KSBW

KSBW

Salinas–Monterey–Santa Cruz, California United States
City	Salinas, California
Channels	Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 8
Branding	KSBW 8; Action News 8 Central Coast ABC (DT2) Estrella TV Costa Central (DT3)
Programming
Affiliations	8.1: NBC 8.2: ABC for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Hearst Television (Hearst Stations Inc.)
History
First air date	September 11, 1953 (71 years ago) (1953-09-11)
Former call signs	KSBW-TV (1953–1987)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 8 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital: 10 (VHF, 2002–2009)
Former affiliations	All secondary: DuMont (1953–1955) ABC (1953–1960) CBS (1953–1969)
Call sign meaning	"Salad Bowl of the World", nickname for Salinas[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	19653
ERP	20.6 kW
HAAT	760 m (2,493 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°45′22.8″N 121°30′8.7″W / 36.756333°N 121.502417°W / 36.756333; -121.502417
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.ksbw.com

KSBW (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Salinas, California, United States, serving the Monterey Bay area as an affiliate of NBC and ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios on John Street (Highway 68) in downtown Salinas, and its transmitter is located on Fremont Peak in the Gabilan Mountains.

KSBW-TV began broadcasting on September 11, 1953. It was originally a shared-time operation with KMBY-TV, which operated from Monterey; the stations were outgrowths of radio stations KSBW and KMBY and shared programs from all four major television networks. KSBW bought out KMBY in 1955, becoming the sole station on channel 8. In 1957, its owners began operating KSBY in San Luis Obispo as a semi-satellite; the two stations remained commonly owned for more than three decades, and KSBW became the dominant local news outlet in the area. It retained this status despite a series of ownership transfers in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time Elisabeth Murdoch and her husband briefly owned KSBW and KSBY.

Hearst acquired KSBW in 1998 as part of a trade with Sunrise Television Corporation. Under Hearst, KSBW was the first station in the area to broadcast a digital signal. In 2011, it launched Central Coast ABC, a local in-market ABC affiliate, as a digital subchannel.