KCWI-TV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KCWI-TV
Ames/Des Moines, Iowa
Branding	The KCWI, CW 23
Slogan	"We're Your Station"
Channels	23 (UHF) analog
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	Pappas Telecasting
Founded	January 20, 2001
Call letters meaning	CW Iowa
Former callsigns	KPWB-TV (2001-September 18, 2006)
Former affiliations	The WB (2001-2006), UPN (secondary, 2002-2003)
Website	www.kcwi23.com

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 Ankeny while its transmitter is near Alleman.

KCWI signed on the air January 20, 2001, as a WB network 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. On September 18, 2006, KPWB changed its call letters to KCWI to reflect its new affiliation.

Syndicated programs on KCWI include The Tyra Banks Show and reruns of Friends, King of Queens, That '70s Show, and Will & Grace. KCWI also carries St. Louis Cardinals games on Sundays during baseball season and Kansas City Chiefs games during the NFL's pre-season.

[edit] Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KCWI-TV will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

Pappas Telecasting has allowed for its digital-only station KDMI-DT (channel 56) to carry the CW in HD as well as carry My Network TV and America One programming.

[edit] Logos

KPWB's logo from 2001 to 2006

New CW logo since September 2006

[edit] External links

• KCWI's Web site
• KCWI's Pappas TV profile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KCWI