During the summer of 1994, I was still a kid and I had my own TV station. Or rather, I didn't exactly--I just thought of it as my own because I figured no one else was watching. It was UHF channel 32, and usually it was blank, but once a day, for eight hours something would be shown on it. Those eight hours were random--the channel could come on at 9 in the morning or at 5 pm. First it appeared as a test pattern, then it burst forth with nature scenery:

"THIS is KEBN, channel 32, Salem, Oregon, returning to the air for another day of program testing."

I was fascinated with my discovery and throughout summer break I never missed it. I figured I was the only one who knew, simply because I was living in the only house in Portland that didn't get cable. I didn't know why KEBN was there, but I was witnessing the birth of a brand-new local TV station, and how often did it happen? It was the first time in MY life. I stayed fixed to the TV like I was watching a moon landing.

KEBN's test lineup was more pathetic than I realized at the time. It was almost entirely old public domain material (public domain means nobody owns it, so anyone can show it). They showed many old movies, a few promos for shows they'd be running once they became a 24-hour channel, and the same "Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur" cartoon every other day. They promoted the old movies as "in their entirety, WITHOUT interruption!" The truth was that they didn't need to run ads because they never paid for the movies in the first place.

A few days after I discovered KEBN, I got a real surprise:

This station was eventually going to bring us the WB network! The WB wouldn't be launched until the following January, but I was seeing what it would look like NOW! (It didn't end up looking like this, but excuse me for being young.) One of my fondest childhood memories is watching "The WB" every day. The test programming was adless until late August--then a couple ads and an infomercial appeared at the beginning and end of the broadcast time. WB 32, as it decided to call itself, went fully on-air the week before Labor Day.

For the first two weeks, the station ran nonstop "WB 32 MOVIE MARATHONS" filled with more public domain films--and a few that weren't public domain but very cheap. I saw several Godzilla films before school finally started again and separated me from the station.

WB 32 then filled itself with classic TV reruns, a few syndicated documentaries, the US Farm Report, a few cartoons, and the occasional music video. It stayed quiet and didn't announce its presence until the official launch of the WB in January 1995. This is when KEBN started being added to cable packages--and had found something else to stuff its airtime with. Most people remember WB 32 for being the channel that broadcast the entire OJ Simpson trial, relaid to them live from a Los Angeles station.

In October 1995, KEBN changed its call letters to KWBP (obviously meaning "WB Portland"). I was rather let down, because the KEBN call letters meant something to me. As I found out later, though, "KEBN" meant something else.

The channel's first form appeared not in 1994, but in 1989. Back then its call letters were KUTF, standing for "Keep Up The Faith." It was a religious station, because Portland obviously didn't have enough of those on UHF as it was. That changed in 1991 when it was sold to Eagle Broadcasting and its letters were changed to KEBN, for "Eagle Broadcasting Network." I know nothing of Eagle Broadcasting, but they barely lasted a year and the station went off the air.....until 1994, which is where I came in. It's a muddled history, but I consider the true birth of KWBP to be in 1994.

The channel was owned by one James R. McDonald, but like every other affiliate in the 90's it was soon swallowed repeatedly by bigger and bigger corporations. When the giant Tribune Media finally purchased it in 2002, KWBP finally had the muscle to buy a VHF spot and appear on more televisions. Because of the VHF channel, and the fact that KWBP was almost never Channel 32 on a cable configuration, the "32" was dropped from its name entirely and KWBP started referring to itself as "Portland's WB" in 2003.

But its humble beginnings are here. To me, KEBN is just as fragrant a part of 1994 as The Lion King and Ace of Base. Oh crappy UHF station, we hardly knew ye.

"KEBN" VIDEO DOWNLOADS!!

	EXPERIENCE KEBN FOR YOURSELF! In this video, you'll witness the dawn of another eight-hour KEBN broadcasting day, from test pattern to start of movie. I'm sure you'll find it very interesting....
	LOOK WHO'S PUTTING RABBIT EARS BACK ON TV! Bugs is so enthusiastic about the upcoming network--it's too bad nobody told him he would have no part in it. They gave his role to that dancing frog, and stuck him in "Space Jam."