View source for KCPQ

{{Short description|Television station in Tacoma, Washington}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KCPQ
| city = Tacoma, Washington
| logo = File:Fts-seattle-a.svg
| logo_upright = 1.08
| logo_alt = The Fox network logo next to a black numeral 13 in a sans serif typeface. On a line below, the word "Seattle" in another sans serif, width-justified.
| branding = Fox 13 Seattle
| digital = 13 ([[VHF]])
| virtual = 13
| translators = {{ubl|22 ([[UHF]]) Seattle|[[KZJO]] 22.2|''for others, see {{section link||Translators}}''}}
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''13.1:''' [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[Fox Television Stations, LLC]]
| location = [[Tacoma]]–[[Seattle]], Washington
| country = United States
| airdate = {{start date and age|1953|8|2|p=y|br=yes}}
| callsign_meaning = Station was owned by the [[Clover Park School District]] <!--if you can cite "quality" to a contemporary source, you've done better than me! -Sammi-->
| sister_stations = [[KZJO]]
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|KMO-TV (1953–1954)|KTVW (1954–1976)|KCPQ-TV (1976–1980)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 13 (VHF, 1953–2009)|'''Digital:''' 18 ([[UHF]], 1998–2009)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[NBC]] (August–December 1953)|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1953–1974; 1980–1986)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1974–1976; 1980)|[[PBS]] (1976–1980)}}
| erp = 30 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|610|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 33894
| coordinates = {{coord|47|32|52|N|122|48|27|W|type:landmark_scale:2000_region:US-WA|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{url|https://www.fox13seattle.com/}}
}}

'''KCPQ''' (channel 13) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Tacoma, Washington]], United States, serving the [[Seattle]] area. It is [[owned and operated]] by the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] network through its [[Fox Television Stations]] division alongside [[KZJO]] (channel 22), which broadcasts [[MyNetworkTV]]. The two stations share studios on [[Westlake Avenue]] in Seattle's [[Westlake, Seattle|Westlake]] neighborhood; KCPQ's main transmitter is located on [[Gold Mountain (Washington)|Gold Mountain]] in [[Bremerton]].

The station signed on in August 1953 as KMO-TV, the television outgrowth of Tacoma radio station [[KKMO|KMO]]. It was briefly an [[NBC]] network affiliate until another Seattle station signed on; the next year, KMO radio and television were sold to separate owners. The Seattle broadcaster [[J. Elroy McCaw]] bought channel 13, changed the call sign to KTVW, and ran it as an [[independent station]]. While KTVW produced a number of local programs, McCaw, a famously parsimonious owner, never converted the station to broadcast in color, and its syndicated programming inventory was considered meager. McCaw died in August 1969; three years later, his estate sold the station to the Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation. While Blaidon tried several new programs and began color telecasting, the station continued to underperform financially. Two attempts to sell KTVW to out-of-state buyers failed because of its high liabilities. After a walkout by employees in January and the appointment of a receiver in July, KTVW was ordered closed on December 12, 1974.

The [[Clover Park School District]] in [[Lakewood, Washington|Lakewood]] purchased KTVW at bankruptcy auction in 1975. The station returned to the air on a non-commercial basis as KCPQ in January 1976, serving as an effective replacement for Clover Park's [[UHF television broadcasting|UHF]] station, [[KPEC-TV]] (channel 56). Changes to the structure of school financing in Washington and the refusal of voters to approve bonds to rebuild [[Clover Park High School]] forced the school district to sell KCPQ back into commercial use. After being off the air for most of 1980 to relocate its transmitter, KCPQ returned under new owner [[Kelly Broadcasting]], who rebuilt it as a more competitive independent station. During Kelly's 19-year ownership of KCPQ, the station became a Fox affiliate, relocated its studios from Lakewood to Seattle, and established its present local news department.

KCPQ was sold to [[Tribune Media|Tribune Broadcasting]] in 1999 as part of Kelly's exit from the broadcasting industry. As Tribune expanded the station's news output, it also had to fend off overtures by Fox, which had sought to own KCPQ on several occasions since the 1990s and at one point threatened to buy another station to broadcast Fox programming. Tribune was purchased by [[Nexstar Media Group]] in 2019; Nexstar then traded KCPQ to Fox as part of an exchange of Fox affiliates in three cities.

==History==
===As KMO-TV/KTVW===
In December 1952, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) simultaneously granted applications to broadcast on [[Very high frequency#VHF television|very high frequency]] (VHF) channels 11 and 13 in Tacoma; channel 13 was awarded to radio station [[KKMO|KMO (1360 AM)]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 11, 1952 |title=TV Channels For Tacoma |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84293862/tv-channels-for-tacoma/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828195440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84293862/tv-channels-for-tacoma/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The station began broadcasting as KMO-TV on August 2, 1953, from studios in Tacoma and a transmitter near [[Ruston, Washington|Ruston]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1953 |title=KMO-TV Makes Its Bow On Channel 13 Sunday |page=28 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295043/kmo-tv-makes-its-bow-on-channel-13-sunda/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930185803/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295043/kmo-tv-makes-its-bow-on-channel-13/ |archive-date=September 30, 2021}}</ref>

