KCWD

KCWD (channel 16) is a television station licensed to Oasis Valley, serving as the CW outlet for the Driftwood area. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside ABC affiliate KGRK (channel 4).

History[]

The station signed-on September 9, 1973 airing an analog signal on UHF channel 16. It featured programming offerings consisting primarily of syndicated reruns of dramas, sitcoms, and children's shows in the day and movies in the evenings. It was originally owned by Field Communications. In 1983, Driftwoodvision Communications acquired Field Communications. In 1997, Driftwood Communications was sold to ACME Communications.

KOAS became a charter affiliate of The WB upon its launch on January 11, 1995 and changed its call letters to KWBD to reflect its new affiliation on September 1. After becoming a WB affiliate, KWBD significantly upgraded its on-air look and schedule. It acquired several first-run syndicated sitcoms and talk shows. By the start of the new millennium, KWBD established itself as a solid competitor to established non-Big Three stations KDII (channel 2) and KDWX-TV (channel 26).

Tribune ownership[]

On December 30, 2002, Tribune Broadcasting announced it would purchase KWBD and sister stations KPLR-TV in St. Louis, Missouri and KWBP in Portland, Oregon, from ACME Communications for $412.5 million; the sale was finalized on March 21, 2003.

On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW.^[2][3] KWBD was announced as Driftwood's CW through a 17-station group affiliation with Tribune.

On September 16, 2006, KWBD changed its call letters to the current KCWD-TV, rebranding as "Driftwood's CW 16". It affiliated with The CW when it launched on September 18, 2006.

Aborted sale to Sinclair; sale to Nexstar[]

On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group—owner of CBS affiliate KDWW—entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune, pending regulatory approval by the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. The creation of an additional duopoly in the Driftwood market would result in only seven full-power television owners. Under the previous rules, the companies would have been required to sell either KDWW or KCWD to another station group in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership rules preceding approval of the acquisition; however, a change in local ownership rules permitted duopolies in all markets (provided only one of the stations ranks in the top four), hence the duopoly became permissible. As a result, KCWD would become a sister station to KDWW.

On August 9, 2018, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell.

On December 3, 2018, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group announced it would acquire the assets of Tribune Media for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. The deal—which made Nexstar the largest television station operator by total number of stations—resulted in KCWD and ABC-affiliate, KGRK becoming Nexstar's first television station properties located within the Driftwood metropolitan area.

KCWD

Contents

History[]

Tribune ownership[]

Aborted sale to Sinclair; sale to Nexstar[]

Programming[]

Programming Schedule[]

Logos[]

Gallery[]