KPLC
NBC/CW television affiliate in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States
KPLC (channel 7) is a television station in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Media, which provides certain services to Fox/ABC/Univision affiliate KVHP (channel 29) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with American Spirit Media. The two stations share studios on Division Street in downtown Lake Charles; KPLC's transmitter is located near Fenton, Louisiana.
History
KPLC-TV signed on September 29, 1954, with NBC's airing of the 1954 World Series. Owner T. B. Lanford of Shreveport had previously signed on KPLC radio (1470 AM, now KLCL, and 99.5 FM, now KNGT) and was eager to expand into television, giving the new station the same callsign as their radio sisters. On the same day, Lanford helped sign on then- and current sister station KALB-TV in Alexandria.
KPLC was a major beneficiary of a quirk in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s plan for allocating stations. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available and 69 UHF channels (later reduced to 55 in 1983). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried longer distances. Since there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “KPLC” is nBC/CW television affiliate in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through KPLC, television and affiliate, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “nBC/CW television affiliate in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
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 Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6335637. Authority coordinates are 30.396, -93.001. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1954, 1470 and 1983.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. 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 “KPLC”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow KPLC primary sources, KPLC archive and KPLC 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 “KPLC”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “KPLC” 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.