KWCH-DT

KWCH-DT
CityHutchinson, Kansas
Channels
BrandingKWCH; 12 News
Programming
NetworkKansas Broadcasting System
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
July 1, 1953
(71 years ago)
 (1953-07-01)
Former call signs
  • KTVH (1952–1983)
  • KWCH-TV (1983–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 12 (VHF, 1953–2009)
  • Digital: 12 (VHF, February−September 2009)
  • All secondary:
  • NBC (1953–1954)
  • DuMont (1953–1955)
  • ABC (1953–1956)
Call sign meaning
"Wichita"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID66413
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT421 m (1,381 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38°3′37.6″N 97°45′49.7″W / 38.060444°N 97.763806°W / 38.060444; -97.763806
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.kwch.com

KWCH-DT (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, United States, serving the Wichita area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CW affiliate KSCW-DT (channel 33) and maintains studios on 37th Street North in northeast Wichita and a transmitter facility located east of Hutchinson in rural northeastern Reno County. KWCH-DT serves as the flagship of the Kansas Broadcasting System (KBS), a network of four full-power stations that relay CBS network and other programming provided by KWCH across central and western Kansas, as well as bordering counties in Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

The station was established as KTVH in Hutchinson on July 1, 1953, and was the first television station built within the state. Though based in Hutchinson until 1978, when the main studio was officially moved to Wichita, it has had a presence in that city since 1954. The KBS network took its present form in the early 1960s. KTVH was the third-rated news outlet in the area until the owners of two of the other three KBS stations purchased it, changed the call letters to KWCH in 1983, and successfully led it to first place in the local ratings.

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KWCH-DT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.