KMO-TV briefly carried [[NBC]] programs until Seattle's [[KOMO-TV]] began broadcasting on December 11.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 13, 1953 |title=Many Changes Coming on TV N.W. Stations |page=D-8 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84294379/many-changes-coming-on-tv-nw-stations/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828182047/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84294379/many-changes-coming-on-tv-nw-stations/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> After that, KMO-TV's output primarily consisted of local and syndicated programs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haymond |first=Carl E. |date=July 26, 1953 |title=Videosyncracies |page=C-14 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84294950/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930185828/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84294950/videosyncracies/ |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Within a year of starting the TV station, owner Carl E. Haymond—who had built KMO radio in 1926—sought to exit the broadcasting business, having already sold stakes in radio stations in California and Arizona. He first attempted to sell KMO radio and television together to the owners of Seattle radio station [[KKNW|KAYO (1150 AM)]] for $350,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|350000|1954}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}); the unusually low purchase price was attributed to the station's lack of network affiliation and its financial losses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Codel |first=Martin |date=January 30, 1954 |title=The Value of TV Network Franchises |pages=3–4 |work=Television Digest |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1954-01.pdf#page=65 |access-date=August 30, 2022 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012000128/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/50s/Television-Digest-1954-01.pdf#page=65 |url-status=live }}</ref> The FCC indicated the necessity of a hearing to approve the sale due to the then-impermissible overlap of the Seattle and Tacoma radio stations' coverage areas;<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 8, 1954 |title=Hearing On Radio Station Sale Set |page=22 |work=Longview Daily News |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295922/hearing-on-radio-station-sale-set/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828182041/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295922/hearing-on-radio-station-sale-set/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the deal was then scrapped several weeks later.{{r|hc}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1954 |title=KMO Sale Plans Dropped|id={{ProQuest|1285701572}} |pages=72 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-05-17-BC.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509174953/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-05-17-BC.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> In July, Haymond sold KMO-TV for $300,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|300000|1954}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) to [[J. Elroy McCaw]], a Seattle-based radio station owner.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 14, 1954 |title=KMO-TV Sold To J.E. M'Caw |page=26 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295495/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930185803/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295495/kmo-tv-sold-to-je-mcaw/ |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

With KMO-TV separated from KMO radio, the television station changed its call sign to KTVW in October 1954{{r|hc}} and announced plans to open auxiliary offices in Seattle.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 29, 1954 |title=KMO-TV To Be Renamed KTVW |page=B-5 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296425/kmo-tv-to-be-renamed-ktvw/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828182049/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296425/kmo-tv-to-be-renamed-ktvw/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The station also began airing [[Seattle Americans]] minor-league hockey, which was connected to KTVW in several ways. For two months, KTVW's general manager served as the team's president; when he resigned for a television job in Los Angeles, McCaw became the team's sole owner.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 8, 1957 |title=Seattle's Hockey Club Boss Leaves |page=17 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296564/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203706/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296564/seattles-hockey-club-boss-leaves/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> At this time, the Americans were the only professional hockey club to televise all their home games.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 8, 1957 |title=Bill Veneman Quits As Amerks Prexy: Hockey Boss Also Gives Up Post With TV Station |page=19 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> Between 1955 and 1958, the station operated Seattle studios at 230 8th Avenue North; at one point, while the station relocated its Tacoma facility, all of channel 13's live shows temporarily originated from Seattle.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/seattle-televiews-ktvw-plans-seattle-programs-february/hbqbbtaheieyzhovblymevgxivzfyhho_ip-10-166-46-157_1731477584275|page=5:1|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|title=Seattle Televiews: KTVW Plans Seattle Programs In February|first=W. F.|last=Jahn|date=January 16, 1955|via=GenealogyBank}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|page=19|title=Seattle Televiews: All '13' Live Shows From Here|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/seattle-televiews-all-13-live-shows-here/efndsuzgfsyacrzatfdrcuoqpnuwuwdn_ip-10-166-46-112_1731477740339|date=February 15, 1955|first=W. F.|last=Jahn|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|via=GenealogyBank}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|page=20|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/seattle-televiews-ktvw-crews-have-first-race-workout/uwlxxiyxuyzxbjbehmplmdvgvtxzeluy_ip-10-166-46-167_1731478657776|title=Seattle Televiews: KTVW Crews Have First Race Workout|date=August 5, 1958|first=W. F.|last=Jahn|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|via=GenealogyBank}}</ref>

