The scary-to-look-at kinda crooked KPHO-TV tower on top of the landmark Westward Ho! Hotel Building is also NGS Benchmark DV2077 PHOENIX TV STA KPHO RELAY TWR
KPHO-TV got its start in 1949, from studios at the Westward Ho! Hotel, which is why there is a tower stuck on top of this Phoenix landmark (known locally simply as "the Ho"). After 1960 the tower was being used by KPHO-TV as a relay tower, sending signals to a new tower at the West Phoenix Tower farm.
From Wikipedia: (
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"KPHO-TV virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 17) is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The station is owned by the Meredith Corporation as part of a duopoly with independent station KTVK (channel 3). KPHO has its studios located on North Seventh Avenue in Uptown Phoenix with its transmitter located on South Mountain on the city's south side. KPHO extends its signal throughout northern Arizona by way of more than a dozen translators.
Early history
The station first signed on the air on December 4, 1949 as the first television station in Arizona. . . . Majority interest was held by Phoenix Broadcasting, owners of KPHO radio (910 AM, now KFYI at 550 AM); the television station, which was originally assigned the call letters KTLX, had its call sign changed to KPHO-TV to match its radio sister shortly before its debut. It originally broadcast from studios at the Hotel Westward Ho in downtown Phoenix. . . .
As the only television station in Phoenix during the first 3½ years of operation, it carried programming from all four networks of the time: it was a primary CBS affiliate, and had secondary affiliations with NBC, ABC and the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. . . . KPHO remained a dual ABC/DuMont affiliate (with ABC programming shared between KPHO-TV and KOOL-TV) until February 1955, when KTVK (channel 3) signed on and took the ABC affiliation full-time.
Independence
Channel 5 became an independent station when the DuMont network ceased operations in 1956. . . . KPHO-TV was separated from its sister station when Meredith sold KPHO radio in 1972.[6][7] That same year, channel 5's operations moved to its current facility on Black Canyon Highway. During the 1970s, KPHO became a regional superstation that was available on cable television in much of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of California, Utah and Nevada.
KPHO-TV was the sole English-language independent station in Phoenix until 1979 . . . .
Returning to CBS
On May 23, 1994, New World Communications signed an agreement with Fox to convert twelve of its stations to the network, resulting in a massive wave of affiliation switches throughout the country; . . . CBS then approached KPHO, since it was the only area station not affiliated with a Big Three network that had a functioning news department. On June 30, 1994, CBS agreed to a long-term contract with Meredith, allowing KPHO to rejoin the network after losing the CBS affiliation 42 years earlier to channel 10. . . . Phoenix was one of just four television markets where the CBS affiliation moved from one VHF station to another during the affiliation switches spurred by Fox's deal with New World Communications.
CBS officially returned to KPHO on September 12, 1994. . . .
Digital television
Analog-to-digital conversion
KPHO-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, at 11:59 p.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate."
From Wikipedia: (
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"The 240 ft (73 m) steel tower and 40 ft (12 m) antenna on top of the building were erected in 1949 to broadcast Phoenix's first television station, KPHO-TV CBS-5. In 1960, KPHO moved to its new transmitter on South Mountain. After use in the 1970s by KXTC 92.3 FM, the antenna on Westward Ho now functions as a cell tower."
In 1970 KXTC-FM (later KTAR-FM) took over the old KPHO studios and started broadcasting from the tower.
In 2017 the tower is still there, but it has been considered for removal. This tower site may become a memory soon.
From the Cronkitezine blog: (
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"The Westward Ho is a landmark for the city of Phoenix. When it first opened in 1928, the hotel was frequented by celebrities including Hollywood stars and politicians. It shot to fame when President John F. Kennedy made a speech from its front steps.
The hotel was converted to a low-income housing complex in 1981 and was opened to senior citizens. Some of its residents have lived there for many years and have grown to love the complex. The property still retains its old-world charm.
HISTORY OF THE HOTEL
The Westward Ho was one of the biggest luxury hotels in the country when it opened its doors in 1928. It was a majestic and grand building with intricate embellishment and artwork adorning the walls and the rooms. It was 15 floors tall and stood at what was then a humongous 208 feet, holding the record for the tallest building in Arizona until 1960. At the time of its opening, the hotel charged an exorbitant $2 a night, while competitors charged 25 cents. A restaurant, operated on the 15th floor, offered a beautiful view of the city.
In 1949, a broadcast tower was mounted on top of the Westward Ho, and was leased by KPHO-TV until 1950. The tower itself added another 268 feet to the height of the already impressive structure.
Located in the central business district, the Ho attracted business people and politicians as well as vacationers escaping to the warm Phoenix climate in the winter. The hotel entered the limelight when President John F. Kennedy made a speech there during his presidential campaign. Several celebrities visited the hotel and the hotel itself has been featured in many movies. The high profile of the hotel led to many legends, myths and rumors.
In 1979, the hotel closed down due to a rapidly decreasing clientele and reopened as low-income housing for senior citizens in 1981.The Westward Ho still retains glimpses of its former splendor, with most of the architectural features intact. It was acquired by the Phoenix Preservation Partnership in 2003 and is now managed by the Property Management Group. It is a protected historic building.
The property now houses around 300 residents who are 65 years or older. They live in 289 studio and one bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment. They come to live at the Ho after approval by the government and pay up to 30% of their incomes as rent.
BROADCAST TOWER QUICK FACTS:
QUICK FACTS
? Stands tall at 268 feet
? Taller than the Westward Ho
? Considered Phoenix’s first skyscraper
? Added to the Ho in 1949
? Signal tower for KPHO, the first TV station in Phoenix
? Became a radio tower in the 1950s for KTAR
? Made the Ho the tallest building in Phoenix until 1970
? Has a cameo in the 1998 remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho"
? No longer in use
? Under review to be removed in the future"