KYW-TV
Encyclopedia
KYW-TV, virtual channel
3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network
, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW
flagship WPSG
(channel 57) just north of Center City Philadelphia. The station's transmitter is located in the Roxborough
section of Philadelphia.
, a local company known for manufacturing early radio and television sets. Philco engineers created much of the station's equipment, including cameras. In 1941, it began sharing programs with W2XBS (later WNBT and now WNBC-TV) in New York City
, becoming NBC
's second television affiliate, and creating a link between the station and the network that would last for 54 years.
On July 1, 1941, W3XE received a commercial license—the third in the United States, and the first outside New York City—as WPTZ. The station signed on for the first time on September 1. The station originally broadcast from a tower in the Philadelphia suburb of Wyndmoor
. It significantly cut back operations after the U.S. entered World War II
, but returned to a full schedule 1945. It then became one of three stations (along with WNBT and WRGB
in Schenectady, New York
) that premiered NBC's regular television service in 1946 (WRGB is now a CBS affiliate). The Westinghouse Electric Corporation, owner of Philadelphia's NBC radio affiliate KYW
(1060 AM), purchased WPTZ in 1953 for a then-record price of $
8.5 million.
and WTAM-AM
-FM
, and $3 million in cash compensation. NBC had long sought an owned-and-operated TV station in Philadelphia, the largest market where it did not own a station. It had made several offers over the years for the Philadelphia stations, but Westinghouse said no each time. After being rebuffed by Westinghouse on several occasions, NBC threatened to drop its affiliation from WPTZ and Westinghouse's other NBC television affiliate, WBZ-TV
in Boston
, unless Westinghouse agreed to the trade. When NBC took over in February 1956, channel 3's call letters were changed to WRCV-TV (for the RCA-Victor
record label; KYW radio adopted the WRCV calls as well).
Shortly after NBC took control of channel 3, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) collapsed the Lehigh Valley
, most of northern Delaware
and southern New Jersey
(including Atlantic City) into the Philadelphia market. NBC realized WRCV-TV's existing tower was inadequate for this enlarged market. In 1957, channel 3 moved to a new 1100 feet (335.3 m) tower in Roxborough. The tower was co-owned with WFIL-TV (channel 6, now WPVI-TV
) and added much of Delaware, the Lehigh Valley and southern New Jersey to the station's city-grade coverage. Along with the transmitter move, NBC upgraded channel 3 from black-and-white to color transmissions.
However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice
about NBC's coercion
and a lengthy investigation was launched. In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965. Westinghouse had moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland after the swap, and upon regaining control of the Philadelphia outlets channel 3 became KYW-TV. Group W
, as Westinghouse's broadcasting division was known by this time, took over a transmitter facility far superior to the one it relinquished in 1956. To this day, KYW-TV insists that it "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965—in fact, some staffers who worked at KYW-TV in Cleveland (talk show host Mike Douglas and news anchor Tom Snyder
among them) moved to Philadelphia along with the call letters.
, The David Frost Show and Hour Magazine. Pre-empted network programming was usually lower-rated daytime game shows, soap operas or reruns of primetime programs with an average of two hours per day. At one point, in the fall of 1980, KYW-TV preempted NBC's entire morning schedule after the Today Show. Over the years, NBC contracted independent stations WPHL-TV
, WTAF-TV/WTXF-TV
, WKBS-TV
and WGTW-TV
to air programs pre-empted by channel 3. However, NBC has been far less tolerant of pre-emptions than the other networks and was rather perturbed at losing valuable advertising in the nation's fourth-largest market.
Like most affiliates that pre-empt poorer performing network programs, KYW-TV used the pre-emptions in order to gain an increase in local advertising rates which potentially come with ratings increases. This proved to be a very profitable decision at first, as KYW-TV was either first or second in the Philadelphia television ratings for most of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the station (and NBC) faltered in the late 1970s, and by 1980 KYW-TV was the lowest-rated network affiliate in Philadelphia. By 1985, NBC had recovered, but channel 3 had not. For the rest of its NBC affiliation, KYW-TV was NBC's lowest-rated major-market affiliate during a very successful period for the network as a whole. It continued to heavily pre-empt NBC programming, much to NBC's chagrin.
In 1994, sister station WJZ-TV
in Baltimore
lost its affiliation with ABC
after that network announced a deal with the E.W. Scripps Company to switch all but two of Scripps' television stations to ABC. One of the Scripps-owned stations joining ABC was Baltimore's NBC affiliate, WMAR-TV
. This did not sit well with Westinghouse, who felt betrayed by ABC after nearly half a century of loyalty. As a safeguard, Group W began shopping for affiliation deals of its own. Group W eventually struck an agreement to switch KYW-TV, WBZ-TV, and WJZ-TV to CBS (Westinghouse's two other stations, KDKA-TV
in Pittsburgh and KPIX in San Francisco were already CBS affiliates). CBS was initially skeptical about including KYW-TV in the deal. While KYW-TV was a poor third, CBS-owned WCAU-TV (channel 10) was a solid runner-up to dominant, ABC
-owned WPVI-TV. However, after Westinghouse offered to sell CBS a minority stake in KYW-TV, CBS agreed to move its affiliation to channel 3 and put channel 10 up for sale.
and Salt Lake City to the Group W/CBS partnership in return for WCAU. Group W/CBS
and NBC
also traded broadcasting facilities in Miami to compensate each other for the loss of stations. While channel 3's Group W stablemates in Boston and Baltimore had aligned with CBS in January, the switch had been delayed in Philadelphia after NBC discovered it could not buy WCAU outright without going over the FCC's ownership limit of the time. The final NBC program aired on channel 3 was a rerun of Saturday Night Live
, which began at 11:30 PM on September 9, 1995.
Under the terms of Westinghouse's deal with CBS, KYW-TV began carrying the entire CBS schedule in pattern with no pre-emptions except for local news emergencies. Westinghouse bought CBS outright in early 1996, making KYW-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station.
In 2000, the combined company was purchased by Viacom. The Viacom deal brought KYW-TV under common ownership with Philadelphia's UPN
station, WPSG, and that station moved into the KYW-AM-TV facility on Independence Mall
. On January 1, 2003, KYW-TV went into compliance with the CBS Mandate and officially rebranded itself as CBS 3. The 5AM Station ID is now the only place where the KYW branding is heard. When Viacom spun off CBS Corporation
in 2006, KYW-AM-TV and WPSG, along with the rest of Viacom's broadcasting interests, became a part of the new company.
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, KYW-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 26. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display KYW-TV's virtual channel
as 3. KYW-TV was the only Philadelphia market station participating in the "Analog Nightlight
" program, and did so through July 12, 2009.
