KSMO-TV
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KSMO-TV 62 is the WB affiliate for the Kansas City television market. It is owned by Meredith Corporation, who also owns the CBS affiliate KCTV. KSMO runs first-run shows from WB, cartoons from Kids' WB, sitcoms, first-run talk and reality shows, and movies. Its transmitter is located in Independence, Missouri.
History
Channel 62 signed on in 1983 as KEKR-TV. It was locally owned, and ran a general entertainment format consisting of cartoons, drama shows, old movies, religious shows, westerns, and sitcoms. In 1985 the station was sold to Media Central and renamed KZKC. It added more sitcoms and movies, and moved away from religious shows. However, the station remained unprofitable. The station was sold to Abry in 1988, and later renamed KSMO in 1991.
Under Abry, the station began to turn a profit. It failed to land the Fox affiliation (which went to KSHB), but held its own with a syndication lineup of cartoons, sitcoms, a few talk and reality shows, and movies.
KSMO picked up some of KSHB's programming (including Fox Kids) in 1994, after KSHB became an NBC affiliate and the new Fox affiliate, WDAF-TV, opted for Saturday morning news. KSMO also took on the UPN affiliation starting in January 1995. However, it still essentially programmed as an independent station, since each network only provided programming for a few nights out of the week at that time.
Sinclair Broadcast Group bought Abry in 1997, making KSMO a Sinclair-owned UPN affiliate. Following the sale, KSMO became a WB affiliate. The former WB affiliate, KCWB (now KCWE) would not pick up the UPN affiliation for another month.
Meredith Corporation bought the station in 2005. That fall, KCTV began producing a special 9:00pm newscast for KSMO-TV, to compete with WDAF's 9:00pm news.
It was confirmed on March 7, 2006 that KCWE would become Kansas City's CW Network affiliate after an announcement by the network and Channel 29's ownership, Hearst-Argyle. Two days later, on March 9, KSMO was announced as Kansas City's station for My Network TV, and branded My KSMO TV.