KUCW

KUCW is a television station licensed to Ogden, Utah, and serving the Salt Lake City television market as the area's CW network affiliate. The station broadcasts on virtual channel 30 and is co-owned with ABC affiliate KTVX. Both stations operate from shared facilities on West 1700 South in Salt Lake City, while KUCW's primary transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains. A network of low-power translators extends its coverage across Utah and into portions of Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. The station began broadcasting in 1985 as KOOG-TV, an independent station owned by American Communications and Television. Its early years were difficult. The original transmitter site provided weak or obstructed reception in parts of the Salt Lake Valley, cable carriage was initially limited, and the station lacked the promotional and financial resources needed to establish a strong audience. Programming also proved difficult to sustain economically. After losses from local sports and other programming, the station relied heavily on Home Shopping Network programming, which paid for airtime, while its owners reduced staffing and curtailed local operations. Ownership changed several times during the station's formative period. Trivest Financial Services acquired KOOG-TV in 1991, and the operation experienced severe financial pressure the following year. In 1994, the station was transferred to Alpha and Omega Communications, a subsidiary of the Salt Lake City-based Miracle Rock Church. KOOG-TV became Utah's affiliate of The WB when that network launched in January 1995, providing a more distinctive entertainment schedule but not immediately eliminating its reception and financial problems. A complicated transaction involving Paxson Communications, Roberts Broadcasting, and ACME Communications reshaped the station in 1998. The channel 30 license and a construction permit for a proposed Provo station were effectively exchanged so that channel 30 could continue as the WB affiliate while the Provo facility became associated with Paxson's programming. Channel 30 adopted the KUWB call sign, moved its offices to Murray, and continued as a WB outlet. The station later developed local weather updates, acquired Utah rights to Saturday Night Live, and experimented with a morning program connected to the 2002 Winter Olympics and local radio personalities. Clear Channel Communications, then owner of KTVX, acquired KUWB in 2006. That year The WB and UPN combined to create The CW, and the station changed its call sign to KUCW to reflect the new affiliation. The acquisition also brought KUCW into KTVX's facilities and established the shared operating structure that continues today. Following Clear Channel's exit from television, ownership arrangements involving Newport Television and High Plains Broadcasting were completed in 2008, with Newport continuing to provide operational control through shared-services agreements. Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired KTVX and KUCW in 2012 and later became Nexstar Media Group. Nexstar retained the stations after its 2019 acquisition of Tribune Media, while divesting Tribune's Salt Lake City Fox affiliate KSTU. KUCW has periodically carried locally produced news from the KTVX newsroom. A 9 p.m. newscast launched in 2010, was canceled in 2011 because of weak ratings, and was later revived. In 2021, KUCW resumed a morning news hour and shifted its evening news from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. The station also carried Utah State Aggies athletics under a four-year agreement beginning in 2009. Its digital transition included the launch of digital broadcasting in 2002, the shutdown of its analog signal in 2009, and a move from digital channel 48 to channel 35 in 2018 following the United States wireless spectrum auction.

