create a commercial broadcast monopoly for himself in the Lincoln market), Fetzer moved KOLN to channel 10 and donated the channel 12 facilities and the KFOR license to the University of Nebraska for its educational station, KUON-TV. At the same time, Fetzer obtained FCC permission to boost KOLN's visual effective radiated power to the then-maximum 316 kW, to be broadcast from a new tower west of Lincoln. (At sign-on, KOLN was broadcasting at 26.9 kW visual ERP from a tower next to its studio.) The station was originally the DuMont Television Network affiliate for the Omaha/Lincoln market. It picked up the ABC affiliation from KFOR-TV after Fetzer shut down that station in March 1954. Meanwhile, Fetzer persuaded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to merge Lincoln with the Hastings–Kearney market in central Nebraska. Lincoln has long been the cultural center for central Nebraska, and Fetzer felt that Lincoln had more in common with this area than Omaha. He also wanted an affiliation with a stronger network. Although Fetzer had a very good relationship with CBS, there was little prospect of taking the CBS affiliation from Omaha's KMTV. Soon after the FCC made Lincoln the center of the new Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney market, KOLN became a primary CBS affiliate. Omaha wouldn't have a primary ABC affiliate again until KETV signed on in 1957. DuMont shut down in 1956, and KOLN dropped the remaining ABC shows from the schedule in 1957. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. Along with its more powerful broadcasting signal, KOLN signed on translator after translator across its vast and mostly rural coverage area over the next few years, cementing a dominance that continues to this day. KGIN-TV debuted on October 1, 1961, as a satellite of KOLN; since then, the two stations have been known on-air as "10/11." During the 1960s, KOLN/KGIN frequently broadcast games of the Detroit Tigers, which Fetzer had bought in 1956. Fetzer began selling off his stations in the 1980s. KOLN/KGIN was among the last to be sold, going to Gillett Communications in 1984. Gillett sold the pair to Busse Broadcasting in 1987 to make room for Gillett's acquisition of the Storer Broadcasting stations. Busse merged with current owner Gray Communications, now Gray Television, in 1998. From KFOR-TV's shutdown in March 1954 until KLKN signed on in 1996, KOLN was the only commercial station in Lincoln, making