KCWI-TV
Encyclopedia
KCWI-TV is a television station
that broadcasts on channel 23 in the Des Moines, Iowa
, area. It is The CW
affiliate for central Iowa
. KCWI is licensed to Ames
, but its studios are located in Downtown Des Moines while its transmitter is near Alleman
.
Syndicated
programs on KCWI include Friends
, Family Guy
, King of Queens, and Scrubs
.
affiliate under the call sign KPWB-TV (The KPWB call letters were originally used on channel 31 in Sacramento from 1995-1998 as a WB affiliate and a Pappas owned station, later becoming UPN
O&O KMAX-TV
, which also joined The CW). KPWB carried the full WB and Kids WB lineups until the WB and UPN merged into the new CW Network in September 2006. KPWB dropped UPN in 2003.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new network. The new combined network would be called The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
.
On February 22, 2006, News Corporation
announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV
. The new network, which would be sister to Fox
, would be operated by Fox Television Stations, Inc. 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. It was also created to compete against The CW.
It seemed very likely that KPWB would become The CW's affiliate in Des Moines, as WHO-TV
had a secondary affiliation with UPN. On March 16, 2006, it was confirmed that KPWB would become the CW affiliate in Des Moines. A few months later, MyNetworkTV announced that it would affiliate with a new station also owned by Pappas, KDMI
, which began broadcasting that network on September 5, 2006. On September 18, 2006, the same day The CW was launched, KPWB changed its call letters to KCWI to reflect its new affiliation.
After MyNetworkTV converted to a programming service in September 2009, KDMI dropped it in favor of This TV
. One program from the service, WWE SmackDown, aired on KCWI on Saturday nights at 7 p.m., but neither station airs the remainder of MNTV's programming, however, and KCWI stopped airing the show on September 11, 2010, three weeks before the agreement to carry the show ended with the October 2010 move of Smackdown to Syfy
. As a result, Des Moines was the largest Nielsen media market
without a terrestrial MyNetworkTV affiliate until October 3, 2011, when KDMI re-affiliated with MyNetworkTV, but carrying the service four hours later than most MyNetworkTV affiliates (unrelated station WLMT
in Memphis, Tennessee
(owned by Newport Television
) also aired SmackDown in a very similar manner to KCWI after MyNetworkTV's original Memphis affiliate WPXX-TV
dropped the programming service; eventually, after SmackDown moved to Syfy, WLMT's second digital subchannel picked up the network).
after the Federal Communications Commission
finalized the DTV
allotment plan on April 21, 1997 http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html, the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
. Instead, on or before June 12, 2009, which was the final day of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KCWI-TV was required to turn off its analog signal
and turn on its digital signal
(called a "flash-cut
").
Due to this abnormality, KCWI's digital signal is carried as a subchannel of KDMI
.
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...
that broadcasts on channel 23 in the Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, area. It is The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate for central Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. KCWI is licensed to Ames
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
, but its studios are located in Downtown Des Moines while its transmitter is near Alleman
Alleman, Iowa
Alleman is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 439 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Alleman was named for early settler John L. Alleman...
.
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...
programs on KCWI include Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, King of Queens, and Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
.
History
KCWI signed on the air January 20, 2001, as a primary WB network/secondary UPNUPN
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...
affiliate under the call sign KPWB-TV (The KPWB call letters were originally used on channel 31 in Sacramento from 1995-1998 as a WB affiliate and a Pappas owned station, later becoming 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...
O&O KMAX-TV
KMAX-TV
KMAX-TV, channel 31, is the CW affiliate serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California broadcast area. The station is owned by CBS Television Stations along with the local CBS station, KOVR; the two stations are two of the 3 English network O&Os in the market, along with Ion Television...
, which also joined The CW). KPWB carried the full WB and Kids WB lineups until the WB and UPN merged into the new CW Network in September 2006. KPWB dropped UPN in 2003.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new network. The new combined network would be called The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its 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 Warner 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, 2006, 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 that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. The new network, which would be 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...
, would be operated by Fox Television Stations, Inc. 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. It was also created to compete against The CW.
It seemed very likely that KPWB would become The CW's affiliate in Des Moines, as WHO-TV
WHO-TV
WHO-DT is a television station that broadcasts on Channel 13 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is affiliated with the NBC television network and serves most of central Iowa. The station transmits from the WOI Tower in Alleman, Iowa, which is actually owned by WHO-DT's owners. WHO-DT brands itself as WHO-HD...
had a secondary affiliation with UPN. On March 16, 2006, it was confirmed that KPWB would become the CW affiliate in Des Moines. A few months later, MyNetworkTV announced that it would affiliate with a new station also owned by Pappas, KDMI
KDMI
KDMI is a digital-only television station that broadcasts out of Des Moines, Iowa on channel 19. KDMI currently carries This TV and MyNetworkTV; as a primary affiliate of This TV, it is one of the few television stations in the country to carry the network as a main channel affiliation. It is owned...
, which began broadcasting that network on September 5, 2006. On September 18, 2006, the same day The CW was launched, KPWB changed its call letters to KCWI to reflect its new affiliation.
After MyNetworkTV converted to a programming service in September 2009, KDMI dropped it in favor of This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
. One program from the service, WWE SmackDown, aired on KCWI on Saturday nights at 7 p.m., but neither station airs the remainder of MNTV's programming, however, and KCWI stopped airing the show on September 11, 2010, three weeks before the agreement to carry the show ended with the October 2010 move of Smackdown to Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
. As a result, Des Moines was the largest Nielsen media 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...
without a terrestrial MyNetworkTV affiliate until October 3, 2011, when KDMI re-affiliated with MyNetworkTV, but carrying the service four hours later than most MyNetworkTV affiliates (unrelated station WLMT
WLMT
WLMT is the CW-affiliated television station for Western Tennessee licensed to Memphis. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 from a transmitter in Arlington's Brunswick section. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
(owned 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...
) also aired SmackDown in a very similar manner to KCWI after MyNetworkTV's original Memphis affiliate WPXX-TV
WPXX-TV
WPXX-TV, channel 50 , is a ION Network affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee.The station signed on the air on December 31, 1994 under the call letters WFBI and was owned by Memphis businessman, radiologist George Flinn...
dropped the programming service; eventually, after SmackDown moved to Syfy, WLMT's second digital subchannel picked up the network).
Digital television
Because it was granted an original construction permitConstruction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
after 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...
finalized the DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
allotment plan on April 21, 1997 http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html, the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital 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...
. Instead, on or before June 12, 2009, which was the final day of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KCWI-TV was required to turn off its analog signal
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
and turn on its digital signal
Digital signal
A digital signal is a physical signal that is a representation of a sequence of discrete values , for example of an arbitrary bit stream, or of a digitized analog signal...
(called a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
").
Due to this abnormality, KCWI's digital signal is carried as a subchannel of KDMI
KDMI
KDMI is a digital-only television station that broadcasts out of Des Moines, Iowa on channel 19. KDMI currently carries This TV and MyNetworkTV; as a primary affiliate of This TV, it is one of the few television stations in the country to carry the network as a main channel affiliation. It is owned...
.