KWMK is a local cable channel affiliated with The CW. The channel is on cable channel 14 on the Midcontinent Communications

Midcontinent Communications

Midcontinent Communications is a regional cable provider, providing a triple play service of cable television, cable modem Internet service, and cable telephone service for both North Dakota and South Dakota, along with several communities in western Minnesota...

 cable system in Bismarck, and is offered on other Midcontinent lineups throughout western North Dakota. Most of its programming comes from The CW Plus

The CW Plus

The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....

, a group of CW affiliates in small to medium markets.

History

KWMK launched as a cable-only The WB

The WB Television Network

The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...

 affiliate in 1998 programmed by The WB 100+ Station Group

The WB 100+ Station Group

The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...

, a predecessor to The CW Plus. WB 100+ was made to get The WB on cable screens in small and medium TV markets, and let a local cable TV company or another TV station operate a cable channel carrying The WB network with imaginary call letters and WB 100+ programming up all non-network slots on the schedule, and let the operator of the cable channel air local commercial inserts and have a unique local branding (like "North Dakota's WB14").

In September 2006, 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...

 networks closed down in order to launch The CW

The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...

. The website of The CW referred to a "North Dakota CW" coming to the Bismarck-Minot market. http://www.cwtv.com/stations weeks before the launch. TV listings show that KWMK would carry CW programming after the launch on September 18, 2006, and now KWMK has been confirmed as a CW affiliate. There was no full-time UPN affiliate in western North Dakota, though West Dakota Fox (KNDX/KXND) broadcasted UPN after the primetime schedule.