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50 years ago today Lyndon Johnson, the 36th President of the United States died of a heart attack at the age of 64, here is how Walter Cronkite reported the news of his death on the CBS Evening News while on the phone with Tom Johnson, the press secretary of former President Johnson (no relation)
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At the time, Tom Johnson wasn't already the press secretary of President Johnson, but had still a close relationship with him. Johnson's family, led by his wife Lady Bird Johnson, were owners at the time of then-CBS affiliate KTBC 7 in Austin, alongside a half-dozen radio stations in the state capital; thanks to such relationship, frequently scrutinized by newspapers over political influence, Tom Johnson became the VP and general manager of KTBC after he left as Press Secretary. Shortly after the broadcast, the Johnsons had to sell KTBC to the Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Company, as the FCC enacted new cross-ownership rules the prior year; her family had bought a majority stake in the local cable franchise holder in Austin.

After Lyndon Johnson died, the Johnsons retained ownership of their radio stations, and they did so for around 24 years. As Lady Bird's health declined, her family sold the stations to a partnership made of their employees and Norfolk, Virginia based radio station operator Sinclair Telecable (not related to the Sinclair Broadcast Group), named as LBJS Corporation; in 2003, given the growing trend toward consolidation in the media industry, the employees sold a majority stake in the group to Emmis Communications, which also granted them the ability to operate the stations. The partnership was undone in 2019, with Sinclair taking full operation of the stations, including reorganizing its Austin cluster as a fully independent subsidiary under the name of Waterloo Media, allowing Sinclair to concentrate on its hometown Norfolk stations.

In the case of KTBC, after being sold to Times-Mirror, they remained status-quo until the first incarnation of Argyle Television bought it in 1994; some months later, New World Communications bought Argyle and, as result, it became subject to the massive affiliation agreement with Fox in the wake of their acquisition of NFL rights; the switch to Fox, a resurgent KXAN and KVUE and the launch of KEYE's newscasts have affected KTBC's ratings since the late 90s, pushing them to a distant fourth in the ratings. Since 1997, KTBC is a full-flown Fox O&O.