KSWB-TV — BrandWiki

KSWB-TV

callsign	KSWB-TV
branding	Fox 5 San Diego
digital	26 (UHF)
virtual	69
affiliations	69.1: Fox‡R1R‡ for others, see
owner	Nexstar Media Group
licensee	Tribune Media Company‡R2R‡
location	San Diego, California
country	United States
sister stations	KUSI-TV, KFMB-TV
airdate	September 30, 1984
callsign meaning	"San Diego's WB", former affiliation
former callsigns	KSDT (CP, 1983) KTTY (1983–1996)
former channel numbers	Analog: 69 (UHF, 1984–2009) Digital: 19 (UHF, 2000–2019)
former affiliations	Independent (1984–1995) The WB (1995–2006) The CW (2006–2008)
erp	350 kW
haat	596 m
facility id	58827
coordinates	32.69639°N, -116.93611°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	https://fox5sandiego.com/

KSWB-TV (channel 69, cable channel 5) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CBS affiliate KFMB-TV (channel 8) and CW station KUSI-TV (channel 51). KSWB-TV and KUSI-TV share studios on Viewridge Avenue (near I-15) in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego; KSWB-TV's transmitter is located southeast of Spring Valley. The station is branded as Fox 5 San Diego, in reference to its primary cable channel number in the market.

KSWB-TV went on the air in September 1984 as KTTY. Owned by a consortium that represented four separate applicants for the channel, KTTY was the third independent station in the market; its programming was perceived at the time to be generally inferior to its two competitors. In 1994, the station was placed into bankruptcy to avoid foreclosure, during which time it affiliated with The WB. Tribune Broadcasting won the bidding to purchase KTTY in 1995, and the station was relaunched as KSWB-TV on August 16, 1996. Tribune provided stronger programming that improved the station's ratings. Between 1999 and 2005, KSWB produced a local 10 p.m. newscast, which was then outsourced to KNSD

KTTY: Early years

Center City Complex Inc., owned by businessman Charles Woods, filed for the addition of a new television station allocation to San Diego in 1978. Woods had proposed that channel 27 be allocated to the city[3] and sought to build a new Spanish-language outlet; however, a revised agreement with Mexico designated channel 27 for Tijuana, and channel 69 was proposed instead for San Diego.[4] Ten[5] to twelve[6] applications were received, and eight were designated for comparative hearing by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in early 1982.[7] The field of applicants consolidated after the hearing designation by way of settlements and mergers and was whittled down eventually to five. Four of these groups consolidated: a group of Asian businessmen headed by former San Diego city councilor Tom Hom; Black investor J. Bruce Llewellyn and several other East Coast interests; Gil Contreras, leading a Hispanic group; and a White group led by Jim Harmon, the president of Imperial Airlines. Harmon was the brother of Helen Alvarez Smith, former co-owner of KFMB-TV (channel 8).[8] They then settled with the fifth group—Christian Communications Network, owned by evangelist Jerry Barnard—and agreed to air its programming.

The settlement cleared the way for the consortium, known as San Diego Television, to get a construction permit, which the FCC moved to grant on December 2, 1982.[9] The Llewellyn group opted to sell, owing to the difficulty of living on the East Coast and trying to set up a TV station on the West Coast,[10] and was bought out by the other groups for $2 million (equivalent to $ in ). When the antenna was shipped, it was first delivered to the studios in Chula Vista, not to the San Miguel Mountain transmitter site where it needed to be installed.[11] The Chula Vista studio site was chosen for its access to I-5 and relative lack of congestion; this contrasted with the situation in the Kearny Mesa area, where most San Diego TV stations are located.

KTTY began broadcasting on September 30, 1984, mostly airing classic movies and old syndicated reruns, as well as Newspot news briefs throughout the day. In its first year, ratings were low; even some Los Angeles independent stations, seen on San Diego cable systems, surpassed it in the ratings. It aired San Diego State Aztecs sports and such local productions as Beach Party, a show filmed on local beaches described by its producer as "PM Magazine meets American Bandstand for teenagers".[12] As an independent station, KTTY consistently trailed XETV (channel 6) and KUSI-TV (channel 51) in the quality of its programming and its ratings. It promoted itself as "San Diego's Movie Channel";[13] John Freeman, TV writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune, called it in retrospect "a laughingstock—bankrupt and virtually bereft of watchable programming". The Harmon–Alvarez Smith group became the primary owners of San Diego Television in 1986 when the group obtained a $17 million bank loan.

