 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KCWY-DT,KNEP | |
| History | |
First air date | March 22, 1954 (71 years ago) (1954-03-22) |
Former call signs | |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 5 (VHF, 1954–2009) |
Call sign meaning | "Great Western Network" |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63166 |
| ERP | 459kW |
| HAAT | 162 m (531 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°6′0.4″N105°0′25.2″W / 41.100111°N 105.007000°W /41.100111; -105.007000 |
| Translator(s) | K19FX-D (19)Laramie[2] |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
| Semi-satellite | |
| KSTF | |
 | |
| City | Scottsbluff, Nebraska |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| KNEP | |
| History | |
| Founded | August 7, 1955 (70 years ago) (1955-08-07) |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 10 (VHF, 1955–2009) |
| |
Call sign meaning | Scottsbluff |
| Technical information[4] | |
| Facility ID | 63182 |
| ERP | 3.5 kW |
| HAAT | 187 m (614 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°59′58.4″N103°40′32.2″W / 41.999556°N 103.675611°W /41.999556; -103.675611 (KSTF) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
KGWN-TV (channel 5) is atelevision station inCheyenne, Wyoming, United States, affiliated withCBS andThe CW Plus. The station is owned byMarquee Broadcasting, and maintains studios on EastLincolnway/East 14th Street/I-80 BUS/US 30 in Cheyenne; its transmitter is located in unincorporatedLaramie County (west of Cheyenne) betweenI-80/US 30 andWYO 225.
KGWN providesNBC programming on its seconddigital subchannel through asimulcast ofsister stationKNEP inScottsbluff, Nebraska, while its third subchannel is the market'sCW affiliate.
KSTF (channel 10) in Scottsbluff operates as a semi-satellite of KGWN; this station maintains studios on 10th Street inGering, while its transmitter is located alongN-71 at theScotts Bluff–Sioux county line.
K19FX-D (channel 19) inLaramie is alow-powertranslator of KGWN-TV. This translator extends coverage to the few areas of Laramie who are unable to receive KGWN over the air; most Cheyenne television signals are unable to reach Laramie due to theLaramie Mountains. The translator is located on Forest Road southeast of Laramie.
The station signed on the air on March 22, 1954, as KFBC-TV airing an analog signal onVHF channel 5. It was owned by the McCraken family along with theWyoming State Leader-Tribune andWyoming Eagle (later merged asWyoming Tribune Eagle) andKFBC radio (1240 AM). It is Wyoming's oldest television station. For over 30 years, it was the only commercial station in eastern Wyoming. As such, it carried programming from all four major networks of the time–CBS,NBC, ABC, andDuMont–but was initially a primary ABC affiliate. That may have seemed unusual as Cheyenne has always been a rather smallmarket. In most markets as small as Cheyenne, ABC was usually relegated to secondary status due to being the smallest and weakest network. However, KFBC radio had been anABC Radio affiliate for many years. Additionally, there had been some speculation Cheyenne would eventually be collapsed into the Denver market since the area is only a few miles from the Colorado border. However, Cheyenne viewers were still able to view the full schedules of all thethree major networks via cable–then as now, all but essential for acceptable television in much of this market. The Denver stations have been available on cable since cable arrived in the area in the mid-1950s.
In 1965, channel 5 took on an unusual "joint primary" affiliation with CBS and ABC, while continuing to slightly favor ABC.
In 1972, the McCrackens were forced to break up their media empire due to an FCC rule that barred one person from owning the sole newspaper, radio station and television station in a city. They sold their television stations to Wyneco Communications, owned byToledo-based attorneyEdward Lamb, which changed the call letters of the flagship station to KYCU-TV. The new owners took on a primary affiliation with CBS, relegating ABC to secondary status.
However, on July 11, 1976, it switched its primary affiliation to ABC and dropped all NBC programming.KEVN-TV signed on inRapid City, South Dakota, that day as a full-time ABC affiliate, and KYCU/KSTF felt obliged to fill the ABC void in Scottsbluff, asKOTA-TV in Rapid City and its Scottsbluff satellite, KDUH-TV (now KNEP), were primary NBC affiliates with a secondary CBS affiliation. Wyneco sold the station to Burke Broadcasting in 1983. When KOTA/KDUH switched to ABC in June 1984, KYCU/KSTF switched its primary affiliation to CBS, with ABC and NBC as secondary affiliations. However, as the 1980s wore on, the station began gradually phasing out NBC programming.
