KSTW

Coordinates: 47°36′55″N 122°18′33″W / 47.61528°N 122.30917°W / 47.61528; -122.30917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

KSTW
kW
HAAT275.7 m (905 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°36′55″N 122°18′33″W / 47.61528°N 122.30917°W / 47.61528; -122.30917
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.seattle11.com

KSTW (channel 11), branded Seattle 11, is an independent television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area. Owned by the CBS News and Stations group, the station maintains studios on East Madison Street in Seattle's Cherry Hill neighborhood, and its transmitter is located on Capitol Hill east of downtown.

As the first station to sign on in Tacoma (and second in the

Gaylord Broadcasting; it subsequently became one of the strongest independent stations in the country over two decades, reaching regional superstation status with widespread carriage on cable television systems in Washington and neighboring states/provinces. KSTW rejoined CBS in 1995 during a nationwide affiliation shuffle; two years later, the station became a UPN affiliate via a three-way deal involving it and KIRO-TV, which led it to join The CW when UPN shut down in 2006, carrying the network's programming until 2023, when CBS withdrew its eight affiliates from the network after selling its ownership stake to Nexstar Media Group
.

KSTW is available on cable television to Canadian customers in

.

History

Early history

The construction permit for the station was issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 10, 1952. Chief Engineer Max Bice immediately ordered equipment through General Electric, and the equipment was delivered within 45 days. The antenna was in Milan, Italy and it was shipped by rail car to Tacoma.[citation needed] The transmitter arrived in Tacoma from Syracuse, New York, on February 9, 1953. It was installed on the next day, and work progressed rapidly. The original studios and transmitter house were located at South 11th Street and South Grant Avenue. The station tested with a 30,000-watt signal and received reports of reception from up to 150 miles (240 km) away.

The station began broadcasting March 1, 1953, in Tacoma as KTNT-TV, named after its founder, the

Columbus Day Storm of 1962
.

In February 1958,

antitrust lawsuit against CBS and KIRO-TV, on claims the network had a pre-existing agreement to affiliate with KIRO-TV when and if it ever went on the air.[4] CBS agreed to settle the suit in 1960 by taking on both KIRO-TV and KTNT-TV as primary affiliates.[5] This arrangement lasted until September 1962, when channel 7 became the sole CBS station for western Washington.[6] Channel 11 was left to once again become an independent station, the second in the market after KTVW (channel 13, now KCPQ
).

During the late 1960s, the station also occasionally carried

horror movies
under the Nightmare! banner in the early 1960s on Saturday nights, airing around 10:30 p.m. before sign-off.

New ownership

Due to new

northern Idaho, and much of British Columbia. The station also carried many daytime CBS programs preempted by KIRO-TV (including game shows such as The Joker's Wild and The Price Is Right) during the 1970s. From 1976 to 1979, John Lippman worked at KSTW, building a news department.[10][11]

During the late 1980s, KSTW branded on-air as "KSTWashington" and, as it did in the 1960s and 1970s, ran the traditional fare of

westerns, old movies, and a local 10 p.m. newscast. It was also the over-the-air home of the Seattle Mariners and SuperSonics. Although it was one of the strongest independent stations in the country, it passed on the Fox
affiliation when that network launched in 1986; that affiliation was picked up by KCPQ. This was mainly because most of the smaller markets in KSTW's cable footprint had enough stations to provide a local Fox affiliate, making the prospect of KSTW as a multi-market Fox affiliate unattractive to Gaylord.

In 1993, Gaylord agreed to affiliate KSTW, and its sister stations

Dallas–Fort Worth when its longtime affiliate there, KDFW, switched to Fox (it was later purchased outright by that network). CBS approached Gaylord for an affiliation with KTVT. Gaylord agreed, on condition that KSTW be included as part of the deal.[14] CBS agreed, partly because at the time, KSTW was the only non-Big Three
station in Seattle with a fully functioning news department.

As a result, CBS returned to channel 11 on March 13, 1995, in what was to have been a ten-year affiliation agreement.

KREM-TV. Even as a CBS affiliate, KSTW still ran a number of off-network sitcoms, and initially only programmed two half-hour newscasts, at 6 and 11 p.m.[17]
Although it carried an 11 p.m. newscast throughout its run with the network, daytime newscasts aired in various timeslots during KSTW's third tenure with CBS, eventually settling at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. KSTW used the same vertically parallelogrammed "11" logo and on-air branding as its Dallas sister station KTVT during this time.