On April 2, 2007, KYW-TV and WPSG moved to a new broadcast complex located at 1555 Hamilton Street near Center City Philadelphia, across from the Community College of Philadelphia
and near Fairmount Park. The new building, which is wired for high definition
newscasts, is the fourth studio in the station's 75-year history. Channel 3 had been broadcasting from Independence Mall East since July 1972.
When the station began operations as W3XE in 1932, it was based within Philco's production plant, at C and East Tioga streets in North Philadelphia
, complete with a small studio and transmitter. After receiving the commercial license from the FCC in 1941, Philco moved WPTZ's studios to the penthouse suite of the Architect's Building, at 17th and Sansom streets in downtown Philadelphia, while retaining master control facilities at the Philco plant.
Channel 3 relocated its entire operation to the Wyndmoor transmitter facility during World War II
, when the station aired little programming. When full broadcasting was resumed, the station reactivated its studio in the Architect's Building, remaining there until 1947. WPTZ then moved into unused space at 1619 Walnut Street
in Center City, where KYW radio was housed. What is now KYW-TV has been based in Center City ever since.
The Mike Douglas Show
, which moved from Cleveland to Philadelphia in 1965, was taped at the Walnut Street studio until 1972, then at Independence Mall East. In 1978 the program moved to Los Angeles
and remained there until it ended in 1982.
popularized the Eyewitness News
format and branding. This format has the reporters actually presenting their stories instead of having an anchor read them. Primo used the cue "007" from the film From Russia with Love
as the theme. Within a few years, Group W's other television stations had adopted the format. Around this same time, sister station KYW radio became one of the first all-news radio
stations in the country.
Channel 3's newscasts, anchored by Vince Leonard starting in 1958 (during its stint as NBC-owned WRCV-TV), had long been second behind WCAU-TV, but the new format catapulted KYW-TV to first place. Also seen on the air during that time were future talk show host Tom Snyder
and Marciarose Shestack. Primo took the concept with him to WABC-TV
in New York in 1968, albeit an improved version which introduced the concept of chatter among the anchors ("happy talk"). It was this modified format that was emulated throughout the United States.
Channel 3 dominated the ratings for the rest of the 1960s, but faced a new challenger after WFIL-TV introduced Action News
to Philadelphia. For most of the 1970s, KYW-TV traded first place with WFIL/WPVI. In 1972, KYW-TV hired Philadelphia-area native Jessica Savitch
as a reporter, and later co-anchor alongside Leonard. Mort Crim
also joined as an anchor during that period, forming what native Philadelphians called the "Camelot of television news." However, in 1977, WPVI beat KYW-TV in most timeslots by a wide margin during a sweeps period. In a case of especially bad timing, Savitch left for NBC News
later that year. Crim left for WDIV in Detroit in 1978. Channel 3's ratings went into rapid decline. The station tried to stop the decline by adopting a new format called "Direct Connection", with reporters assigned to "beats" such as medical, consumer, entertainment, and gossip, among others. It did not work, and by the time Leonard left for KPNX
in Phoenix
in 1980, Eyewitness News had crashed into last place. For most of the next 20 years, KYW-TV was a very distant third behind WPVI-TV and WCAU-TV. Despite the presence of personalities such as Maria Shriver
and Maury Povich
(who anchored briefly in the early 1980s), Eyewitness News stayed in the ratings basement.
In 1991, KYW-TV rebranded itself as KYW 3 after being known on-air as simply "channel 3" for most of its history (except for the "Direct Connection" era, when it was known as "3 for All"). It also abandoned the longstanding Eyewitness News name after 26 years and experimented with giving each newscast a different name. The morning and noon news became "Newsday," the 6 p.m. news "Newsbeat," and the 11 p.m. news "The News Tonight." It also started using a theme based on the musical signature of its radio sister, one of the top all-news stations in the country and the highest-rated radio station in Philadelphia for most of the last 40 years. Group W hoped to gain the trust of viewers who already associated KYW radio with high-quality news. However, neither of these fixes worked, and channel 3 stayed in the ratings basement. The experiment with different newscast names ended in 1994, just before it became a CBS station, when the station began calling its news operation "News 3". The Eyewitness News name was restored in early 1998.
KYW-TV used music packages based on KYW radio's musical signature until 2003. That year it adopted "News in Focus", by composer John Hegner as its theme song. This package, like the majority of themes for CBS' owned and operated stations, is based on "Channel 2 News," written in 1975 for WBBM-TV
in Chicago
. Channel 3 used an updated version written in 2003 for sister station WCBS-TV
in New York. The change to "News In Focus" came just after KYW began calling itself CBS 3. Ironically, WCAU-TV used music based on this theme for its last decade as a CBS-owned station. In 2005, KYW-TV ditched "News In Focus" in favor of another "Channel 2 News"-based tune, "The Enforcer" by Frank Gari
.
Also in 2003, KYW-TV became a factor in the Philadelphia news race for the first time in over 20 years. The previous summer, it persuaded WPVI-TV's longtime 5 p.m. anchor, Marc Howard, to jump ship to anchor its 11 p.m. news. Kathy Orr, weekend weathercaster at WCAU, also moved to channel 3. But those moves did nothing to help the ratings, and the station languished in last place for almost a full year.
Then, in September 2003, the station lured Larry Mendte away from WCAU. Mendte had been the lead anchor at that station when it defeated WPVI in the ratings for the first time in 30 years. Alycia Lane, a weekend anchor at WTVJ
in Miami, was added to compliment Mendte, and they became the station's new top anchor team, anchoring the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news.
The 5 p.m. news was moved to 4 p.m. and Marc Howard moved off the 11 p.m. newscast to anchor with Denise Saunders. The change proved successful, as KYW moved ahead of WCAU at 11 p.m. and came within a point of knocking off WPVI in the time slot. Saunders left the station in 2004 and was replaced by Angela Russell. Russell left the station on December 26, 2008. The 4 p.m. newscast has since been co-anchored by 6 p.m. co-anchor Susan Barnett. Today, KYW-TV is in second place in most time slots while WPVI-TV
(a.k.a. 6ABC) continues to dominate with its newscasts despite having its digital signal on interference-prone channel 6. WTXF-TV
(a.k.a. FOX 29) leads in prime time programming.
In 2005, KYW introduced a customized graphics package created by Emmy Award
winner Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films
. Interestingly, the Pyburn graphics package is quite similar to the one it created for WNBC-TV in 2003, which some of NBC's owned and operated stations are currently standardizing around.
In April 2007, KYW-TV began broadcasting its newscasts in high-definition
, becoming the third Philadelphia television station to do so. The switch coincided with the station's move from its former Independence Mall studios to its new facility on Hamilton Street.
On February 2, 2009, KYW's news department began broadcasting a 10pm newscast on sister station WPSG. It was announced in the fall of 2009 that the noon news on KYW would be ditched in favor of a talk show, "TalkPhilly". Only WPVI and WTXF aired noon newscasts after this format change.
