KGCW
   | |
| Burlington/Davenport, Iowa- Rock Island/Moline, Illinois | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Burlington, Iowa |
| Branding | Quad Cities CW |
| Channels |
Digital: 41 (UHF) & KLJB-DT 49.2 (UHF) Virtual: 26 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels |
26.1 The CW 26.2 This TV 26.3 Me-TV |
| Affiliations | Jewelry Television (overnights) |
| Owner |
Grant Broadcasting System II (sale to Nexstar Broadcasting Group pending) (Burlington Television Acquisition Licensing, LLC) |
| First air date | August 2, 1984 |
| Call letters' meaning | Grant CW |
| Sister station(s) | KLJB |
| Former callsigns |
KJMH (1984–2001) KGWB-TV (2001–2006) KGCW-TV (2006-2009) |
| Former channel number(s) | 26 (UHF analog, 1988–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Fox (1988-2001) The WB (2001-2006) |
| Transmitter power |
615 kW 1,000 kW (KLJB-DT2) |
| Height |
388 m 343.7 m (KLJB-DT2) |
| Facility ID |
7841 54011 (KLJB-DT2) |
| Transmitter coordinates |
41°8′8″N 90°48′30″W / 41.13556°N 90.80833°W 41°18′44.5″N 90°22′46.2″W / 41.312361°N 90.379500°W (KLJB-DT2) |
KGCW is the CW-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities of Eastern Iowa and West-Central Illinois. Licensed to Burlington, Iowa, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 (virtual channel 26.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Seaton village of Abington Township, Illinois. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 804. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II, KGCW is sister to Fox affiliate KLJB and the two share studios on East 53rd Street in Davenport, Iowa. Syndicated programming on this station includes Seinfeld, My Name Is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, and Cash Cab among others. The station also carries preseason NFL Green Bay Packers football from the team's Wisconsin state network. KGCW can also be seen on KLJB's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 49.2 or virtual channel 18.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Orion village of Western Township, Illinois.
History
The station signed-on August 2, 1984 as KJMH. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 26 with an effective radiated power of 200 kilowatts (at a height of 96 meters) from a tower on Winegard Drive in Burlington. Originally an Independent, KJMH became a charter Fox affiliate on October 6, 1986 and primarily served the southern portion of the Quad Cities market. However, the station suffered interference and duplication from the area's other Fox affiliate, KLJB in Davenport serving the northern portions of the area. Finally in 1996, this station became a full-time satellite of KLJB. In 2001, KJMH broke off and became a The WB affiliate for the Quad Cities and adopted the KGWB-TV call sign.
In September 2006 as a result of The WB and UPN merging to form The CW, the station was picked as the new network affiliate for the Quad Cities. To reflect the change, KGWB adopted the KGCW-TV call letters on June 30, 2006. Meanwhile, the area's low-powered UPN affiliate WBQD-LP joined the other new service, News Corporation's MyNetworkTV. While broadcasting in analog, KGCW's signal failed to cover the Quad Cities adequately because WBQD also transmitted on channel 26 (and still does today). In addition, its coverage area was less than most full-powered UHF outlets in the United States due to its lower effective radiated power and antenna height. However, since 2001, this shortfall has been made up by it being available on cable systems in the area through a fiber optic link and a simulcast on KLJB-DT2.
In December 2009, it finally changed the PSIP identifier for the main channel on 26.1 from its pre-transition labeling of "KGCW-DT" to its current legal call sign "KGCW" without the "-DT" suffix in it. At noon on February 17, 2009, the station terminated its analog signal on channel 26 and continued digital broadcasts on channel 41. It transferred the "KGCW-TV" calls from its now-defunct analog signal on channel 26 to its digital signal on channel 41 and the "KGCW-DT" call sign was discontinued.
However, it changed the legal Federal Communications Commission (FCC) call sign again to KGCW around the revised digital transition date in June 2009 while continuing to use "KGCW-DT" through PSIP to identify channel 26.1 all the way up until December 2009. The current digital signal had been on-the-air from a new transmitter site near north of Seaton since November 2008 and from the station's original Burlington site on Winegard Drive prior to that. The remainder of the television stations in the Quad Cities terminated analog signals on the new analog shutoff date, June 12.
On November 6, 2013, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would purchase the Grant stations, including KGCW and KLJB, for $87.5 million. Due to Federal Communications Commission ownership regulations (Nexstar is also in the process of acquiring WHBF-TV), KLJB will then be spun off to Mission Broadcasting, but will be operated by Nexstar through a shared services agreement.[1]
Digital television
| Channel | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26.1 | KGCW-HD | 720p | 16:9 | Main KGCW programming / The CW HDTV |
| 26.2 | ThisTV | 480i | 4:3 | This TV |
| 26.3 | ME TV | Me-TV |
The station's digital signal is multiplexed. On December 10, 2009, KGCW added a new second subchannel of its own carrying This TV. It also added Me-TV to a new subchannel on April 10, 2012.
Newscasts
After sister station KLJB launched a thirty minute prime time newscast produced by the Independent News Network (INN) on December 31, 1999, KGCW began repeating the show (known as Fox 18 Nine O'Clock News) on Tuesday through Saturday mornings at 5. On August 6, 2010, it was made public KLJB terminated its long standing partnership with INN and entered into a news share agreement with ABC affiliate WQAD-TV (owned by Local TV). On September 6, that station began producing a nightly half-hour prime time show on KLJB still known by the same name. KGCW then began repeating the previous night's newscast Monday through Friday mornings at 5. Production of Fox 18 Nine O'Clock News changed once more on December 31, 2012 when it was taken over through a new outsourcing arrangement by NBC affiliate KWQC-TV (owned by Young Broadcasting). There is now a separate anchor team featured solely on KLJB but the personalities can fill-in on KWQC when needed. The nightly broadcast at 9 currently originates from the NBC outlet's facility on Brady Street/U.S. 61 (within the Palmer College of Chiropractic campus) in downtown Davenport. KGCW moved the repeat of KLJB's show to the next morning at 1.
Anchors
- Baily Davis - weeknights at 9 p.m.
- Elizabeth Goodsitt - weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Fox 18 First Alert Weather
- Erik Maitland (NWA Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 9 p.m.
- Kevin Phelps - meteorologist; weekends at 9 p.m.
Sports
- Thom Cornelis - sports director; weeknights at 9 p.m.
- Ben Rosehart - sports anchor; weekends at 9 p.m., also sports reporter
Reporters
- Erika Cervantes - general assignment reporter
- Bailey Dietz - general assignment reporter
- Lynnanne Nguyen - general assignment reporter
- Amber O'Brien - general assignment reporter
- Morgan Ottier - general assignment reporter
- Fran Riley - general assignment reporter
- Mark Stevens - general assignment reporter
References
- ↑ Malone, Michael (November 6, 2013). "Nexstar to Acquire Seven Grant Stations For $87.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
External links
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