The station was put up for sale in October 1996, with Gaylord stating in its earnings report that "its financial results have not met expectations."

Cox Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, for $160 million.[19] The deal was finalized on May 30, 1997 (Gaylord held on to KTVT until 1999, when it was sold to CBS outright). Cox had plans to expand the news department at KSTW and make it more competitive with the other stations in the market.[20] However, rival KIRO-TV had been put up for sale just weeks before KSTW, as the Belo Corporation's merger with the Providence Journal Company gave it ownership of KING-TV (Belo could not hold on to both KING-TV and KIRO per FCC ownership rules at the time).[18]

Paramount Stations Group, meanwhile, was in the process of selling off the non-UPN stations it had inherited from Viacom, including KMOV in St. Louis—Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries launched UPN in January 1995, the same month The WB went on the air. As a result, on February 20, 1997, a three-way station trade was arranged, in which Paramount/Viacom would swap KMOV to Belo for KIRO-TV, which would then be dealt to Cox in exchange for KSTW and $70 million—a deal that came as a shock to KSTW employees. The two Seattle stations retained their respective syndicated programming, but exchanged network affiliations once again, with KSTW becoming a UPN affiliate, and KIRO returning to CBS.[20] The deal was finalized on June 2, 1997.[21]

KSTW began to air UPN programming on June 30, 1997, along with sitcoms, movies, cartoons, a few first-run syndicated shows, and the return of the 10 p.m. newscast it had prior to the CBS switch.[22] The station canceled the 10 p.m. newscast in December 1998.[23] Viacom acquired CBS (its former parent) in 2000, bringing CBS and KSTW under common ownership, and making KSTW and the aforementioned KTVT sister stations once again. The cartoons on KSTW had disappeared (as a result of UPN ending the Disney's One Too block in August 2003), and more first-run syndicated talk and reality shows moved to KSTW. In July 2001, KSTW moved their studios from Tacoma to Renton;[24] despite the move, KSTW remains licensed to Tacoma to this day.

CW affiliation

On January 24, 2006,

Tribune Company-owned WB station KTWB-TV (later KMYQ, now KZJO) became an affiliate of MyNetworkTV
.

In November 2006, after cost-cutting measures were put in place by CBS, it was announced that KSTW would become a "hosting station", with

Return to independence

On October 3, 2022, Nexstar Media Group acquired majority ownership of The CW.[27] Under the agreement, CBS was given the right to pull its affiliations from KSTW and its seven other CW stations. On May 5, 2023, CBS announced that it would exercise that right and KSTW would cease airing the network's programming at the end of August and become an independent station.[28] The CW affiliation in Seattle went first to the 4.2 subchannel of KOMO-TV,[29] then to KUNS-TV on January 1, 2024.[30]

Programming

Sports

The station was the on-air home for the

NBA's Seattle SuperSonics in the early 1970s, and again from the early 1990s until 1999. It also aired Seattle Mariners games for most of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The station also carried TVS' World Football League telecasts in 1974. The station also carried the NASL Seattle Sounders from 1974 to 1981 and the MISL Tacoma Stars
from 1984 to 1986.

Children's programming

From 1954 to 1974, KTNT's local children's programs featured a personable host named "Brakeman Bill" McLain. From 1988 to 1994, the station carried Ranger Charlie's Kids Club, the last children's show in the region to be filmed before a live audience. The show featured a

cartoons were incorporated into the show.