KYW-TV cooperates with sister station WCBS-TV
in the production and broadcast of statewide New Jersey
political debates. When the two stations broadcast a statewide office debate, such as Governor
or U.S. Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in the gathering of news in New Jersey where their markets overlap; sharing reporters, live trucks, and helicopters. Like other CBS-owned stations, KYW-TV offers a web only newscast called "CBS 3 At Your Desk", shown daily. On September 1, 2010, KYW-TV switched to the same graphics package used by WCBS-TV
and KCBS-TV
.
was fired after police raided his home and seized his computers. He was accused of secretly reading thousands of emails of fellow co-anchor Alycia Lane
, from March 2006 to May 2008, and passing them on to gossip columnists. Mendte claimed that his actions were rooted in a feud that ended what was according to him a "flirtatious and improper" relationship with Lane. Mendte pleaded guilty. In September 2008, Lane filed a lawsuit against Mendte and KYW-TV. She accused the station of defaming her before and after she was fired; she was fired after being arrested in December 2007 following a scuffle with New York police.
WNBC objected to the southern Middlesex County the part of Storer Cable system carrying a second NBC affiliate in the New York DMA. KYW-TV was removed from the Middlesex County part of the Storer/Comcast of Central New Jersey I system at midnight September 1, 1993.
Interestingly after the affiliation and ownership swap on September 10, 1995 WNBC did not object to now NBC co-owned sister station WCAU continuing to be carried in southern Middlesex County on Comcast Channel 39 (moved back to channel 10 in late 1998 and again to digital cable channel 253 to preserve bandwidth in November 2006), but on the other hand Comcast did not restore the now CBS KYW to the system for another twelve years. Cablevision in the Asbury Park area of Monmouth County (previously Harte-Hanks Cable and Monmouth Cablevision) carried KYW-TV until September 10, 1995. WCAU replaced KYW on that system after the network switch. Verizon FiOS may have at one time carried KYW in South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County. But if it was it now appears to have been removed from the FiOS South Brunswick lieup.
KYW is available to Comcast Cable customers in Ocean County on channel 256. It is not available to Cablevision customers in Lakewood, Seaside Heights and southern Monmouth County, even though Cablevision carries other Philadelphia stations on these systems. DirecTV and Dish Network do not carry any Philadelphia stations in any area outside the Philadelphia market that gets New York channels on cable.
In New Jersey, KYW (and the majority of Philadelphia stations) were carried in more places in central and northern New Jersey during the CATV era of the 1970s and 1980s. Particularly Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Warren and parts of Sussex counties had KYW on the lineup. Northern and portions of central Middlesex County with the exception of South Plainfield never received any other Philadelphia station except WPHL and WTAF (today's WTXF), which have been removed since the late 1980s. Northeast Monmouth County Comcast Subscribers (Eatontown) once had KYW and the other Philadelphia stations on cable as well.
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....
3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network
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...
, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, 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...
flagship WPSG
WPSG
WPSG, channel 57, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WPSG is owned by the CBS Corporation and is the east coast flagship station for the CW Television Network, which is owned jointly by CBS and Time Warner...
(channel 57) just north of Center City Philadelphia. The station's transmitter is located in the Roxborough
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to...
section of Philadelphia.
As WPTZ
The channel 3 facility in Philadelphia is one of the world's oldest television stations. It began in 1932 as W3XE, an experimental station owned by the Philco CorporationPhilco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
, a local company known for manufacturing early radio and television sets. Philco engineers created much of the station's equipment, including cameras. In 1941, it began sharing programs with W2XBS (later WNBT and now WNBC-TV) in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, becoming 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...
's second television affiliate, and creating a link between the station and the network that would last for 54 years.
On July 1, 1941, W3XE received a commercial license—the third in the United States, and the first outside New York City—as WPTZ. The station signed on for the first time on September 1. The station originally broadcast from a tower in the Philadelphia suburb of Wyndmoor
Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
Wyndmoor is a census-designated place in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 5,498 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
. It significantly cut back operations after the U.S. entered World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but returned to a full schedule 1945. It then became one of three stations (along with WNBT and WRGB
WRGB
WRGB, channel 6, is a television station located in Schenectady, New York, USA. WRGB is owned by Freedom Communications, and is the CBS affiliate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market...
in Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
) that premiered NBC's regular television service in 1946 (WRGB is now a CBS affiliate). The Westinghouse Electric Corporation, owner of Philadelphia's NBC radio affiliate KYW
KYW (AM)
KYW is a class A AM radio station on 1060 kHz licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW is owned by the CBS Radio unit of CBS Corporation, and has broadcasted an all-news format since 1965. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and it transmitters...
(1060 AM), purchased WPTZ in 1953 for a then-record price of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
8.5 million.
As an NBC-owned station
In June 1955, Westinghouse agreed to trade WPTZ and KYW radio to NBC in exchange for Cleveland's WNBK televisionWKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
and WTAM-AM
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
-FM
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
, and $3 million in cash compensation. NBC had long sought an owned-and-operated TV station in Philadelphia, the largest market where it did not own a station. It had made several offers over the years for the Philadelphia stations, but Westinghouse said no each time. After being rebuffed by Westinghouse on several occasions, NBC threatened to drop its affiliation from WPTZ and Westinghouse's other NBC television affiliate, WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, unless Westinghouse agreed to the trade. When NBC took over in February 1956, channel 3's call letters were changed to WRCV-TV (for the RCA-Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
record label; KYW radio adopted the WRCV calls as well).
Shortly after NBC took control of channel 3, 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) collapsed the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
, most of northern Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
and southern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
(including Atlantic City) into the Philadelphia market. NBC realized WRCV-TV's existing tower was inadequate for this enlarged market. In 1957, channel 3 moved to a new 1100 feet (335.3 m) tower in Roxborough. The tower was co-owned with WFIL-TV (channel 6, now WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
) and added much of Delaware, the Lehigh Valley and southern New Jersey to the station's city-grade coverage. Along with the transmitter move, NBC upgraded channel 3 from black-and-white to color transmissions.
However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
about NBC's coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
and a lengthy investigation was launched. In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965. Westinghouse had moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland after the swap, and upon regaining control of the Philadelphia outlets channel 3 became KYW-TV. Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
, as Westinghouse's broadcasting division was known by this time, took over a transmitter facility far superior to the one it relinquished in 1956. To this day, KYW-TV insists that it "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965—in fact, some staffers who worked at KYW-TV in Cleveland (talk show host Mike Douglas and news anchor Tom Snyder
Tom Snyder
Thomas James "Tom" Snyder was an American television personality, news anchor and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows The Tomorrow Show, on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Late Late Show, on the CBS Television Network in the 1990s...
among them) moved to Philadelphia along with the call letters.
