KWGN

About KWGN

KWGN-TV is a television station in Denver, Colorado, broadcasting on channel 2 and serving as the market's outlet for The CW. Owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KDVR, the station is one of the oldest television stations in the Mountain West, having signed on July 18, 1952. Branded as Colorado's Own Channel 2, KWGN spent four decades as a pioneering independent and regional superstation, became a charter WB affiliate in 1995, and joined The CW at its 2006 launch. The station's call letters stand for "World's Greatest Newspaper," named after sister station WGN-TV in Chicago and referring to the former corporate cousin, the Chicago Tribune. The two stations share studios on East Speer Boulevard in Denver's Speer neighborhood, with KWGN's transmitter atop Lookout Mountain near Golden.

Early years: 1952-1966

The station signed on July 18, 1952, as KFEL-TV, a DuMont affiliate, and later operated as KTVR and KCTO. The DuMont affiliation ended with the network's demise in 1956, and the station spent the next four decades as an independent. The call letters were changed to KCTO in 1963.

As one of the first television stations in the region, channel 2 established itself as Denver's independent alternative, airing off-network sitcoms and dramas, cartoons, movies, syndicated game shows, and locally produced programs such as Blinky's Fun Club, a local edition of the Romper Room franchise, and the public affairs program Your Right to Say It.

Tribune ownership and superstation

In 1965, Tribune Broadcasting purchased the station, changing its call letters to KWGN-TV after the deal's consummation in March 1966. Beginning in the 1960s, the station started building a massive network of translators across the state, and KWGN became a regional superstation long before the term was popularized by Atlanta's WTBS. At its height, it was available on nearly every cable system in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington.

KWGN was attractive to cable systems because its programming had no duplication with local network affiliates, and it was the only independent station available in much of the region until 1982. It remained Denver's only independent, and indeed Colorado's only independent, until KDVR signed on in August 1983. To this day, KWGN remains available on most cable systems in Colorado and Wyoming.

Turning down Fox

As one of the strongest independent stations in the country, KWGN was approached by Fox to affiliate with the upstart network upon its 1987 debut. However, channel 2 turned the offer down; station and company officials were skeptical of Fox's business model and confident enough in KWGN's schedule that they felt they didn't need a network affiliation. The affiliation instead went to KDVR, which would decades later become KWGN's sister station.

The station moved its operations from the Lincoln Street facility to a new building in suburban Greenwood Village in 1982, later relocating to the shared Speer Boulevard studios.

Charter WB affiliate

KWGN became a charter affiliate of The WB on January 11, 1995, when the network launched, rebranding as Denver's WB2 in 1996. The WB affiliation gave the station a primetime network lineup while it maintained its strong schedule of syndicated programming and local news.

As a Tribune-owned WB affiliate, the station thrived on the network's popular series while continuing its tradition of local programming and sports coverage.

The CW

Upon the merger of UPN and The WB and the formation of The CW in January 2006, KWGN moved from The WB to The CW on September 18, 2006. The station has been Denver's CW affiliate ever since, carrying the network's primetime lineup of sports, dramas, and entertainment programming.

A planned sale of the station to Sinclair Broadcast Group was stopped following the intervention of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division in 2018. Nexstar Media Group announced plans to acquire the Tribune assets in December 2018, with the sale completed in 2019, bringing KWGN into the nation's largest station group.

Sports history

KWGN was the official television home of the Colorado Rockies from 1993 to 2002 and carried Denver Nuggets basketball between 1995 and 2004. The station's sports programming made it the home of Denver's teams during formative years for both franchises.

The station's independent and WB-affiliate schedules allowed it to accommodate extensive live sports coverage, a tradition that continued into the CW era with the network's own sports programming.

News programming

KWGN produces extensive local news programming, with 41 hours of locally produced newscasts weekly, including seven hours on weekdays and three each on Saturdays and Sundays. The station shares news resources with KDVR, with the two stations sourcing each other with reports, video, and news operations.

The duopoly's combined news operation is one of the largest in the Denver market, serving viewers across the region with local journalism.

Technical operations

KWGN-TV broadcasts on digital UHF channel 34, displayed as virtual channel 2, with an effective radiated power of 1,000 kW from its Lookout Mountain transmitter. The station is an ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV station, and its subchannels have included This TV and Comet.

The station is authorized for cable and satellite distribution as a U.S. superstation and has been carried on Dish Network's superstations package for grandfathered subscribers. It ended analog programming on VHF channel 2 in 2009.

Digital presence

KWGN's digital home is integrated with kdvr.com, the online home of its duopoly partner KDVR, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and Denver news coverage under the FOX31 and Colorado's Own Channel 2 brands. The station maintains mobile apps and active social media accounts.

As part of Nexstar, the station's digital operations are integrated with the company's digital media platforms. Its official website is https://kdvr.com.

From DuMont to The WB

Channel 2 first signed on July 18, 1952, as KFEL-TV, an affiliate of the DuMont network, changing its calls to KTVR in 1955 and KCTO in 1963. After DuMont folded, it became an independent in 1956, carrying a secondary affiliation with the NTA Film Network from 1956 to 1961. Tribune Broadcasting acquired KCTO in 1966, and the call letters became KWGN-TV, standing for "World's Greatest Newspaper," named after sister station WGN-TV in Chicago and referring to the former corporate cousin, the Chicago Tribune. The station branded itself as "Colorado's Own Channel 2" and operated as a leading independent for decades before joining The WB in 1995. When The WB and UPN merged into The CW in 2006, KWGN became a CW affiliate, branded "Colorado's CW 2" during network promotions. Nexstar Media Group acquired Tribune Media in 2019, placing KWGN under common ownership with Fox affiliate KDVR. The station is an ATSC 3.0 broadcaster, and its digital home is integrated with kdvr.com, the platform it shares with its Fox sister station.

KWGN-TV first signed on July 18, 1952, as KFEL-TV, making channel 2 one of Denver's oldest television stations. Its call letters have changed twice since, to KTVR in 1955 and KCTO in 1963, before Tribune's 1966 acquisition brought the KWGN name honoring the "World's Greatest Newspaper." The station's transmitter facilities serve the Denver metropolitan area and much of the Front Range, and its ATSC 3.0 signal extends its reach to next-generation television receivers across Colorado.

The station's studios are located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, at 6160 South Wabash Way.