KSTW
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| KSTW (UPN) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Missing image KSTW_logo.png KSTW-TV/DT logo | ||
| Slogan: "The Ones to Watch" | ||
| Seattle, Washington | ||
| Analog: 11 (VHF) Digital: 36 (HDTV UHF) | ||
| Owner | Viacom | |
| Founded | 1953 | |
| Joined UPN | 1997 | |
| Callsign Meaning | K Seattle Tacoma Washington | |
| Former Affiliations | CBS (1953–1961) and (1995–1997) | |
| Former Callsigns | KTNT (1953–1974) | |
KSTW is a television station based in Renton, Washington, affiliated with the UPN television network, that broadcasts on VHF channel 11. Though based in Renton, its city of license is Tacoma and it identifies itself as a Seattle/Tacoma station, and their transmitter is located in Seattle.
KSTW began broadcasting in 1953 out of Tacoma as KTNT, for Tacoma News Tribune, the newspaper that founded it. At this time, it was a CBS affiliate.
In 1958, Seattle's KIRO-TV channel 7 took the air, also as a CBS affiliate. Both KIRO and KTNT carried CBS programming as a legal battle took place over market exclusivity. KIRO became the sole CBS station for Seattle-Tacoma in 1961, leaving KTNT without a network. KTNT was sold to Gaylord Entertainment Company in 1974 and changed its call letters to KSTW, for Seattle-Tacoma, Washington. In 1995 CBS returned to KSTW.
Two years later, on June 2, 1997, Gaylord Entertainment Company sold the station to Paramount Stations Group (part of Viacom). KSTW affiliated with UPN a few weeks later.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, KTNT's local children's programs featured a personable host named "Brakeman Bill" McLain. The station carried a wide range of syndicated programming and films.
Since 1976, KSTW had produced its own 10 p.m. newscast. Its news operation was shut down in 1998, however, as a result of cost-cutting measures mandated by Viacom, its parent company. News returned to the station in March 2003, as it began to carry a 10 p.m. newscast produced by KIRO 7.