable in 1991. Signal actually bled over with channel 20 which was a religious channel. Didn't know Lenny Wilkens had a show.

[@Kamandi1971]

in south seattle and had a hard time getting a signal my dad got a place in west seattle and its was a clean signal

[@rudyiraheta80]

as for ch 45

[@craigbusick9676]

I watched The Deer Hunter that first night of broadcasting.Election night.I voted for the first time that day.I voted for Jimmy Carter for president.Ate spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner.

[@ApartmentKing66]

And then suffered indigestion when he lost to Reagan.

[@kuryakn]

@@ApartmentKing66 The whole country had Reagan indigestion for 8, arguably 12, years.

[@VBaskin2010]

Q13 was the home of The Funtastic World Of Hanna-Barbera from 1985 to 1994.

[@StevenVillman]

I and my older sister used to watch Hanna-Barbera cartoon shows such as _The Flintstones_ on Q-13 back in the mid-1980's! Ah, such memories...! 🥲

[@VBaskin2010]

@@StevenVillman Wow!

[@jayperelman]

Part of the behind the scenes technical story not told here, in 1980, KCPQ was allowed to increase their antenna height and transmitter output so dramatically directly due to the hi-powered search radars at Blaine AFS (Birch Bay), and also atop Mt. Hebo (OR) being shut down by the USAF in 1979. The AN/FPS-24 was a cold war vintage long range unit that transmitted in the 240 Mhz region, extremely close to VHF 13's assigned frequencies. When operated at it's full 5 megawatt peak output, it frequently wiped out TV, radio, and landline telephones for miles around it. A number of other VHF 13 broadcasters scattered around the country were also afforded similar opportunity to upgrade their signals as these radar shut down by 1980. NOTE while KCPQ-DT is still transmitting from it's Gold Mt. tower on RF 13 @ 30KW, it is also rebroadcast on KJJZ-DT 22.2 from the Queen Anne tower of 22 in Seattle at much higher power..

[@johnfortmeyer]

Regarding that last statement, one correction -- the rebroadcast is not from Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, but Capitol Hill.

[@jurisprudence5259]

9

[@tkaye2]

The Port of Bremerton was strongly opposed to the Channel 13 tower as Gold Mountain is on approach to the Bremerton National Airport. They lodged protests with the FCC and FAA which delayed construction of the tower and KCPQ's return to the air. Had the Port prevailed, Kelly would have had to go back to the drawing board and find a different site. The original transmitter site in North Tacoma was transferred by the Clover Park School District to the Tacoma Public Schools for use by KTPS. As it was publicly owned real estate, it could not be sold to Kelly without putting it up for bid. Plus that location put Channel 13 at a competitive disadvantage since KSTW had its transmitter on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

[@jwgreek8606]

We née to ask the hard questions to our elected officials and get the truth out of them.

[@mr.g-manofficial6391]

Did KCPQ use the seal of good practice in their sign off? If so, what did it look like?

[@dgendvil]

Is the Q13 Tower still at Gold Mountain to this day?

[@sawyernettlebeck9443]

yes it also channel shares with kzjo

[@thefalcon2k]

It's also in my backyard

[@erwin5948]

from kelly broadcasting co. this is puget sound television KCPQ 13 Tacoma

[@rainerpierre]

This was 5 days before I was born on November 9, 1980.

[@notnok5595]

2:11

[@jwgreek8606]

*for Lenny Wilkins' show

[@jwgreek8606]

A co host is a sportscaster for another station?!

[@kmart3697]

KCPQ is now own by FOX O&O

[@newstarcadefan]

Yup, and they're a big sister to KJZO which is branded as Fox 13+....and yeah Fox Dropped the Q-13 branding almost immediately.

[@gidzmobug2323]

Isn't this a FOX station now?

[@erwin5948]

Yes it is that Puget Sound television owned by Kelly broadcasting company sold to FOX television stations in 1986

[@VancouverTVGuy]

@@erwin5948 - Fox Television Stations did not actually get ownership of Q13 until 2020, but it has been affiliated with Fox since the network launched in 1986.

[@erwin5948]

@@VancouverTVGuy but announced that the FOX Q13 will be rebranded as FOX 13 Seattle Tacoma part of FOX Television Network Stations since 2021