[2] Among the various interests whose applications had languished at the FCC prior to the freeze was the Alvarado Broadcasting Company, owner of radio station KOAT (1450 AM).

[10] KOAT-TV was scheduled to start on September 15,[11] but the launch date was missed when factory inspectors and a critical piece of equipment failed to arrive on time.

[17] Even while in bankruptcy, the station applied to the FCC to relocate its transmitter to Sandia Crest, which already was the home of KOB-TV and KGGM-TV.

Just as the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien on KOAT-TV,[21] Clinton D. McKinnon, a former U.S. congressman from California and owner of KVOA radio and KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona, came to the station's rescue by buying it for $12,500 plus the assumption of debts.

[25] KOAT-TV unsuccessfully suggested that channel 2 in Santa Fe be jointly assigned to both cities or to Albuquerque so it could move there.

[26] KOAT had desired channel 2 to improve its coverage in fringe areas from Albuquerque,[27] and McKinnon had previously protested an attempt by a proposed Santa Fe station to locate its transmitter on Sandia Crest.

[28] In the last years of McKinnon ownership, KOAT-TV constructed a private microwave relay system from Albuquerque to Phoenix in order to connect with ABC, said to be the longest such system in private ownership in the United States, and it began work on new facilities on University Boulevard on Albuquerque's northeast side which were twice the size of the original facilities on Tulane.

KVOA-TV and KOAT-TV were sold to Steinman Stations of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, headed by Clair McCollough, for $3.5 million,[30] with FCC approval coming in January 1963.

In 1978, it sold its existing studios on University to Albuquerque radio stations KRZY and KRST and announced it would construct a larger facility at the intersection of Carlisle Boulevard and Comanche Road, more than twice the size of the University building and with more convenient freeway access and a larger parking area.

[43] After back-and-forth competition between KOB-TV and KOAT-TV in the late 1960s and early 1970s, 1976 proved to be a watershed year for the station's news ratings.

[47] KOAT then moved to fire Knipfing, who contended the non-compete clause expired with his contract on July 31, 1979, instead of remaining in effect for one year.

[53][54] Knipfing's first posting upon his return was anchoring a new 5 p.m. newscast, the station's third attempt at an earlier evening news program, which debuted in March 1990.

[64] KOAT-TV formerly operated three satellite stations, which rebroadcast its signal and added local content for other parts of the broadcast market: In 1993, KOAT purchased the then-KVIO-TV (channel 6) from Marsh Media, owner of KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas.