In 1953 the Federal Communications Commission issued a license for television station KVOS-TV to operate in Bellingham, Washington. Owned by local businessman and entrepreneur Rogan Jones - then the owner of KVOS radio - KVOS-TV broadcast its first program on May 23, 1953, featuring the coronation of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II.
Despite Jones' conviction that television could succeed in a city as small as Bellingham, the station had early difficulties supporting itself. In 1955, Jones responded by establishing an advertising company, KVOS-TV (B.C.) Limited, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company produced revenue by selling advertising and producing commercials for Canadian businesses. KVOS-TV continued to broadcast from Bellingham, with much of its audience based in British Columbia's Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
In 1962 Rogan Jones sold KVOS-TV to the WOMETCO Corporation. KVOS-TV is owned currently by Clear Channel International's entertainment and media group. Rogan Jones' former radio stations currently operate under the call letters of KGMI and KISM but are no longer affiliated with KVOS Television.
From the guide to the KVOS Channel 12 Film Records, 1961-1967, (Western Washington University Heritage Resources)
