History
After graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1938 and serving as executive officer aboard a destroyer in the Pacific in WW II, Paul Taft (1915-2000) started a new television station in the coastal city of Galveston, Texas in 1952. This was during television’s infancy, and the CBS-affiliated KGUL was an immediate success. The subsequent sale of Channel 11 led to the ownership of additional broadcast properties along with audio-video systems contracting, business music services and government contracting.
Broadcast properties subsequently acquired, owned and operated by Taft included:
- KODA AM/FM, Houston, Texas
- KRXV AM, FT. Worth, Texas
- KTOK Radio, Oklahoma City
- WNNE Television (NBC), White River Junction, Vermont
Business Music services:
From the period spanning 1958 to 2000, Taft owned and operated Muzak* franchises in Houston, Tulsa and Phoenix, broadcasting to and providing service for over 5000 commercial accounts on a daily basis.
Audio-Video contracting:
Starting in the 1960s, Taft designed, installed and serviced sound systems for small- to mid-sized commercial, governmental, educational and institutional customers, in addition to the following large-scale customers:
• The Houston Astrodome
• Houston Intercontinental Airport (what is now Bush Intercontinental)
• The George R. Brown Convention Center
• The Louisiana Superdome
Government Contracting:
Starting at NASA in 1962 as a small-business television contractor, Taft eventually designed, installed and operated the first CCTV and broadcast-interface systems at Johnson Space Center. (The first images from the moon went through a Taft-operated switcher on their way to the major television networks.) Taft went on to provide television support services to NASA for thirty years, both at Johnson and Edwards AFB, California with a staff reaching 125 people.
Present:
Taft was awarded its first contract with what is now Defense Media Activity (DMA) for 24/7 Audio/Video Maintenance at American Forces Network (AFN) located in Sun Valley, CA where it operated until 1995. Then in 1995, the AFN facility was moved to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, CA. Taft was instrumental in assisting the Government engineers in constructing the new facility, tearing down the old facility and ultimately transferring control of the television and radio channels with only a few seconds of signal loss. Taft is in its 30th year of primary contracts for Audio/Visual Maintenance at AFN.
Present:
Taft was awarded the Defense Media Activity Broadcast Operations Support Services contract at AFN. Taft is in its 14th year of providing prime contract services to support AFN television Broadcast Operations.
Subsequent in 2006
Taft was awarded several small contracts to support the DIMOC Visual Information Records Center (DVIRC) at the AFN Facility in Moreno Valley, CA. These contracts were ultimately consolidated into one in 2015. We are the operational arm of both DIMOC and DVIRC.