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KWCH-DT
	Hutchinson / Wichita, Kansas
Branding	KWCH 12 (general); KWCH 12 Eyewitness News HD (newscasts)
Slogan	Expect More
Channels	Digital: 19 (UHF);
Subchannels	12.1 CBS; 12.2 Local Weather
Owner	Schurz Communications; (Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date	July 1, 1953
Call letters’ meaning	WiCHita
Sister station(s)	KSCW-DT; KBSD-DT; KBSH-DT; KBSL-DT
Former callsigns	KTVH (1953-1983); KWCH-TV (1983-2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:; 12 (1953-2009); Digital:; 19 (2002-2009); 12 (2009)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953-1954); ABC (1953-1955); DuMont (1953-1955); all secondary
Transmitter Power	1000 kW
Height	421 m
Facility ID	66413
Transmitter Coordinates	37°48′0.7″N 97°31′30.2″W / 37.800194°N 97.525056°W
Website	kwch.com

KWCH-DT is the CBS-affiliated television station for Wichita, Kansas that is licensed to Hutchinson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 (virtual channel 12) from a transmitter in Colwich. Although the station no longer airs an over-the-air analog signal, it can be seen on Cox cable channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 612. Owned by Schurz Communications, KWCH is sister to CW affiliate KSCW. The two stations share studios on East 37th Street North in Wichita. Syndicated programming on KWCH includes: Inside Edition, Oprah, and Dr. Phil.

[edit] History

Channel 12 debuted July 1, 1953 as KTVH. It is Kansas' oldest surviving station and the first to serve a Kansas-based market. The first station to sign on in Kansas was KCTY which operated a transmitter in Overland Park for less than a year in 1953 and 1954. That station went on-the-air in June 1953 just prior to KTVH's sign-on. Channel 12 broadcasted from studios in Hutchinson and carried programming from all four networks of the time (CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont). In 1954, it lost NBC when KAKE-TV signed on but continued to air some ABC programming until KARD-TV (now KSNW) signed on in 1955 and took over the NBC affiliation. The first NBC affiliate in Wichita was with KEDD-TV which operated as an independent station for a short time before shutting down after losing its network affiliation to KAKE.b^[1] Also in 1954, KTVH opened satellite studios on 37th Street North in Wichita.

In 1955, the station was bought by Cowles Communications of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1956, the station boosted its signal to cover all of the Wichita metropolitan area. It also moved its main studios to the KEDD facility, where it is today, though it still identifies itself as serving "Hutchinson / Wichita". The power boost brought CBS color programming to Wichita for the first time. KEDD did not have the capability to broadcast in color. In 1962, the FCC ruled that central and western Kansas were part of the Wichita market. As a result, Cowles bought KTVC in Dodge City (now KBSD-DT), KAYS-TV in Hays (now KBSH-DT), and KLOE-TV in Goodland (now KBSL-DT) and merged them into the Kansas Broadcasting System with KTVH as the flagship station.

In 1963, channel 12 activated its current tower north of Burrton just east of Hutchinson which is the tallest in the state. Combined with its three satellites, it boosted channel 12's signal to cover almost two-thirds of Kansas. In 1983, the Cowles family began selling off its vast media holdings. KTVH and its sister stations were sold to the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation owned by a pair of businessmen from Hays, Ross Beach and Bob Schmidt. They changed the call letters to the current KWCH-TV.

In 1989, the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation was purchased by Smith Broadcasting which included, as an owner, longtime Wichita television executive Sandy DiPasquale (now the CEO of Newport Television). Smith sold the station to Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1994. Spartan merged with Media General in 2000. Until late-1999, all shows produced by King World aired on KWCH. Since then, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have moved from channel 12 to KSNW. In 2005, KWCH received the "Large Market Television Station of the Year" award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. On April 6, 2006, Media General announced that it would sell KWCH and its satellites (which all count as one station) and four other stations as a result of its purchase of four former NBC owned-and-operated-stations. Schurz eventually emerged as the winner and took over on September 25. However, KWCH still uses the same logo from the Media General era. In July 2007, KSCW became a sister station to KWCH after Schurz bought the station. On February 17, 2009,^[2], the station became digital exclusive and moved back to channel 12. On June 24, 2009, KWCH-TV and satellites KBSL-TV and KSBH-TV replaced "-TV" in their callsigns with "-DT". KBSD-TV did so on June 25, 2009.