As KYW-TV
Despite its status as NBC's largest affiliate, KYW-TV spent much of the next thirty years pre-empting many NBC programs, choosing to air local or syndicated programming instead. The production arm of Westinghouse Broadcasting was partially responsible for the pre-emptions, as channel 3 aired shows produced and syndicated by Group W, such as The Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
, The David Frost Show and Hour Magazine. Pre-empted network programming was usually lower-rated daytime game shows, soap operas or reruns of primetime programs with an average of two hours per day. At one point, in the fall of 1980, KYW-TV preempted NBC's entire morning schedule after the Today Show. Over the years, NBC contracted independent stations WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
, WTAF-TV/WTXF-TV
WTXF-TV
WTXF-TV, virtual channel 29 , is an owned-and-operated station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, WKBS-TV
WKBS-TV (Philadelphia)
WKBS-TV was an independent television station licensed to Burlington, New Jersey, which served the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area from 1965 to 1983. WKBS-TV had studio facilities located in South Philadelphia, and transmitter at the Roxborough tower farm in Philadelphia.-History:WKBS-TV began...
and WGTW-TV
WGTW-TV
WGTW-TV, digital channel 27, is a Trinity Broadcasting Network-owned and operated television station licensed to Burlington, New Jersey, and serving the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area...
to air programs pre-empted by channel 3. However, NBC has been far less tolerant of pre-emptions than the other networks and was rather perturbed at losing valuable advertising in the nation's fourth-largest market.
Like most affiliates that pre-empt poorer performing network programs, KYW-TV used the pre-emptions in order to gain an increase in local advertising rates which potentially come with ratings increases. This proved to be a very profitable decision at first, as KYW-TV was either first or second in the Philadelphia television ratings for most of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the station (and NBC) faltered in the late 1970s, and by 1980 KYW-TV was the lowest-rated network affiliate in Philadelphia. By 1985, NBC had recovered, but channel 3 had not. For the rest of its NBC affiliation, KYW-TV was NBC's lowest-rated major-market affiliate during a very successful period for the network as a whole. It continued to heavily pre-empt NBC programming, much to NBC's chagrin.
In 1994, sister station WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV, channel 13, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WJZ-TV's studios and offices are located on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with four other Baltimore...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
lost its affiliation with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
after that network announced a deal with the E.W. Scripps Company to switch all but two of Scripps' television stations to ABC. One of the Scripps-owned stations joining ABC was Baltimore's NBC affiliate, WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV, channel 2, is the ABC affiliate television station in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company...
. This did not sit well with Westinghouse, who felt betrayed by ABC after nearly half a century of loyalty. As a safeguard, Group W began shopping for affiliation deals of its own. Group W eventually struck an agreement to switch KYW-TV, WBZ-TV, and WJZ-TV to CBS (Westinghouse's two other stations, KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....
in Pittsburgh and KPIX in San Francisco were already CBS affiliates). CBS was initially skeptical about including KYW-TV in the deal. While KYW-TV was a poor third, CBS-owned WCAU-TV (channel 10) was a solid runner-up to dominant, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-owned WPVI-TV. However, after Westinghouse offered to sell CBS a minority stake in KYW-TV, CBS agreed to move its affiliation to channel 3 and put channel 10 up for sale.
As a CBS-owned station
On September 10, 1995, KYW-TV and WCAU-TV swapped network affiliations, part of a more complex affiliation/ownership deal involving NBC, CBS and Westinghouse. Group W and CBS formed a joint venture which assumed ownership of channel 3, with Group W retaining majority interest. NBC then traded its stations in DenverKCNC-TV
KCNC-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated station television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by CBS Television Stations, Inc. KCNC broadcasts on UHF channel 35 from Lookout Mountain near Golden, Colorado.- Digital programming :...
and Salt Lake City to the Group W/CBS partnership in return for WCAU. Group W/CBS
WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV, virtual channel 4.1 , is the CBS owned-and-operated station in Miami, Florida. WFOR shares its TV studio facilities with sister station WBFS-TV in Doral, near Miami International Airport, and its transmitter is located in Miramar.WFOR-TV also previously had two translator stations in the...
and NBC
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
also traded broadcasting facilities in Miami to compensate each other for the loss of stations. While channel 3's Group W stablemates in Boston and Baltimore had aligned with CBS in January, the switch had been delayed in Philadelphia after NBC discovered it could not buy WCAU outright without going over the FCC's ownership limit of the time. The final NBC program aired on channel 3 was a rerun of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, which began at 11:30 PM on September 9, 1995.
Under the terms of Westinghouse's deal with CBS, KYW-TV began carrying the entire CBS schedule in pattern with no pre-emptions except for local news emergencies. Westinghouse bought CBS outright in early 1996, making KYW-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station.
In 2000, the combined company was purchased by Viacom. The Viacom deal brought KYW-TV under common ownership with Philadelphia's 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...
station, WPSG, and that station moved into the KYW-AM-TV facility on Independence Mall
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
. On January 1, 2003, KYW-TV went into compliance with the CBS Mandate and officially rebranded itself as CBS 3. The 5AM Station ID is now the only place where the KYW branding is heard. When Viacom spun off CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
in 2006, KYW-AM-TV and WPSG, along with the rest of Viacom's broadcasting interests, became a part of the new company.
Digital programming
| Channels | Programming |
|---|---|
| 3.1 | Main KYW Programming / CBS |
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, KYW-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 26. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display KYW-TV's 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....
as 3. KYW-TV was the only Philadelphia market station participating in the "Analog Nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
" program, and did so through July 12, 2009.
Office locations
Community College of Philadelphia
The Community College of Philadelphia is a community college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The main campus is located at 1700 Spring Garden Street in a building that was the former Philadelphia Mint...
and near Fairmount Park. The new building, which is wired for 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...
newscasts, is the fourth studio in the station's 75-year history. Channel 3 had been broadcasting from Independence Mall East since July 1972.
When the station began operations as W3XE in 1932, it was based within Philco's production plant, at C and East Tioga streets in North Philadelphia
North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is immediately north of Center City...
, complete with a small studio and transmitter. After receiving the commercial license from the FCC in 1941, Philco moved WPTZ's studios to the penthouse suite of the Architect's Building, at 17th and Sansom streets in downtown Philadelphia, while retaining master control facilities at the Philco plant.
Channel 3 relocated its entire operation to the Wyndmoor transmitter facility during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the station aired little programming. When full broadcasting was resumed, the station reactivated its studio in the Architect's Building, remaining there until 1947. WPTZ then moved into unused space at 1619 Walnut Street
Walnut Street (Philadelphia)
Walnut Street is located in downtown Philadelphia and extends from the city's Delaware River waterfront through Center City and West Philadelphia. Walnut Street has been characterized as "the city's premier shopping district"...
in Center City, where KYW radio was housed. What is now KYW-TV has been based in Center City ever since.
