TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Last week, KGUN 9 celebrated 70 years of broadcasting in Southern Arizona. Channel 9 signed on the air June 3, 1956.
Now, we've discovered the first words broadcast that evening.
"I've got the original script for that show and I don't know why I had it," said Ray Lindstrom, former KGUN-TV announcer.
Lindstrom is talking about the original announcer script for June 3, 1956, the day Channel 9 signed on in Tucson.
"You know it was typed with a typewriter with errors and little lines, that sort of thing," Lindstrom said. "But that was the first thing that we said on Channel 9."
Lindstrom was a student at Catalina High School when Channel 9 first signed on the air in 1956. Four years later, he would be the channel's live announcer. He recently read the script for KGUN 9.
"Greetings to greater Arizona from Tucson. KDWI signing on with regular programming from now on."
The call letters in 1956 were KDWI, using the initials of owner D.W. "Doc" Ingram.
"They had no networks," explained Lindstrom. "So, the only thing they had were movies. There were these guys who had never been in television before and they were just experimenting and kind of learning the business right there, first time they were on the air."
When Channel 9 signed on in June of 1956, it was the first TV station in Tucson to broadcast in color. But Lindstrom points out, Channel 9 could have been on the air 5 years earlier. The owners of KCNA radio in Tucson applied for a construction permit in 1951, but never ended up building the TV station.
"Because they were afraid that television was only going to be a novelty, it was not going to be a big success," said Lindstrom. "People thought that in those days. Can you imagine that?"
Instead, D.W. Ingram built Channel 9 in 1956, only to sell it a year later to Texas oilman Hugh Garrett.
The new owner loved Western movies and changed the call letters to KGUN-TV. That's also when Channel 9 became an ABC Affiliate.
In 1960, an 18-year-old Ray Lindstrom was hired to be a live announcer on Channel 9.
"I was the guy that every night said 'KGUN-TV Channel 9 Tucson' between all of the network shows," Lindstrom said.
Lindstrom also did live commercials on Channel 9, his proud mother taking a photo of the television commemorating his first appearance.
Lindstrom also became part of the wildly popular Marshall KGUN kids show. He was asked to play a recurring character named Tom-Tom the Clown.
"I had to wear stilts and be the tallest clown in the world," remembered Lindstrom. "I said you bet, does it pay any extra. Yeah, it pays an extra dollar a day. I said I'll do it. So, I was Tom Tom the Clown for a while."
Lindstrom went on to do a lot bigger things in broadcasting, including introducing TV audiences to the infomercial.
Now retired in Tucson, Lindstrom loves to reminisce about the beginning of television and the Absolutely Arizona history of Channel 9 signing on the air 70 years ago.
By the way, the first movie played that June night in 1956, "Lady from Shanghai," starring Rita Hayworth and Orson Wells.
"The stars will shine on Channel 9," said Lindstrom reading from the original script.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