[edit] Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed. On its second digital subchannel, there is a 24-hour local weather channel known as "Always On Storm Team 12". The doppler weather radar and regional forecasts are displayed in the top right-hand corner, city and town forecasts across the state are on the bottom of the screen, and a second doppler radar constantly showing is in the top left-hand corner. When applicable, weather closings are displayed on the bottom of the screen below the city forecasts. The weather channel can also seen on Cox digital cable channel 675 and online through live streaming video.

Channel	Programming
12.1	main KWCH programming / CBS HD
12.2	"Always On Storm Team 12" (24-hour local weather)

After the June 12, 2009, transition, KWCH was one of four VHF digital stations granted a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems as a result of changing their digital channel from UHF to VHF.^[3] Since reception problems continue, the FCC granted KWCH special permission to switch transmitting facilities with KSCW-DT. On September 29, 2009, KWCH-DT moved back to Channel 19 (their pre-transition UHF channel) and moved their sister-station KSCW-DT to Channel 12.^[4]

[edit] Satellites

KWCH operates a statewide network of three full-power stations covering Central and Western Kansas, the Kansas Broadcasting System.

KBSH-DT broadcasts as a "virtual" station on Cox cable systems in Salina with the ability to locally insert news, weather, and commercials. Its over-the-air broadcasts became digital exclusive on February 17, 2009. In the 1970s, KWCH formally operated a translator in Arkansas City on channel 70.

Station	Locations served	Channels (Analog / Digital)	First air date	Call letters meaning	Former callsigns		Former affiliations	ERP (Analog/ Digital)	HAAT (Analog/ Digital)	Facility ID	Transmitter Coordinates
KBSD-DT	Ensign/Dodge City/Garden City	6 (VHF) 5 (VHF)	July 24, 1957	Kansas Broadcasting System Dodge City	KTVC (1957-1989)	KBSD-TV (1989-2009)	none	100 kW 20 kW	219 m 198.2 m	66414	37°38′28.3″N 100°20′40.8″W / 37.641194°N 100.344667°W / 37.641194; -100.344667
KBSH-DT	Hays/Great Bend/Salina	7 (VHF)	September 1958	Kansas Broadcasting System Hays	KAYS-TV (1958-1989)	KBSH-TV (1989-2009)	ABC (secondary)	9.6 kW	216 m	66415	38°53′0.9″N 99°20′15.7″W / 38.883583°N 99.337694°W / 38.883583; -99.337694
KBSL-DT	Goodland	10 (VHF) 14 (UHF)	April 1959	Kansas Broadcasting System GoodLand	KLOE-TV (1959-1989)	KBSL-TV (1989-2009)	none	316 kW 1,000 kW	299 m 285.4 m	66416	39°28′9.7″N 101°33′20.8″W / 39.469361°N 101.555778°W / 39.469361; -101.555778

[edit] News operation

Since 1985, KWCH has led the news ratings in the Wichita market.^[5] In the May 2007 ratings period, its newscasts attracted more viewers than KAKE and KSNW combined. KBSH in Hays provided daily news coverage from its Hall Street studios through much of the late-1980s and 1990s. The full daily newscast continued until the late-1990s when new ownership brought consolidation to the Kansas Broadcasting System. KBSH's evening newscasts were reduced to a short insert that aired during the main newscasts on KWCH in Wichita. In 2001, these news inserts came to an end. The two reporter / photographers stationed at KBSH began sending their stories to Wichita to be incorporated into the Eyewitness News programs seen simultaneously in Wichita, Hays, Goodland, Dodge City, and Ensign. Today, KBSH maintains a full time anchor / reporter at a news bureau in the same location in Hays that it has occupied since the beginning.

There is also a Salina Bureau that provides a short news and weather insert during the main broadcasts and online. It is identified as "KWCH 12 Eyewitness News Salina". KBSD in Dodge City produced a full local newscast for many years in addition to carry the newscasts from KWCH. More recently, this station has been downsized to contribution reports to the Wichita newscasts and web content supplied through KWCH's website. In October 2008, the station became the first in the market to broadcast their local news in high definition. In order to make the change, KWCH upgraded their studios. The KSAS and KSCW broadcasts were included in the switch. Its weather segments upgraded to high definition level in March 2009, also a first in the market.

