KASW

KASW

Phoenix, Arizona
Branding	CW 6 (cable channel)
Channels	Digital: 49 (UHF) Virtual: 61 (PSIP) Cable: 6
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	Belo Corporation (KASW-TV, Inc.)
Founded	May 1, 1991
First air date	September 22, 1995
Call letters' meaning	Arizona' S C W
Sister station(s)	KTVK
Former affiliations	The WB (1995-2006) Fox Kids (1995-2002) FoxBox (2002-2005) 4Kids TV (2005-2008)
Transmitter power	531 kW
Height	497 m
Facility ID	7143
Transmitter coordinates	33°20′1.3″N 112°3′47.3″W
Website	http://www.azfamily.com

KASW is a full-service television station licensed to Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, on cable channel 6 on major Phoenix cable systems (which is used for station branding given the relatively its high virtual channel number), and several translators in northern and eastern Arizona. KASW's former channel 61 signal broadcast with 2,510 kW, the second-highest of any Phoenix station. Currently, KASW is the second-largest CW affiliate (after Boston's WLVI) in terms of market size that is not owned by CBS Corporation or Tribune Broadcasting, both of which contributed stations at the merger announcement (previously, these stations were UPN or The WB stations, respectively). KASW is owned by Belo Corporation, in a duopoly with KTVK.

History

Prior to the sign on of KASW on September 22, 1995, K61CA, a low-power, locally programmed music video channel, operated on the frequency from March 1983 until December of 1984.

By 1991, preparations had been made to sign on another Phoenix independent station, KAIK. The station bore these calls into 1994 until KAIK was bought by the Brooks family in 1995 and became KASW.

The WB logo used by KASW when branded as "WB61": used from 1995 - 2000

When KASW signed on in its current form, a local marketing agreement was reached with MAC America Communications, the then-owner of KTVK. This agreement allowed KTVK, which had an overflowing program inventory, to move some of its programming to KASW. The programming included classic cartoons, such as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Mutant League, Double Dragon, The Woody Woodpecker Show, Sailor Moon, even classic TV sitcoms, such as Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, All in the Family, Mama's Family, it even aired old movies, a few recent sitcoms, such as Doogie Howser, M.D., Blossom, Family Matters, The Simpsons, Who's the Boss?, The WB affiliation, and the Kids WB cartoons, such as Animaniacs, and Pinky & The Brain. Towards the end of 1995, KTVK had also moved Fox Kids, the predecessor of 4Kids TV, and other syndicated programs to KASW. These changeovers allowed KTVK to return to broadcasting Saturday morning newscasts, while KASW started a 30-minute 9pm newscast produced by KTVK, which ended in 1997.

The KASW WB 61 logo from 2000 to 2003 featuring network mascot Michigan J. Frog: when it was WB 6/61, the same font was used, but a prominent 6 was in the place of the 61 and the 61 was small and in the upper right.

When Belo bought most of MAC America's properties in 1999, the local marketing agreement with KASW was included. This move further boosted its programming quality. After the FCC allowed duopolies in 2000 when Viacom (then-current owner of UPN) bought CBS, KASW was bought outright by Belo.

The WB logo used by KASW under the "WB6" name: used from 2003 - 2006

Due to changes in the industry, from about 1998 to about 2004, KASW began to gradually move away from classic TV sitcoms, old movies, and cartoons. They began to phase in more talk shows, reality shows, and court shows to its schedule. It finally dropped weekday cartoons at the start of 2006 when Kids WB discontinued providing that block to affiliates.

The station still runs The CW4Kids, the successor of Kids' WB, on Saturday mornings. It also aired 4Kids TV on Sunday mornings until its shutdown on December 27, 2008. (Therefore, both weekend mornings were essentially programmed by one company, 4Kids Entertainment, for seven months.) These properties, in one form or another, were on KTVK when it originally picked up The WB in 1995 and were moved in September 1995 and 1996, respectively. The same situation occurred on several duopolies, where stations like KFRE-TV and WBNX-TV picked up the 4Kids rights from a Fox affiliate (in KFRE's case, KMPH-TV) or due to rejection by stations that were inherited from New World Communications (WBNX is a good example).

From The WB to The CW

In January 2006, it was announced that UPN and The WB would cease operations. The CW, a new television network created as joint venture between UPN parent CBS Corporation and WB majority owner Warner Bros. Entertainment, will replace them from the 2006-07 television season on. On March 8, it was announced that KASW will become the CW affiliate in Phoenix [1] [2], while KUTP, the market's UPN affiliate, became an owned-and-operated station of MyNetworkTV 13 days before the launch of the CW.

KASW is only tweaking its branding to reflect its new network, keeping the 6 that represents its position on the area's dominant cable system (satellite systems map KASW to channel 61). The station was also airing its own CW "man-on-the-street" promos before the switch. Quick6.com's images and links were revamped a week before the change and feature a new Quick6 logo. Also, every Halloween, "Child's Play" is shown.

Digital television

The station's digital channel:

Digital channels

Channel	Format	Programming
61.1	1080i	Main KASW programming / The CW

KASW ceased its analog broadcasts at 4:30 AM on June 12, 2009, the day mandated by the federal government for TV stations to cease analog transmissions across the country. The switchoff was originally scheduled for 12:01AM, the same time as its sister station, KTVK. However, it was delayed for unknown reasons.

After the switchover, KASW remained on its pre-transition channel, 49. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display KASW's virtual channel as 61.

Programming

Besides airing programming from The CW, KASW broadcasts syndicated content like Two and a Half Men, Scrubs, The Simpsons, Friends, South Park,and American Dad(weeknights at 12am). KASW has the rights to a variety of other programming content, such as first-run reality shows and other TV series. KASW aired Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey games from the time that the team moved to Phoenix until the 2006-2007 season, when the Coyotes announced a move to the AZ-TV regional network. KASW also aired 4Kids TV on Sunday mornings until 4Kids TV went off the air on December 27, 2008. KASW declined to pick up its successor block, Weekend Marketplace, which now airs on AZ-TV.

Station names and slogans over the years

• WB61: We're just havin' fun! (1995–1997)
• WB61 (1997–2001)
• WB6 and 61 (2001–2003)
• WB6, More fun than [random facts and jokes inserted here] (2003–2006)
• Free To Be CW6 (2006–present)
• "T.V. to talk about" (current)

Translators

• K41CV Duncan
• K34EF Kingman
• K21EA Lake Havasu City
• K34EE Prescott/Cottonwood
• K41JE Williams/Ash Fork

External links

• KASW's Web site
• TV-61.com "dedicated to preserving the memory of, and the people behind, K61CA, Arizona's First Low Power Television Station." as mentioned in the History section above.
• CW6's social network: CWPhoenix.com
• Jim Carr (US), Director of Digital Media
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KASW
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KASW-TV
• Program Information for KASW at TitanTV.com