Northern Colorado 5 (2005–2013)
After having been dropped from the cable system in Northern Colorado by the time KCNC-TV became a CBS owned-and-operated station in 1995, KGWN took action to entice cable systems to carry the station in 2005. Although Northern Colorado is part of the Denver market, KGWN has long claimed Northern Colorado as part of its primary coverage area. Due to its transmitter's location close to the Colorado border, it provides city-grade coverage of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley, as well as grade B coverage as far south as Longmont and Boulder. It had long been carried on cable systems in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley alongside Denver's CBS affiliate (originally KMGH-TV and now KCNC). Additionally, many cable systems on the Wyoming side of the Denver market long carried both KGWN and KMGH, and continue to carry both KGWN and KCNC.
The station tried to lobby Comcast for carriage on its Northern Colorado systems in early 2005, to no avail. KGWN was talking in August to the owner of the Colorado Eagles hockey team owner about broadcasting their games.[10] By October, the station had opened a bureau in Fort Collins with two sale representatives and a reporter.[11] US Cable agreed to carry the station beginning on November 1.[12] The Eagles team and the station agreed to its first carriage deal for a single playoff game with the Oklahoma City Blazers on April 2, 2006, which was broadcast via Channel 5's Cheyenne transmitter.[13] In 2005, KGWN established a Northern Colorado Bureau in Fort Collins, which produced its first newscast in June 2006.[14] This provided another source of local news coverage in the area besides stations based in Denver. In early March 2007, the station filed a case with the FCC to have the local market changed to included Larimer and Weld counties. As prior to cable's dominance in the mid-1990s, the station served the area and has made other current moves to serve the area.[15] Comcast finally caved and added KGWN on three systems. In June 2008, the station suspended its Northern Colorado operations only to restart them on September 15, 2008.[16] On September 15, 2008, this operation was expanded after KGWN-DT2 launched a weeknight 35 minute newscast in partnership with the Independent News Network (INN). Known as Northern Colorado 5 News at 10, the broadcast was recorded in advance from INN's production facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, Iowa. The news anchor, meteorologist, and sports anchor were provided by the centralized news operation and other personnel from INN filled-in as necessary. By September 2008, KGWN began broadcasting a separate CBS feed, identified as Northern Colorado 5 or NoCo 5 in short, on its second digital subchannel that specifically focused on Northern Colorado.[17]
At some point in time, production of Northern Colorado 5 News at 10 moved to a secondary set at KGWN's studios in Cheyenne and was no longer outsourced to the Independent News Network. Although the program was still taped in advance, it now featured anchor personnel from KGWN while three reporters based locally in Fort Collins contributed Northern Colorado-specific content to the broadcast. In addition, there were weekday morning local weather cut-ins during CBS This Morning that were taped at KGWN's facility but with a focus on Northern Colorado. Weekday mornings from 6 to 6:30, KGWN-DT2 simulcast local radio station KXBG (97.9 FM). Following at 6:30, there was a local weather forecast segment which repeats several times during the half-hour. The Colorado-focused station did not simulcast any newscasts from its parent station.
"Northern Colorado 5" was discontinued on December 19, 2013. In announcing the closure, KGWN cited the inability to make the service "a viable long-term operation."[17]
