KWGN-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KWGN-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Colorado's Very Own
Colorado Watches 2
station_branding = 2 (general)
News 2 (newscasts)
analog = 2 (VHF)
digital = 34 (UHF)
affiliations = The CW
subchannels =
network =
founded =
airdate = July 18, 1952
location = Denver, Colorado
callsign_meaning = World's
Greatest
Newspaper
(named after sister station WGN-TV; refers to corporate cousin, the "Chicago Tribune")
former_callsigns = KFEL-TV (1952-1955)
KTVR (1955-1963)
KCTO (1963-1966)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Tribune Company
licensee = KWGN, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = DuMont (1952-1956)
Independent (1956-1995)
The WB (1995-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 339 m (analog)
318 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 35883
coordinates = coord|39|43|57.9|N|105|14|9.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kwgn.com/ www.kwgn.com]

KWGN-TV, channel 2, is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with The CW Television Network. Its studios are located in Greenwood Village, just outside of Denver, and its transmitter is located on Lookout Mountain near Golden.

History

The station first went on the air on July 18, 1952 as KFEL-TV, the first television station in Colorado, and originally owned by Gene O'Fallon. It was a primary affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, but carried shows from other networks as well. Gotham Broadcasting bought the station in 1955, and the call letters were changed to KTVR. Channel 2 became an independent station after the DuMont network's collapse in 1956. In 1963, the call letters changed to KCTO.

Tribune Broadcasting, then known as WGN Continental Broadcasting, acquired the station in 1966, and changed its call letters to KWGN-TV after its new sister station, WGN-TV in Chicago. KWGN was Tribune's fourth television station property after WGN-TV, WPIX in New York City, and KDAL-TV (now KDLH) in Duluth, Minnesota, which Tribune sold in 1978.

From 1976 to 1983, KWGN-TV identified on air as "Frequency 2 KWGN-TV" Fact|date=February 2007, which inspired the name of a Peruvian television station. From 1983 to 1995, it called itself "Denver's 2."

As an independent station, KWGN offered a general entertainment format consisting of cartoons, off-network sitcoms, old movies, and dramas. It also aired a 9pm newscast (and still does to this day). In the 1970s, KWGN became a superstation available on many cable systems in the West. It is still available on nearly every cable system in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as several cable systems in Nebraska and Kansas. It is also carried on Dish Network's superstation package, and has substantial over-the-air viewership in Colorado Springs. It was the only independent station in the market until 1983, when KDVR signed on.

KWGN turned down the Fox affiliation in 1986, which instead went to KDVR. KWGN affiliated with the new WB Television Network in early 1995, as did most of Tribune's independent stations. Since the WB only provided a few hours of network programming a day, KWGN's existing lineup was largely unaffected.

KWGN launched a weekday morning newscast in the late 1990s, titled "WB2day" (later renamed "WB 2 Morning News", now known as "News 2 This Morning"), which originally aired from 6-9 AM. A few years later, it began airing at 5 AM. It was accompanied with an 11 AM newscast, which began airing in the late 1990s, but was canceled in 2000, and never returned until September 11, 2006.

On January 24, 2006, the WB and UPN networks announced they would merge into a new network, called The CW Television Network, owned jointly by CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. The new network signed a 10-year affiliation deal with most of Tribune's WB stations, including KWGN. The CW debuted on September 18, 2006. Former UPN station KTVD, owned by the Gannett Company, joined My Network TV, when that network began two weeks earlier. Its news programming, which was previously branded as "WB 2 News", was renamed "News 2" on August 14, 2006 as a result of the merger.

On Monday, July 7, 2008, KWGN launched a new 5:30 PM newscast anchored by Kellie MacMullan and Ernie Bjorkman. It's the first 5:30 PM newscast in the station's history. The station also re-branded itself on that date, removing the references to "CW" in both station promos and its logo. The station now refers to itself simply as "2", featuring the CW era's 2 character within a solid circle logo and no CW branding. On Monday, August 4th, 2008, the station expanded its 11a.m. newscast to one hour. On Monday, August 25th, 2008, the station changed it's news graphics and music.