The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
, which moved from Cleveland to Philadelphia in 1965, was taped at the Walnut Street studio until 1972, then at Independence Mall East. In 1978 the program moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and remained there until it ended in 1982.
Logos
From 1965 to 2003, KYW-TV's logo was a distinct "Stylized 3" in the font made famous by Group W. KYW-TV first introduced the logo in 1963, when the station was based in Cleveland. It was the longest continuously-used logo in Philadelphia television history until 2006, when WPVI-TV's simple "6" logo passed it. The only major change came in February 1998, when the CBS Eye was placed in front of the "3". The logo was finally retired after KYW-TV rebranded under the CBS Mandate as CBS 3.News operation
Shortly after Westinghouse regained control of KYW-TV in 1965, news director Al PrimoAl Primo
Albert T. Primo is a television news executive who was credited with creating the Eyewitness News format.-Biography:He was born in 1937 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
popularized the Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
format and branding. This format has the reporters actually presenting their stories instead of having an anchor read them. Primo used the cue "007" from the film From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
as the theme. Within a few years, Group W's other television stations had adopted the format. Around this same time, sister station KYW radio became one of the first all-news radio
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
stations in the country.
Channel 3's newscasts, anchored by Vince Leonard starting in 1958 (during its stint as NBC-owned WRCV-TV), had long been second behind WCAU-TV, but the new format catapulted KYW-TV to first place. Also seen on the air during that time were future talk show host Tom Snyder
Tom Snyder
Thomas James "Tom" Snyder was an American television personality, news anchor and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows The Tomorrow Show, on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Late Late Show, on the CBS Television Network in the 1990s...
and Marciarose Shestack. Primo took the concept with him to WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York in 1968, albeit an improved version which introduced the concept of chatter among the anchors ("happy talk"). It was this modified format that was emulated throughout the United States.
Channel 3 dominated the ratings for the rest of the 1960s, but faced a new challenger after WFIL-TV introduced Action News
Action News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
to Philadelphia. For most of the 1970s, KYW-TV traded first place with WFIL/WPVI. In 1972, KYW-TV hired Philadelphia-area native Jessica Savitch
Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television broadcaster and news reporter, host of PBS' Frontline and New York weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News during the short-lived Roger Mudd/Tom Brokaw era....
as a reporter, and later co-anchor alongside Leonard. Mort Crim
Mort Crim
Mort Crim is an author and former broadcast journalist. Crim was born . Crim retired from anchoring TV newscasts at WDIV-TV Detroit in 1996. He also anchored at WHAS-TV in Louisville, KYW-TV in Philadelphia and WBBM-TV in Chicago. Crim was considered to be a top candidate by former ABC News...
also joined as an anchor during that period, forming what native Philadelphians called the "Camelot of television news." However, in 1977, WPVI beat KYW-TV in most timeslots by a wide margin during a sweeps period. In a case of especially bad timing, Savitch left for NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
later that year. Crim left for WDIV in Detroit in 1978. Channel 3's ratings went into rapid decline. The station tried to stop the decline by adopting a new format called "Direct Connection", with reporters assigned to "beats" such as medical, consumer, entertainment, and gossip, among others. It did not work, and by the time Leonard left for KPNX
KPNX
KPNX is a full-service television station serving the Phoenix, Arizona television market as the NBC affiliate. Its studios and offices are located in Phoenix and its transmitter is on South Mountain in Phoenix but it is licensed to the suburb of Mesa. It is owned by the Gannett Company which also...
in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
in 1980, Eyewitness News had crashed into last place. For most of the next 20 years, KYW-TV was a very distant third behind WPVI-TV and WCAU-TV. Despite the presence of personalities such as Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
and Maury Povich
Maury Povich
Maurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
(who anchored briefly in the early 1980s), Eyewitness News stayed in the ratings basement.
In 1991, KYW-TV rebranded itself as KYW 3 after being known on-air as simply "channel 3" for most of its history (except for the "Direct Connection" era, when it was known as "3 for All"). It also abandoned the longstanding Eyewitness News name after 26 years and experimented with giving each newscast a different name. The morning and noon news became "Newsday," the 6 p.m. news "Newsbeat," and the 11 p.m. news "The News Tonight." It also started using a theme based on the musical signature of its radio sister, one of the top all-news stations in the country and the highest-rated radio station in Philadelphia for most of the last 40 years. Group W hoped to gain the trust of viewers who already associated KYW radio with high-quality news. However, neither of these fixes worked, and channel 3 stayed in the ratings basement. The experiment with different newscast names ended in 1994, just before it became a CBS station, when the station began calling its news operation "News 3". The Eyewitness News name was restored in early 1998.
KYW-TV used music packages based on KYW radio's musical signature until 2003. That year it adopted "News in Focus", by composer John Hegner as its theme song. This package, like the majority of themes for CBS' owned and operated stations, is based on "Channel 2 News," written in 1975 for WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Channel 3 used an updated version written in 2003 for sister station WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
in New York. The change to "News In Focus" came just after KYW began calling itself CBS 3. Ironically, WCAU-TV used music based on this theme for its last decade as a CBS-owned station. In 2005, KYW-TV ditched "News In Focus" in favor of another "Channel 2 News"-based tune, "The Enforcer" by Frank Gari
Frank Gari
Frank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
.
Also in 2003, KYW-TV became a factor in the Philadelphia news race for the first time in over 20 years. The previous summer, it persuaded WPVI-TV's longtime 5 p.m. anchor, Marc Howard, to jump ship to anchor its 11 p.m. news. Kathy Orr, weekend weathercaster at WCAU, also moved to channel 3. But those moves did nothing to help the ratings, and the station languished in last place for almost a full year.
Then, in September 2003, the station lured Larry Mendte away from WCAU. Mendte had been the lead anchor at that station when it defeated WPVI in the ratings for the first time in 30 years. Alycia Lane, a weekend anchor at WTVJ
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
in Miami, was added to compliment Mendte, and they became the station's new top anchor team, anchoring the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news.
The 5 p.m. news was moved to 4 p.m. and Marc Howard moved off the 11 p.m. newscast to anchor with Denise Saunders. The change proved successful, as KYW moved ahead of WCAU at 11 p.m. and came within a point of knocking off WPVI in the time slot. Saunders left the station in 2004 and was replaced by Angela Russell. Russell left the station on December 26, 2008. The 4 p.m. newscast has since been co-anchored by 6 p.m. co-anchor Susan Barnett. Today, KYW-TV is in second place in most time slots while WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
(a.k.a. 6ABC) continues to dominate with its newscasts despite having its digital signal on interference-prone channel 6. WTXF-TV
WTXF-TV
WTXF-TV, virtual channel 29 , is an owned-and-operated station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(a.k.a. FOX 29) leads in prime time programming.
