KMTW

KMTW is a full-power television station licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, and serving the Wichita–Hutchinson designated market area. Broadcasting on virtual channel 36, the station is owned by Mercury Broadcasting Company and operates under a local marketing agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns KSAS-TV, Wichita’s Fox affiliate. KMTW and KSAS share studio facilities on North West Street in northwestern Wichita, while KMTW’s transmitter is located in rural southwestern Harvey County near Halstead. The station originated in the late 1990s as a proposed second television outlet associated with Clear Channel Communications and Goddard-based Three Feathers Communications. The construction permit initially used the call sign KAWJ and later became KSCC. Although Viacom’s Paramount Stations Group was involved in an attempted license acquisition in 1999, the station’s license assets were ultimately sold to Mercury Broadcasting before the station began regular broadcasting. KMTW first signed on January 5, 2001, after having become available on Cox Cable in the Wichita area during 2000. It initially operated as a UPN affiliate and was notable because it was effectively an owned-and-operated UPN outlet at a time when Wichita was a relatively small market for that type of network arrangement. The station’s identity changed substantially during the 2006 restructuring of American broadcast television. When UPN and The WB were replaced by The CW, Fox launched MyNetworkTV as an alternative for stations that did not receive CW affiliations. KSCC was selected as Wichita’s charter MyNetworkTV affiliate and changed its call letters to KMTW on August 1, 2006. It began carrying MyNetworkTV when that service launched on September 5, 2006, while the market’s former WB outlet became the local CW affiliate. KMTW remained associated with MyNetworkTV for approximately 15 years. In 2008, the LMA connected to KMTW and KSAS passed from Clear Channel’s television portfolio to Newport Television following a sale to a Providence Equity Partners-controlled holding company. Sinclair Broadcast Group later acquired KSAS and assumed the related LMA in 2012. The transaction also included an option that could have allowed Sinclair to purchase KMTW from Mercury if federal ownership rules permitted the proposed arrangement. In September 2021, MyNetworkTV programming moved from KMTW’s main service to KSAS-TV’s second digital channel. KMTW continued operating as a digital multicast station, carrying services that included TBD, Dabl, getTV, Stadium, and other network programming at different points. In August 2025, the station dropped Dabl and adopted programming from Roar. KMTW therefore remains an active broadcast property, but its current role is primarily that of a multicast network outlet rather than a separately branded conventional network affiliate. Its programming history also includes a former late-night retransmission of KSAS-TV’s local 9 p.m. newscast, produced under successive news-sharing arrangements.

KMTW’s development began on June 27, 1997, when Clear Channel Communications, then the owner of Wichita Fox affiliate KSAS-TV, entered a local marketing agreement with Three Feathers Communications to establish a new station licensed to Hutchinson. The proposed station initially used the KAWJ call sign. On October 9, 1998, its construction permit adopted the KSCC call letters, reflecting its connection with Clear Channel and the Wichita market. Three Feathers applied in 1999 to sell the KSCC license to Viacom’s Paramount Stations Group. The Federal Communications Commission approved that application on October 1, but the station’s license assets were sold to Mercury Broadcasting Company before the station went on the air. Mercury assumed ownership in June 2001. KSCC first broadcast on January 5, 2001, although it had already appeared on Cox Cable in the Wichita area beginning in August 2000. Its initial affiliation was UPN, and the station’s presence gave Wichita an uncommon UPN owned-and-operated-style outlet for a market of its size. Before the launch, UPN programming had been carried secondarily by KSAS. Clear Channel attempted to acquire KSCC outright in 2003. The FCC rejected the requested failing-station waiver, a decision shaped by the limited number of unique full-power commercial stations in the Wichita–Hutchinson market. Because several stations outside Wichita operated as satellites of the market’s major affiliates, the FCC counted the market as having too few independent full-power outlets to readily support the proposed ownership combination. Clear Channel did not pursue another buyer that could avoid the waiver issue. The station’s first major rebranding came during the 2006 network realignment. Time Warner and CBS announced that The WB and UPN would be discontinued and replaced by The CW. Fox responded by creating MyNetworkTV to serve stations that lost UPN or WB affiliations and were not selected for The CW. On June 15, 2006, KSCC was announced as Wichita’s MyNetworkTV charter affiliate. It adopted the KMTW call sign on August 1 and joined MyNetworkTV when the service launched on September 5. Wichita’s former WB outlet, KWCV, became the market’s CW station. In April 2007, Clear Channel agreed to sell its television stations, including KSAS and the LMA involving KMTW, to Newport Television, a company controlled by Providence Equity Partners. The transaction closed on March 14, 2008. Newport later announced the sale of KSAS and the related KMTW LMA to Sinclair Broadcast Group in July 2012. That broader transaction closed on December 3, 2012. Sinclair received an option to acquire KMTW from Mercury if future FCC ownership-rule changes permitted the arrangement, but KMTW remained owned by Mercury. KMTW also carried local-news material through its relationship with KSAS. Until January 31, 2011, it aired a midnight repeat of KSAS’s 9 p.m. newscast, which was produced by KWCH-DT under a news-sharing arrangement. That outsourcing arrangement ended at the close of 2011, after which KSNW resumed production of the KSAS newscast. KAKE later took over production of KSAS’s 9 p.m. broadcast in January 2020. Following the 2021 realignment, KMTW ceased to be the market’s separate MyNetworkTV outlet. On September 20, MyNetworkTV programming moved to KSAS-TV’s 24.2 subchannel, while KMTW carried other digital multicast services. Its subchannel history included services such as TBD, Dabl, getTV, Stadium, and ZUUS Country at different times. A June 2014 agreement between Sinclair and Sony Pictures Television Networks brought getTV to KMTW, and the service was later moved to another local station. In August 2025, KMTW dropped Dabl and switched to Roar programming. The station continues to operate as an active, Hutchinson-licensed television outlet serving the Wichita market.