McCaw tried to make several moves to improve channel 13's positioning in the late 1950s. In an unusual arrangement, the station briefly aired the CBS network news in late 1957 when Tacoma's then-CBS affiliate, [[KTNT-TV]] (channel 11), dropped the ''[[CBS Evening News]] with [[Douglas Edwards]]'' to make way for an expanded local news program. CBS, which wanted the newscast to continue to air in the Seattle market until [[KIRO-TV]] could sign on as the market's CBS station (which it would do on February 8, 1958), arranged for the network hookup to bring the program to KTVW on an interim basis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bresky |first=Louise |date=October 22, 1957 |title=TV Film Doesn't Do Churchill Justice |page=12 |work=The Seattle Daily Times}}</ref> In 1957, McCaw filed to move the transmitter from Tacoma to [[Queen Anne Hill]] in Seattle, which would have come with an upgrade to the maximum 316,000 watts;{{r|hc}} local residents objected to the erection of another TV tower in the area<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 9, 1957 |title=KTVW Owner Defends Move Of Transmitter |page=21 |work=The Seattle Daily Times}}</ref> and to McCaw's proposal to create a "tower park" that would have required the demolition of 75 to 80 homes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 7, 1957 |title='Park' for TV Towers Proposed |page=21 |work=The Seattle Daily Times}}</ref> This proposal had stalled by 1958,{{r|hc}} when it was reported that the owners of Los Angeles station [[KCOP-TV]], including [[Bing Crosby]], were negotiating to buy KTVW and another independent station McCaw owned, Denver's [[KWGN-TV|KTVR]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 19, 1958 |title=Double Dicker |page=5|id={{ProQuest|1401226385}} |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1958/1958-05-19-BC.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033831/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1958/1958-05-19-BC.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> Ultimately, the station increased its [[effective radiated power]] from the Ruston transmitter from 100,000 to 214,000 watts in 1960.{{r|hc}}
[[File:Seattle Tower from Russell Investments Center.jpg|right|thumb|alt=A view of the Northern Life Tower, a 27-story Art Deco skyscraper|From 1967 to 1970, KTVW aired a daily stock market program produced from studios in the [[Seattle Tower|Northern Life Tower]] in Seattle.]]
McCaw was regarded as frugal. Of his Denver station, it was remarked by Edwin James of ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]'' that "McCaw's saving ways had been reflected in the station's programming";<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 5, 1973 |id={{ProQuest|1014538304}} |title=The hard way to make money in television |pages=39–46 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1973/1973-03-05-BC.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033154/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1973/1973-03-05-BC.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021}}</ref> in the 1950s, he owned [[WINS (AM)|WINS]] in New York and was an aggressive cost-cutter there.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sklar |first=Rick |title=Rocking America: an insider's story: how the all-hit radio stations took over |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1984 |isbn=0-312-68797-4 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=10277877|pages=10–11}}</ref> Local programs from KTVW during its 20-year run included a movie block hosted by Stu Martin; the afternoon children's show ''Penny and Her Pals'', hosted by LeMoyne Hreha;<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 1, 1968 |title=1968 Theater Program Revealed: Variety Featured on Fall Series |page=A-10 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297271/1968-theater-program-revealed-variety-f/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203704/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297271/1968-theater-program-revealed-variety/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> and, for one year, coverage of the [[Seafair Cup|Seafair hydroplane races]]. In 1967, when an engineer's strike kept most of the other Seattle stations from broadcasting the event, KTVW stepped in to fill the void on short notice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lacitis |first=Erik |date=August 6, 2020 |title=What Pat O'Day meant to Seattle – and inside stories of his time with Jimi Hendrix, the Ventures and Wayne Newton |language=en-US |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/pat-oday-when-at-kjr-creator-of-the-greatest-rock-n-roll-radio-station-in-the-northwest-dies-at-85/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829054253/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/pat-oday-when-at-kjr-creator-of-the-greatest-rock-n-roll-radio-station-in-the-northwest-dies-at-85/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> In 1967, channel 13 began airing a six-hour stock market show, the first such program to broadcast on a VHF station.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skreen |first=C. J. |date=August 24, 1969 |title=Merrill Mael Presides Over Stock-Market Show |pages=TV Showtime 1, 13 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> It originated, unlike KTVW's other programming, from Seattle in studios in the [[Seattle Tower|Northern Life Tower]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/channel-13-open-studios-here-operate-around-clock/uuquhmyximzlhqtgtoxwcvyexollwvcm_ip-10-166-46-113_1731478607953|page=18|work=The Seattle Times|via=GenealogyBank|date=October 20, 1967|title=Channel 13 to Open Studios Here; Operate Around Clock}}</ref> These shows, along with most of channel 13's local programming, were temporarily suspended at the end of March 1970 as part of cutbacks it attributed to "the [[Recession of 1969–1970|economic slowdown]]". The cutbacks left Bob Corcoran, a talk show host, as KTVW's sole on-air personality.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skreen |first=C. J. |date=March 23, 1970 |title=Smothers Brothers Set for Comeback |page=A16 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> KTVW was left airing, in the words of the television editor of ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', "scratchy old movies and ... Neanderthal reruns from the violence-action era of television".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skreen |first=C. J. |date=February 4, 1970 |title=Local Stations Juggle Schedules |page=D10 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The business news programming briefly left the air that April before closing for good at the end of October 1970 along with the Northern Life Tower studio in Seattle.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skreen |first=C. J. |date=October 30, 1970 |title=Roosevelt Grier – a gentle giant |page=F7 |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/roosevelt-grier%E2%80%94-gentle-giant/fyuorunaahxufnranhvmppnssircltkj_ip-10-166-46-138_1731479264676 |via=GenealogyBank}}</ref>

In early 1969, plans were floated to convert KTVW to color, move the transmitter to [[Port Orchard, Washington|Port Orchard]], and relocate the studios to Seattle. The television editor of the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' hailed the proposed changes as heralding the end of "the funny station way over at the end of your television dial ... with the fuzzy picture and the funny, fuzzy programs and the fuzzy, old, awful movies".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kenyon |first=J. Michael |date=May 22, 1969 |title=New Image for Channel 13 |page=40 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> However, any hopes of an upgrade were dashed when McCaw died of a stroke that August.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 18, 1969 |title=TV Channel 13 J. E. McCaw, Prexy, Dies |page=31 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296785/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203705/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296785/tv-channel-13-j-e-mccaw-prexy-dies/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> His indebted businesses struggled after his death; creditors made more than $12&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|12000000|1970}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) in claims, after which the bank declared his estate [[insolvent]], requiring the family to sell off his various holdings, including the family mansion and yachts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Corr |first=O. Casey |date=April 4, 1993 |title=Money from thin air |pages=A1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

===Blaidon ownership, financial woes, and the end of KTVW===
After nearly three years, on March 27, 1972, McCaw's estate sold KTVW to the Seattle-based Blaidon Mutual Investors Corporation, named for co-owners Blaine Sampson and Don Wolfstone,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coughlin |first=Dan |date=April 9, 1972 |title=He Understands Synergism |pages=E3 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> for $1.1&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|1100000|1972}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 27, 1972 |title=Ownership Of KTVW Sold To Seattle Firm |page=4 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297514/ownership-of-ktvw-sold-to-seattle-firm/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828182044/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297514/ownership-of-ktvw-sold-to-seattle-firm/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> During the sale process, the stock market program—which had returned in 1971 after it reorganized under a new production company<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stredicke |first=Victor |date=June 13, 1971 |title=Stock market to bounce back again |page=TV 3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>—stopped airing after channel 13 asked for more money for its air time in contract negotiations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skreen |first=C. J. |date=June 16, 1972 |title=Channel 13 drops stock market show |page=B2 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

