TELEVISION

Station history comes from online research, The Seattle Times, the Tacoma News Tribune, Wikipedia, and QZVX readers.

4.1 KOMO A-B-C
[Digital 30] (Sinclair Broadcast Group) local news and network shows. KOMO Channel 4 Seattle, founded by Fisher’s Blend company, a family that pioneered radio in Seattle and owned KOMO Radio – went on the air on December 10, 1953. KOMO 4 took the NBC programming away from KMO TV 13. Harriet Bullitt lobbied NBC for affiliation and in 1959 NBC pulled its affiliation from KING’s cross-town rival, KOMO 4, and granted it to KING. KOMO became the A-B-C affiliate. Fisher sells KOMO TV & radio to Sinclair Broadcast Group – announced April 2013. -Seattle-

5.1 KING NBC
[Digital 25] (TEGNA — Gannett Corporation) local news and network shows. KRSC Channel 5 went on the air on Thanksgiving Day, 1948. Owned by P.K. Lieberman’s Radio Sales Corporation, the company that also owned 1150 KRSC Radio.
Channel 5 was purchased by Dorothy Bullitt’s King Broadcasting Company, owners of KING 1090 Radio, becoming KING TV in 1949. KING 5 held all the network programming DUMONT, CBS, NBC, and ABC. On August 2, 1953, KMO TV 13 Tacoma, owned by Carl E. Haymond, who also owned KMO Radio, went on the air, taking the NBC affiliation, leaving Channel 5 with ABC and some Dumont programming. Harriet Bullitt lobbied NBC for affiliation and in 1959 NBC pulled its affiliation from KING’s cross-town rival, KOMO 4, which had acquired it from KMO 13 when KOMO went on air in 1953. NBC affiliation was now granted to KING. KING 5 station-owner Dorothy Bullitt died in June 1989. Dorothy Bullitt’s daughters Harriet Bullitt and Priscilla “Patsy” Bullitt Collins decided to sell the KING assets in 1992 to the Providence Journal (ProJo) Company. KING-TV and other King Broadcasting stations later became Belo properties as a result of a merger with ProJo in 1997. BELO is acquired by Gannett in 2013. The broadcast company was renamed Tegna. -Seattle

7.1 KIRO CBS
[Digital 23] (Cox Communications) local news and network shows. On February 8, 1958, KIRO 7 Seattle [owned by Saul Haas, who owned KIRO Radio] went on the air and became the CBS affiliate. KTNT 11 became Tacoma’s second Independent TV station. 1964- Bonneville International Corporation, part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took ownership of KIRO-AM-FM-TV. KIRO was sold by Bonneville to Belo Corporation in 1995. The station affiliated with UPN on March 13, 1995, after CBS moved the network affiliation to KSTW 11, in a deal with Gaylord Television which included the Gaylord Dallas station as a new CBS affiliate. 1996- Gaylord announced the sale of KSTW to Cox Enterprises. KSTW’s sale was finalized on May 30, 1997.
When the Providence Journal/Belo Corp. merger happened in 1997, KSTW was sold to Viacom, KIRO to Cox, and former CBS O&O KMOV in St. Louis going from Viacom (who was selling off all non-UPN stations) to Belo. The two Seattle stations retained their respective syndicated programming, but swapped network affiliations, UPN going to KSTW 11.

9.1 KCTS PBS
[Digital 9] (KCTS Television) local news and network shows. KCTS 9 went on the air on December 7, 1954, broadcasting from the campus of the University of Washington with equipment donated by KING-TV owner Dorothy Bullitt. The station was operated by students of the Edison Technical School in Seattle, now known as Seattle Community College. The instructor was Nick Foster, formerly the operator of KFQX, bootlegger Roy Olmstead’s radio station. Network affiliation was with National Educational Television. -Seattle-

