Fouce, the largest shareholder, and Julian Kaufman, the general manager of Tijuana's binational TV station, XETV. The FCC granted the permit on November 1, 1961, marking the first time the commission had approved an application specifying an all-foreign language TV station. From Mexico City came Rene Anselmo to manage channel 34; so too would come much of the programming, from Telesistema Mexicano. It was also the first regular commercial UHF television station in Los Angeles. Two stations had previously operated on the band: KTHE channel 28, a short-lived educational station at the University of Southern California, and KBIC-TV channel 22, whose only telecasts to that point had been of an experimental nature. To get the Spanish-speaking community to be able to tune in, the upstart channel 34 embarked on a $100,000 public awareness campaign for UHF converters, and manufacturers stocked stores in East Los Angeles with tuning strips. While channel 34 had been set for a September 15 launch, interest in converters was so great that the station opted to broadcast the test pattern until September 30 to aid dealers installing equipment. The first day of KMEX-TV programming included an inaugural program; filmed coverage of the recent visit of President John F. Kennedy to Mexico City; sporting coverage, including bullfighting; and news. Some 30,000 converters were estimated to be in place at launch. By February 1963, there were 106,000 appropriately equipped households who could tune in the UHF station, and that number had swelled to almost 200,000 by the end of channel 34's first year in service. However, KMEX lost $500,000 in its first year and did not turn a profit until three years after starting up. Joseph S. Rank, an account executive with sales representative Blair Television, became general manager in November 1964 and was promoted to station vice president in 1966, also being a five-percent stockholder in the Spanish International Broadcasting Corporation. In local production, the station placed a focus on public service programming to supplement the Telesistema Mexicano programs that came from Mexico City on Greyhound buses. One of the earliest programs was Escuela ("School"), an educational program that aired four times a week and taught basic English to viewers of all nationalities. Beginning in 1964, the program was hosted by Ginger Cory, a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Students mailed written exercises to Cory for grading. Many in Southern California's non-English speaking community