Wolfstone recognized that the station needed help if it were to become viable, telling a writer for the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' that "there's not much of a worse [station] in the country".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chesley |first=Frank |date=June 26, 1972 |title=New Broom at Channel 13 |pages=B3 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> Blaidon tried to turn KTVW around by boosting the station's signal strength, acquiring first-run syndicated programming, and installing color-capable broadcast equipment (the station had broadcast exclusively in black-and-white until Blaidon bought it).<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 26, 1972 |title=Sale of KTVW, Channel 13 Approved By FCC |page=28 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297611/sale-of-ktvw-channel-13-approved-by-fcc/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828195449/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297611/sale-of-ktvw-channel-13-approved-by-fcc/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Channel 13 premiered its new programming lineup with ''The Tony Visco Show'', its flagship effort. This talk/entertainment show was hosted by Tony Visco, a [[Las Vegas]] lounge entertainer and singer, attempted to recreate a ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|Tonight Show]]''-style program. Don Wolfstone—the "Don" in "Blaidon"—brought in a [[Los Angeles]] producer/director to develop the show, which featured a live band on-set, and had hopes of flying in show-business guests from Los Angeles and later syndicating the program nationwide.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cardwell |first=Rod |date=June 26, 1972 |title=The New Channel 13 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297786/faces-and-places-the-new-channel-13/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828195800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297786/faces-and-places-the-new-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> After two months on-air, rising production costs forced Blaidon to relocate the program from a Tacoma restaurant to the station's studios; channel 13 canceled ''The Tony Visco Show'' before the year ended.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 10, 1972 |title=Monday TV |page=TV 10 |work=The Seattle Times |quote=Unannounced replacement for the canceled Tony Visco Show.}}</ref> Another new program launched under Blaidon was an afternoon cartoon show hosted by local actor Mike Lynch, playing a "superhero" character for whom viewers were asked to suggest a name; the winning entry was "Flash Blaidon".<ref name="cubs">{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1974 |title=Cubs Visit With 'Flash' |work=The Eatonville Dispatch |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=DISP19740214.2.66&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |url-status=live |access-date=February 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203721/https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=DISP19740214.2.66&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Washington Digital Newspapers}}</ref> Despite KTVW's improved programming and ratings that at times were competitive with KTNT-TV, national advertisers failed to materialize.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chesley |first=Frank |date=August 1, 1974 |title=The Luck of 13 |page=C2 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> ''[[The News Tribune]]'' described the station, in retrospect, as "a down-at-the-heels purveyor of old movies and used-car commercials".{{r|leads}}

{{Quote box
| quote = [KTVW] used to be worse than no TV at all, so we pretended it wasn't there.
| author = By Fish
| source = in a 1974 column in ''The Seattle Times''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fish |first=By |date=January 6, 1974 |title=Confessions of a boob-tuber (to whom TV is new) |page=TV 15 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>
| align = right
| width = 250px
| salign = left
}}

At the end of 1973,<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|title=FCC History Cards for KCPQ|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/cbe7ad63-8bbc-3ae2-9a28-10486da5f195}}</ref> Blaidon filed to sell channel 13 to the [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] (CBN) of [[Portsmouth, Virginia]]; the filing alone signaled trouble, given that at the time, the FCC barred selling a station in less than three years of ownership unless the buyer demonstrated it was facing financial hardship.{{r|wary}} The station's remaining live programming, such as ''Flash Blaidon'', was canceled.{{r|cubs}} Over the course of 1974, KTVW's financial position deteriorated. On January 15, 40 employees staged a walk-out, forcing the station to go off the air, complaining about not having been paid in nearly four weeks. After they were paid by cashier's check, channel 13 resumed operations the next day, but employees remained skeptical of Blaidon's financial condition.<ref name="wary">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=January 19, 1974 |title=Employes wary despite promises |page=A-4 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83972665/employes-wary-despite-promises/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063407/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83972665/employes-wary-despite-promises/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By the end of January, Blaidon had pleaded with the FCC to expedite approval of the CBN transfer; Wolfstone expected the [[Internal Revenue Service]] to lock up his Seattle office for failing to pay withholding taxes in the second half of 1973.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=January 30, 1974 |title=Strapped tv outlet urges FCC action |page=D-5 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971128/strapped-tv-outlet-urges-fcc-action/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212947/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971128/strapped-tv-outlet-urges-fcc-action/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The FCC approved the CBN transaction, but the buyer had second thoughts about the $5.1&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|5100000|1974}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) purchase price of channel 13 and asked for several time extensions to consummate the purchase.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 2, 1974 |title=TV Channel 13 sale may be in jeopardy |page=B-12 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971050/tv-channel-13-sale-may-be-in-jeopardy/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971050/tv-channel-13-sale-may-be-in-jeopardy/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In July, [[Universal Television#MCA Television|MCA Television]], among KTVW's largest creditors, successfully petitioned for the appointment of a receiver to manage the station's affairs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 25, 1974 |title=KTVW thrown into receivership |page=D-2 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971210/ktvw-thrown-into-receivership/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971210/ktvw-thrown-into-receivership/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Despite a brief improvement in financial position when the receiver separated KTVW from Blaidon,<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 29, 1974 |title=KTVW severs tie with Blaidon firm |page=A-13 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971161/ktvw-severs-tie-with-blaidon-firm/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063349/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971161/ktvw-severs-tie-with-blaidon-firm/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the CBN sale fell apart over its refusal to assume all of the television station's liabilities.{{r|offers}} The bankruptcy court approved a second offer from the Suburban Broadcasting Company, which owned [[WFTY-DT|WSNL]] in [[Patchogue, New York]], but this deal collapsed, as Suburban also refused to assume the station's liabilities.<ref name="offers">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=January 31, 1975 |title=Channel 13 has purchase offers |page=A-14 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971303/channel-13-has-purchase-offers/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212950/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971303/channel-13-has-purchase-offers/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On December 12, 1974, at 5:10&nbsp;p.m., KTVW was airing a rerun of ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 12, 1974 |title=Television Channelog |page=D-4 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84275961/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203709/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84275961/television-channelog-dec-12-1974/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> when Bruce Clements, a court-appointed trustee in charge of its affairs, ordered the station to go off the air at 5:30 upon that program completing its airing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bailey |first=John |date=December 13, 1974 |title=Channel 13 ordered off the air |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971089/channel-13-ordered-off-the-air/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83971089/channel-13-ordered-off-the-air/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

