KSTW

KSTW

Company type	Television station
Industry	Broadcasting
Predecessor	KTNT-TV
Founded	March 1, 1953 (1953-03-01) in Tacoma, Washington, United States
Founder	Tacoma News Tribune
Headquarters	Seattle , United States
Area served	Seattle metropolitan area; available in southwestern British Columbia, Canada via cable
Products	Television broadcasting
Owner	CBS News and Stations

KSTW (channel 11), operating under the brand name Seattle 11, is an independent television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington and serving the Seattle metropolitan region. The station is owned by CBS News and Stations, with its transmitter located on East Madison Street within Seattle's Cherry Hill neighborhood, while its business offices are situated in the Westlake district just north of downtown.

As the inaugural television station in Tacoma and the second established in the Seattle metropolitan area, KSTW began broadcasting in March 1953 under the call letters KTNT-TV. It originally operated as the local CBS affiliate under ownership of the Tacoma News Tribune. The station lost its CBS affiliation following the launch of Seattle-based KIRO-TV in 1958; however, both stations shared CBS programming for two years due to an antitrust settlement. After being acquired by a predecessor of Gaylord Broadcasting, it was renamed KSTW in 1974 and emerged as a prominent independent station, gaining regional superstation status through extensive cable carriage across Washington and neighboring areas. During the nationwide affiliation realignment from 1994 to 1996, KSTW rejoined CBS in 1995. Two years later, it transitioned to UPN through a three-way agreement involving KIRO-TV, then switched to The CW network in 2006 following UPN’s shutdown. The station continued to air CW content until 2023, when CBS withdrew its affiliations after selling its stake to Nexstar Media Group.

KSTW’s signal is also accessible to Canadian audiences in southwestern British Columbia via cable providers such as Shaw Cable and TELUS Optik TV, reaching markets including Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Penticton, and Kelowna.

Early history

The Federal Communications Commission granted the construction permit on December 10, 1952. Chief Engineer Max Bice placed orders for equipment from General Electric, which was delivered within a span of 45 days. The antenna, produced in Milan, Italy, was transported by rail to Tacoma. The transmitter arrived from Syracuse, New York on February 9, 1953, and installation began the following day. Initial studio facilities and transmitter were located at South 11th Street and South Grant Avenue. The station conducted tests with a 30,000-watt signal that reportedly reached reception points up to 150 miles away.

KTNT-TV commenced broadcasting on March 1, 1953, in Tacoma, deriving its call letters from its founder, the Tacoma News Tribune. It served as the primary CBS affiliate and was paired with sister radio stations KTNT AM 1400 (now KITZ) and FM 97.3 (now KIRO-FM). In the late 1950s, KTNT briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. On February 21, 1954, the FCC authorized KTNT to increase transmitter power to 316,000 watts and relocate it to a newly erected 1,000-foot tower near View Park, Washington. Components of older equipment were lent to Portland’s KGW-TV after damage caused by the Columbus Day Storm of 1962.

With the debut of KIRO-TV (channel 7) in February 1958 as the exclusive CBS affiliate for the Seattle–Tacoma market, KTNT-TV was notified by CBS that it would lose its affiliation. In response, KTNT filed an antitrust lawsuit against CBS and KIRO-TV alleging an existing agreement that favored KIRO-TV’s affiliation. The dispute was resolved in 1960 when CBS agreed to share affiliation between both stations. This arrangement continued until September 1962 when KIRO-TV became western Washington’s sole CBS affiliate. Thereafter, channel 11 reverted to independent status as the market’s second independent outlet after KTVW (channel 13, now KCPQ).

During the late 1960s, KTNT occasionally broadcast NBC prime-time shows preempted by KING-TV (channel 5) due to Seattle SuperSonics basketball games. In May 1967, it briefly joined the United Network (Overmyer Network), a short-lived attempt at establishing a fourth national commercial network. Throughout this era, KTNT also featured horror films under the Nightmare! banner on Saturday nights around 10:30 p.m., preceding sign-off.

New ownership

In response to the FCC’s early 1970s regulations limiting newspaper and broadcast cross-ownership, the Tacoma News Tribune was compelled to consider selling its KTNT stations. As a result, KTNT-TV was acquired in 1974 by the WKY Television System, which later evolved into Gaylord Broadcasting (currently Ryman Hospitality Properties). On March 1 of that year, the station adopted new call letters, KSTW (representing Seattle–Tacoma, Washington), introduced the slogan "Good Lookin' 11," and unveiled a refreshed logo. During the late 1970s, KSTW expanded its reach as a regional superstation, accessible on cable networks throughout Washington, parts of Oregon, northern Idaho, and much of British Columbia. It also broadcast numerous CBS daytime programs that KIRO-TV chose to preempt during that era. Between 1976 and 1979, John Lippman was responsible for developing KSTW’s news division.

