Initially, the station was known as KCRI because the other investors didn't want the new television station so closely identified with the "Gazette" newspaper. The radio station also took the KCRI call sign because one of the television station's managers suggested that every mention of "KCRG" on-air was a promotion for the newspaper—one for which the "Gazette" would have to pay each time. After about a year of operation, the "Gazette" bought out its partners in CRTV and the station was renamed KCRG-TV in 1954.