December 14, 1952 : CBS affiliate KROD-TV Channel 4 (now KDBC-TV) went on the air with seven hours of black & white programming, officially ushering in El Paso's television era. The station was a complement to KROD-AM radio which had been on the air since June 1, 1940. Both the TV and radio operations were headquartered at 2201 E. Wyoming Ave. in central El Paso where KDBC-TV still operates today. KROD-TV/AM were owned and operated by Dorrance Roderick, owner of the El Paso Times . The television station was El Paso's first and was put on the air for $1 million dollars, a very large sum for 1952. KROD changed its call letters to KDBC in 1973 to reflect a transfer of ownership to Doubleday Broadcasting Company.
During the early years, KROD-TV was a busy place with many live programs being produced on a daily basis. The popular kid's show, "Red Brown and Anna Lee" and a live wrestling show, "Mitchell's Mat Time," brought many people into the station as active audiences and are among the most remembered local programs of the 1950's and ‘60's. Live, dramatic productions hosted by actress Lois Kibbee were also produced and aired, bringing local theater into the homes of families hungry for all this new medium could provide. Kid's programming continued as a staple of KROD-TV through the 1960's and early 1970's. By far, the most popular show was "Bozo's Big Top" which aired until 1972. Bozo, played by the irrepressible Howell Eurich who trained for the role under the original Larry Harmon and WGN-TV's Bob Bell, was the central character of the daily program, arguably the single most popular show in El Paso television history. Further adding to the lore of that history was Puffy Little Cloud, a Lhasa Apso puppy adopted at the local Humane Society in the mid - 1970's. Sweet, precious and platinum with a wardrobe cabinet housing hundreds of hats and weather oriented outfits, this immensely popular pooch spent the late 1970's and early ‘80's televising climate conditions for all of west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Puffy soared into the national spotlight when she served as a bridesmaid at the 1977 wedding ceremony of Howell Eurich and Gail Gordon; all of them part of KDBC-TV's award-winning weather team. The pampered weather pooch instantly became the subject of a National Enquirer feature with a four-color photo spread. Subsequently, a San Francisco news service sent out press releases to hundreds of radio and TV stations nationwide, catapulting Puffy to national celebrity status as El Paso's own "weather dog."
As the television era began and grew throughout the 1950's and ‘60's, local news became a more important part of the station's programming mix. Entertainment and children's programs were more and more being produced by the CBS Network and independent programming syndicators and the cost of local production eventually became prohibitive. Local news, however, remained a commitment of the station and continues to be the top priority today.
In August, 1961, local news in El Paso got national attention when the drama of the first United States commercial airplane hijacking unfolded at the El Paso International Airport and KROD-TV was the first and only television station to do live video remotes from the scene. News Anchors Marlon Haines and Bernie Bracher became household names with the hijacking, the Kennedy assassination in 1963 and local election coverage.
Other notable stories reported in depth by KDBC include the murder of Federal Judge John Wood in 1979 and the subsequent trial in 1982, the Mexico City earthquake in 1985 and the effects on the El Paso area of the Gulf War in the early 1990's.
Other KDBC 4 News anchors and personalities who gained popularity over the years under the KROD and KDBC banners include pioneers Marty Sullivan, Bill Blair and Gary Gallup, first female anchor Carol Barrish, Bill Mitchell, Al Hinojos, Estela Casas, Bunny Turner, Robert Anthony, Chip Taberski, Steve Savard, Raymond Mesa and Suzanne Michaels.
Current anchors Nichole Ayoub, Robert Bettes, Cristina Rodda, Armando Saldivar and Nichole Gomez continuing KDBC's tradition of providing the best and most current local news 7 days a week.
KDBC-TV broadcasts its digital signal on UHF Channel 18 but can be found on 4.1 along with the edgy My Network on 4.2. Its HDTV digital signal is carried in El Paso on Time Warner cable channel 865 and its programming is telecast locally on all available satellite delivery systems.