11.1 KSTW Independent
[Digital 11] (Paramount/CBS Corporation) Off-network reruns. KTNT Channel 11, Tacoma, owned by the Baker family, publishers of the Tacoma News Tribune and owners of KTNT Radio, went on the air March 1, 1953. KTNT 11 became the CBS TV affiliate. On February 8, 1958, KIRO 7 Seattle [owned by Saul Haas, who owned KIRO Radio] went on the air and became the CBS affiliate. KTNT 11 became Tacoma’s second Independent TV station. In 1974 — KTNT was sold to Gaylord Entertainment Company. Gaylord changed its call letters to KSTW, for Seattle-Tacoma, Washington. 1993- KSTW agreed to become the WB affiliate for Seattle beginning in 1995, when the network was to begin operation. The affiliation actually went to KTZZ Channel 22.
In 1995, CBS approached Gaylord for an affiliation with its Dallas station, KTVT. KSTW was included as part of the agreement, and as a result, CBS returned to KSTW on March 13, 1995, in a ten-year affiliation agreement. 1996- Gaylord announced the sale of KSTW to Cox Enterprises. KSTW’s sale was finalized on May 30, 1997.
When the Providence Journal/Belo Corp. merger happened in 1997, KSTW was sold to Viacom, KIRO to Cox, and former CBS O&O KMOV in St. Louis going from Viacom (who was selling off all non-UPN stations) to Belo. The two Seattle stations retained their respective syndicated programming, but swapped network affiliations once again, with KSTW becoming a UPN O&O, and KIRO regaining its CBS affiliation.
Cox held KSTW for just three days prior to the trade. KSTW began to air UPN programming on June 30, 1997 along with sitcoms, movies, cartoons and a few first-run syndicated shows. The station brought back its 10pm newscast and dropped its news production at all other time slots. The station canceled the 10pm newscast in December 1998. On January 24, 2006, the WB and UPN networks announced they would merge into a new network called The CW. CBS-owned KSTW, the then-current UPN station, was chosen as The CW’s Seattle-Tacoma affiliate. –CW affiliation ends effective 8-31-2023, as CBS dropped the CW network from all owned stations. CW affiliation was to change to KONG 16, but that deal never materialized. CW network programming subsequently aired on a subchannel of KOMO 4. KSTW rebrands as SEATTLE 11. -Tacoma-

12.1 KVOS Univision
[Digital 14] Spanish-language news, serials, movies and sports. [Weigel Broadcasting] [Started as a Seattle radio station, KVOS] – Kessler’s Voice of Seattle. Moved to Bellingham and picked up TV license. Once a CBS affiliate, KVOS struggled as an Independent and after purchase by Michael Dell’s OTA Broadcasting, moved studio facilities to Seattle. On March 12, 2015, the main feed of KVOS had adopted to KFFV’s 44.6 feed, the branding itself had been switched from MeTV KVOS to MeTV Seattle, prior to KVOS switching to Univision in January 2024. City of license is Bellingham-

