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The Ottumwa Courier, Wednesday, August 20, 19863By STEVE WEBBERCourier staff writerOttumwa’s only television station - KOIA TV Channel 15 - officially left the air at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday. Paul Vaughn,‘ AsciisPaul Vaughngeneral manager, had just turned the station on for the day when he received a call at the tower to pull the plugThe call came from Richard Hutcheson, president of Impact TV Group Inc. of Washington,D C., which had decided to pull its backing and sell the station.Vaughn had hoped the call would be news of the station’s sale.“The deal wasn’t signed, sealed and delivered,” Vaughn said “Hutcheson said he has a firm com mitment to buy. In his words, he has a firm offer, and they’re only filling in the blanks.”Vaughn said Hutcheson “concurred” in the decision to pull the station from the air until the sale has gone through. Neither wants to incur any more expenses.Vaughn doesn’t know who the prospective buyer might be. The station also has been listed with a media broker.“I know he had a couple buyers,” Vaughn said. “He’ll either sell it or wait about a week and take the bestoffer.Vaughn and other employees will continue to man the station office on the sixth floor of Parkview Plaza “unofficially to get our ducks in a row and answer questions.“Basically, we re in limbo. Since we’re not being paid, we’ll be here on a volunteer basis until something is definitely settled.”He plans to stay “until the station is sold or the bank comes in and closes us down,” he said.The office will remain open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Fri day.None of the eight full-time employees, including Vaughn, is guaranteed a job if the station is sold. But, Vaughn said he’d hire back many of the same employees if he’s retained as general manager with new owner ship.Centerville ticketImpact TV Group was unable to meet its last payroll, and some employees had already left the stationKOIA’s predecessor, low-power television station Channel 42, signed on in November 1984. It was sold to Trinity Broadcasting last month.Channel 42 has no connection with Impact TV Group Inc., which purchased the construction permit for Channel 15 from Haynes Commum cations of Alabama in 1985.Impact TV Group Inc. put KOIA on the air June 2, as an independent UHF station. The station used a 30-foot antenna on the Ottumwa Translator Tower about 4 miles southwest of U.S. Highways 34-63.The antenna had just gone up in May.KOIA broadcast St. Louis (’ordinal and Chicago Cubs baseball games, in addition to cartoons, health programs, series re-runs and movies. It was on the air from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday.“We were given program testing authority while the license was being finalized with the Federal Communications Commission,” Vaugh said. Full programming had been planned from 7 a m until midnight a full seven days a week.Negotiations had begun with Ottumwa Cablevision Corporation to have Channel 15 become a part of that package.That was, until Impact TV Group, Inc. decided to pull its backing from the station“My concern is that everyone who’s owed money by the station is paid,” Vaughn said.If the station is sold, Vaughn believes the new owner will cover any unpaid expenses and most likely keep the station in Ottumwa.Vaughn, 36, has been in Ottumwa 13 years and with the station for two years. He previously worked 10‘/a years in production and sales with KTVO radio of Ottumwa.“All we needed was a little time,” Vaughn said “But, time is money unfortunately When I flipped off the switch, I hoped I’d be flipping the switch to turn it on again in a week or two.“It’s disappointing to end something when it’s had so little chance. I hope it will gets the financial backing it needs to compete with our competition and run it the way it ids to blt;neerun
Newspaper Details
Ottumwa Courier
Ottumwa, Iowa, US
Wed, Aug 20, 1986
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 17 Jun 2023
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