By the late 1980s, KSTW operated under the brand "KSTWashington," featuring a mix of cartoons, syndicated sitcoms, westerns, films, and a locally produced 10 p.m. newscast. The station also served as the over-the-air broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners and SuperSonics. Although it was a strong independent outlet, KSTW declined to affiliate with Fox when the network launched in 1986; that affiliation went to KCPQ instead. Gaylord considered multi-market Fox partnerships unattractive due to existing local Fox affiliates in smaller markets.

In 1993, Gaylord entered into an agreement to affiliate KSTW along with its sister stations KTVT (Fort Worth), WVTV (Milwaukee), and KHTV (Houston) with the forthcoming WB Television Network. However, delays prompted Gaylord to sue in 1994 seeking to cancel these agreements; The WB responded with a breach of contract lawsuit. Meanwhile, after CBS lost its Dallas–Fort Worth affiliate when KDFW switched to Fox, it approached Gaylord for affiliation with KTVT—on the condition that KSTW be included in the deal. CBS agreed partly because KSTW was Seattle’s only non-Big Three station maintaining an active news operation.

On March 13, 1995, CBS returned to channel 11 through a decade-long affiliation agreement. Some CBS programming previously preempted by KIRO had already been airing on KSTW since fall 1994. Prior to The WB’s January 1995 launch, it affiliated with KTZZ-TV (now KZJO). With CBS affiliation secured, cable providers removed KSTW from their lineups in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho due to overlap with Spokane’s KREM-TV. Even as a CBS affiliate, KSTW continued airing syndicated sitcoms and initially offered only two half-hour newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m., later expanding its schedule to include daytime newscasts at 6 a.m., 11 a.m., and 4 p.m. The station adopted a vertically parallelogram-shaped "11" logo shared with its Dallas sister station KTVT.

Following disappointing financial performance, Gaylord placed KSTW on the market in October 1996. On January 20, 1997, Cox Broadcasting—a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises—announced plans to acquire KSTW for $160 million; the transaction finalized on May 30, 1997. Cox intended to grow the news department and strengthen its competitive position within the market. Around this period, rival station KIRO-TV was also available for purchase due to Belo Corporation’s merger-related divestitures.

Paramount Stations Group sought to divest non-UPN stations acquired from Viacom. On February 20, 1997, a complex three-way exchange took place: Paramount/Viacom traded KMOV (St. Louis) to Belo in return for KIRO-TV; Belo then swapped KIRO-TV with Cox for ownership of KSTW plus $70 million—a surprising development for employees at KSTW. Both Seattle stations kept their syndicated content but swapped network affiliations: KSTW became affiliated with UPN while KIRO resumed its CBS affiliation. This deal closed on June 2, 1997, resulting in approximately 50 job cuts at KSTW.

UPN programming began airing on KSTW starting June 30, 1997; alongside this were sitcoms, films, cartoons, first-run syndicated shows, and the reinstatement of its previous 10 p.m. newscast—which was canceled again in December 1998. When Viacom acquired CBS in 2000, CBS and KSTW were reunited under shared ownership along with sister station KTVT. After UPN discontinued Disney's One Too in August 2003, cartoons were phased out in favor of increased talk and reality programming. In July 2001, KSTW moved its studios from Tacoma to Renton but retained its license in Tacoma.

CW affiliation

On January 24, 2006, Time Warner and CBS Corporation, the parent company of KSTW which had recently separated from Viacom (with the two companies reuniting in December 2019), declared the discontinuation of The WB and UPN networks to create The CW Television Network, merging content from both. KSTW was selected as the Seattle market affiliate, rebranding as "CW 11" on August 11 ahead of the network's official launch on September 18. Meanwhile, Tribune Company’s WB station KTWB-TV (later known as KMYQ and currently KZJO) transitioned into a MyNetworkTV affiliate.

In November 2006, due to cost-reduction initiatives by CBS, KSTW was designated a "hosting station," resulting in the transfer of its master control operations to CBS’s San Francisco duopoly stations KPIX and KBCW.