13.1 KCPQ FOX
[Digital 13] (FOX) Tacoma – local news and network shows. Began as KMO 13 August 1953, owned by Carl Haymond, successful radio station owner. The TV franchise suffered financial losses, after losing NBC affiliation to KOMO in 1953. Sold to J. Elroy McCaw in 1954, the station struggled through the 1960s and early 1970s, in black and white 2ith low budget productions, a small library of 1940s films and 1950s TV reruns. J. Elroy’s son, Craig McCaw was founder, in 1987, of McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., a cellular telephone pioneer in the United States. The company purchased MCI Communications’s mobile businesses in 1986, followed by LIN Broadcasting in 1989, giving them widespread access in all of the major US markets. Partnering with AT&T as a technology provider, McCaw introduced their “Cellular One” service in 1990, the first truly national cellular system. AT&T purchased 33% of the company in 1992, and arranged a merger in 1994 that made Craig McCaw one of AT&T’s largest shareholders. In 2002, the company was spun off from AT&T to become AT&T Wireless Services. With the sale of Channel 13 to McCaw, KMO then became KTVW 13. Having been an NBC affiliate for just a little over 4 months, Channel 13 studios, originally located at the Roxy Theater in Tacoma, relocated to the transmitter site. J. Elroy McCaw died in 1969 and KTVW 13 was purchased by Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation in 1971 for $1.1 million. Color-capable cameras were purchased, more local programming, including an afternoon Merv Griffin-style variety show [The Tony Visco Show] and a kiddie-cartoon show with a super-hero host, Flash Blaidon were introduced.
Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation filed bankruptcy in 1974, and KTVW 13 went dark. 1975- Channel 13′s assets were bought in bankruptcy court bidding by the Clover Park School District in Lakewood, for $378,000. The call letters were changed to KCPQ, replacing Clover Park’s UHF channel 56 transmitter which had operated under the name KPEC-TV. Channel 13 returned to the air as an educational station, an affiliate of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had previously been National Educational Television [merged 1970] 1980- Sacramento, California-based Kelly Broadcasting, owners of KCRA-TV in its home city, purchased KCPQ 13 from the Clover Park School District for $6.25 million. Q13, was “The Northwest’s Movie Channel”. Channel 13 ran movies during middays, late nights and weekends, and uncut versions of films in primetime. The station also ran CBS and NBC shows that KIRO-TV and KING-TV respectively pre-empted, including CBS Late Night and NBC’s Saturday morning cartoons. For a short time after the relaunch, the station had an afternoon children’s program, “Captain Sea-Tac”, featuring a friendly boat captain who appeared to be in his 30s or so. 1986- KCPQ became one of the first affiliates of the FOX Broadcasting Company. The Tribune Company acquired KCPQ in August 1998, as part of Kelly Broadcasting’s exit from the television business. Following the purchase of Channel 13, Tribune merged KCPQ’s operations with those of KTWB 22, which Tribune had operated under a local marketing agreement with Emmis Communications. The two stations became co-owned in 1999, after the FCC approved same-market duopolies. Tribune stations were sold to Nexstar in September 2019. KCPQ was then to be sold by Nexstar to FOX.

16.1 KONG DT Independent
[Digital 31] (Gannett) syndicated reruns and rebroadcasts of KING News, local sports and some NBC programming such as “Meet The Press.” KONG 16 signed on the air July 8, 1997. It was locally owned, but managed by KING-TV (which Belo had just acquired) through a local marketing agreement. Belo bought Channel 16 outright in 2000, when the Federal Communications Commission began to permit duopolies. BELO is acquired by Gannett in 2013. -Everett-

20.1 KTBW TBN
[Digital 21] (Trinity Broadcasting Network) religion. Signed on as KQFB on March 30, 1984. As KQFB, the station was originally locally owned by Family Broadcasting based in University Place, WA. Family Broadcasting originally was going to broadcast Christian programming from several sources. Before the station went on the air, a minority interest in KQFB was acquired by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. When TBN acquired all the interest in Family Broadcasting, the call letters changed from KQFB to KTBW -Tacoma-

22.1 KZJO FOX 13+
Replays programming of FOX 13 KCPQ – On June 22, 1985, KTZZ Channel 22 went on the air in Seattle, owned by Alden Television, Inc., Los Angeles, CA. 1989- KTZZ Channel 22 was sold to Dudley Broadcasting. In 1993, KTZZ became an affiliate of the WB Network. Following the purchase of Channel 13, Tribune merged KCPQ’s operations with those of KTWB 22, which Tribune had operated under a local marketing agreement with Emmis Communications. The two stations became co-owned in 1999, after the FCC approved same-market duopolies.
After Tribune acquired KTZZ, Channel 22 changed its call letters to KTWB-TV (The Warner Brothers Network). In 2004, KTWB revised its on-air brand from WB 22 to Seattle’s WB as part of a groupwide branding effort. On May 15, 2006, Tribune announced that it would affiliate channel 22 with MyNetworkTV.
On July 14, 2006, channel 22′s call letters were officially changed to KMYQ to reflect its new affiliation, and the station’s brand name was changed to myQ on August 7, 2006. On September 13, 2010, the station moved its MyNetworkTV programming to 11:00 p.m. KMYQ changed its call letters to KZJO and rebranded as JOEtv. The station airs mostly syndicated programming such as The Simpsons, My Name is Earl and King of the Hill in addition to the MyNetworkTV programming. Tribune company sold KCPQ 13 and KZJO to Nexstar effective September 19, 2019. The stations were acquired by FOX in 2020. -Seattle-

24.1 KBCB TCT
Tri-State Christian Television as of 2021. Previous owner Venture Technologies Group [Bellingham], originally on-air as KEGA February 1989. 21st Century FOX announced purchase for $10 million October 2014. The sale was not completed. This was a negotiating tactic with KCPQ 13.

