KGWN-TV

The station signed on the air on March 22, 1954, as KFBC-TV airing an analog signal on VHF channel 5. It was owned by the McCraken family along with the Wyoming State Leader-Tribune and Wyoming Eagle (later merged as Wyoming Tribune Eagle) and KFBC 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, and DuMont–but was initially a primary ABC affiliate. That may have seemed unusual as Cheyenne has always been a rather small market. 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 an ABC 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 the three 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 by Toledo-based attorney Edward 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 in Rapid City that day as a full-time ABC affiliate, and KYCU/KSTF felt obliged to fill the ABC void in Scottsbluff, as KOTA-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.

KGWN

former KGWN logo

Burke Broadcasting sold KYCU to Stauffer Communications in 1986, who changed its call sign to the current KGWN-TV on New Year's Day 1987. Later in 1987, channel 5 dropped NBC altogether when KKTU (now KQCK) signed on as a satellite of KTWO-TV in Casper. 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 with Morris Communications in 1996, KGWN and most of the rest of Stauffer's television holdings went to Benedek Broadcasting. That company went bankrupt in 2001 (it merged with Gray Television a year later) and KGWN was sold to Chelsey Broadcasting. In 2003, the station was acquired by SagamoreHill Broadcasting.

Northern Colorado 5 (2005–2013)

After having been dropped from the cable system in Northern Colorado by the time KCNC-TV became 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 the Denver 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 of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley, as well as grade B coverage as far south as Longmont and Boulder. It had long been carried on cable systems in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley alongside Denver's CBS affiliate (originally KMGH-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 lobby Comcast for carriage on its Northern Colorado systems in early 2005, to no avail. KGWN was talking in August to the owner of the Colorado Eagles hockey team owner about broadcasting their games.^[3] By October, the station had opened a bureau in Fort Collins with two sale representatives and a reporter.^[4] US Cable agreed to carry the station beginning on November 1.^[5] 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.^[6] In 2005, KGWN established a Northern Colorado Bureau in Fort Collins, which produced its first newscast in June 2006.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

On September 15, 2008, this operation was expanded after KGWN-DT2 launched a weeknight 35 minute newscast in partnership with the Independent News Network (INN). Known as Northern Colorado 5 News at 10, the broadcast was recorded in advance from INN's production facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, 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 on Northern Colorado.^[10]

At some point in time, production of Northern 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 during CBS 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 local radio station KXBG (97.9 FM). Following at 6:30, there was a local weather 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.^[10]

Recent changes

Former DT2 logo, to October 2017.

Former DT3 logo, to October 2017.

Vehicle sporting the logos of Cheyenne CW and CBS 5 NewsChannel in 2013.

In 2000, Benedek ended most local operations at KGWC-TV in Casper and its two satellites: KGWR-TV (in Rock Springs) and KGWL-TV (in Lander). 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 area cable 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 a propaganda campaign in the days leading up to the end of the contract attempting to change Bresnan Cable customers to Dish 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. 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 to 720p.

In May 2013, SagamoreHill Broadcasting reached a deal to sell KGWN and KSTF, along with KGNS-TV in Laredo, Texas, to Yellowstone Holdings, a subsidiary of Frontier Radio Management.^[11][12][13] On November 4, 2013, Gray Television announced a deal to acquire Yellowstone Holdings for $23 million. That reunited KGWN with many of its former sister stations under Benedek ownership after being separated for 11 years. KGWN-TV was operated under a local marketing agreement by Gray until the closure of the deal,^[14] on December 31.^[15] On December 19, 2013, KGWN announced that it would close "Northern Colorado 5," citing the inability to make the service "a viable long-term operation."^[10]

On January 24, 2019, Gray announced that the news operations of KGWN-TV and KCWY-DT would be merged under the Wyoming News Now banner by April 9, a banner similar to those used by some sister stations that were acquired from Raycom Media earlier in 2019. Under this arrangement, KGWN's 5:30 p.m. newscast will be the only Cheyenne-specific newscast (with KCWY airing a Casper-only newscast at 5 p.m.); all other newscasts, while being produced at KGWN, will be simulcast on KCWY in Casper and cover both markets. The consolidation came after the Department 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.^[16][17]

KSTF

KSTF signed on August 7, 1955 as a semi-satellite of what was then 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.

