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Faye Graves
Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452.
Nostalgia
2004-01-01 13:00:00
KWCH in the 50s
: I can't believe that Channel 12, KWCH, is 50 years old. What was it like when it first began?
Faye Graves Question: I can't believe that Channel 12, KWCH, is 50 years old. What was it like when it first began?Answer: Time flies doesn't it? I was reminded of this when a few weeks ago Channel 12 presented a documentary celebrating their 50th anniversary. The documentary presented Channel 12's later broadcasting history, but I remember 1953 when it first hit the airwaves. KTVH, as it was designated then, actually started in Hutchinson. The studio was located at 1800 North Plum and was a well-equipped facility for that time period, broadcasting in only black and white. In 1954, in Wichita, they started a remote studio in the basement of the Lassen Hotel in a room that previously had been a private club. That studio consisted of one black and white camera with a “Zoomar" lens. There was only one announcer from this location, Mel Hanes. Later, the studio hosted John Edmond, who started a show with his trick dog, Troubles. He also did commercials, which were inserted in the show airing live from Hutchinson.I became the third on-air announcer from that studio. My first commercial was taped just outside the hotel, on the sidewalk at First and Market. The client featured in the commercial was Ed White Motors, and required two cars pulling up at curbside. The spot was to air live on Cecil Carrier's weather show, which was being broadcast from the Hutch studio. The rehearsal for the commercial went great. But, the drivers of the cars thought that the run-through was actually the commercial, so when finished, they went back to the lot! I had to ad-lib my way through the spot by saying, "The cars are just selling so fast we couldn't get one here!" The station management later moved from that little room and placed the news program, featuring Joe McConkey with an easel placed on the front of his desk with still pictures and a zoom camera, Cecil's weather show, and all of the commercials in the night news strip. The fourth announcer at this facility was Gene McGehee. He was great. During his tenure, the station produced (with one camera live): Choir Show, the Kansas Mack Cowboy Show cut-ins, commercials for film shows; Liberace, the Bob Cummings Show, Walt's Work Shop, and the Saturday Game of the Week. They even did live shows like Junior Auction, where kids purchased items by saving Kitty Clover Potato Chip bags. This included a live audience of 50 kids, all in this one small room in the middle 50's, a remote studio that actually was micro waved to the main studio in Hutchinson. Next month more in our salute to Channel 12's 50th Anniversary, their move to a larger studio, the big power change for the station and the competing stations that arrived on the air.
 
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