In 2005, KYW introduced a customized graphics package created by Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winner Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films
Pyburn Films
Pyburn Films are a television and film production company in New York City that specializes in original content and long-form programming.Pyburn Films also conceived and created AXIS Graphics. The technology and privately held company was acquired in January 2008 by the Chyron Corporation....
. Interestingly, the Pyburn graphics package is quite similar to the one it created for WNBC-TV in 2003, which some of NBC's owned and operated stations are currently standardizing around.
In April 2007, KYW-TV began broadcasting its newscasts in 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...
, becoming the third Philadelphia television station to do so. The switch coincided with the station's move from its former Independence Mall studios to its new facility on Hamilton Street.
On February 2, 2009, KYW's news department began broadcasting a 10pm newscast on sister station WPSG. It was announced in the fall of 2009 that the noon news on KYW would be ditched in favor of a talk show, "TalkPhilly". Only WPVI and WTXF aired noon newscasts after this format change.
KYW-TV cooperates with sister station WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
in the production and broadcast of statewide New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
political debates. When the two stations broadcast a statewide office debate, such as Governor
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
or U.S. Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in the gathering of news in New Jersey where their markets overlap; sharing reporters, live trucks, and helicopters. Like other CBS-owned stations, KYW-TV offers a web only newscast called "CBS 3 At Your Desk", shown daily. On September 1, 2010, KYW-TV switched to the same graphics package used by WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
and KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
.
Controversy
In June 2008, former 6 and 11 p.m. news anchor Larry MendteLarry Mendte
Larry Mendte is an American commentator and American news anchor working at WPIX in New York City. Mendte was the first male host of the American syndicated television show Access Hollywood. His nightly commentaries are aired on TV stations across the country...
was fired after police raided his home and seized his computers. He was accused of secretly reading thousands of emails of fellow co-anchor Alycia Lane
Alycia Lane
Alycia Lane is an American television journalist. She serves as weekday morning anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Until January 2008, she was co-anchor of the weekday evening newscasts on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, from March 2006 to May 2008, and passing them on to gossip columnists. Mendte claimed that his actions were rooted in a feud that ended what was according to him a "flirtatious and improper" relationship with Lane. Mendte pleaded guilty. In September 2008, Lane filed a lawsuit against Mendte and KYW-TV. She accused the station of defaming her before and after she was fired; she was fired after being arrested in December 2007 following a scuffle with New York police.
Newscast titles
- The Philco News Analyst (1942)
- Pulse of the News (1956–1965)
- (Channel 3/KYW 3/CBS 3) Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1965–1991, 1998–present) - Newsday (morning and noon newscasts; 1991–1994)
- Newsbeat (6 p.m. newscast; 1991–1994)
- The News Tonight (11 p.m. newscast; 1991–1994)
- The News Saturday (Saturday newscasts; 1991–1994)
- The News Sunday (Sunday newscasts; 1991–1994)
- KYW News 3 (1994–1998)
News music packages
- 007: From Russia With Love (1965–1971)
- Celebrate! (1975–1976)
- Streets of... (1976–1980)
- KYW Direct Connection (1979–1980)
- Look For Us (1980–1981)
- KYW News (1980-1980)
- 007: From Russia With Love (1981–1982)
- And You (1982–1983)
- Believe In Yourself (1983–1986)
- Production Music: Newscenter (1986)
- Turn To News (1986–1991)
- KYW News Theme (1991–1998)
- KYW Enforcer (1998–1999)
- New Millennium (1999–2001)
- KYW News Music Package (2001–2003)
- KYW 2003 News (2003)
- News In Focus (2003–2005)
- The CBS Enforcer Music Collection (2005–present)
Anchors
- Susan BarnettSusan BarnettSusan Barnett is anchor at KYW-TV for the 5, 6, and 11 P.M. newscasts and is a former beauty queen from Levittown, Pennsylvania who competed at Miss Teen USA 1990 and Miss USA 1996.-Pageantry:...
- Weeknights at 5, 6, 10 (on WPSG), and 11 p.m. (Maternity Leave) - Natasha BrownNatasha BrownNatasha Brown is an anchor & reporter at KYW in Philadelphia. She reports for CBS 3 Eyewitness News on weeknights and anchors Eyewitness News at 6 and 11 P.M on Saturdays...
- Saturdays at 6 and 11 p.m. (Filling in for Susan Barnett) - Pat CiarrocchiPat CiarrocchiPat Ciarrocchi co-anchors the weekday noon newscast of CBS3 Eyewitness News on KYW-TV, alongside Ukee Washington. She joined the station in 1982. Previously she had served as anchor of the weekday morning and noon news for almost two decades. While at KYW-TV, she served as co-anchor of Evening...
- Talk Philly co-host - Anne Marie GreenAnne Marie GreenAnne-Marie Green is a Canadian news anchor.Green is a Toronto native and has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Toronto and is has a Post Graduate degree in Journalism from Humber College....
- Sunday Mornings - Dave Huddleston - Weeknights at 10 p.m. (on WPSG) and Sundays at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Chris May - Weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m.
- Ben Simmoneau - Sunday Mornings (also General Assignment Reporter)
- Erika von Tiehl - Weekday Mornings
- Ukee WashingtonUkee WashingtonUlysses Samuel "Ukee" Washington III is an American news co-anchor for the weekday morning newscast on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He anchors Eyewitness News This Morning on CBS 3 and The CW Philly with co-anchor Erica Von Tiehl, and co-hosts Talk Philly with Pat Ciarrocchi weekdays at...
- Weekday Mornings; also Talk Philly co-host
CBS 3 Eyewitness Weather team
- Kate Bilo - Meteorologist; Weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Kathy Orr - Chief Meteorologist; Weeknights at 10 p.m. (on WPSG) and 11 p.m.
- Justin Drabick - Meteorologist; Weekend Evenings
- Carol Erickson - Meteorologist; Weekend Mornings
- Katie Fehlinger - Meteorologist; Weekday Mornings and Noon
Sports team
- Beasley ReeceBeasley ReeceBeasley Young Reece, Jr. was an American football defensive back with a nine year NFL career from 1976 to 1984...
- Sports Director; Weeknights at 6, 10 (on WPSG) and 11 p.m. - Lesley Van Arsdall - Sports Anchor; Weekend Evenings
- Steve Bucci - Sports Anchor; Freelance
Reporters
- Nicole BrewerNicole BrewerNicole Brewer is a former Miss Pennsylvania from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who now works as a news reporter.As a junior and senior in college, Brewer won two local pageant titles, including Miss Central Pennsylvania 2004 and Miss Allegheny Valley 2005...
- Digital Journalist and Morning Contributor - Dray Clark- Morning Features Reporter
- Jim DonovanJim Donovan (reporter)Jim Donovan is the featured news reporter for KYW-TV's 3 On Your Side consumer unit. He won an emmy award for his consumer reporting.-References:...