KTVS

On December 28, 1963, KTVS in Sterling, Colorado signed on as another semi-satellite serving Northeastern Colorado. In September 1999, Benedek sold that station to the Newsweb Corporation which made it a satellite of Denver's KTVD.

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KFBC

KFBC

KFBC is an American sports formatted radio station based in Cheyenne, Wyoming and targets the entire market. The station is a full time affiliate of CBS Sports Radio as well as the flagship station of the Cowboy State News Network. Additionally, KFBC is a part-time affiliate of the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies radio networks as well as the Wyoming Cowboys.

DuMont Television Network

DuMont Television Network

The DuMont Television Network was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer, and began operation on June 28, 1942.

Media market

Media market

A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media such as newspapers and internet content. They can coincide or overlap with one or more metropolitan areas, though rural regions with few significant population centers can also be designated as markets. Conversely, very large metropolitan areas can sometimes be subdivided into multiple segments. Market regions may overlap, meaning that people residing on the edge of one media market may be able to receive content from other nearby markets. They are widely used in audience measurements, which are compiled in the United States by Nielsen Media Research. Nielsen measures both television and radio audiences since its acquisition of Arbitron, which was completed in September 2013.

ABC News Radio

ABC News Radio

ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-past the hour, to its network affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.

Edward Lamb

Edward Lamb

Edward Lamb was an American businessman, broadcasting executive and labor lawyer. He is best known for having defended striking workers during the Auto-Lite Strike in 1934 and for successfully resisting the federal government's attempt to strip him of his broadcasting licenses during the McCarthy era.

KOTA-TV

KOTA-TV

KOTA-TV is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside MeTV affiliate KHME and low-power Fox affiliate KEVN-LD. The stations share studios on Skyline Drive in Rapid City, where KOTA-TV's transmitter is also located.

KHME

KHME

KHME is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the classic television network MeTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC affiliate KOTA-TV and low-power Fox affiliate KEVN-LD. The stations share studios on Skyline Drive in Rapid City, where KHME's transmitter is also located.

Call sign

Call sign

In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigned by a government agency, informally adopted by individuals or organizations, or even cryptographically encoded to disguise a station's identity.

KQCK

KQCK

KQCK, virtual channel 39, is a Christian Television Network (CTN) owned-and-operated station licensed to Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, and also serving Denver, Colorado. The station's studios are located on East Lincoln Way in Cheyenne, and its transmitter is located on Horsetooth Mountain, just outside Fort Collins, Colorado.

KTWO-TV

KTWO-TV

KTWO-TV is a television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Vision Alaska LLC, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, owner of Fox affiliate KFNB, for the provision of certain services. Coastal also operates CBS affiliate KGWC-TV under a separate SSA with owner Big Horn Television LLC. The stations share studios on Skyview Drive in Casper, while KTWO-TV's transmitter is located atop Casper Mountain.

Casper, Wyoming

Casper, Wyoming

Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nicknamed "The Oil City" and has a long history of oil boomtown and cowboy culture, dating back to the development of the nearby Salt Creek Oil Field.

Benedek Broadcasting

Benedek Broadcasting

Benedek Broadcasting was a television broadcasting company, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A. Richard Benedek but grew in the 1990s with buyouts of Brisette Broadcasting and Stauffer Communications. The company was based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Throughout its existence, namesake Benedek served as chairman and chief executive officer.