Burke Broadcasting sold KYCU toStauffer Communications in 1986, who changed itscall sign to the current KGWN-TV onNew Year's Day 1987. Later in 1987, channel 5 dropped NBC altogether when KKTU (nowKQCK) signed on as a satellite ofKTWO-TV inCasper. The station had been one of the few in the country that still "cherry-picked" programming from all three networks. ABC programming disappeared from the schedule by 1988. When Stauffer merged withMorris Communications in 1996, KGWN and most of the rest of Stauffer's television holdings went toBenedek Broadcasting. That company wentbankrupt in 2001 (it merged withGray Television a year later) and KGWN was sold to Chelsey Broadcasting. In 2003, the station was acquired bySagamoreHill Broadcasting.
In 2000, Benedek ended most local operations atKGWC-TV in Casper and its two satellites:KGWR-TV (inRock Springs) andKGWL-TV (inLander). The three stations became semi-satellites of KGWN. In 2003, Chelsey Broadcasting agreed to sell all three to Mark III Media (a group that included former KTWO-TV General Manager Mark Nalbone). After the FCC dismissed several objections to the sale, Mark III consummated the agreement to buy the stations on May 31, 2006.
On September 18, 2006, KGWN began carrying programming from The CW on a new second digital subchannel. This was dropped in September 2008 in favor of a standard definition simulcast of the main signal targeted towards Northern Colorado. The CW programming continued to be seen on areacable systems. On April 29, 2009, the carriage contract of KGWN and "Cheyenne CW" expired. This led to SagamoreHill Broadcasting demanding that Bresnan Cable remove the two channels, resulting in approximately 30,000 customers (reported as 80% of their viewership) losing access to local CBS and CW programming. The dispute hinged on the amount SagamoreHill wanted to charge Bresnan for the rights to carry the stations.
KGWN waged apropaganda campaign in the days leading up to the end of the contract attempting to change Bresnan Cable customers toDish Network. KGWN refused to post any comments on its site regarding customers who did not wish to see the contract renewed despite news coverage of the dispute having elicited numerous such comments.[citation needed] On May 8, 2009, the stations were restored to the Bresnan system. In December 2011, CW programming was added to subchannel 5.3 and NOCO 5 programming on subchannel 5.2 was improved to720p.
In May 2013, SagamoreHill Broadcasting reached a deal to sell KGWN and KSTF, along withKGNS-TV inLaredo, Texas, to Yellowstone Holdings, a subsidiary of Frontier Radio Management.[5][6][7] On November 4, 2013, Gray Television announced a deal to acquire Yellowstone Holdings for $23 million. KGWN-TV was operated under alocal marketing agreement by Gray until the closure of the deal,[8] on December 31.[9]
On January 24, 2019, Gray announced that the news operations of KGWN-TV and KCWY-DT would be merged under theWyoming News Now banner by April 9. Under this arrangement, KGWN's 5:30 p.m. newscast became the only Cheyenne-specific newscast (with KCWY airing a Casper-only newscast at 5 p.m.); all other newscasts, while being produced at KGWN, are simulcast on KCWY in Casper and cover both markets. The consolidation came after theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) blocked Gray's acquisition of the CBS affiliation of Casper's KGWC-TV, which would have given Gray a second revenue stream in that market to cover KCWY's financial losses.[10][11]
On February 1, 2024, Gray Television announced it would swap KGWN-TV and KCWY-DT toMarquee Broadcasting in exchange for Marquee'sconstruction permit for KCBU inSalt Lake City, Utah.[12] The transaction was completed on July 1, 2024.[13]
After having been dropped from the cable system in Northern Colorado by the timeKCNC-TVbecame a CBS owned-and-operated station in 1995, KGWN took action to entice cable systems to carry the station in 2005. Although Northern Colorado is part of theDenver market, KGWN has long claimed Northern Colorado as part of its primary coverage area. Due to its transmitter's location close to the Colorado border, it provides city-grade coverage ofFort Collins,Loveland, andGreeley, as well as grade B coverage as far south asLongmont andBoulder. It had long been carried on cable systems in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley alongside Denver's CBS affiliate (originallyKMGH-TV and now KCNC). Additionally, many cable systems on the Wyoming side of the Denver market long carried both KGWN and KMGH, and continue to carry both KGWN and KCNC.
