KELOLAND TV Celebrating 60 Years

KELOLAND TV is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. When we signed on back in 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, the average annual income was $4,000 and a gallon of gas cost 20 cents.  Over the next few months we'll be looking back at the people, the stories and events that have shaped our lives since 1953 in a place we fondly call KELOLAND.

When KELO TV first signed on the air in May of 1953, it became the first television station in the area. 

Broadcasting pioneer Joe Floyd and his Minneapolis partners, Eddie Ruben and Larry Bentson, built the station even before people had televisions.

"It was really a cart before the horse type of thing.  They had to put the towers up and get the signal and once people could get a signal, then they went out and bought televisions for it," KELO TV General Manager Jay Huizenga said.

One of the most famous promotional events to this day, anywhere in the country, was the KELOLAND Gold Rush.

It was a two-day event to promote KELOLAND and help celebrate the centennial of Dakota Territory. Over 100,000 people showed up for the two-day event, armed with shovels to dig for prizes, including $10,000 in a field near tiny Manchester, South Dakota.

In the early days, commercials were live and who could forget Captain 11? The longest-running kids show in history.

Monday, KELO TV unveiled its new logo celebrating 60 years, but that's just the beginning.

"What we're going to be showing over the next few months will be the history of KELOLAND and not the history of KELOLAND Television, but the history of KELOLAND and the state and the people who are a part of the state," Huizenga said.

From black and white to color and now high definition, KELO TV has gone through many transformations, but one thing hasn't changed.

"What always remains the same is the commitment to the viewer.  Being the best at news and making sure we get the information out," Huizenga said.

Besides our new open, you'll be seeing changes in our graphics both on the air and online commemorating 60 years of broadcasting.