• 2025

  Roar programming adopted

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  KMTW dropped Dabl and began carrying the Roar digital multicast network.

• 2021

  MyNetworkTV moves to KSAS-TV

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  MyNetworkTV programming moved to KSAS-TV’s second digital channel, ending KMTW’s separate affiliation.

• 2014

  getTV added to a digital subchannel

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  KMTW added Sony Pictures Television Networks’ getTV service under an affiliation agreement involving Sinclair stations.

• 2012

  Sinclair assumes the LMA

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  Sinclair completed its acquisition of KSAS-TV and the associated KMTW local marketing agreement.

• 2008

  Newport Television takes over related station operations

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  The sale of Clear Channel’s television holdings to Newport Television closed, transferring the KSAS-related LMA involving KMTW.

• 2006

  KMTW identity and MyNetworkTV affiliation begin

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  KSCC became KMTW and launched as Wichita’s MyNetworkTV affiliate.

• 2001

  First broadcast

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  The station signed on as KSCC on January 5 and initially affiliated with UPN.

• 1998

  KSCC call sign adopted

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  The station’s construction permit changed from KAWJ to KSCC.

• 1997

  Local marketing agreement established

  [1]KMTWen.wikipedia.org

  Clear Channel Communications and Three Feathers Communications formed an arrangement to develop a new Hutchinson-licensed station.

A locally licensed Wichita-market broadcast station and digital multicast outlet operated through a Mercury Broadcasting ownership structure and a Sinclair-managed local marketing arrangement.

• Broadcast television · 2001

  Over-the-air television service

  KMTW operates a full-power television signal licensed to Hutchinson and targeted at viewers across the Wichita–Hutchinson market. Its digital signal uses virtual channel 36, with the transmitter situated in southwestern Harvey County near Halstead. The station shut down its analog UHF channel on February 17, 2009, while retaining digital operations.

• Digital multicast network · 2025

  Roar

  Roar is the station’s current principal multicast-network programming service following an August 2025 change from Dabl. The affiliation reflects KMTW’s present role as a digital network outlet rather than as a separately branded MyNetworkTV station.

• Former network affiliation · 2006

  MyNetworkTV

  KMTW carried MyNetworkTV from the network’s launch in September 2006 until September 2021. During that period it served as Wichita’s dedicated MyNetworkTV affiliate, before the programming moved to KSAS-TV’s second digital channel.

• 2021

  Retransmission-consent negotiation dispute

  AT&T filed a lawsuit alleging that Mercury Broadcasting failed to negotiate retransmission consent for KMTW in good faith. The FCC later issued a forfeiture order. A proposed $512,228 penalty was reduced to $30,000 after Mercury argued that paying the larger amount would create financial hardship.

  Source

Read more

• 2025

  Adopt Roar programmingStrategy

  Background

  KMTW had been carrying Dabl among its digital multicast services.

  Action taken

  The station dropped Dabl in August and changed its programming to Roar.

  Aftermath

  KMTW continued operating as an active multicast television station serving the Wichita market.

  Source

• 2021

  Move MyNetworkTV programming to KSAS-TVStrategy

  Background

  After years of operating as a distinct MyNetworkTV affiliate, the programming arrangement was reorganized within the Sinclair-managed station group.

  Action taken

  MyNetworkTV moved to KSAS-TV’s 24.2 digital subchannel, while KMTW continued with other multicast services.

  Aftermath

  KMTW lost its separate MyNetworkTV identity and became primarily a digital multicast outlet.

  Source

• 2006

  Switch from UPN to MyNetworkTVStrategy

  Background

  The closure of UPN and The WB created a need for replacement affiliations. Fox established MyNetworkTV as an alternative for stations that were not selected for The CW.

  Action taken

  KSCC changed its call sign to KMTW and joined MyNetworkTV when the network launched in September 2006.

  Aftermath

  KMTW became Wichita’s separate MyNetworkTV affiliate for approximately 15 years.

  • KWCV/KSCW-DT — The market’s former WB affiliate joined The CW instead.

  Source

1. 1KMTWen.wikipedia.org