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KWCH TV

On July 1, 1953, KTVH TV, channel 12, signed on the air. The station was first operated in Hutchinson, designated by the H in the call letters. In 1954 a second studio was opened in Wichita. Cowles Communications of Des Moines, Iowa, purchased the station and completed the move to the Wichita area in 1956. A primary CBS affiliate, the station initially had the opportunity to program other network offerings until other local network affiliates were established in the market.

In 1962 the Federal Communications Commission defined western Kansas as part of the Wichita market. Cowles then purchased stations in Dodge City, Hays, and Goodland to create the Kansas Broadcasting System. In 1983 the stations were sold to Ross Beach and Bob Schmidt who changed the call letters to KWCH-TV. The stations were sold again in 1989 to Smith Broadcasting and to Spartan Communications in 1994. Spartan merged with Media General in 2000. In 2006 the stations were sold to Schurz Communications, Inc., establishing Sunflower Broadcasting. KSCW was added in 2007, for the CW network affiliate. In 2009 the broadcasting group partnered with Entravision Communications Corporation and to add KDCU-DT 31, a Univision affiliate.

KWCH-DT and satellites KBSD-DT, KBSH-DT, and KBSL-DT are CBS affiliates and serve the western two thirds of Kansas. KWCH-DT also operates a virtual station on Cox Cable in Salina, Kansas, with local news, weather, and commercials. The station and satellites can be seen in portions of Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. It operates two digital signals on dot 1 (12.1, 6.1, 7.1, 10.1) and dot 2 (12.2, 6.2, 7.2, 10.2)

Entry: KWCH TV

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: April 2014

Date Modified: April 2015

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.