Return to independence

Nexstar Media Group gained majority control of The CW on October 3, 2022. This acquisition granted CBS the option to terminate affiliations with KSTW along with seven additional stations. Exercising this option on May 5, 2023, CBS announced that KSTW would discontinue airing CW programming by August and revert to an independent station status. Subsequently, the Seattle CW affiliation moved first to KOMO-TV’s 4.2 subchannel before shifting to KUNS-TV on January 1, 2024.

Sports

During the early 1970s and again from the early 1990s until 1999, the station broadcast NBA games featuring the Seattle SuperSonics. It also aired Seattle Mariners baseball throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 2000s. Additionally, it covered World Football League games via TVS Television Network in 1974, Seattle Sounders NASL matches from 1974 through 1981, and Tacoma Stars MISL contests between 1984 and 1986.

Children's programming

KTNT presented local children’s shows hosted by "Brakeman Bill" McLain from 1954 until 1974. Between 1988 and 1994, it aired Ranger Charlie's Kids Club, notable as the region’s final children’s program filmed before a live studio audience and recipient of an Emmy Award. This show featured cartoons such as Looney Tunes and Woody Woodpecker.

Newscasts

Throughout most of its history beginning as a CBS affiliate in 1953, KTNT/KSTW consistently produced local newscasts. In 1976, its late evening news moved from an 11 p.m. timeslot to prime time at 10 p.m. A midday newscast was introduced in May 1990 but was discontinued by July 1991 due to poor viewership. After returning to CBS in March 1995, KSTW adjusted its news lineup: relocating the late newscast back to 11 p.m., launching a morning newscast at 6 a.m., initially scheduling an evening broadcast at 6 p.m., which was later shifted to 5 p.m. following ratings struggles.

In March 1996, evening newscasts were replaced with health and consumer affairs programs airing at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., adopting the 11 at 11 format that combined brief headline coverage with comprehensive regional stories. Following acquisition by Paramount Stations Group, daytime newscasts were immediately eliminated. Plans announced in June 1997 to expand late-night news were subsequently abandoned; however, after switching to UPN on June 30, the late news returned to a 10 p.m. slot.

Due to budget cuts imposed by Viacom, KSTW closed its news department on December 4, 1998. News broadcasts resumed in March 2003 through a collaboration with KIRO-TV for a nightly 10 p.m. newscast but were discontinued later that year; a brief revival occurred in mid-2004 before permanent cancellation in June 2005. Syndicated shows occupied this timeslot until July 2022.

Following the shutdown of its news division, KSTW aired Sunday morning programs such as South Sound Business Report, focused on business topics; Northwest Indian News, centered on Native American issues; and the public affairs program The Impact. These shows have since ended.

Local newscasts recommenced on July 18, 2022, with Seattle Now News at 10:00 on CW 11, produced by CBS News and Stations; this broadcast concluded operations on August 31, 2023.

In popular culture

The CW adopted KSTW's callsign and channel number to develop a fictionalized version of the station, complete with a news division, for the Seattle-based series iZombie (2015–2019). Although it did not utilize the "CW 11" branding, the show preserved the station’s callsign typography while presenting a visual identity distinct from the actual KSTW.

Subchannels

KSTW broadcasts a multiplexed signal comprising the following subchannels:

Channel	Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Identifier	Content
11.1	1080i	16:9	KSTW-HD	Primary KSTW programming
11.2	480i	16:9	START	Start TV
11.3	480i	4:3	FAVE	Fave TV
11.4	480i	16:9	DABL	Dabl
11.5	480i	16:9	MSGOLD	MovieSphere Gold
11.6	480i	16:9	HSN	HSN

Analog-to-digital conversion

In compliance with the federal digital transition mandate, KSTW discontinued its analog transmission on VHF channel 11 as of June 12, 2009. Concurrently, its digital broadcast relocated from UHF channel 36 to VHF channel 11.

Former translators

KSTW no longer maintains any over-the-air translator stations. The station’s final analog translator, K62FS (channel 62) in Port Townsend, was permanently decommissioned on December 29, 2011, due to FCC requirements mandating clearance of channels 52 through 69 by the end of that year. Although KSTW sought to convert this translator to digital on channel 51, an FCC freeze and subsequent spectrum auction prevented this transition. With no other suitable channels available, the transmitter was permanently shut down. Additionally, all other low-power translators that served the Seattle area have been discontinued.