By the end of January 1975, the bankruptcy court was entertaining two "very firm offers" for the station.{{r|offers}} In 1976, the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] sued Blaidon, alleging that they had sold stock to non-Washington residents without SEC approval and issued misleading financial reports to prospective investors in the company.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1976 |title=Illegalities claimed against Blaidon Corp. |page=C-8 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83962892/illegalities-claimed-against-blaidon/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063346/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83962892/illegalities-claimed-against-blaidon/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===KCPQ: The Clover Park years===
{{see|KPEC-TV}}
When the bankruptcy court revealed the identity of the winning bidder for channel 13's transmission site—the studio equipment having been sold at a sheriff's sale—the local television community was shocked to learn that the buyer would be the [[Clover Park School District]].<ref name="leads">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=February 11, 1975 |title=CP leads bidding for Channel 13 |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946276/cp-leads-bidding-for-channel-13/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212951/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946276/cp-leads-bidding-for-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Clover Park had operated [[KPEC-TV]], an educational station on [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) channel 56, since April 1960; it was one of the South Sound's two educational TV stations, alongside [[KTPS-TV]] (channel 62), owned by [[Tacoma Public Schools]]. By 1975, KPEC-TV's UHF equipment, which had been in service for more than a decade, was aging and needed replacement. It was more cost-effective to replace the channel 56 physical plant with KTVW, a high-power VHF station that could reach more western Washington homes and schools.<ref name="insiders">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=February 13, 1975 |title=Channel 13 a big bargain for CP, say TV insiders |page=A-3 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946886/channel-13-a-big-bargain-for-cp-say-tv/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212950/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946886/channel-13-a-big-bargain-for-cp-say-tv/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="looking">{{Cite news |last=Kratz |first=Eleanor |date=June 22, 1975 |title=KPEC-TV looking ahead to greater audience potential |pages=8, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946003/greater-audience-potential-kpec-tv/ 9] |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83945980/kpec-tv-looking-ahead-to/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825212955/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83945980/kpec-tv-looking-ahead-to/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A booster group for KTPS, the fledgling [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]], and a commercial group headed by Stan Naccarato, manager of the [[Tacoma Twins]], also bid.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=March 14, 1975 |title=Ending long scramble: KTVW-TV sold to Clover Park |page=A-3 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84298223/ending-long-scramble-ktvw-tv-sold-to-cl/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84298223/ending-long-scramble-ktvw-tv-sold-to/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Clover Park won the station for a final cost of $378,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|378000|1976}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}),<ref name="tucson">{{Cite news |last=Gillie |first=John |date=December 12, 1978 |title=$6 million offered for Channel 13 |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83963093/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203705/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83963093/6-million-offered-for-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> with KSTW (the former KTNT-TV) owner [[Gaylord Broadcasting]] providing $250,000 of that total in what was viewed as a move to make KSTW the only independent in the market.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 10, 1979 |title=Tacoma PTVer With Com'l Ticket Being Sold To KCRA For $6.2-Mil |pages=74, 90 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |id={{ProQuest|1401342744}}}}</ref> Transmitter testing took place in November 1975, with channel 13 repeating the KPEC-TV signal;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=November 15, 1975 |title=Channel 13 test set for next week |page=C-4 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957425/channel-13-test-set-for-next-week/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825233515/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957425/channel-13-test-set-for-next-week/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> eventually, a new microwave link would be used to feed programming from channel 56's existing studios to the channel 13 transmitter near Ruston.<ref name="whole">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=December 14, 1975 |title=Whole new life for Channel 13 |pages=TV Spotlight 2, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957539/whole-new-life-kpec-ktvw-kcpq/ 15] |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957467/whole-new-life-for-channel-13/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825233512/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957467/whole-new-life-for-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The call letters were changed to KCPQ-TV and the license modified to noncommercial before channel 13 returned to the air on January 4, 1976; the microwave link was not ready, so KPEC-TV remained in service until it was.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Seago |first=David |date=January 5, 1976 |title=Channel 13 return 'just beautiful' |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957571/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203718/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957571/channel-13-return-just-beautiful/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The new KCPQ also aired some programming produced by KTPS.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 4, 1976 |title=Jeff Smith--Tacoma's own Julia Child |page=A-5 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957609/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203706/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83957609/jeff-smith-tacomas-own-julia-child/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Programming in the Clover Park era, which included [[PBS]] material, represented a continuation of KPEC-TV's former service and originated from its existing Lakewood studios. The transmitter upgrade also attracted a high-profile name: Jim Harriott, who had been the highest-paid anchor in local TV news at KING-TV and who took a pay cut to come to channel 13 and helm public affairs programming.{{r|whole}} Harriott soon left when KIRO-TV offered him a job.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=April 22, 1976 |title=Ch. 13: Robbie in, Jim may be out |page=C-11 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83962933/ch-13-robbie-in-jim-may-be-out/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063341/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83962933/ch-13-robbie-in-jim-may-be-out/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===From Clover Park to Kelly===
KPEC-TV had turned a profit prior to the channel 13 move, a rarity among educational TV stations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=February 13, 1975 |title=Region would benefit if CP buys Channel 13 |page=A-11 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946527/region-would-benefit-if-cp-buys-channel/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063343/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83946527/region-would-benefit-if-cp-buys-channel/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Two simultaneous events in 1978 prompted the district to reconsider its ownership of a television station. The [[Washington State Legislature]]—which KPEC-TV and later KCPQ covered for the state's public television stations—approved plans to fully fund basic education at the state level, which would change channel 13 into a financial drain on the school system. For instance, Clover Park would stop receiving $3.5&nbsp;million a year in federal funds for educating military dependents; this money would instead go to the state, making the $600,000 in annual station maintenance costs (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|600000|1978}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) a "luxury".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Erickson |first=Jim |date=December 19, 1978 |title=Clover Park board, public divided over Channel 13 sale |page=A-3 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86418640/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003172108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86418640/clover-park-board-public-divided-over/ |archive-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref> Meanwhile, portions of [[Clover Park High School]] were condemned, but voters rejected four separate bond initiatives that would have funded the reconstruction of the high school and taken students out of portable classrooms.<ref name="prevent">{{Cite news |last=Erickson |first=Jim |date=May 11, 1979 |title=Petition filed to prevent Channel 13 license move |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141640/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203802/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141640/petition-filed-to-prevent-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The school board stated that annual losses from operating KCPQ reached $500,000.{{r|tucsonans}}

