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KWCH-TV
Hutchinson/Wichita, Kansas
Branding	KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
Channels	Analog: 12 (VHF) Digital: 19 (UHF)
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Schurz Communications (Sunflower Broadcasting, Inc.)
Founded	July 1, 1953
Call letters meaning	K WiCHita
Former callsigns	KTVH (1953-83)
Former affiliations	NBC (secondary, 1953-54); ABC (1954-55); DuMont (secondary, 1953-56)
Website	www.kwch.com

KWCH channel 12 is the CBS affiliate television station in Wichita, Kansas. It is licensed to nearby Hutchinson, with studios in Wichita. and owned by Schurz Communications. KWCH is also a sister station to CW affiliate KSCW.

KWCH is the flagship station for the Kansas Broadcasting System (KBS), a network of CBS affiliates serving central and western Kansas, along with parts of Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The KBS stations are:

• KBSD-TV channel 6 Ensign/Dodge City, also serving Garden City and Liberal. The station also reaches portions of the Oklahoma Panhandle.
• KBSH-TV channel 7 Hays, also serving Great Bend.
• KBSL-TV channel 10 Goodland, also serving Colby. The station also reaches parts of Nebraska.

KWCH also produces an evening newscast for Fox affiliate KSAS-TV called Fox Kansas Eyewitness News at 9:00pm.

Contents 1 History 2 Personalities 2.1 Current On-Air Talent 3 Past personalities 4 News/Station Presentation 4.1 Newscast Titles 4.2 Station Slogans 5 External links

Channel 12 debuted July 1, 1953 as KTVH, the state's first television station. It broadcast from a studio in Hutchinson, and was owned by a group of local businessmen. In 1955, the station was bought by Cowles Communications of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1956, the station moved to a modern studio on 37th Street North in Wichita, where television station KEDD had been located. KEDD, which broadcast on channel 16, went off the air when KARD-TV went on the air in 1955, after agreeing with the NBC television network to air programs in color. KEDD did not have the capacity to telecast in color. KWCH still identifies as "Hutchinson/Wichita." The station originally carried programming from the CBS and the DuMont Television Network.

In 1962, the FCC ruled that central and western Kansas were part of the Wichita market. As a result, Cowles bought KTVC-TV in Dodge City (now KBSD), KAYS-TV in Hays (now KBSH) and KLOE-TV in Goodland (now KBSL) and formed the Kansas Broadcasting System, with KTVH as the flagship station. In 1963, channel 12 activated its current tower north of Burrton, just east of Hutchinson.

In 1983, the Cowles family began selling off its vast media holdings. KTVH and its sister stations were sold to the Kansas Broadcasting System Corporation, owned by a pair of businessmen from Hays. They changed the call letters to the current KWCH-TV. KBS Corporation merged with Smith Broadcasting of Birmingham, Alabama in 1989. An employee-owned group bought the station in 1989. Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, South Carolina bought the station in 1994. Spartan merged with Media General in 2000.

Until late 1999, all shows produced by King World aired on KWCH. Since then, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have moved from Channel 12 to KSNW Channel 3.

In 2005, KWCH received the "Large Market Television Station of the Year" award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters[1].

On April 6, 2006, previous owner Media General announced that it would sell KWCH (including its satellites, which all count as one station) and four other stations as a result of its purchase of four former NBC owned and operated stations. [2]. Schurz eventually emerged as the winner, and took over on September 25, 2006. [3] [4] KWCH continues to use the standard Media General graphics package for its newscasts.

Their newscasts ranked first in the market for the May 2007 ratings period.[5].

KWCH ANCHORS

• Cindy Klose, Weekday Evening Anchor
• Roger Cornish, Weekday Evening Anchor
• Felicia Rolfe, Weekday Morning Anchor/Reporter
• Matt Mauro, Weekday Morning Anchor/Reporter
• Kim Setty, Weekday 12PM Anchor/Reporter
• Michael Schwanke, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Kim Hynes, Weekend Anchor/Reporter

KWCH REPORTERS

• Jim Grawe, General Assignment Reporter
• Cliff Judy, General Assignment Reporter
• Linda Mares, General Assignment Reporter
• Alana Rocha, General Assignment Reporter
• Kim Wilhelm, General Assignment Reporter

