KOFY-TV
independent television station in San Francisco
KOFY-TV (channel 20) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of Estrella TV. It is owned by CNZ Communications, LLC, alongside Class A station KCNZ-CD (virtual channel 28) and low-power station KMPX-LD (virtual channel 18). The three stations share transmitter facilities atop San Bruno Mountain. KOFY-TV's studios were previously located on Marin Street in the Bayview–Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco until 2018; the station has since maintained space at KGO-TV's studios in the city's North Waterfront district.
History
Unbuilt
The construction permit for channel 20 was first awarded to Lawrence A. Harvey as KBAY-TV on March 11, 1953. Harvey owned industrial interests in Torrance and had also attempted to pursue construction permits in Los Angeles and Salem, Oregon. Despite an apparent attempt to sign on September 15, KBAY-TV did not make the air. Leonard and Lily Averett, doing business as Bay Television, acquired the unbuilt construction permit in January 1955 for no consideration; Leonard was a doctor who lived in Beverly Hills. A third southern Californian, Sherrill Corwin, acquired channel 20 in 1957 for the $1,750 the Averetts had spent on the venture, but KBAY-TV (which held callsign KEZE-TV from 1961 to 1963) was still not built.
In late 1964, Corwin filed to sell KBAY-TV to Overmyer Communications Company, a broadcaster owned by Daniel H. Overmyer, who would later start the short-lived Overmyer Network (later called the United Network). The sale application was approved, after a hearing, in October 1965.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “KOFY-TV” as independent television station in San Francisco. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as independent television station in San Francisco. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6334875. Authority coordinates are 37.755, -122.453. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2018, 1953, 1955 and 1957.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “KOFY-TV”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow KOFY-TV primary sources, KOFY-TV archive and KOFY-TV research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “KOFY-TV”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “KOFY-TV” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.