In late 1978, the Clover Park School District received a $6&nbsp;million offer from two investors from [[Tucson, Arizona]]: Gene Adelstein and Edward Berger, owners of that city's independent [[KZAZ-TV]].{{r|tucson}} Adelstein and Berger were looking to expand; already in the early stages of a bid to build [[KGSW-TV|a new station]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], the pair saw the Seattle–Tacoma market as having recovered from the market conditions that claimed KTVW four years prior and as being overserved by educational stations.<ref name="tucsonans">{{Cite news |date=December 15, 1978 |title=Tucsonans bid for Tacoma station |page=4B |work=Arizona Daily Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33724093/tucsonans-bid-for-tacoma-station/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063343/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33724093/tucsonans-bid-for-tacoma-station/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They also felt that the Tacoma area alone represented a market of similar size to Tucson.{{R|name=tucsonans}} Channel 13 then attracted another buyer who topped the Adelstein–Berger bid. In January 1979, the school board accepted an offer from [[Kelly Broadcasting]], owners of [[KCRA-TV]] in [[Sacramento, California]], to buy KCPQ from the Clover Park School District for $6.25&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|6250000|1979}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gillie |first=John |date=January 3, 1979 |title=Clover Park will sell Channel 13 |page=1 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84142559/clover-park-will-sell-channel-13/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825233515/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84142559/clover-park-will-sell-channel-13/ |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> This purchase price was financed by Kelly Broadcasting's sale, earlier that year, of two radio stations in Sacramento.<ref name="Sacr780815">{{Cite news |date=August 15, 1978 |title=Chicago Firm Takes Over 2 Capital Radio Stations |page=C6 |work=The Sacramento Bee |location=Sacramento, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76071026/chicago-firm-takes-over-2-capital-radio/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821194255/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76071026/chicago-firm-takes-over-2-capital-radio/ |archive-date=August 21, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Tue --><ref name="News980825">{{Cite news |last=Simons |first=Stephanie |date=August 25, 1998 |title=Chicago company to buy KCPQ-TV: The sale leaves only KOMO-TV under local ownership |page=C7, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108039811/ C11] |work=The News Tribune |location=Tacoma, Washington |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108039781/chicago-company-to-buy-kcpq-tv-the-sale/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821194251/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108039781/chicago-company-to-buy-kcpq-tv-the/ |archive-date=August 21, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

The sale was met with stiff protests and a petition to deny led by members of the station's advisory board, organized as "Save our Station 13".{{r|prevent}} After the approval of a settlement between this group and Kelly that included a $450,000 gift (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|450000|1980}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) from the buyer for public television and the donation of the Ruston tower to KTPS,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Kerry |date=February 14, 1980 |title=Trust fund accepted for halting Channel 13 appeal |page=A-2 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83963230/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203707/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83963230/trust-fund-accepted-for-halting-channel/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> KCPQ ceased educational broadcasting on February 29, 1980, and the station went silent for a major technical overhaul.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pyle |first=Jack |date=March 1, 1980 |title=Channel 13 crew goes quietly into last goodnight |page=A-2 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141984/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203707/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141984/channel-13-crew-goes-quietly-into-last/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> While KCPQ would continue to use Clover Park's studio space, the transmitter was relocated to [[Gold Mountain (Washington)|Gold Mountain]], a peak located west of [[Bremerton]], where the station erected a new tower; this enabled channel 13 to increase its signal footprint across western Washington.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Helen |date=April 3, 1980 |title=Channel 13 image won't be double |page=B-9 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84277051/channel-13-image-wont-be-double/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063348/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84277051/channel-13-image-wont-be-double/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

After more than eight months and several delays, KCPQ returned to the air—and to commercial operation as the Seattle market's second independent station—on November 4, 1980, when it adopted the Q13 moniker (it was also called "The New 13" early on); on opening night, it counterprogrammed [[1980 United States elections|election returns]] on the network affiliates with the movie ''[[The Deer Hunter]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 5, 1980 |title=KCPQ-TV (finally) beams on |page=C-8 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84148768/kcpq-tv-finally-beams-on/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826012543/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84148768/kcpq-tv-finally-beams-on/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Channel 13 represented a challenge that brought Bob Kelly, who with his brother had owned KCRA, out of semiretirement; disenchanted with network television, he had turned his attention to other Kelly family ventures.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beck |first=Andee |date=August 4, 1991 |title=Ewing Kelly bet on a deadbeat, and Harry Truman made him a winner |page=Sound Life 3, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276912/kcpq/ 4] |work=The News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276901/ewing-kelly-bet-on-a-deadbeat-and-harry/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203708/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276901/ewing-kelly-bet-on-a-deadbeat-and/ |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Beck |first=Andee |date=August 4, 1991 |title=Crazy like a fox: As a Fox network affiliate, KCPQ-TV helps to rewrite rules of successful broadcasting |page=Sound Life 3, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276849/ 4], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276879/fox/ 5] |work=The News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276836/the-news-tribune/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828063516/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276836/the-news-tribune/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Among the new KCPQ's launch programs were a nightly 8&nbsp;p.m. movie, game shows, and a local children's show, ''Captain Sea-Tac''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pyle |first=Jack |date=November 17, 1980 |title=Viewers hop to Channel 13 with rabbit-ear antennas |page=A-16 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141881/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930185815/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84141881/viewers-hop-to-channel-13-with/ |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> John Komen, a political reporter, was the only holdover from the public station's programming.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 30, 1980 |title=Kelly's KCPQ Tacoma To Get Airborne Sept. 1 |page=158 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |id={{ProQuest|1438298816}}}}</ref>