Newscasts

KTNT/KSTW has offered local newscasts throughout most of its history. Its news department began when the station signed on in 1953 as a CBS affiliate. In 1976, KSTW moved its 11 p.m. newscast to a prime time slot at 10 p.m. In May 1990, the station debuted an 11:30 a.m. newscast, which was ended on July 23, 1991, due to low ratings.[32] After KSTW rejoined CBS in March 1995, the station made extensive changes to its news schedule: the 10 p.m. newscast moved back to 11 p.m., and newscasts were added in various other timeslots: besides the 11 p.m. news, it initially only ran one other half-hour newscast, at 6 p.m.[17] On July 31, 1995, the station debuted an hour-long 6 a.m. newscast; in early August, the 6 p.m. newscast was dropped due to low ratings in favor of an hour-long 5 p.m. newscast (the CBS Evening News, which originally aired at 5:30, then moved to the 6 p.m. timeslot Seattle stations have traditionally scheduled the network newscasts).[33]

Both newscasts were removed on March 11, 1996, in favor of newscasts at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. emphasizing health and consumer features.[34] During this time, KSTW was among the first stations to use the 11 at 11 branding on its 11 p.m. newscast (as did Gaylord's station in Dallas–Fort Worth, KTVT, using a modified 11 on 11 branding on its 10 p.m. newscast); this format included the top stories and a weather forecast in an 11-minute first segment, with the next segment serving as an in-depth "Northwest News Extra" report.[17] After being sold to Paramount Stations Group, the station's 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. newscasts were immediately cut. Initial plans for June 9, 1997, included expanding the 11 p.m. newscast (the only newscast to have remained largely unchanged from March 1995) to an hour (pushing the Late Show with David Letterman to midnight) in preparation for its return to the 10 p.m. timeslot, but those plans were retracted and the 11 p.m. newscast remained unchanged with no change to the Late Show start time.[35] The late evening newscast reverted to the 10 p.m. timeslot after the switch to UPN on June 30.[35]

KSTW's news department was shut down on December 4, 1998, as a result of cost-cutting measures mandated by then-parent company Viacom; the move came after the company canceled newscasts on its UPN stations in Tampa–St. Petersburg and Boston.[23] News returned to the station in March 2003, as it began to carry a 10 p.m. newscast produced by KIRO-TV under a news share agreement.[36] The newscast was dropped on December 19, 2003,[36] but returned on June 28, 2004,[37] before being canceled again, this time permanently, in June 2005; from then on until July 2022, the time slot was filled with syndicated programming.

After dropping traditional newscasts, KSTW aired two specially focused news programs on Sunday mornings: the business-focused program, South Sound Business Report (produced by Business Examiner and also broadcast by Tacoma PBS member station KBTC-TV), as well as Northwest Indian News (produced by local cable channel KANU TV-99), which focuses on the Native Americans in the Northwest. In 2013, KSTW debuted a public affairs program on Sunday mornings called The Impact, produced by Washington state's public affairs channel TVW. All of these programs have since gone off the air.

Local newscasts returned to KSTW after 17 years on July 18, 2022, with the debut of Seattle Now News at 10:00 on CW 11.[38] The newscast was produced through CBS News and Stations, and ended on August 31, 2023.

In popular culture

The callsign and channel number for KSTW were co-opted by The CW to create a fictional representation of the station with a news department for the Seattle-set iZombie (which aired from 2015 to 2019), though not with "CW 11" branding, but retaining the station's callsign font, and a completely different image from that of the real KSTW.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KSTW[39]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
11.1 1080i
16:9
KSTW-HD Main KSTW programming
11.2 480i START Start TV
11.3
4:3
FAVE Fave TV
11.4 16:9 DABL Dabl
11.5 START Start TV
11.6 HSN HSN

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSTW shut down its analog signal, over

UHF channel 36 to VHF channel 11.[42]

Former translators

KSTW no longer has any over-the-air translators. KSTW's last remaining translator,

