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70th Anniversary of Kobi-Tv/Nbc5

Floor Speech

By: Ron Wyden
By: Ron Wyden
Date: June 13, 2023
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I want to recognize and honor KOBI- TV/NBC5 in Medford on its 70th anniversary. KOBI went on the air on August 1, 1953, and is an integral part of its parent company California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc., founded in 1933 by William B. Smullin.

In classic KOBI and ``Oregon Way'' fashion, this TV station is celebrating seven decades of public service serving southern Oregon by teaming up with the United Way of Jackson County for a ``United in Kindness'' campaign.

This community campaign is gathering stories of kindness, civility, generosity, and charity that will be featured throughout this year on the air and online.

What a wonderful example of how KOBI informs and lifts up its community. That has been the case since 1953 when Bill Smullin founded the station--the first VHF TV station in Oregon. Seventy years later, it remains one of the very few locally owned and operated TV stations in the United States.

Bill Smullin's daughter Patricia C. ``Patsy'' Smullin has guided KOBI since 1985 as owner and president of California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc., Ms. Smullin has earned numerous honors in that time. Among those honors are the Chuck Sherman Television Leadership Award from the National Association of Broadcasters in recognition of an individual demonstrating leadership, service and commitment to local television in medium and smaller markets; and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters Tom McCall Award for outstanding service to the State and to the nation.

When I am in southern Oregon, for townhalls, community meetings and more, I make it a regular practice to come into the KOBI studio. There, I can count on a thorough and fair discussion from well-prepared interviewers about issues affecting southern Oregon.

For 70 years, viewers in southern Oregon have been equally able to count on KOBI's steadfast commitment to local journalism. I know I speak for all those viewers when I say thank you for that commitment the past seven decades and here is to many more decades of success.

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