KCPQ grew quickly in its first five years. What started as a station heavy on movies and branded as "The Northwest Movie Channel" expanded to include college sports (including [[Washington Huskies football|Washington]] and [[Washington State football]]) and, for a time, a full local newscast.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Kathleen |date=November 10, 1985 |title=Tacoma's KCPQ-TV is striving for a breakthrough |page=26 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> When KSTW opted not to join the new Fox network in 1986,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Helen |date=May 29, 1986 |title=KSTW won't join Fox |page=C-7 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84311279/kstw-wont-join-fox/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828215439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84311279/kstw-wont-join-fox/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the affiliation went to KCPQ that June ahead of its launch on October 9;<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 27, 1986 |title=KCPQ joins Murdoch's fourth TV network |page=C-8 |work=The News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84311432/kcpq-joins-murdochs-fourth-tv-network/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828215458/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84311432/kcpq-joins-murdochs-fourth-tv-network/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref> of the first 79 stations to affiliate with Fox, it was among the 13 on the VHF dial.<ref name="b-foxvhfs">{{Cite news |id={{ProQuest|963254490}} |date=August 4, 1986 |title=Fox network begins to take shape |pages=44–45 |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]] |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1986/BC-1986-08-04.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127014659/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1986/BC-1986-08-04.pdf |archive-date=January 27, 2022}}</ref> In February 1990, KCPQ signed a three-year deal with [[Disney–ABC Domestic Television|Buena Vista Television]] to carry ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]'', spurning Fox's [[Fox Kids|own children's lineup]] which launched that fall.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 12, 1990 |title=Fox affiliate defects to Buena Vista |page=22 |work=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications Inc. |url=https://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1990/BC-1990-02-12.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=November 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20151127140508/http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1990/BC-1990-02-12.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2015}}</ref> This led to a threat from Fox to strip KCPQ of its affiliation if it did not commit to running Fox Kids in sequence beginning in 1992,<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1990 |title=Fox gets tough with Seattle affil |page=57 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |id={{ProQuest|1286144535}}}}</ref> as well as an antitrust lawsuit between Buena Vista and Fox, which Buena Vista alleged was coercing affiliates to air its children's programming in a [[restraint of trade]]. Fox ultimately relented on its pressure,<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 7, 1990 |title=Fox affil to carry Disney kidvid |page=34 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |id={{ProQuest|1401361482}}}}</ref> but KCPQ dropped the ''Disney Afternoon'' block in the fall of 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 25, 1991 |title=Fox affiliate drops 'Disney Afternoon' |page=33 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |id={{ProQuest|1401371427}}}}</ref>

===Later Kelly ownership and sale to Tribune===
The second half of the 1990s was a time of major changes at channel 13. In 1995, Kelly Broadcasting bought a former candy factory on [[Westlake Avenue]] along [[Lake Union]] in Seattle which would be renovated and expanded<ref name="smell">{{Cite news |last=Levesque |first=John |date=June 19, 1997 |title=Q13 anticipates sweet smell of success in new digs at candy factory |page=C1 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> to house KCPQ's operations. Even though Bob Kelly lived in Tacoma, the company made the decision to move out of the South Sound and into a space more than twice the size of the prior studio and closer to the bulk of market activity.<ref name="newhome">{{Cite news |last=Reader |first=Stephanie |date=March 22, 1995 |title=KCPQ has bought building for new home in Seattle |page=SL-5 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276456/kcpq-has-bought-building-for-new-home/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828215434/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84276456/kcpq-has-bought-building-for-new-home/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On September 13, 1997, KCPQ moved its studios to the new, $30&nbsp;million{{r|survival}} Seattle facility, retaining only a small sales office in the [[city of license]] of Tacoma.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Nancy |date=June 8, 1997 |title=Foes of stadium measure run tightly focused offense |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/1997/06/09/newscolumn2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203825/https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/1997/06/09/newscolumn2.html |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |access-date=March 26, 2020 |website=www.bizjournals.com |publisher=Puget Sound Business Journal}}</ref> This marked the end of television broadcasting from the Clover Park studios after more than 20 years on channel 13 and more than 35 since the founding of KPEC-TV.{{r|newhome}}