KWCH WEATHER TEAM

• Merrill Teller, Chief Meteorologist, seen weeknights
• Mark Larson, Weekday Morning Meteorologist
• Ross Janssen, Weekend Meteorologist
• Lindsey Butor, Weekday 12PM Meteorologist
• Rodney Price, Fill-In Meteorologist

SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS

• Bruce Haertl, Sports Director/Weeknight Sports Anchor
• Richard Smith, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
• Brian Holmgren, Sports Anchor/Reporter

• David Bloom - Reporter, 1988–1989 (deceased)
• Cheryl Burton - News Anchor, (now at WLS-TV)
• Bernard Choi - education/city government Reporter, 2001-2004 (now at KING-TV)
• Mark Ewing - Sports anchor/reporter, (now at WIBW-TV)
• Michael Herzenberg (went to WTNH)
• Taunia Hottman (now at KUSA-TV)
• Tucker Jankosky - Reporter
• Andrea Joyce - News Anchor (Now with NBC Sports)
• Jim Kobbe - Sports anchor/reporter, (now at KSNW-TV)
• Chris Koeberl - Investigative Reporter, 1999-2004 (went to KOB-TV)
• Susan Peters - News Anchor, 1983–1991 (Now at KAKE-TV)
• Delaina Renfro - Reporter, 2002
• Joe Sheeran - Reporter, 2003-2006 (from KDLT-TV[6]; to Philadelphia)[7]
• Kristi Tedesco - (now at KVOA)

• The News (Late 70's-Early 80's)
• News 12 (1981-1983)
• Eyewitness News (1983-1995)
• Channel 12 Eyewitness News (1995-2001)
• KWCH 12 Eyewitness News (2001-present)

• The Look Of A Leader (1983-Mid 1990s)

• KWCH Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KWCH

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Wichita/Hutchinson Plus market  (Nielsen DMA #69)

Wichita-Hutchinson: KSNW 3 (NBC) - KCTU-LP 5 (ION) - KPTS 8 (PBS) - KAKE 10 (ABC) - KWCH 12 (CBS) - KSAS 24 (Fox) - K28JB 28 (TBN) - KSCW 33 (The CW) - KMTW 36 (MNTV) - KFVT-LP 40 (Ind.) - KGPT-CA 49 (A1/WHT/Faith) - KSMI-LP 51 (AZA) Great Bend-Hays-Salina (Central Kansas): KSNC 2 / K06LZ 6 (NBC) - KBSH 7 (CBS) - KOOD 9 (PBS/SHPTV) - KOCW 14 / KAAS 18 (Fox) - K15CN 15 (TBN) - K25CV 25 / K30GD 30 / K51GC 51 (ABC) Colby-Goodland-McCook (NW Kansas/SW Nebraska): KLBY 4 (ABC) - KSNK 8 (NBC) - KBSL 10 (CBS) - K23BU 23 / K32BY 32 (PBS/SHPTV) Dodge City-Garden City (SW Kansas): KSWK 3 / KDCK 21 (PBS/SHPTV) - KBSD 6 (CBS) - KSNG 11 (NBC) - KUPK 13 (ABC) - KSAS-LP 29 / KAAS-LP 31 (Fox) - K39FW 39 / K43HN 43 (TBN)

v • d • e CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Kansas
KOAM 7 (Pittsburg) - KWCH 12 / KBSD 6 / KBSH 7 / KBSL 10 (Wichita / Dodge City / Hays / Colby) - WIBW 13 (Topeka)
See also: ABC, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other Stations in Kansas

v • d • e Schurz Communications, Inc.
AM Radio Stations: KKLS · WSBT FM Radio Stations: KBHB · KRCS · WASK · WKOA · WKHY · WNSN · WXXB ABC Network Affiliate: KSPR1 CBS Network Affiliates: KWCH · KBSD2 · KBSH2 · KBSL2 · WDBJ · WSBT The CW Network Affiliates: K15CZ / K17DL · KSCW NBC Network Affiliates: KYTV · WAGT 1Schurz shares ownership of this station with Perkin Media. 2These stations are repeaters of KWCH-TV.
Annual Revenue: Unknown · Employees: Unknown at this time. · Stock Symbol: None, privately held. · Website: www.schurz.com