The Federal Communications Commission granted Ogden Television, an American Communications and Television subsidiary, a construction permit for channel 30 in 1983. The resulting station, KOOG-TV, established studios on 16th Street in Ogden and made an initial four-hour broadcast on October 19, 1985. A transmitter failure interrupted that debut, and regular service resumed on November 1. Reception problems became a defining issue because the original transmitter site on Little Mountain was blocked by terrain from parts of the Salt Lake Valley. A translator installed on the Beneficial Life Building in December 1986 improved coverage, although the station's poor-reception reputation persisted. KOOG-TV also struggled commercially. It had difficulty obtaining cable carriage, local advertising revenue was insufficient, and a planned schedule of Weber State athletics lost money. A film distributor sued over unpaid programming fees in 1986, and the station approached bankruptcy in the following year. Trivest Financial Services acquired KOOG-TV in 1991, but its financial condition remained weak. In 1992, most employees were dismissed, leaving only a very small staff. Home Shopping Network programming occupied much of the schedule and provided an important source of operating revenue. The station entered receivership in 1993 and was transferred in 1994 to Alpha and Omega Communications, a company associated with Miracle Rock Church. KOOG-TV joined The WB when the network began in January 1995. Alpha and Omega later agreed to sell the station to Paxson Communications. Because Paxson intended to use its stations primarily for infomercial programming, the deal threatened the future of the WB affiliation in Utah. A transaction involving Paxson, Roberts Broadcasting, and ACME Communications resolved the issue by arranging an exchange of station assets and construction permits. In April 1998, the channel 30 facility became KUWB, while Paxson programming moved to the new channel 16 facility. The license exchange received final regulatory approval in 1999. KUWB operated from Murray and developed a more recognizable local service. It carried Saturday Night Live after the Salt Lake City NBC affiliate declined to air the program, introduced local weather updates in 1999, and launched the WBAM morning program around the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clear Channel Communications, owner of KTVX, announced its acquisition of KUWB in 2005 and assumed control in April 2006. The WB and UPN merger that year created The CW, and KUWB became KUCW. The station moved into KTVX's Salt Lake City facilities and began operating alongside the ABC affiliate. Clear Channel's television assets were subsequently transferred through Newport Television and related ownership arrangements. KUCW and KTVX were acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group in 2012. Nexstar later acquired Tribune Media in 2019, retained KUCW and KTVX, and divested Tribune's KSTU to another owner to address market and regulatory considerations. KUCW's local news presence has been produced through KTVX. A 9 p.m. newscast launched in 2010, was canceled in December 2011 because of low ratings, and was later restored. In 2021, the station resumed a morning news hour and moved its evening newscast to 7 p.m. The station has also carried Utah State athletics and maintains a broad over-the-air footprint through translators. Its digital signal began operating in 2002; analog broadcasting ended on June 12, 2009, and the digital signal moved from channel 48 to channel 35 on September 9, 2018.

• 2018

  Digital channel changes to 35

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  The station moved its digital transmission from channel 48 to channel 35 as part of the post-spectrum-auction repack.

• 2012

  Nexstar ownership begins

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  Nexstar acquired KUCW and co-owned KTVX from Newport Television.

• 2009

  Analog service ends

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  KUCW ended analog broadcasting and continued with its digital signal using virtual channel 30.

• 2006

  KUCW call sign and CW affiliation adopted

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  Clear Channel completed its acquisition and changed the station's identity to KUCW following the creation of The CW.

• 1998

  Station becomes KUWB

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  A multi-party station and permit transaction preserved channel 30 as the Utah WB outlet and changed its call sign to KUWB.

• 1995

  WB affiliation begins

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  KOOG-TV became Utah's affiliate of The WB at the network's launch.

• 1985

  KOOG-TV begins broadcasting

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  The station launched as KOOG-TV after construction and technical delays.

• 1983

  Construction permit granted

  [1]KUCWen.wikipedia.org

  The FCC granted Ogden Television authorization to construct a television station on channel 30 in Ogden.

A regional broadcast television outlet combining CW entertainment programming with locally produced news, weather, sports, and community coverage for Utah viewers.

• Network television · 2006

  CW network programming

  KUCW's principal offering is the schedule supplied by The CW, delivered to viewers in the Salt Lake City market through virtual channel 30 and supplemented by the station's local promotions and continuity.

• News broadcasting · 2010

  KUCW local news

  Local news, weather, and related programming is produced through the KTVX newsroom. The schedule has included morning and evening newscasts, with the current arrangement having been expanded and repositioned in 2021.

• Sports broadcasting · 2009

  Utah State Aggies athletics

  KUCW carried Utah State University football and men's and women's basketball under a four-year agreement that began in 2009.

• 2018

  Digital-frequency repackGeneration change

  Background

  The United States wireless spectrum auction required changes to some television transmission assignments.

  Action taken

  KUCW moved its digital transmission from UHF channel 48 to channel 35 while retaining virtual channel 30.

  Aftermath

  The station continued digital service under its established virtual channel identity.

  Source

• 2006

  Adopt The CW affiliation and KUCW identityStrategy

  Background

  The WB and UPN were combining to form The CW, while Clear Channel was acquiring the Utah WB station.

  Action taken

  The station accepted the CW affiliation, changed its call sign from KUWB to KUCW, and consolidated operations with KTVX.

  Aftermath

  KUCW became the continuing CW outlet for the Salt Lake City market and has remained co-located with KTVX.

  Source

1. 1KUCWen.wikipedia.org
2. 2KTVX/KUCW official websitecw30.com