KWCH produces a nightly 9 o'clock newscast for Fox affiliate KSAS-TV called Fox Kansas Eyewitness News at 9. On weekday mornings at 7, KWCH produces a two-hour long newscast for KSCW called Eyewitness News This Morning on Kansas CW. During weather segments, the station uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from sites located in Goodland, Dodge City, Wichita, and central Wabaunsee County. This radar data is known on-air as "Live Storm Team 12 High Definition Super Doppler Radar" or as it is commonly referred to as "HD Super Doppler".

[edit] News/Station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

The News (Late 1970s)
News 12 (Early 1980s)
Eyewitness News (1980s-1995)
Channel 12 Eyewitness News (1995-2001)
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News (2001-2009)
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News in High Definition (2009-present)

[edit] Station slogans

Kansas' #1 News Source (1995-2001)
Coverage You Can Count On / People You Can Count On (2001-2009)
Expect More (2009-present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current on-air talent

(as of August 2009)
Current Anchors

Roger Cornish - weeknights at 6 and 10PM
Rebecca Gannon - weeknights at 9PM (on KSAS) (also reporter)
Brian Heap - weekday mornings (also investigative reporter)
Denise Hnytka - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM (also reporter)
Cindy Klose - weeknights at 5, 6, and 10PM (also reporter)
Felicia Rolfe - weekday mornings
Michael Schwanke - weeknights at 5PM (also reporter)
Kim Setty - weekdays at noon (also "Does It Work?" segment producer)
Kara Sewell - Saturday mornings (also reporter)

Reporters

Tracy Crockett - KBSH reporter
Jim Grawe - general assignment reporter
Kim Hynes - general assignment reporter
Cliff Judy - general assignment reporter
Melody Pettit - KBSH general assignment and sports reporter
Megan Strader - general assignment reporter
Kim Wilhelm - general assignment reporter

Storm Team 12

Merrill Teller - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM
Ross Janssen - Meteorologist; Saturday mornings and 6PM, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM
Mark Larson - Meteorologist; weekday mornings
Ayna Sehgal - Meteorologist; weekdays at noon
Rodney Price - Meteorologist; fill-in

Sports Team

Bruce Haertl - Sports Director; weeknights at 6, 9 (on KSAS), and 10PM
Jenn Bates - Sports Anchor; weekends and reporter
Bryan Holmgren - sports reporter
Trista Hall - KBSD sports reporter
Grant Meech - KBSH sports reporter

[edit] Past personalities

David Bloom - reporter (1988–1989; deceased)
Cheryl Burton - anchor (now at WLS-TV)
Bernard Choi - education / city government reporter (2001-2004; now at KING-TV in Seattle)
Mark Ewing - sports anchor and reporter (now at WIBW-TV in Topeka)
Michael Herzenberg (now at WTNH)
Taunia Hottman (married Jeremy Hubbard; at KUSA-TV from 2004-2007)
Tucker Jankosky - reporter
Andrea Joyce - anchor (now at NBC Sports)
Jim Kobbe - sports anchor and reporter (now at KSNW-TV)
Chris Koeberl - investigative reporter (1999-2004; now at KOB-TV in Albuquerque)
Linda Mares - general assignment reporter (now at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City)
Adam Everett Marshall - KBSH anchor and reporter
Susan Peters - anchor (1983–1991; now at KAKE-TV)
Delaina Renfro - reporter (2002-2003)
Joe Sheeran - reporter (2003-2006; now in Philadelphia)
Kristi Tedesco (now at KVOA in Tucson, Arizona)

[edit] References

^ http://www.schurz.com/tvstations/kwch_tv/
^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
^ Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise Station Gets Power Boost". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/307121-Boise_Station_Gets_Power_Boost.php?rssid=20068&q=digital+tv. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
^ http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=11171034
^ http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=5567851&nav=menu486_10 About KWCH

[edit] External links

[0] ttp://www.schurz.com/tvstations/kwch_tv/

[Analog_to_Digital-1] ttp://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

[2] Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise Station Gets Power Boost". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/307121-Boise_Station_Gets_Power_Boost.php?rssid=20068&q=digital+tv. Retrieved 2009-07-01.

[3] ttp://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=11171034

[4] ttp://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=5567851&nav=menu486_10 About KWCH

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