Editing WDRB (section)

===As an independent station===
On July 7, 1965,<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/a7465bb5-cda5-ec93-8b4b-0f4b916b41df|title=History Cards for WDRB|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Consolidated Broadcasting Company, a group of five people from [[Chillicothe, Missouri]], with no television station experience at the time (but who were eventually shareholders in [[KCIT-TV (Kansas City)|KCIT-TV in Kansas City]]),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72347230/|access-date=February 28, 2021|date=July 15, 1965|title=5 Seek Permit For Channel 41|page=2:2|work=The Courier-Journal|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023127/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72347230/5-seek-permit-for-channel-41/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59567029/o-k-new-tv-station-kcit/|date=April 19, 1966|page=42|title=O. K. New TV Station; FCC Grants License For U.H.F. Unit Here|accessdate=February 22, 2022|work=Kansas City Star|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=February 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222230639/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59567029/o-k-new-tv-station-kcit/|url-status=live}}{{open access}}</ref> filed for a construction permit for the channel. The permit was granted on April 20, 1966,{{r|hc}} but it would be nearly five years before any station came to air. Antenna height issues and permitting setbacks caused delays for the new WDRB-TV and for another applicant on channel 21.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52633737/|work=The Courier-Journal|first=James|last=Doussard|page=B2|date=July 2, 1968|title=Short Radio-TV Course Slated at Morehead|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023127/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52633737/short-radio-tv-course-slated-at-morehead/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tower Problems in Floyd County: Red Tape Delays Channel 41's Debut|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348022/|work=The Courier-Journal|date=December 29, 1969|page=B2|first=Fred|last=Bales|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023135/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348022/tower-problems-in-floyd-county-red/|url-status=live}}</ref> Approval was finally obtained that summer, and Consolidated renovated a building that had housed a lithograph studio<ref name="pains">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348845/|work=The Courier-Journal|access-date=February 28, 2021|pages=F1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348929/ F6]|title=Channel 41's birth pains|date=February 21, 1971|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023128/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348845/the-birth-pains-of-channel-41/|url-status=live}}</ref> on East Main Street in the [[Butchertown, Louisville|Butchertown]] neighborhood to serve as WDRB-TV's studios.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348237/|access-date=February 28, 2021|date=June 19, 1970|title=Area's 4th Commercial TV Station Expects to Go on the Air This Fall|page=B2|first=Fred|last=Bales|work=The Courier-Journal|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023129/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348237/areas-4th-commercial-tv-station/|url-status=live}}</ref>

WDRB-TV finally signed on the air on February 28, 1971,<ref name=towersoverky>{{Cite book|last=Nash|first=Francis M.|date=1995|title=Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State|publisher=Host Communications Incorporated |url=|isbn=9781879688933}}</ref> becoming the first independent station in the Louisville market. Initially, the station signed on at 3&nbsp;p.m. on weekdays;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348508/|work=The Courier-Journal|first=James|last=Doussard|title=Independent TV station plans debut|page=B2|date=February 12, 1971|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023132/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72348508/independent-tv-station-plans-debut/|url-status=live}}</ref> its programming included low-budget afternoon children's programming, occasional news updates provided by anchor Wilson Hatcher, and, most notably, the Saturday night horror film strand ''Fright Night'', hosted by local theater actor Charlie Kissinger.<ref name="lane">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350824/|access-date=February 28, 2021|date=March 29, 1996|title=WDRB takes trip down memory lane for anniversary|first=Kevin|last=Baker|pages=D1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350918/ D3]|work=The Courier-Journal|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023140/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350824/wdrb-takes-trip-down-memory-lane-for/|url-status=live}}</ref> Not long after going on air, WDRB-TV debuted an afternoon children's program, ''Presto the Magic [[Clown]]'', hosted by Bill "Presto" Dopp.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350561/|date=November 4, 1971|access-date=February 28, 2021|page=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350698/ B4]|first=Sally|last=Bly|work=The Courier-Journal|title=Presto! The magic clown charms the kids|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023130/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350561/presto-the-magic-clown-charms-the-kids/|url-status=live}}</ref> The station was profitable within months and unexpectedly respectable, matching then-ABC affiliate [[WLKY]] (channel 32) in the ratings, even without a local news department. General manager Elmer Jaspan credited the station's immediate success to a strong signal, programming, and the fact that the Louisville market already had a commercial UHF station.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-08-30-BC.pdf|date=August 30, 1971|work=Broadcasting|title=In the black against all odds: How a 5-month-old UHF bucks heavy competition to break profit barrier|id={{ProQuest|1016856537}}|page=26|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308044206/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-08-30-BC.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Block Communications Louisville Studios.jpg|thumb|left|WDRB's studio on Muhammad Ali Blvd. in downtown Louisville since 1980, which have been expanded multiple times to accommodate its sister stations and expanding news operation.]]
Consolidated Broadcasting Corporation sold the station in 1977 to the ''[[Star Tribune|Minneapolis Star & Tribune]]'' Company (which later became the [[Cowles Media Company]]) for $6.5 million.{{r|hc}}{{r|towersoverky}}<ref>{{cite news|title=WDRB-TV is sold for $6.5 million to Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co.|access-date=February 28, 2021|page=B2|first=Tom|last=Dorsey|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72349351/|date=May 13, 1977|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023134/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72349351/wdrb-tv-is-sold-for-65-million-to/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1980, the station moved from Butchertown to its present location on Muhammad Ali Boulevard. However, one upgrade that Cowles sought failed to materialize. Beginning in late 1977, WDRB-TV had campaigned for a shift to channel 21.{{r|hc}} In 1981, however, an administrative law judge denied the application and preferred the competing bid from the Word Broadcasting Network, only for the FCC review board to overturn the decision.<ref>{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|962731614}}|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-03-01.pdf|access-date=February 28, 2021|date=March 1, 1982|work=Broadcasting|page=114|title=In Contest|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208025032/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-03-01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Cowles exited television in the early 1980s; after selling its only other station, [[KWCH-DT|KTVH]] in [[Hutchinson, Kansas]], it sold WDRB to Block Communications of [[Toledo, Ohio]], for $10 million in 1983.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72356839/|access-date=February 28, 2021|work=The Courier-Journal|date=September 1, 1983|title=Toledo firm will pay $10 million for WDRB|page=B12|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023142/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72356839/toledo-firm-will-pay-10-million-for/|url-status=live}}</ref> Under Block, WDRB-TV dropped the channel 21 application, clearing the way for [[WBNA]] to launch on the channel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350298/|work=The Courier-Journal|date=December 21, 1983|page=B3|first=Sheldon|last=Shafer|title=FCC issues license for new TV station|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023131/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72350298/fcc-issues-license-for-new-tv-station/|url-status=live}}</ref> Block began to increase WDRB's profile in the market by acquiring higher-rated and more recent off-network sitcoms and dramas to its schedule, along with a focus on the broadcast rights for the burgeoning athletic programs of the [[University of Louisville]]'s [[Louisville Cardinals|Cardinals]], which the station won in 1985 and held for two years.<ref name="uofl">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72357286/|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72357177/ C6]|date=February 8, 1990|first=Jim|last=Terhune|access-date=February 28, 2021|title=U of L changes channels, signs with WDRB-41|work=The Courier-Journal|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424023128/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72357286/u-of-l-changes-channels-signs-with/|url-status=live}}</ref>