The station tried to lobbyComcast for carriage on its Northern Colorado systems in early 2005, to no avail. KGWN was talking in August to the owner of theColorado Eagles hockey team owner about broadcasting their games.[14] By October, the station had opened a bureau in Fort Collins with two sale representatives and a reporter.[15]US Cable agreed to carry the station beginning on November 1.[16] The Eagles team and the station agreed to its first carriage deal for a single playoff game with the Oklahoma City Blazers on April 2, 2006, which was broadcast via Channel 5's Cheyenne transmitter.[17] In 2005, KGWN established a Northern Colorado Bureau in Fort Collins, which produced its first newscast in June 2006.[18] This provided another source of local news coverage in the area besides stations based in Denver. In early March 2007, the station filed a case with the FCC to have the local market changed to included Larimer and Weld counties. As prior to cable's dominance in the mid-1990s, the station served the area and has made other current moves to serve the area.[19] Comcast finally caved and added KGWN on three systems. In June 2008, the station suspended its Northern Colorado operations only to restart them on September 15, 2008.[20]
On September 15, 2008, this operation was expanded after KGWN-DT2 launched a weeknight 35 minute newscast in partnership with theIndependent News Network (INN). Known asNorthern Colorado 5 News at 10, the broadcast was recorded in advance from INN's production facility on Tremont Avenue inDavenport, Iowa. The news anchor,meteorologist, and sports anchor were provided by the centralized news operation and other personnel from INN filled-in as necessary. By September 2008, KGWN began broadcasting a separate CBS feed, identified as Northern Colorado 5 or NoCo 5 in short, on its second digital subchannel that specifically focused onNorthern Colorado.[21]
At some point in time, production ofNorthern Colorado 5 News at 10 moved to a secondary set at KGWN's studios in Cheyenne and was no longer outsourced to the Independent News Network. Although the program was still taped in advance, it now featured anchor personnel from KGWN while three reporters based locally in Fort Collins contributed Northern Colorado-specific content to the broadcast. In addition, there were weekday morning local weather cut-ins duringCBS This Morning that were taped at KGWN's facility but with a focus on Northern Colorado. Weekday mornings from 6 to 6:30, KGWN-DT2 simulcast localradio stationKXBG (97.9 FM). Following at 6:30, there was a localweather forecast segment which repeats several times during the half-hour. The Colorado-focused station did not simulcast any newscasts from its parent station.
"Northern Colorado 5" was discontinued on December 19, 2013. In announcing the closure, KGWN cited the inability to make the service "a viable long-term operation."[21]
KSTF signed on August 7, 1955, as a semi-satellite of KFBC-TV. In 1958,KOTA-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota, put its own satellite station on-the-air in Scottsbluff, KDUH-TV (now KNEP). During the next twelve years, there was a great amount of confusion among Scottsbluff viewers especially when the two stations aired the same program simultaneously. Both had unusual "joint primary" affiliations with ABC and CBS from 1965 onwards. Although KFBC/KSTF slightly favored ABC and KOTA/KDUH slightly favored CBS, it did not help the duplication problem. However, in 1970, KDUH, along with KOTA, dropped CBS for NBC.
On December 28, 1963, KTVS (channel 3) inSterling, Colorado, signed on as another semi-satellite serving Northeastern Colorado. In September 1999, Benedek sold that station to theNewsweb Corporation which made it a satellite of Denver'sKTVD. Channel 3 now operates asKCDO-TV, anindependent station targeting Denver.
The stations' signals aremultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KGWN-TV | KSTF | KGWN-TV | KSTF | |||
| 5.1 | 10.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KGWN-HD | KSTF-HD | CBS |
| 5.2 | 10.2 | 720p | KGWN-NC | KSTF-NC | NBC (KNEP) | |
| 5.3 | 10.3 | KGWN-CW | KSTF-CW | The CW Plus | ||
KGWN turned off its analog signal on channel 5 (VHF), and transitioned to digital onUHF 30 on the mandatory June 12, 2009, conversion date at 3 p.m. local time.[23]
KGWN's semi-satellite KSTF did not offer any subchannels until upgrades to the microwave link connecting the stations were made in the mid-2010s; additionally, as the link used analog equipment, KSTF could only broadcast instandard definition.[5] However, KGWN's high definition feed was carried in Scottsbluff on Charterdigital channel 785. As of 2015[update], KSTF broadcasts in high definition and carries the KGWN subchannels.
By March 2020, the KGWN-DT3 feed of Cheyenne CW had been upgraded into720p HDover-the-air; it had been airing in the4:3standard definition picture format, before then; however, the KSTF-DT3 feed of Cheyenne CW continues to be aired in the480i 4:3 picture format. Meanwhile, the KGWN feed of CBS had been upgraded into1080i full HD over-the-air; before then, it had been airing in the 720p HD picture format.[2][22]
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofWyoming | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Wyoming | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS |
| |
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofNebraska | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Nebraska | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent |
| |
| PBS |
| |
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
