 Originally owned by VVI LPTV Inc. (a subsidiary of the ValueVision home shopping network), the station began broadcasting under the call sign K53FV at the end of 1991.It had been licensed to broadcast on channel 55, but made way for full-power KTBU by moving to channel 53 by the time it took to the air.The original transmitter site was at the top of the Texas Commerce Tower in downtown Houston.