28 December 2004

[pdx_media] KPTV:Portland Broadcast Titan

I've just found out about a marvelous site dedicated to the history of one of the greatest TV stations there ever was or maybe ever will be.

Click here to go to Yesterday's KPTV.

This is a very loving tribute to the local, friendly, slightly quirky "Northwest Personality Station" that was KPTV Channel 12. Descending from the very first television broadcast in Portland to the day when it became "Fox 12 Oregon" and the Fox network sucked the last bit of personality out of it, it defined local broadcasting for about two generations. It was where you could watch Star Trek before it became a phenomenon, where Perry Mason has run afternoons, continuously, about fifty years, where names like Addie Bobkins, Ramblin Rod, and Rusty Nails entertained year after year of kids before they trundled off to school, where the evening news happened at 10pm, and where Lars Larson worked back when he really was defending the little guy.

It was also where modern professional wrestling got its start; happy memories of Portland Wrestling, from the Portland Sports Arena, with Frank Bonema, at midnight on Saturday, remain with me still.

I highly recommend the station logo gallery. It's great!

So go there, and live the memory of Portland television, when it had class and style.

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