KSCW DT

History

The station first signed on the air on August 5, 1999 as KWCV. Founded by Banks Broadcasting and originally operating as a WB affiliate, it was branded on-air as "Kansas' WB". Prior to the station's launch, The WB's programming could only be viewed in the Wichita market through Chicago-based cable superstation WGN, which carried the network's programming nationwide from The WB's January 1995 launch until October 1999, or Denver's KWGN-TV on cable or satellite. The station's original transmitter was located on a tower near Colwich.

On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming onto a newly created "fifth" network called The CW. One month later on February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced that it would launch another new network called MyNetworkTV. On March 21, not long after it was announced that the station would become the market's CW affiliate, KWCV received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change its call letters to KSCW in order to reflect its upcoming affiliation change. On September 5, former UPN affiliate KMTW became Wichita's MyNetworkTV affiliate when that network launched. KSCW became the CW outlet for the market when that network launched on September 18; the station also changed its branding to "Kansas CW" on that date.

In March 2007, Banks Broadcasting announced that it would sell the station to Schurz Communications, owner of CBS affiliate KWCH (channel 12). The sale closed on July 20, 2007, after which the FCC granted Schurz a "failing station" waiver to acquire KSCW. This was necessary because the Wichita designated market area has only seven "unique" full-power television stations. The full-power stations operating outside the immediate metropolitan area all operate as satellites of each of Wichita's four major network affiliates (KWCH, KSNW (channel 3), KAKE (channel 10) and KSAS-TV (channel 24)), and the FCC considers the parent and all of its satellites together as one station. That number of unique full-power stations is normally not enough to legally support a duopoly, because Banks Broadcasting tried and failed to find a buyer for KSCW that did not need the "failing station" waiver.

Several months after Schurz closed on its purchase of this station, it launched a new website powered by the Local Media Network division of WorldNow, replacing Broadcast Interactive Media as the operator of the site. Schurz began the process of transitioning the websites of its media properties to the Tribune Interactive platform in Summer 2010 with KWCH and KSCW being the first two using the relaunched Tribune-run platform in late-June (as of 2013, the Schurz television station websites are now operated by Internet Broadcasting). In 2009, KSCW traded transmitter facilities, moving to KWCH's former tower near Buhler in Reno County.

Schurz announced on September 14, 2015 that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including KSCW-DT, KWCH-DT, and the JSA with KDCU-DT, to Gray Television for $442.5 million. Gray already owns KAKE in Wichita; however, it will sell that station and keep KSCW and KWCH. The FCC approved the Schurz sale on February 12, 2016. And the sale was finalized on February 16.

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized the digital television allotment plan on April 21, 1997, the station did not receive a companion channel for its digital signal. Instead, at the end of the digital conversion period for full-power television stations, KSCW was required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (an action called a "flash-cut").

The station shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 33, on February 17 of that year, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were federally mandated to transition from analog to digital broadcasts (which was later pushed back to June 12). Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 33.

Programming

KSCW carries the entire CW network schedule (including the daytime and children's program blocks) and airs it mostly in pattern, with the exception of The Bill Cunningham Show, which airs at 1:00 p.m. instead of the network-recommended 3:00 p.m. timeslot. As a result of the two stations being operated together, KSCW may now carry CBS network programming should it be preempted by KWCH in the event of a local special or an emergency such as severe weather. Syndicated programs broadcast on KSCW include Dr. Phil, The Real, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Divorce Court, Judge Judy, Justice with Judge Mablean, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Inside Edition, TMZ, How I Met Your Mother, Hot in Cleveland, The First Family, Mr. Box Office, Castle and Scandal. In addition, sister station KWCH-DT produces the half-hour lifestyle and entertainment program The Brett & Sierra Show which airs weekdays on KSCW.

Newscasts

KWCH presently produces 17 hours of locally produced newscasts each week for sister station KSCW (with three hours on weekdays, a half-hour on Saturdays and 1½ hours on Sundays); in addition, the station airs the agricultural news program AG AM in Kansas, which airs weekday mornings at 6:00 a.m.

In 2008, KWCH began producing a two-hour extension of its weekday morning newscast for KSCW, titled Eyewitness News This Morning on KSCW; the program competes against the national morning news programs seen on the "Big Three" networks. In October 2008, KWCH became the first television station in the Wichita market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; the KSCW broadcast was included in the upgrade. Although not initially included in the change, KWCH upgraded its weather forecast segments to HD in March 2009. In 2010, that station added a half-hour Sunday evening newscast at 7:00 p.m. to KSCW, titled Eyewitness News Weekend.

On September 12, 2011, KWCH began producing half-hour newscasts at 4:00 p.m. weekdays and seven nights a week at 9:00 p.m. for KSCW; the latter production directly competed temporarily with another half-hour nightly newscast on Fox affiliate KSAS-TV that KWCH also produced since January 2004 through a separate news share agreement, which expired on December 31. In theory, KWCH could have simultaneously broadcast two 9:00 p.m. newscasts until the expiration of the agreement, because KSAS' newscast originated from a secondary set (designed by FX Group) at KWCH's studio facility; however on October 5, 2011, KSAS filed a lawsuit against KWCH in Sedgwick County District Court claiming that in violation of the news share agreement, KWCH began taping the KSAS newscasts in advance, while KWCH produced its newscast for KSCW live; District Judge Jeff Goering signed an order requiring KWCH to restore the live newscast on KSAS while the suit was pending.

After KWCH's agreement with KSAS ended, NBC affiliate KSNW took over the production of the KSAS newscasts (the station had previously produced a 9:00 p.m. newscast for KSAS from 1997 to 1999). The addition of the 4:00 p.m. newscast made KSCW one of the few CW affiliates not owned by Tribune Broadcasting to carry a late afternoon newscast, and was the only newscast in that timeslot in the Wichita market from September 2011 to September 2013, after ABC affiliate KAKE discontinued its own 4:00 p.m. newscast that same month. In September 2013, KSCW began airing a two-hour Sunday morning newscast, which airs on the station in lieu of KWCH (which carries a Saturday morning newscast).