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*A construction permit for Channel 2 was issued to Fisher's Blend Station, Inc. (now Fisher Communications) as early as 1958. It was assigned the call letters KATU. However, the station did not take to the airwaves until March 15, 1962, initially as an independent station.
On January 19, 1964 KATU moved its transmitter site 21 miles, to Portland's West Hills to improve coverage. The site had previously been on Livingston Mountain. A little over a month later it took over the ABC affiliation from KPTV on March 1, 1964. This made KATU the fourth station in the Portland market in less than a decade to have affiliated with ABC full-time (after KLOR, KGW and KPTV).
KATU is also Portland's longest-tenured ABC affiliate to date. KATU is the only one of the first five television stations in Portland to have operated out of the same studio (at 2153 NE Sandy Blvd.) since it went on the air, although the building had previously operated for many years as a laundry.
KATU is also one of the few television stations in the country (not counting owned-and-operated stations) that has had the same call letters, the same owner and the same channel number throughout its history.
In 2006, KATU won two Edward R. Murrow Awards. On October 11, 2007 KATU became the Third Portland TV Station to broadcast its daily newscasts in widescreen.
*Information provided by Wikipedia.com
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