KCWK

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KCWK / KCWK-LP
KCWK: Walla Walla, Washington KCWK-LP: Yakima, Washington
Channels	KCWK: 9 (VHF) KCWK-LP: 27 (UHF) analog, KCWK-DT: Application none KCWK-LD: Application 36 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	Pappas Telecasting
Founded	November 1, 2004
Call letters meaning	K CW Network K
Former affiliations	Azteca America (2004-2006)
Website	www.KCWK9.com

KCWK is currently a television station which broadcasts on analog channel 9 in Walla Walla, Washington and low-powered analog channel 27 (KCWK-LP) in Yakima, Washington. It is affiliated with The CW, and is owned by Pappas Telecasting.

[edit] KCWK as Azteca America

The station signed on November 1, 2004, as KAZW-TV, then an affiliate of the Spanish-language Azteca America network.

Despite the initial report, citing better marketing potentional, plans were later changed that The CW would take the whole affiliation of the station and KCWK would drop Azteca America entirely from the station (which it since has). According to station manager Bob Powers, "If you look at our potential financial opportunity, it's really much greater being programmed with Anglo programming as opposed to Spanish programming [1]."

While the Hispanic population composes 40 percent of the Yakima Valley, the numbers still haven't been high enough to reach the level needed for Azteca America, according to Mike Angelos, vice president of corporate communications for Pappas Telecasting, owner of the Yakima station.

[edit] Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [2], 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, KCWK will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

However, its low-powered satellite, KCWK-LP, has filed for a digital "-LD" license on channel 36. It is currently unknown if that channel will complement or replace channel 27.

[edit] External links

• KCWK Official Site
• Spanish-language TV station Azteca switches formats to The CW
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KCWK
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KCWK-LP