Southwest States Inc., which owned radio station KAMQ (1010 AM, now KTNZ) and was managed by George Oliver, Robert Houck, Hoyt Houck, John McCarthy, Sam Fenberg, and real estate firm Estate Development, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on September 20, 1956, for a license and construction permit to operate a commercial television station on VHF channel 7. Kenyon Brown, owner of local radio stations KLYN (940 AM, now KIXZ) and KWFT in Wichita Falls (now Plano-licensed KEXB), filed a separate licensing application for channel 7 on February 5, 1957. On December 11, 1957, Brown withdrew his application for VHF channel 7, ceding the application to Southwest States under an agreement in which that group would pay Brown $10,000 for out-of-pocket expenses if the application was granted by August 7, 1957, or $7,500 if the application was granted by September 20. On August 1, 1957, the FCC granted Southern States the license and permit for channel 7; the company then asked and got clearance to assign KVII-TV (using the roman numeral for the number "7") as the television station's call letters.