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:

KGWN subchannels

KGWN turned off its analog signal on channel 5 (VHF), and transitioned to digital on UHF 30 on the mandatory June 12, 2009 conversion date at 3PM local time.^[18]

KSTF subchannels

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 in standard definition.^[11] However, KGWN's high definition feed was carried in Scottsbluff on Charter digital 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 into 720p HD over-the-air; it had been airing in the 4:3 standard definition picture format, before then; however, the KSTF-DT3 feed of Cheyenne CW continues to be aired in the 480i 4:3 picture format. Meanwhile, the KGWN feed of CBS had been upgraded into 1080i full HD over-the-air; it had been airing in the 720p HD picture format, before then, as the KSTF feed of CBS continues to be.^[2][19]

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  Logo for Cheyenne News Now

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  Logo for Wyoming News Now

• 

  Logo for DT2 subchannel.

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  Logo for DT3 subchannel.

Translator

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Aspect ratio

Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of a geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangle is oriented as a "landscape".

1080i

1080i

1080i is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. The "i" is an abbreviation for "interlaced"; this indicates that only the even lines, then the odd lines of each frame are drawn alternately, so that only half the number of actual image frames are used to produce video. A related display resolution is 1080p, which also has 1080 lines of resolution; the "p" refers to progressive scan, which indicates that the lines of resolution for each frame are "drawn" on the screen in sequence.

CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global.

720p

720p

720p is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards include a 720p format, which has a resolution of 1280×720p.

KNEP

KNEP

KNEP is a television station in Sidney, Nebraska, United States, serving Scottsbluff and the Nebraska Panhandle as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Cheyenne, Wyoming–licensed dual CBS/CW+ affiliate KGWN-TV. KNEP's studios are located on 1st Avenue in Scottsbluff, and its transmitter is located in Angora, Nebraska.

NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are located at Comcast Building in New York City. The company also has offices in Los Angeles at 10 Universal City Plaza and Chicago at the NBC Tower. NBC is the oldest of the traditional "Big Three" American television networks, having been formed in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network," in reference to its stylized peacock logo, introduced in 1956 to promote the company's innovations in early color broadcasting.

The CW Plus

The CW Plus

The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast syndication service feed of The CW. It is intended primarily for American television markets ranked #100 and above by Nielsen Media Research estimates. The service is primarily carried on digital subchannels and multichannel subscription television providers, although it maintains primary affiliations on full-power and low-power stations in certain markets.

Very high frequency

Very high frequency

Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted high frequency (HF), and the next higher frequencies are known as ultra high frequency (UHF).

Ultra high frequency

Ultra high frequency

Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter. Radio waves with frequencies above the UHF band fall into the super-high frequency (SHF) or microwave frequency range. Lower frequency signals fall into the VHF or lower bands. UHF radio waves propagate mainly by line of sight; they are blocked by hills and large buildings although the transmission through building walls is strong enough for indoor reception. They are used for television broadcasting, cell phones, satellite communication including GPS, personal radio services including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, walkie-talkies, cordless phones, satellite phones, and numerous other applications.

Standard-definition television

Standard-definition television

Standard-definition television is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing specification for broadcast television in the mid- to late-20th century, and compatible with legacy analog broadcast systems.

Digital cable

Digital cable

Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previous analog-based cable by the mid 2010s. During the late 2000s, broadcast television converted to the digital HDTV standard, which was incompatible with existing analog cable systems.

Terrestrial television

Terrestrial television

Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an antenna. The term terrestrial is more common in Europe and Latin America, while in Canada and the United States it is called over-the-air or simply broadcast. This type of TV broadcast is distinguished from newer technologies, such as satellite television, in which the signal is transmitted to the receiver from an overhead satellite; cable television, in which the signal is carried to the receiver through a cable; and Internet Protocol television, in which the signal is received over an Internet stream or on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol. Terrestrial television stations broadcast on television channels with frequencies between about 52 and 600 MHz in the VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves in these bands travel by line of sight, reception is generally limited by the visual horizon to distances of 64–97 kilometres (40–60 mi), although under better conditions and with tropospheric ducting, signals can sometimes be received hundreds of kilometers distant.