The Federal Communications Commission licensed channel 11 to St. Anthony TV Corporation in 1958, and the station was intended to be an ABCaffiliate. In 1964, St. Anthony TV Corp. petitioned to move the station's transmitter to a point north of Houma near Geismar, Louisiana so that the station could also serve Baton Rouge. After the FCC granted permission to move the tower on the condition it did not interfere with WTOK of Meridian, both Louisiana Television Broadcasting Corporation and Guaranty Broadcasting Corporation filed an appeal to block the transfer. In 1965, the District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the two Baton Rouge stations, blocking the FCC's grant. On March 1, 1972 at 11:30 a.m., the station signed on as an independent station serving the tri-city area of Morgan City, Thibodaux, and Houma and the ten-parish area south of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The first program the station aired was The Phyllis Diller Show. During weekdays, KHMA signed on at 11:30 a.m. and signed off at 12:30 a.m., and, on weekends, it signed on at 8:00 a.m. and signed off at 12:30 a.m. The station suffered financial trouble and by October 23, 1973, the station and St. Anthony TV Corp. declared bankruptcy. At the same time, station owner Denver T. Brannen launched WDTB in Panama City, Florida, which served as that region's NBC affiliate and is now the ABC affiliate. In the mid-1980s, MGM/New Dawn Broadcasting was issued a permit to establish a new TV station in Houma on channel 11, KNHH, but due to technical trouble, the FCC denied their request for an extension. Today, PBSmember stationWYES-TV in New Orleans uses the digital channel 12, and Martin Folse established KFOL-CD to serve the Houma area.
Programming
Among the locally produced programs included a local news show twice a day, at 5:30 and 10 p.m., sports, and a third show hosted by local farm authority George W. Shannon, as well as a program by local musician L. J. Foret. KHMA primarily aired old movies and syndicated reruns, including The Phyllis Diller Show, Peyton Place, The Movie Game, The Munsters, Petticoat Junction, Hogan's Heroes, Dragnet, The Virginian, Lassie, America Sings, Time Tunnel, The Wild Wild West, The Name of the Game, The Andy Griffith Show, Happy and His Friends, Land of the Giants, Galloping Gourmet, Lost in Space, and Engelbert Humperdinck. The station also broadcast movies under the following monikers: Cinema 11, Western Theatre, Adventure Theatre, Nightmare Theatre, The Late Movie, and Afternoon Theatre.
