WEEK-TV began broadcasting on UHF channel 43 with an analog signal on February 1, 1953. It has always been an NBC station. It was owned and run by Oklahoma Publishing Company, which also owned and ran WEEK radio (1350 AM, now WOAM) through its broadcasting subsidiary, West Central Broadcasting Company. The president was Edward K. Gaylord, and the chairman of the board was Robert S. Kerr, former governor of Oklahoma and creator of the Kerr-McGee Corporation. Wayne Lovely, the station's first head engineer, oversaw the building of technical facilities and equipment installation in 1953. He worked at the station until 1974.