Fox affiliation

After Sam Zell took over control of the Tribune Company in December 2007,[34] he reevaluated many aspects of the company. He learned that, under prior management, Tribune had been offered the Fox affiliation for KSWB-TV and turned the network down. McKinnon Broadcasting, owner of KUSI-TV, had also been talking to Fox about moving its affiliation. In mid-March 2008, he told Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rosenthal that when he heard about this, "I called Rupert [Murdoch], and I said, 'Rupert, what the [bad word] is going on?' ... He says, 'Well, why didn't you take it when we offered it in the first place?' I said, 'Well, you didn't call me. You called those [less bad word].[35]

On March 23, 2008, TelevisionWeek reported KSWB-TV would switch to Fox, which was then confirmed to be effective August 1.[36] Fox's executive vice president of network distribution, Jon Hookstratten, cited the fact that, as a Mexican station, XETV—an original Fox affiliate from the network's creation in 1986[37]—had to answer to a different communications regulator as one reason for the changeover. The switch gave Tribune a seventh station airing Fox programming, solidifying its status as the second-largest Fox affiliate owner.[38] The news left the fate of XETV uncertain. That station's management originally contended their Fox affiliation agreement ran through 2010. On July 2, Bay City Television/Grupo Televisa signed an affiliation agreement to bring The CW's programming to XETV. With the Fox affiliation agreement, KSWB-TV's ten-year contract with The CW was rendered void, and KSWB-TV and XETV exchanged affiliations on August 1, 2008.[39][40] The switch was met with an open letter from XETV management ruing Fox's behavior toward their station, stating in part, "Unfortunately, in these troubled times, it seems as though there is no honor or loyalty anymore."

The Fox affiliation deal kickstarted the return of in-house local news production to KSWB-TV, with Tribune initially stating it aimed to produce three to four hours a day of local news. Tribune tapped Rich Goldner, news director at KTLA, to move south to San Diego and set up a newsroom at KSWB-TV.[41] Upon the affiliation switch, KSWB-TV debuted a new weekday morning news program (initially airing from 5 to 9 a.m. and hosted by Arthel Neville) and an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast, both produced in high definition.[42][43] A total of 50 staffers were added to KSWB to support the new news operation.[44] By 2014, KSWB-TV aired weekday local newscasts in the morning and at 1, 4, 5, 6, and 10 p.m.[45]

In 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced it had agreed to purchase Tribune Media for $3.9 billion (equivalent to $ in ).[46][47] As part of divestitures associated with the deal, KSWB-TV and other stations were to be sold to Fox Television Stations.[48] Both transactions were nullified on August 9, 2018, when Tribune Media terminated the Sinclair deal and filed a breach of contract lawsuit;[49] this followed a public rejection of the merger by FCC chairman Ajit Pai[50] and the commission voting to put the transactions up for a formal hearing.[51]

Following the merger's collapse, Nexstar Media Group announced a $6.4 billion (equivalent to $ in ) all-cash purchase of Tribune Media on December 3, 2018.[52][53] The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.[54] A 7 p.m. newscast was added in 2020 and extended to an hour the next year. By 2022, KSWB was producing 64 1/2 hours of local news and sports programming a week, as well as a daily lifestyle show with paid segments, The Localist SD,[55] and simulcasts of 11 regular-season games of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team from KTLA.[56]

On May 8, 2023, Nexstar announced that it would acquire KUSI-TV from McKinnon Broadcasting for $35 million (equivalent to $ in ) with the intention of making it an affiliate of The CW when the affiliation becomes available.[57] The deal was completed on August 31.[58] In 2025, Nexstar applied to acquire Tegna Inc., owner of San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV;[59] the purchase received FCC approval on March 19, 2026,[60] and closed the same day.[61]