28.1 KBTC PBS
[Digital 27] (Bates Technical College) -Tacoma- KBTC-TV, virtual channel 28 (UHF digital channel 27), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station serving all of Western Washington. With the combined power of the station’s transmitters and translators, KBTC has the largest over the air signal footprint in the region. The robust over the air signal also provides the station with carriage on the various MSOs (cable TV) all across Western Washington. The station is available on satellite on both DISH and DirectTV as well.
The station is licensed in Tacoma to Bates Technical College. KBTC-TV’s transmitter is located on 35th Street in northwest Tacoma. The station’s studios are located on the college’s central campus on South 19th Street in Tacoma; the property was purchased from KSTW when that station moved to Renton in 2001.
Most recently, KBTC’s local production efforts revolve around the weekly public affairs program, Northwest Now. Managing Editor Tom Layson re-launched the show in the spring of 2012 and has since been joined by former KING/KCPQ assignment desk editor Chris Anderson who is the show’s associate producer and who shoots Digital First shorts for Northwest Now’s social media.
The station is a recipient of several important grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting including Ready to Learn, Veterans Coming Home and American Graduate. These grants support the station’s partnership work to address critical early education needs of children and families in underserved communities and to develop content that is responsive to local issues. The station regularly convenes screenings and discussions including the Insight Speaker Series, events featuring veterans’ stories of service, and summer camps and family paint nights in the furtherance of the station’s educational mission.
KBTC-TV also operates full-time satellite KCKA (virtual channel 15, UHF digital channel 19) in Centralia, whose transmitter is located atop Crego Hill. KBTC’s programming is also repeated on low-powered translators K41KT-D, channel 16 in Grays River (serving the inland areas of Wahkiakum and Pacific counties, as well as northern Clatsop County, Oregon) and K24IC-D, channel 24 in Bellingham (serving the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands regions, as well as Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from Mount Constitution). Both repeaters remap to PSIP channel 28.
The station originally signed on the air September 25, 1961 as KTPS-TV, owned by the Tacoma Public Schools (licensed under the district’s official name, “Tacoma School District No. 10”). KTPS initially operated on Channel 62; it moved to channel 28 in 1982, and shortly after the channel change, KCKA came into operation. Bates took over both KTPS-TV and KCKA in 1992 and changed KTPS-TV’s callsign to KBTC on October 12 of that year.
KBTC’s programming became digital-only on June 12, 2009. On November 1, 2009, KBTC began broadcasting in 1080i HD on 28.1, with MHz Worldview appearing on subchannel 28.2. On May 15, 2010, K24IC-D began broadcasting in 1080i HD from Mount Constitution. On December 6, 2010.

33.1 KWPX DT ION
[Digital 33] Former call sign: KBGE -Bellevue- Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television (commonly referred to as “i”) on July 1, 2005, converting into a general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007, and currently airs programming in daily binge blocks of one program, usually acquired procedural dramas. The network also carries some holiday specials and films before Christmas.

42.1 KWDK DT Daystar
[Digital 42 – OTA 56.1] KWDK (channel 56) is a religious television station licensed to Tacoma, broadcasting the Daystar Television Network to the Seattle area. The station is owned and operated by Community Television Educators, Inc., a subsidiary of Daystar parent company Word of God Fellowship. KWDK’s transmitter is located on West Tiger Mountain near Issaquah.

44.1 KFFV MeTV
(Weigel) -Seattle-

46.1 KUSE LD AZTECA
Spanish-language programming – Seattle

51.1 KUNS DT CW
[Digital 24] (Sinclair Broadcasting) CW network programs, syndicated reruns and KOMO 4 newscasts. Call signs previously: KBEH (1999–2000) KWOG (2000–2006) -Bellevue-