KMTW

KMTW, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 35), is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station serving Wichita, Kansas, United States that is licensed to Hutchinson. The station is owned by the Mercury Broadcasting Company; the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns Fox affiliate KSAS-TV (channel 24), operates KMTW under a local marketing agreement. The two stations share studio facilities located on North West Street in northwestern Wichita; KMTW maintains transmitter facilities located in rural southwestern Harvey County (northwest of Sedgwick). On cable, the station is available on Cox Communications channel 6 and AT&T U-verse channel 36, and in high definition on U-verse channel 1036 and Cox digital channel 2006.

History

The station first signed on the air on January 6, 2001 as KSCC. In a rarity for a market of Wichita's size, it originally operated as a UPN owned-and-operated station through Viacom's Paramount Stations Group subsidiary. However, that company only held control of KSCC's license during its first five months on the air, having financed its launch and overseen construction. Just prior to the station's sign-on, its license assets were sold to Mercury Broadcasting, which immediately entered into a local marketing agreement with Clear Channel Communications, owner of Fox affiliate KSAS-TV (channel 24) at the time and controller of several radio stations that were once owned by Viacom. As a result, Clear Channel officially operated the station from the very beginning. In June 2001, Mercury Broadcasting would take over ownership of KSCC. Prior to the station's sign-on, UPN programming was not available in the market as it did not have a UPN affiliate of its own.