In February 1975, pioneering UHF broadcaster Edwin Cooperstein announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had granted a construction permit to his company, New Television Corp., to build a television station in Phoenix on UHF channel 15. It was expected to begin broadcasting within a year and was intended to place a heavy emphasis on news programming, airing three 90-minute newscasts at different times between 4 p.m. and midnight. The lone legacy of this intended format was the station's call sign, KNXV, standing for "Newswatch 15" (the "XV" stood for 15 in Roman numerals). Plans were soon delayed by the inability to secure financing in a difficult economy, and by the end of 1976, the station still had not been built. In 1977, funding problems continued to stand in the way of getting KNXV-TV on the air.