KMTW
Encyclopedia
KMTW is the MyNetworkTV
-affiliated television station
for Wichita, Kansas
licensed to Hutchinson
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 35 (or virtual channel
36.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Sedgwick
. The station can also be seen on Cox
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 2006.
Owned by the Mercury Broadcasting Company, the station is operated through a local marketing agreement
(LMA) by Newport Television
. This makes it sister to Fox
affiliate KSAS-TV
and the two outlets share studios on North West Street in Nortwestern Wichita. Syndicated
programming on KMTW includes That '70s Show
, The Real Housewives of Orange County
, The People's Court
, and Judge Karen's Court among others.
The station signed-on January 6, 2001
as KSCC and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 36. In a rarity for a market
of Wichita's size, it was actually a UPN
owned-and-operated station
through Viacom
's subsidiary Paramount Stations Group
. However, that company only held control of KSCC's license during its first five months on-the-air having financed its launch and overseen construction. Just prior to the station's sign-on, its broadcasting license was sold to Mercury Broadcasting who immediately entered into a LMA with Clear Channel Communications
(owner of KSAS at the time and controller of several radio station
s once under Viacom ownership). As a result, Clear Channel officially operated the station from the very beginning. In June 2001, Mercury Broadcasting would take over ownership of KSCC. Before its launch, the area did not have a UPN affiliate of its own.
In 2003, Clear Channel attempted to buy the station outright but was denied a "failing station" waiver by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). This special approval for the sale was necessary because the Wichita DMA has only seven "unique" full-power television stations. All full-power outlets outside the immediate metro area are all satellites of Wichita-based parent stations and the FCC considers the parent and all of its satellites together as one unit. That number of unique full-power stations is normally not enough to legally support a duopoly
and Clear Channel did not attempt to find a buyer for KSCC who did not need a "failing station" waiver. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced the two would shut down and merge. The newly combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
.
On February 22, News Corporation
announced it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent and also compete against The CW. KSCC was announced on June 15 as joining the News Corporation-owned network and subsequently changed its call sign to the current KMTW on August 1. The station began carrying MyNetworkTV at its launch on September 5 while the area's WB affiliate KWCV (now KSCW-DT) added The CW on September 18. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group (including KSAS and its LMA with KMTW) to Newport Television, a holding company controlled by Providence Equity Partners
. The sale was finalized on March 14, 2008.
) through a news share agreement. The outsourcing arrangement is scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, and NBC
affiliate KSNW
(which is currently the only station in the Wichita/Hutchinson area that still airs its newscasts in enhanced definition widescreen rather than true high definition) will take over the production of the KSAS newscasts at that time. From 1997 until 1999, the latter station actually produced the first nightly 9 p.m. newscast on KSAS, but the effort was cancelled due to poor ratings
performance.
Storm Team
Sports team
Reporters
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
licensed to Hutchinson
Hutchinson, Kansas
Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch"...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 35 (or virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
36.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Sedgwick
Sedgwick, Kansas
Sedgwick is a city in Harvey and Sedgwick counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,695.-History:Sedgwick was named after John Sedgwick, who was a Major General in the Union Army during the American Civil War....
. The station can also be seen on Cox
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 2006.
Owned by the Mercury Broadcasting Company, the station is operated through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA) by Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
. This makes it sister to Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate KSAS-TV
KSAS-TV
KSAS-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Wichita, Kansas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter in Colwich. The station can also be seen on Cox channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 2004...
and the two outlets share studios on North West Street in Nortwestern Wichita. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on KMTW includes That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
, The Real Housewives of Orange County
The Real Housewives of Orange County
The Real Housewives of Orange County is a reality television program on the Bravo network. It is the first and seminal installation in the The Real Housewives of... series...
, The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
, and Judge Karen's Court among others.
Digital television
On KMTW-DT2 is The Country Network which cannot be seen on Cox digital systems at the current time.| Virtual channel |
Physical channel |
Name | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36.1 | 35.1 | KMTW-HD | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main KMTW programming/MyNetworkTV (HD) |
| 36.2 | 35.2 | KMTW-DT2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | The Country Network (SD) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
On February 17, 2009, KMTW shut-down its analog signal and continued digital-exclusive transmission. Digital television receivers continue displaying its virtual digital channel as 36.1 through PSIP.History
2001 in television
The year 2001 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2001.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:*Meet the Press .*Candid Camera .*CBS Evening News ....
as KSCC and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 36. In a rarity for a market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
of Wichita's size, it was actually a UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
through Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
's subsidiary Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group was a television broadcasting company that was renamed from the TVX Broadcast Group in 1991 after Paramount Pictures gained full ownership of the group. At the time, it owned several Fox affiliates and independent stations...
