The station signed on the air on March 22, 1954 as KFBC-TV airing an analog signal on VHF channel 5. It was owned by the McCraken family along with the "Wyoming State Leader-Tribune" and "Wyoming Eagle" (later merged as "Wyoming Tribune Eagle") and KFBC radio (1240 AM). It is Wyoming's oldest television station. For over 30 years, it was the only commercial station in eastern Wyoming. As such, it carried programming from all four major networks of the time–CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont–but was initially a primary ABC affiliate. That may have seemed unusual as Cheyenne has always been a rather small market. In most other small markets, ABC was usually relegated to secondary status due to being the smallest and weakest network. However, KFBC radio had been an ABC Radio affiliate for many years. Additionally, there had been some speculation Cheyenne would eventually be collapsed into the Denver market since the area is only a few miles from the Colorado border. However, Cheyenne viewers were still able to view the full schedules of all the three major networks via cable–then as now, all but essential for acceptable television in much of this market. The Denver stations have been available on cable since cable arrived in the area in the mid-1950s.