Shortly after signing on as an independent, it was approached by the founders of the fledgling Fox network to join the new network as a charter affiliate. But doing so meant KPTM would have had to carry Fox's first and initially only offering, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" opposite "The Tonight Show". At the time, "The Tonight Show" was hosted by Johnny Carson, a native of nearby Corning, Iowa who spent his youth in Norfolk, Nebraska and had begun his career at WOWT (channel 6; then WOW-TV) in the early 1950s. Carson and Rivers had been friends for decades until Rivers gave up her slot as permanent guest host on Carson's show to launch her own. KPTM declined the offer, fearing viewer backlash; as a station staffer put it, "Would you carry Joan Rivers in the market where Johnny Carson got his start in entertainment?" This left Omaha as one of the largest markets without a Fox affiliate.