- Consumer Reporter - Elizabeth Hur - General Assignment Reporter
- Walt HunterWalt HunterWalt Hunter is a Philadelphia native and an investigative reporter with KYW-TV. He joined the station in 1980 as a crime reporter and was named best television reporter by Philadelphia Magazine in 2004. He has received eight Philadelphia Emmy Awards.-References:...
- Investigative Reporter - Valerie LevesqueValerie LevesqueValerie Levesque is an American TV news reporter for KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She joined the station in March 2003 from WHP-TV and WLYH in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Levesque has also been a freelance reporter for the World Business Review based in Washington D.C. since April,...
- General Assignment Reporter - Jim Osman - Investigative Reporter
- Todd Quinones - General Assignment Reporter
- Robin Rieger - General Assignment Reporter
- Stephanie Stahl - Health and Science Reporter
- Jericka Duncan - General Assignment Reporter
Notable former staff
- Diane AllenDiane B. AllenDiane B. Allen is an American Republican Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 1998, where she represents the 7th Legislative District. She served as the Deputy Republican Conference Leader from 2002 to 2003 and as the Majority Whip from 1998 to 2001...
- Steve BaskervilleSteve BaskervilleHerman S. "Steve" Baskerville joined WBBM-TV in Chicago in September 1987 as weekend weatherman and has been the station's primary weekday forecaster since July 1988. Prior to that, he was the weather anchor for CBS This Morning from 1984 to 1987...
(now of WBBM-TVWBBM-TVWBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
in Chicago) - Steve BellSteve Bell (anchorman)Steve Bell is the former news anchor of ABC News programs "Good Morning America" and "World News This Morning", and professor emeritus of telecommunications at Muncie's Ball State University....
- Richard BeyRichard BeyRichard Wayne Bey is an American talk show host. He was popular in the 1990s as host of The Richard Bey Show, a daytime talk show containing ordinary people's personal stories incorporated into entertaining competitive games....
- Amy Caples (now a communications professor at Temple University)
- Collette CassidyCollette Cassidy-Birography:Cassidy served as primetime newsbreak anchor for MSNBC as well as an occasional host of MSNBC Live. Previously she was a reporter and weekend anchor at CBS station KYW TV3 in Philadelphia where she...
- Garry CobbGarry CobbGarry Wilbert Cobb is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League and current radio personality on WIP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the author of a book entitled Don't Be Clueless: 7 Keys to Life in the Real World, which is targeted to the challenges of urban youth...
- Mort CrimMort CrimMort Crim is an author and former broadcast journalist. Crim was born . Crim retired from anchoring TV newscasts at WDIV-TV Detroit in 1996. He also anchored at WHAS-TV in Louisville, KYW-TV in Philadelphia and WBBM-TV in Chicago. Crim was considered to be a top candidate by former ABC News...
(later with WDIV-TVWDIV-TVWDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...
in Detroit) - Paul DeannoPaul DeannoPaul Deanno is the morning and mid-day meteorologist for KOMO-TV in Seattle, WA. Previously, Paul worked as the Chief Meteorologist for WTVJ-TV in Miami, FL, and also worked as a meteorologist in Philadelphia, San Antonio, Spokane, and Medford....
(now of KOMO-TVKOMO-TVKOMO-TV, virtual channel 4, is a television station in Seattle, Washington. It is an affiliate of ABC and broadcasts on digital channel 38. KOMO-TV is the flagship station of Fisher Communications, and its studios and offices are co-located with sister radio stations KOMO , KVI , and KPLZ-FM ...
in Seattle) - Mike Douglas (now deceased)
- Howard EskinHoward EskinHoward Eskin is an American sports radio personality for WIP-FM 94.1/WIP-AM 610 in Philadelphia.-Career:After Eskin graduated from Northeast High School in Philadelphia in 1968, he got his start in local radio at WFIL-AM when evening shift disc jockey George Michael hired him to be his engineer...
(now of WIP(AM)) - Dave FrankelDave FrankelDave Frankel was a television weatherman and news anchor in Philadelphia before leaving the air to become an attorney. He joined WPVI-TV 6-ABC in 1984 as an investigative reporter. He became the morning weatherman in 1989. Dave was a prominent and popular personality at the station. In 1997 he...
- Linda GialanellaLinda GialanellaGialanella held the Miss New Jersey 1972 title and competed in the Miss America 1973 pageant, but did not place. The pageant was won by Terry Anne Meeuwsen of Wisconsin....
- Dick GoddardDick GoddardRichard D. "Dick" Goddard is an American television meteorologist, author, cartoonist, and animal activist. For over four decades, he has served as the evening meteorologist at WJW , the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Cleveland, Ohio...
(now with WJW-TV in Cleveland) - Max GomezMax GomezDr. Max Gomez, Ph. D. is a native of Havana, Cuba and was the medical correspondent/senior health editor for NBC flagship television station WNBC in New York City. He delivered segments on health, science and medicine on the 5pm news. Before that he was the health and science editor for KYW-TV in...
- Mark HainesMark HainesMark Haines was a host on the CNBC television network.-Early life and education:Haines grew up in Oyster Bay, New York, and resided in Monmouth County, New Jersey. His alma mater was Denison University, and in 1989, the University of Pennsylvania Law School...
(deceased, most recently with CNBCCNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
) - Marc Howard (now retired)
- Calvin HughesCalvin HughesCalvin Hughes is a news anchor on WPLG Local 10, in Miami, Florida, United States.In mid-2010 Hughes moved form the morning and noontime anchor position to a nighttime co-anchor slot....
(now of WPLGWPLGWPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliated television station located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, and its transmitter is located at the massive broadcast...
in Miami) - Jack JonesJack Jones (reporter)Jack Jones , born John Wesley Claver Jones, was an American television journalist.He was a native of Philadelphia and the first African-American news anchor in the Philadelphia market. He first joined WCAU-TV fresh out of high school as a copy editor...
(now deceased) - Larry KaneLarry KaneLarry Kane is an American journalist best known as the only American reporter whom The Beatles let travel with them on their 1964 and 1965 North American tours. Kane authored a book about his experiences on the tour, called Ticket To Ride, and Lennon Revealed, a New York Times and Los Angeles...
(now retired) - Ernie KovacsErnie KovacsErnie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
(deceased) - Bill KusterBill KusterBill Kuster was an American television meteorologist. He was a weather forecaster at KYW-TV in Philadelphia from 1963 to 1979 and KUSA in Denver from 1979 to 1996.-Early life and education:...
(later of KUSA in Denver, now deceased) - Maria LaRosaMaria LaRosaMaria LaRosa is an American on-camera meteorologist for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia.-Early life & Career:LaRosa was born in New York State, but was raised in her hometown of Ramsey, New Jersey. In June 2004, LaRosa joined KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was later hired by...
