Ventura County to Get New Television Station : Construction Under Way on Office, Tower; Independent Plans to Be on the Air in April

Construction is under way on Ventura County’s first UHF independent television station, KTIE-TV, Channel 63.

Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi, said the station “will bring a new dimension to the outstanding array of Ventura County media that keep us up-to-date on local, national and world affairs.”

The sales offices and studios will be housed in a new building at 663 Maulhardt Ave., Oxnard. A 350-foot transmitting tower supporting a 40-foot antenna is nearing completion on South Mountain near Santa Paula.

$3.5 Million Cost Donald Sterling, KTIE-TV president, said total cost of the land, equipment, tower and office-studio building is estimated at $3.5 million. This does not include the cost of programming, added Bob Bradley, general manager. The land was sold by the Maulhardt Family Trust of Oxnard.

Sterling, a Beverly Hills accountant and real estate broker, said the station is scheduled to go on the air in mid-April. He said that Channel 63 will broadcast countywide, “strongly emphasizing local news and public affairs programming.”

Sterling controls 48% of the shares and Thorne Donnelley Jr., a grandson of Reuben H. Donnelley, inventor of the Yellow Pages, is majority shareholder with 51% ownership. The remaining 1% of the ownership is held by Robert Ortwin of Los Angeles.

No L.A. Competition Because of mountainous terrain blocking its signal, Sterling said, KTIE will not be received by most residents of Los Angeles County, and is not considered a competitor in the Los Angeles market under FCC rules. “That makes us eligible for programming which may also appear on L.A. stations,” Sterling said. He added that the station’s broadcasting will extend into Westlake Village, Malibu and Santa Barbara.

The station will be staffed by about 40 employees, with a first-year payroll of $800,000, Sterling projected.

The developer is Astral Properties International of Thousand Oaks. The architect is JDO & Associates of Woodland Hills, and Oltmans Construction Co. of Monterey Park is the general contractor. Interior space design is by Marvin Berman Architect of Encino. William J. Gormley serves as consulting civil engineer, and the landscaping is by Paul Jordan Associates, both of Ventura.