The station first signed on the air on October 15, 1980 as KAUT, initially operating as a pilot station for Golden West's subscription service Video Entertainment Unlimited (VEU). (The callsign, which references controlling group stakeholder Autry, was chosen by Golden West two months prior to sign-on; a "-TV" suffix would be added to the callsign on January 27, 1983.) It was the first broadcast outlet for the service, which Golden West's pay television unit, Golden West Subscription Television, Inc., initially launched on May 1 as the microwave-relayed Golden West Entertainment Network in Omaha, Nebraska and Memphis, Tennessee. KAUT – which originally operated from a studio and office facility located at 11901 North Eastern Avenue (south of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike and southwest of the Burendale Heights North section) in northeastern Oklahoma City – was the sixth commercial television station to sign on in the Oklahoma City market and the fourth such station to operate on the UHF band.