LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- WDRB is celebrating its 50th birthday Sunday.Â
Louisville's fourth commercial television station, WDRB signed on the air February 28, 1971, as the city's first independent station. Soon after, a clown and his magic tricks became must-see TV for many in the area.Â
Those early days of broadcasting from a studio near the stockyards in Butchertown became the foundation for what WDRB is today.
Broadcasting 24/7 was far from the norm in 1971. Channel 41 signed on the air in the mid-afternoon and broadcast past midnight. Later, it would expand to morning and overnight hours.Â
Early programming included Shirley Temple movies, outdoor shows, westerns, sitcom reruns and a local children's show featuring Presto the Magic Clown.
Presto the Clown was a daily mix of cartoons, magic tricks, viewer participation and birthday greetings.
"Welcome to Funsville," Presto (Bill Dopp) would say each afternoon. Children raced home from school to watch Presto's magic tricks and conversations with his puppet friends, J. Fred Frog and Hunny Bunny. Their banter filled the time between cartoons.
Presto showed children's drawings and wished them happy birthdays. Viewers ask about Presto to this day. "Fright Night," meanwhile, featured horror movies and host Charlie Kissinger. They were two features that allowed WDRB to advertise it was "where independence is fun." A faux declaration with fireworks appeared during the station's first broadcast.
WDRB moved from Butchertown to new studios downtown on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in 1980. The station is still there today.
The 1980s brought "TV As It Used to Be" — classic reruns hosted by Ray Foushee — along with University of Louisville sports and an affiliation with the new Fox Broadcasting Company.
Left to right, Jim Mitchell, Lauretta Harris and David Sullivan, from the first "News at 10," March 12, 1990.
Fox programming started with a Joan Rivers talk show on weeknights, followed by Sunday night comedies and eventually programming and live sports seven days a week. Louisville first watched "The Simpsons" on WDRB.
The News at 10 started in 1990, and WDRB News grew from a single half-hour to news in the morning, at noon, late afternoons and at night. The station now airs 9½ hours of news every weekday.
Kentucky's largest news staff reports on the air and for WDRB.com. The station's newscasts are often the highest rated in the Louisville market, and WDRB.com continues to grow year over year as one of the area's most popular digital news sites.
Scott Reynolds on set at WDRB before the 5 p.m. newscast.Â
WDRB's staff, brands and logos changed over the years. But the station's commitment to the best quality news and entertainment will never waver.
And to think, it all started with a clown, 50 years ago.
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