spectrum incentive auction.[44] According to an online posting by KSTW, there are no other channels on which this translator can broadcast in digital, resulting in the permanent shutdown of the transmitter.[45]
KSTW also had low-power translators serving certain areas of Seattle, all of which have been shut down.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KSTW". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009.
  3. ^ "KIRO-TV operating in Seattle after winning court, FCC bouts." Broadcasting, February 17, 1958, pg. 86. [1]
  4. ^ "KTNT antitrust suit asks $15 million of CBS, KIRO, affiliation switch hit." Broadcasting, June 2, 1958, pg. 9. [2]
  5. ^ "CBS' own Northwest compromise." Broadcasting, May 30, 1960, pg. 34. [3]
  6. ^ "KTNT-TV, CBS to part; KIRO-TV to be primary." Broadcasting, April 30, 1962, pg. 9. [4]
  7. ^ "Oklahoma Publishing buys KTNT-TV for $4.5 million." Broadcasting, March 19, 1973, pg. 8. [5]
  8. Hartford; Okla. Publishing purchase in Tacoma." Broadcasting, February 4, 1974, pp. 26-27. [6]
  9. ^ ""For the record." Broadcasting, March 25, 1974, pg. 82" (PDF).
  10. ^ Jackson, Thomas G. "April 1980". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
  11. ^ Jackson, Thomas G. "October 1977". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
  12. ^ "KSTW-TV Will Join New WB Network". The Seattle Times. November 4, 1993. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  13. Knight-Ridder News Service
    . August 27, 1994. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  14. ^ Taylor, Chuck (September 13, 1994). "CBS Dropping KIRO-TV, May Pick Up KSTW -- Industrywide Shake-Up Finally Hits Seattle Area". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  15. ^ "In Seattle, suddenly, 'For sale' signs pop up." - Electronic Media (Jon Lafayette), October 21, 1996
  16. ^ Taylor, Chuck (January 4, 1995). "KTZZ To Join New WB Television Network". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  17. ^ a b c Taylor, Chuck (March 3, 1995). "The CBS Switch -- KSTW Gears Up -- With A Big-Time Makeover, Channel 11 Gets Set To Be The New CBS Affiliate". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Taylor, Chuck (October 16, 1996). "KSTW Joins KIRO-TV On Sale Block -- Parent Unhappy With CBS Affiliate's Results". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  19. ^ Seven, Richard (January 21, 1997). "CBS Link Likely To Stay With KSTW -- Buyer Experienced In Broadcast News". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  20. ^ a b Taylor, Chuck (February 21, 1997). "Deals Shuffle 3 TV Stations -- KIRO, KSTW To Get New Owners, Networks; KING Still NBC". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  21. ^ Taylor, Chuck (June 3, 1997). "Seattle TV: In Transition". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  22. ^ Taylor, Chuck (June 29, 1997). "The CBS Switch Is On - Again -- Change Is Nothing New For Seattle Television". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  23. ^ a b Mcfadden, Kay (December 2, 1998). "KSTW-TV's Evening News Team Gets The Ax". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  24. ^ "Seattle DJC.com local business news and data - Construction - KSTW-TV".
  25. ^ UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network, The New York Times, January 24, 2006.
  26. ^ "Longtime Seattle station KSTW's reorganization means layoffs". November 10, 2006.
  27. ^ Hayes, Dade (October 3, 2022). "New Day Dawns For Broadcast TV As Nexstar Closes Deal For Control Of The CW". Deadline. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  28. ^ "Eight CBS Stations To Ditch CW And Go Independent This Fall". Deadline Hollywood. May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  29. ^ Lafayette, Jon (August 31, 2023). "The CW Adds Sinclair Stations as Affiliates in Seattle and Pittsburgh". Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  30. ^ "This Lynnwood-born star will appear on two reality dating shows at once". The Seattle Times. October 11, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  31. ^ "Q13.com | KCPQ TV | Q13 FOX News | M.J. McDermott". November 5, 2005. Archived from the original on November 5, 2005.
  32. ^ Boss, Kit (July 24, 1991). "KSTW Turns Off Midday News". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  33. ^ Taylor, Chuck (June 8, 1995). "Porter Out As KSTW Anchor". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  34. ^ Taylor, Chuck (March 10, 1996). "A Year After CBS' Move, Changes Can Be Seen In Local News". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  35. ^ a b Taylor, Chuck (May 23, 1997). "KSTW Intrigue Includes Letterman At Midnight". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  36. ^ a b "KSTW drops 10 p.m. KIRO newscast". Puget Sound Business Journal. December 3, 2003. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  37. ^ "KIRO to resume its news partnership with KSTW". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. June 25, 2004. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  38. ^ "CBS launching "Now"-branded newscasts at owned-stations July 18". NewscastStudio.com. July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  39. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KSTW". RabbitEars.info.
  40. ^ "What digital TV delay means to North Olympic Peninsula viewers". Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  41. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ "CDBS Print".
  43. ^ "Rules for Digital LPTV, TV Translator, and Class A Television Stations | FCC.gov". July 24, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
  44. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  45. ^ "Seattle, WA - OTA". AVS Forum. August 6, 2023.

External links

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