KGCW-TV
Encyclopedia
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. 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
.
. It can also be seen on KLJB's third digital subchannel (UHF channel 49.3 or virtual channel 18.3 via PSIP).
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 Wineguard 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.
On December 10, 2009, KGCW added a new second subchannel of its own carrying programming from This TV. Also, 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.
(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 now repeats the previous night's newscast Monday through Friday mornings at 5.
Anchors
Reporters
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
of Eastern Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and West-Central Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Licensed to Burlington, Iowa
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
, it broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 41 (virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
26.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Seaton
Seaton, Illinois
Seaton is a village in Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 242 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Seaton is located at ....
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Abington Township, Illinois
Abington Township, Mercer County, Illinois
Abington Township is located in Mercer County, Illinois. The population was 453 at the 2000 census.- External links :***...
. The station can also be seen on Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 804. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II
Grant Broadcasting System II
Based in Roanoke, Virginia, Grant Broadcasting System II is an owner of various television stations in the United States....
, KGCW is sister to Fox affiliate KLJB and the two share studios on East 53rd Street in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on this station includes Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
, and Cash Cab
Cash Cab (U.S. game show)
Cash Cab is an American game show that began airing on the Discovery Channel on December 5, 2005. The program is hosted by stand-up comedian Ben Bailey. While Bailey's show takes place in New York City, some episodes of Season 6 take place in Las Vegas...
among others. KGCW can also be seen on KLJB's second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
(UHF channel 49.2 or virtual channel 18.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Orion
Orion, Illinois
Orion is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,861 at the 2010 census. It is home of the Orion Chargers...
village of Western Township, Illinois
Western Township, Henry County, Illinois
Western Township is one of twenty-four townships in Henry County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,920. Western changed its name from Orion Township on April 13, 1857.-Geography:...
.
Digital programming
On KGCW-DT2 and Mediacom digital channel 113 is This TVThis TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
. It can also be seen on KLJB's third digital subchannel (UHF channel 49.3 or virtual channel 18.3 via PSIP).
| Channels | Name | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26.1 | KGCW | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 | Main KGCW programming / The CW |
| 26.2 | KGCW-DT2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | This TV |
History
The station signed-on August 2, 19841984 in television
This article is a list of television-related events in 1984.-Events:*January 9 – Wendy's "Fluffy Bun" ad first airs, which propels Clara Peller and her "Where's the beef?" catchphrase to national prominence....
as KJMH. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 26 with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
of 200 kilowatts (at a height of 96 meters) from a tower on Wineguard 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
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. 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
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
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
WBQD-LP
WBQD-LP is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities area of Eastern Iowa and West-Central Illinois that is licensed to Davenport, Iowa. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter on 70th Street next to Black Hawk College near the Poplar...
joined the other new service, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
's MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
systems in the area through a fiber optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
link and a simulcast on KLJB-DT2.
On December 10, 2009, KGCW added a new second subchannel of its own carrying programming from This TV. Also, 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
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(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.
Newscasts
After sister station KLJB launched a thirty minute prime time newscast produced by the Independent News NetworkIndependent News Network
For the consortium of non-profit investigative news organizations, see .The Independent News Network, also known as INN, is a television news service based in Davenport, Iowa. It syndicates "localized" news programs for television stations across the country with little budget for news...
(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
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities area of West-Central Illinois and Eastern Iowa that is licensed to Moline, Illinois...
(owned by Local TV
Local TV
Local TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...
). On September 6, that station began producing a nightly half-hour prime time show on KLJB still known by the same name. KGCW now repeats the previous night's newscast Monday through Friday mornings at 5.
Anchors
- Rebecca Smith - Monday news and reporter
- Kim Johnson - Tuesday through Friday news and reporter
- Chris Williams - Tuesday through Friday news also investigative and consumer reporter
- James Zahara (CBMCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen Tuesday through Friday - Cassie Heiter - Monday meteorologist
- Matt Randazzo - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen Tuesday through Friday - Kory Kuffler - Monday sports and sports reporter
Reporters
- Matt Hammill - Senior
- Julie Sisk - health
- Angie Mitchum
- Chris Minor
- John David