stations licensed there. KAKE radio and television petitioned the FCC in November 1954 to order KTVH to stop identifying as a "Wichita station"; it declined to do so. In 1955, Wichita-Hutchinson Company sold 80 percent of KTVH to the Des Moines-based Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company (owned by the Cowles family), for $1.07 million. Cowles expanded channel 12's Wichita presence in 1956 by purchasing the former studios of KEDD, the first station to be built in that city, which had just closed. A power increase from 240,000 watts to the class-maximum 316,000 watts followed in 1957. Cowles also made a second effort at seeking permission to identify more closely with Wichita in 1958; the station's president, Joyce Swan, cited confusion from national advertisers, who thought the dual designation of Wichita and Hutchinson signified separate markets, and stated that "it is obvious that an advertising media that covers a large area must cater to the largest metropolitan market". The FCC allowed it to identify as "Hutchinson–Wichita" in 1959 and further tossed out petitions for reconsideration from the two Wichita commercial stations. As KTVH grew, other television stations were set up in western and central Kansas. 1957 brought the launch of KTVC at Ensign, serving communities including Dodge City and Garden City, and in 1958, television stations were established at Goodland (KWGB-TV) and Hays (KAYS-TV). KWGB-TV aired CBS and NBC programs, while KTVC and KAYS-TV were ABC affiliates engaged in a regional hookup with KAKE-TV known as the "Golden K Network". In 1961, KTVC switched affiliations from ABC to CBS. KAYS-TV purchased the financially struggling Goodland station, then known as KLOE-TV, and combined the two as one operation. Further, KAYS-TV joined CBS on November 1, 1962. The four stations then formed the Kansas Broadcasting System (KBS), which claimed coverage of 66 Kansas counties. In 1963, the station activated a new transmitter located northwest of Burrton and east of Hutchinson, operating from the tallest broadcast tower in the state at . Cowles announced the sale of KTVH to the WKY Television System of Oklahoma City for $4.4 million in December 1968. However, much to both parties' surprise, the FCC voted 4–2 to designate the transaction for hearing in August 1969. The decision was met with dissension even from FCC chairman Rosel H. Hyde, who complained that the majority's conclusions that the acquisition of the Hutchinson station would give the Gaylord interests too much