Channel 51 began operations on December 6, 1968 as WSMS-TV, under the ownership of Gold Coast Telecasting; it would go dark August 10, 1970. Another company acquired the station in January 1972 and returned it to air February 14, 1972 as WKID-TV. It would later be acquired by an investment group headed by William F. Johns and Alvin Koenig in 1976, after WKID's previous owners went bankrupt. During
the late-1970s, WKID aired Spanish programming during the day and a slate of old English-language films and sitcoms during the overnight hours. With all other Miami-area stations off the air overnights, WKID's late-night programming was a cult hit among South Florida night owls. Dubbed The All Night Show, WKID's late-night block mixed films, TV series, music videos and old cartoons together, along with special guests. The "All Night Show" was hosted by Dave Dixon, an icon from that era of South Florida UHF television. It was said that WKID's All Night Show provided the inspiration for USA Network's similar late-night block, Night Flight. In 1980, the group sold WKID to Oak Industries, a cable television equipment manufacturer and operator of ONTV, a subscription television service, which was offered in the evenings for a monthly subscription fee, required set-top decoder box, and outside antenna. Programming during the day consisted of Financial News Network content, a horse racing show hosted by Bob Savage in the early evening, followed by a brief ON-TV promo and switch to scrambled mode, thus beginning that evening's encoded ON-TV broadcast. With the expansion of cable TV, ON-TV proved an ill fated venture.
