Memoranda, correspondence, programming, and production documents, meeting notes and agendas, subject files, scrapbooks, photographs of station talent, grounds and events, clippings, historical material, promotional and other records related to functioning of KEYT Channel 3 (KEYT-TV) television station from 1953 to 2003.

KEYT-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Santa Barbara, California, serving the Central Coast of California. KEYT-TV first signed on the air in summer 1953 after obtaining a construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 13, 1952. The station's original owner was Santa Barbara Broadcasting and Television Corporation (SBBTC), with original directors and stakeholders including Arthur F. Marquette (partner, Sherman and Marquette), Alvin C. Weingand (SBBTC secretary and president of the San Ysidro Ranch Corp.), Charles H. Jackson, Jr. (rancher, miner, and industrialist), Cecil I. Smith (SBBTC vice president and treasurer, investment banker), Harry C. Butcher (SBBTC board chairman, owner of KIST radio), Colin M. Selph (SBBTC president and general manager), Ronald Colman (actor and vice president of San Ysidro Ranch Corp.), and Seymour F. Johnson (SBBTC engineering vice president). In early 1953 architectural firm Pereira and Luckman was retained to plan and supervise construction of station studios and offices on Mesa Hill (locally referred to as TV Hill). After being on test pattern for a period of time, KEYT-TV went on air with regular commercial programming on Saturday July 25, 1953 and was initially affiliated with all four TV networks. In 1956 SBBTC began plans to maintain a new full-time office in Santa Maria, California. In 1957, KEYT-TV was purchased by Key Television, Inc., a newly formed corporation led by principal stockholder and new station manager, Richard C. D. Bell, for a total of $1,640,000. The station remained under the local ownership of Key Television, Inc. for nearly thirty years. During this time, Leslie H. Norins played a prominent role in the station's development as General Manager (1961-1975) and Vice President of Key Television, Inc. in the 1960s. In the 1950s-1960s, KEYT-T programmed a mix of national and locally produced content including a newscast and shows aimed at children, women, and teenagers such as Sunset Home, a program for "the afternoon homemaker audience in Coastal California," The Magic Window, Gardening with Gordon, and Pacific Bandstand, a dance program for local teens hosted live outdoors at the KEYT studios.

2.25 Linear Feet (3 document boxes, 2 flat oversize boxes, 6 videocassettes)

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The collection is open for research.