On September 17, 2008 both Local and Tribune announced that they would merge the operations of both KDVR and KWGN. Both stations will be co-located at KDVR under the management of KDVR GM Dennis Leonard. The move was done to allow both stations to combine news operations and share certain programming. The LMA (local marketing agreement) will take place October 1, 2008 [ [http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/09/16/daily.9/ From TV Newsday (September 17, 2008)] ] .

Personalities

Current On-Air Staff

Anchors
*Ernie Bjorkman, weekday evening anchor (5:30 & 9 PM)
*Kellie MacMullan, weekday evening anchor (5:30 & 9 PM)
*Tom Green, weekday morning anchor (5:00-9 AM)
*Natalie Tysdal, weekday morning anchor (5:00-9 AM)
*Vida Urbonas, weekday morning reporter (5-9 AM), mid-morning anchor (11 AM)
*Chris Parente, weekday morning reporter (5-9 AM), mid-morning anchor (11 AM)
*Mat Garcia, weekend evening anchor
*Laura Main, weekend evening anchor

Reporters
*Ginger Delgado, general assignment reporter & fill-in anchor
*Mat Garcia, general assignment reporter/weekend anchor
*Laura Main, general assignment reporter/weekend anchor
*Greg Nieto, general assignment reporter
*Chris Parente, general assignment reporter/features reporter/morning anchor
*Eli Stokols, general assignment reporter
*Dave Young, general assignment reporter & Unit2 Consumer Reports

Meteorologists
*Dave Fraser, chief meteorologist/weekday evening meteorologist
*Angie Austin, weekday morning weathercaster
*Jason Boyer, weekend meteorologist
*Sunny Roseman, fill-in meteorologist

Sports Anchors/Reporters
*Lisa Holbrook, weekend sports anchor
*Zubin Mehenti, sports editor/reporter/fill-in anchor

Past Personalities

*Beverly Weaver, (1990s)
*Steve Saunders, weekend anchor (1980s-1990s), now @ KMGH-TV in Denver)
*Joe Brown, Sports Reporter (2001-2004)
*Wendy Brockman, weeknight anchor (1999-2004)
*Casey Curry, weekend weather anchor (2002-2005, now @ KTRK-TV in Houston)
*Jaime Marti, weekend anchor (2000-2004)
*Chris Riva, Sports Director (2002-2005, now @ KCRA/KQCA in Sacramento)
*Blake Olson, Sports Reporter (2003-2005)
*Asha Blake, weeknight anchor (2004-2007, now @ KTLA in Los Angeles)

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"KFEL-TV News" (1952-1955)
*"KTVR News" (1955-1963)
*"The Big News" (1963-1967)
*"24 Hours" (1967-1977)
*"Region News 2" (1977-1981)
*"TV-2 Action News" (1981-1983)
*"Channel 2 Eyewitness News" (1983-1996)
*"Denver's WB 2 News" (1996-1998)
*"WB 2 News" (1998-2006)
*"CW 2 News" (2006-present)

tation Slogans

*"It's Happening on Channel 2" (1976-1981)
*"TV-2 Entertains You" (1981-1983)
*"TV-2 Eyewitness News: Denver's Choice for News" (1981-1983; used on news promos)
*"You've Got a Friend on Denver's 2" (1983-1986)
*"Denver's Very Own Channel 2 News" (1986-1995; used on news promos)
*"Denver's 2 is Yours" (1986-1989)
*"Denver's 2: You're Watching Us" (1989-1994)
*"Colorado's Very Own" (1995-present; possibly an adaptation of sister station WGN-TV's slogan, "Chicago's Very Own")
*"Colorado Watches 2" (2006-present)

References

External links

* [http://www.kwgn.com/ Official Site]
*TVQ|KWGN
*BIA|KWGN|TV|TV