(now of The Weather ChannelThe Weather ChannelThe Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
) - Alycia LaneAlycia LaneAlycia Lane is an American television journalist. She serves as weekday morning anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Until January 2008, she was co-anchor of the weekday evening newscasts on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(now of KNBC-TV in Los Angeles) - Matt LauerMatt LauerMatthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
(now a host of NBC's Today Show) - Robin MackintoshRobin MackintoshRobin Mackintosh is an American journalist, best known as an Eyewitness News reporter for CBS 3 in Philadelphia from 1970 through his retirement in 2008.-Career:...
(now retired) - Larry MendteLarry MendteLarry Mendte is an American commentator and American news anchor working at WPIX in New York City. Mendte was the first male host of the American syndicated television show Access Hollywood. His nightly commentaries are aired on TV stations across the country...
(now of WPIXWPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in New York) - Andrea MitchellAndrea MitchellAndrea Mitchell is an American television journalist, anchor, reporter, and commentator for NBC News based in Washington, D.C.. She is the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and has recently reported on the 2008 Race for the White House for NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly...
(now with NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
and MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
) - Tom NegovanTom NegovanTom Negovan is a news anchor and reporter at Chicago's WGN-TV. During his time as anchor of the WGN-TV News at Noon, the program solidified its position as the top-rated midday newscast in Chicago and was honored with a Silver Dome Award by the Illinois Broadcasters Association. In the summer of...
(now of WGN-TVWGN-TVWGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
in Chicago) - Jerry PenacoliJerry PenacoliJerry Penacoli is an American actor and entertainment reporter.-Reporting career:Before going national, Penacoli served as a newscaster and talk-show host in several markets, starting with Jacksonville, Florida, then, WTVJ, Miami, where Jerry served as host of PM Magazine in the early 1980s, then...
(later with the entertainment magazine EXTRAExtraExtra, extras or xtra may refer to:* Extra , a performer who appears in a nonspeaking capacity* Extra , a term in the sport of cricket* Extra , a brand of chewing gum...
) - Malcolm PoindexterMalcolm PoindexterMalcolm P. Poindexter Jr. was an American newspaper, radio and television journalist whose career spanned more than 50 years. Poindexter reported for KYW-TV, based in Philadelphia, from 1967 until his retirement in February 2001...
(now deceased) - Maury PovichMaury PovichMaurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
(now host of his own syndicated talk show) - Jessica SavitchJessica SavitchJessica Beth Savitch was an American television broadcaster and news reporter, host of PBS' Frontline and New York weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News during the short-lived Roger Mudd/Tom Brokaw era....
(now deceased) - John SchubeckJohn SchubeckJohn Schubeck was an American television reporter and anchor, and one of the few to anchor newscasts on all three network owned-and-operated stations in one major market....
(later with TV show ExtraExtra (TV series)Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
) - Maria ShriverMaria ShriverMaria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
(later with NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
and was First LadyFirst LadyFirst Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
) - Tom SnyderTom SnyderThomas James "Tom" Snyder was an American television personality, news anchor and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows The Tomorrow Show, on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Late Late Show, on the CBS Television Network in the 1990s...
(now deceased) - Dick StandishDick StandishDick Standish is an award-winning reporter who joined KYW-TV in 1979 after working at sister radio station KYW-AM since 1967, working at the station's New Jersey bureau. Standish, a Rutgers University graduate, also has taught some journalism courses at his alma mater. He retired on May 1,...
- Mary Stoker SmithMary Stoker SmithMary Stoker Smith is an American television news reporter and anchor.- Biography :Mary Stoker Smith grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin...
(now of WITI in Milwaukee) - Lou TilleyLou TilleyLou Tilley is a freelance anchor, reporter, and producer in multi-media.He recently partnered with Martin E Judge to form "Lou Tilley Media Enterprises" based in Conshohoken, Pa. "LTM" develops original visual content onall media platforms including traditional TV, internet, and digital display...
- Joe WitteJoe WitteJoe Witte is the morning and midday weathercaster for TBD TV, a local cable news network owned by Albritton Communication headquartered in Rosslyn, VA and serving the Washington, D.C area. He previously worked at Washington's ABC affiliate, WJLA, which is also owned by Albritton and headquartered...
(later with NBC News and CNBCCNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, now with WJLA-TVWJLA-TVWJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station NewsChannel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...
in Washington, DC)
Cable, telco & satellite carriage
Outside of the Philadelphia DMA in central New Jersey, KYW-TV has been carried in southern Middlesex County since December 2007 on Comcast of Central New Jersey Digital Cable channel 256 in the municipalities of Plainsboro, South Brunswick, Monroe, Cranbury, Jamesburg, Helmetta, Spotswood and East Brunswick. The Middlesex County section of this system then part of Storer Cable had previously carried KYW-TV on Channel 37 (where it had been moved from Channel 3 in the late 1980s) up until 1993, when KYW was an NBC affiliate owned by Group W/Westinghouse until NBC Owned-and-operatedOwned-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...
WNBC objected to the southern Middlesex County the part of Storer Cable system carrying a second NBC affiliate in the New York DMA. KYW-TV was removed from the Middlesex County part of the Storer/Comcast of Central New Jersey I system at midnight September 1, 1993.
Interestingly after the affiliation and ownership swap on September 10, 1995 WNBC did not object to now NBC co-owned sister station WCAU continuing to be carried in southern Middlesex County on Comcast Channel 39 (moved back to channel 10 in late 1998 and again to digital cable channel 253 to preserve bandwidth in November 2006), but on the other hand Comcast did not restore the now CBS KYW to the system for another twelve years. Cablevision in the Asbury Park area of Monmouth County (previously Harte-Hanks Cable and Monmouth Cablevision) carried KYW-TV until September 10, 1995. WCAU replaced KYW on that system after the network switch. Verizon FiOS may have at one time carried KYW in South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County. But if it was it now appears to have been removed from the FiOS South Brunswick lieup.
KYW is available to Comcast Cable customers in Ocean County on channel 256. It is not available to Cablevision customers in Lakewood, Seaside Heights and southern Monmouth County, even though Cablevision carries other Philadelphia stations on these systems. DirecTV and Dish Network do not carry any Philadelphia stations in any area outside the Philadelphia market that gets New York channels on cable.
In New Jersey, KYW (and the majority of Philadelphia stations) were carried in more places in central and northern New Jersey during the CATV era of the 1970s and 1980s. Particularly Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Warren and parts of Sussex counties had KYW on the lineup. Northern and portions of central Middlesex County with the exception of South Plainfield never received any other Philadelphia station except WPHL and WTAF (today's WTXF), which have been removed since the late 1980s. Northeast Monmouth County Comcast Subscribers (Eatontown) once had KYW and the other Philadelphia stations on cable as well.