KCPQ
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KCPQ is a television station in Seattle, Washington, affiliated with the FOX television network, that broadcasts on VHF channel 13.
Its offices and broadcasting center are co-located with those of KTWB channel 22 on the west shore of Lake Union in the Westlake neighborhood. KCPQ is licensed to Tacoma.
It is one of five local Seattle TV stations seen in Canada on the Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice satellite providers.
History
Channel 13 signed on air in 1953 as KMO-TV, co-owned with KMO radio by Carl Haymond. The station carried some NBC programming for its first year until Seattle's KOMO-TV took to the air in 1953. Hampered by a poor signal from north of Tacoma and no network material, Haymond was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell the station to J. Elroy McCaw, father of cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw.
Under McCaw's ownership, Channel 13, renamed KTVW, limped along on a diet of a low-budget local programming, old network reruns and ancient B-movies. In the later years of the McCaw reign, the station ran a stock-market news program during the day followed by reruns and old movies at night. During the late 1960s and early 70s, the station featured an on-air movie host named Bob Corcoran, who hawked endless items from Tacoma's B & I Circus Store and Niagara recliners. Corcoran later forged a fledgling political career from his television late-night talk show. Station owner McCaw died in 1969 and the station was purchased by Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation in 1971 for $1.1 million.
Blaidon tried to turn KTVW around by acquiring first-run syndicated programming and color-capable broadcast equipment (the station telecast exclusively in black-and-white until 1972). Channel 13's poor over-the-air signal, along with the weak Puget Sound economy and Blaidon's undercapitalized operation, rendered the station a money-losing proposition. Interestingly, Blaidon president Donald Wolfstone attempted to sell the station to then-unknown televangelist broadcaster Pat Robertson, but a court-appointed trustee canceled the deal. Another sale to a Long Island television broadcast company also fell through. A bankruptcy judge then forced KTVW to cease operations in 1974.
The remaining Channel 13 assets were bought in bankruptcy court bidding by the Clover Park School District in Lakewood, a Tacoma suburb, for just under $700,000. The call letters were changed to KCPQ, and the station began to carry secondary PBS and educational programs. The KTVW call letters now reside on a Phoenix TV station unrelated to the present-day KCPQ.
By 1980, the Seattle market could sustain another commercial television station, and Kelly Broadcasting of Sacramento purchased KCPQ from the Clover Park School District for $6.25 million. KCPQ's transmitter was relocated to Gold Mountain, a peak west of Bremerton, enabling better signal coverage throughout Western Washington. KCPQ became "The Northwest's Movie Channel," counterprogramming network prime-time with uncut versions of recent films. The station also ran NBC shows that KING-TV pre-empted (including NBC's Saturday morning cartoons). Other than Saturdays, KCPQ did not run children's programming during the week. KCPQ ran mostly first-run syndicated talk and game shows, off-network dramas, lots of movies, and some early morning religious programs.
In 1986, KCPQ became one of the first affiliates of the Fox network. In 1987, with the children's television business growing, KCPQ began running cartoons weekday mornings 7-9 AM and afternoons 3-5 PM. KCPQ aired some sitcoms as well, and continued airing first-run syndicated shows and movies. As the Fox network's viewership and ratings strengthened in the 1990s, KCPQ gained prominence as a major broadcaster in the local Seattle market.
Tribune Broadcasting, which also owns KTWB, acquired KCPQ in March of 1999. Today KCPQ station continues to run a full schedule of Fox network, along with local newscasts, syndicated talk/court/reality shows, and off-network sitcoms.
It was also announced in January of 2006 that sister station KTWB would no longer be an affiliate of The WB due to its merger with UPN to form The CW, which in turn resulted in rival UPN outlet KSTW becoming the affiliate because of parent company CBS Corporation owning a 50% stake in the new network. Since KCPQ is a sister station to KTWB, chances are KTWB will more likely pick up the new network called My Network TV.
Station Branding Name
As opposed to other Fox local counterparts, KCPQ is branded "Q13 FOX" unlike "FOX 13."
Newscasts
KCPQ did not begin to produce newscasts until the late 1990s, when it launched a 10pm newscast. It also launched a morning newscast in 2000 following Tribune's purchase.
The station currently runs news programming at the following hours, with a total of 23.5 hours a week:
- Q13 FOX News This Morning (5-9am weekdays)
- Q13 FOX News at Ten (10-11pm Monday-Thursday, 10-10:30pm Friday/Saturday/Sunday)
- Q It Up Sports (10:30-11pm Sundays)
- IQ Weekly (10:30-11pm Fridays)
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