. However, that company only held control of KSCC's license during its first five months on-the-air having financed its launch and overseen construction. Just prior to the station's sign-on, its broadcasting license was sold to Mercury Broadcasting who immediately entered into a LMA with Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
(owner of KSAS at the time and controller of several radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s once under Viacom ownership). As a result, Clear Channel officially operated the station from the very beginning. In June 2001, Mercury Broadcasting would take over ownership of KSCC. Before its launch, the area did not have a UPN affiliate of its own.
In 2003, Clear Channel attempted to buy the station outright but was denied a "failing station" waiver by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). This special approval for the sale was necessary because the Wichita DMA has only seven "unique" full-power television stations. All full-power outlets outside the immediate metro area are all satellites of Wichita-based parent stations and the FCC considers the parent and all of its satellites together as one unit. That number of unique full-power stations is normally not enough to legally support a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
and Clear Channel did not attempt to find a buyer for KSCC who did not need a "failing station" waiver. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced the two would shut down and merge. The newly combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
.
On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent and also compete against The CW. KSCC was announced on June 15 as joining the News Corporation-owned network and subsequently changed its call sign to the current KMTW on August 1. The station began carrying MyNetworkTV at its launch on September 5 while the area's WB affiliate KWCV (now KSCW-DT) added The CW on September 18. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group (including KSAS and its LMA with KMTW) to Newport Television, a holding company controlled by Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
. The sale was finalized on March 14, 2008.
Newscasts
Every night at midnight, KMTW repeats the primetime 9 p.m. newscast as seen on KSAS earlier in the evening. This thirty-minute broadcast is produced in high definition by CBS affiliate KWCH-DT (owned by Schurz CommunicationsSchurz Communications
Schurz Communications is a South Bend, Indiana-based radio, television, cable tv and newspaper media group.-Cable Television Systems:*Antietam Cable, Hagerstown, Maryland *Advanced Cable Communications, Coral Springs, Florida...
) through a news share agreement. The outsourcing arrangement is scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate KSNW
KSNW
KSNW, digital channel 45 , is a NBC affiliate television station based in Wichita, Kansas. It is owned by the New Vision Television group. KSNW is also the flagship station of the Kansas State Network , a chain of NBC affiliates serving the western three-fourths of the state. KSNW's transmitter is...
(which is currently the only station in the Wichita/Hutchinson area that still airs its newscasts in enhanced definition widescreen rather than true high definition) will take over the production of the KSAS newscasts at that time. From 1997 until 1999, the latter station actually produced the first nightly 9 p.m. newscast on KSAS, but the effort was cancelled due to poor ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
performance.
News team
Anchors- Denise Hnytka - Sundays and Mondays; also reporter
- Rebecca Gannon - Tuesday-Saturdays; also reporter
Storm Team
- Merril Teller (member, AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
) - chief meteorologist; Tuesday-Saturdays - Ross Janssen (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; Sundays and Mondays - Rodney Price (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; fill-in
Sports team
- Bruce Haertl - sports directorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
; Tuesday-Saturdays; also heard on KFH-AMKFH (AM)KFH is a sports radio station licensed to Wichita, Kansas. The station is currently owned by Entercom.The station started in March 1922 as WEAH, owned by the Lander Radio Company, and was originally intended to broadcast market reports. It began actual broadcasts on April 1, 1922. On June 23,...
-FMKFH-FMKFH-FM FM is a radio station broadcasting sports format in Wichita, Kansas. The station is licensed to Clearwater, Kansas and is currently owned by Entercom.-History:... - Jenn Bates - sports anchor; Sundays and Mondays, also sports reporter
Reporters
- Brian Heap - investigative reporter
- Kim Hynes - city and county government reporter
- Karl Man - Salina bureau reporter
- Grant Meech - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor
- Melody Pettit
- Dave Roberts
- Michael Schwanke - investigativeInvestigative journalismInvestigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
reporter - Kara Sewell - education reporter
- Megan Strader - aviation reporter
- Danilynn Welniak - Dodge City sports reporter
- Kim Wilhelm - managing editorManaging editorA managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
and chief Investigative reporter - Heather Williams - Hays sports reporter