There were also changes in ownership. In 1997, Kelly Broadcasting experienced an internal changing of the guard, as Bob Kelly and his son Chris sold their stakes in Kelly to family members Jon and Greg Kelly and KCPQ general manager Roger Ottenbach.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 28, 1997 |title=Kellys restructure TV company |page=G1 |work=The Sacramento Bee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84316412/kellys-restructure-tv-company/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828230423/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84316412/kellys-restructure-tv-company/ |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Not long after, the family company decided to exit an increasingly consolidated television business.<ref name="survival">{{Cite news |last=McAdams |first=Deborah |date=October 1998 |title=Market Supports Survival of Biggest |page=20 |work=Television Broadcast |id={{ProQuest|203631591}} }}</ref> In August 1998, Kelly Broadcasting announced the sale of its Sacramento television business to [[Hearst-Argyle Television]]; the next day, it sold KCPQ to the [[Meredith Corporation]], which immediately traded it to the [[Tribune Company]] in exchange for Tribune's [[Atlanta]] station, [[WANF|WGNX]].<ref name="nyt-tribuneviameredith">{{Cite news |date=August 25, 1998 |title=3-Way Accord For TV Stations |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/25/business/the-media-business-3-way-accord-for-tv-stations.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527085323/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/25/business/the-media-business-3-way-accord-for-tv-stations.html |archive-date=May 27, 2015}}</ref> The swap made sense for both companies; WGNX was the only CBS affiliate owned by Tribune, whose portfolio otherwise consisted of Fox and [[The WB]] affiliates, while Meredith owned several CBS outlets in top-25 markets.<ref name="Atla980825">{{Cite news |last=Haddad |first=Charles |date=August 25, 1998 |title=WGNX to be acquired by Meredith |page=D1 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |location=Atlanta, Georgia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107015147/wgnx-to-be-acquired-by-meredith/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809081252/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107015147/wgnx-to-be-acquired-by-meredith/ |archive-date=August 9, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Atla980825a">{{Cite news |last=Haddad |first=Charles |date=August 25, 1998 |title=Meredith betting on opportunity in WGNX |page=D2 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |location=Atlanta, Georgia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107015179/meredith-betting-on-opportunity-in-wgnx/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809081330/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107015179/meredith-betting-on-opportunity-in-wgnx/ |archive-date=August 9, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Meanwhile, Hearst had been interested in KCPQ but could not, under newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership limits, own that station and the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]''.<ref name="Sacr980822">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-kelly-family-sells-ch/79733174/|date=August 22, 1998|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-kcra-buyer-pledges-t/79733215/ A18]|first=Dan|last=Vierria|first2=Dale|last2=Kasler|title=Kelly family sells Channel 3 to N.Y. chain|newspaper=The Sacramento Bee|location=Sacramento, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 19, 2025}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Following the purchase of channel 13, Tribune merged KCPQ's operations with those of KTWB-TV (channel 22, now [[KZJO]]), which Tribune had acquired the year prior; the two stations became co-owned in 1999, after the FCC began to allow same-market [[duopoly (broadcasting)|duopolies]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 23, 1999 |title=New rules spark CBS-Viacom talk |page=8 |work=Broadcasting & Cable|id={{ProQuest|225320821}} |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1999/BC-1999-08-23.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308024040/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1999/BC-1999-08-23.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021}}</ref>

On August 1, 2001, KCPQ began digital broadcasting on channel 18.<ref>{{Cite book|page=A-2450|title=Television & Cable Factbook|volume=74|chapter=KCPQ-DT}}</ref> KCPQ shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 7, 2009 |title=What digital TV delay means to North Olympic Peninsula viewers |work=Peninsula Daily News |url=http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090207/news/302079996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715063336/http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090207/news/302079996 |archive-date=July 15, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Analog to Digital">{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2006 |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission|website=fcc.gov}}</ref> The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.<ref name="FCCForm387">{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2008 |title=DTV Transition Status Report |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231307&formid=387&fac_num=33894 |access-date=December 14, 2008 |website=FCC CDBS Database |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203830/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231307&formid=387&fac_num=33894 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Fox seeks a station in Seattle===
[[File:Q13 Fox 2020 (Stacked Variant).svg|thumb|upright=0.68|The final Q13 logo, used from 2020 to 2021|alt=A white box with a royal blue underline. In a bold sans serif, the letters "Q13" with a stylized Q atop the Fox network logo, all in navy blue.]]
The size of the Seattle market and its status as an NFL football city led Fox to covet owning a station there. By 1997, it had already made two rejected offers to buy KCPQ.{{r|smell}}

KCPQ first came in danger of losing its Fox affiliation in February 1997, when [[Fox Television Stations]] was reported to be in negotiations to acquire then-[[UPN]] affiliate KIRO-TV from [[Belo Corporation]]. Belo had just acquired the Providence Journal Company and [[KING-TV]], requiring it to dispose of KIRO.<ref name="tst-kirobelofox?">{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=February 5, 1997 |title=Three-Network Switch Possible For Seattle TV |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970205/2522436/three-network-switch-possible-for-seattle-tv |url-status=live |access-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023055749/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970205&slug=2522436 |archive-date=October 23, 2013}}</ref> Fox was reportedly dissatisfied with KCPQ, which was described by one observer as being "recalcitrant".<ref name="b&c-kirobelofox?">{{Cite news |last1=Littleton |first1=Cynthia |last2=Rathbun |first2=Elizabeth |date=February 3, 1997 |id={{ProQuest|1016960095}} |title=Fox trading for KIRO-TV; network will swap Phoenix, Austin stations for Seattle |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1997/BC-1997-02-03.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308041204/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1997/BC-1997-02-03.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> The trade with Belo never materialized; KIRO was ultimately sold to [[Cox Broadcasting]].<ref name="tst-kirobelocox">{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=February 21, 1997 |title=Deals Shuffle 3 TV Stations – KIRO, KSTW To Get New Owners, Networks; KING Still NBC |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970221/2525084/deals-shuffle-3-tv-stations |url-status=live |access-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060331/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970221&slug=2525084 |archive-date=October 23, 2013}}</ref> The [[Seattle Seahawks]] moved in 2002 from the [[American Football Conference]] to the [[National Football Conference]], to which Fox holds the rights for most games. In June 2014, Fox reached a deal with Cox to trade its stations in [[WFXT|Boston]] and [[WHBQ-TV|Memphis]] for Cox's Fox affiliate, [[KTVU]], and associated independent [[KICU]] in [[San Francisco]]; Fox was also reportedly considering a deal to acquire KIRO, which would have displaced the Fox affiliation from KCPQ.<ref name="variety-stepsup">{{Cite news |date=August 17, 2013 |title=Fox Steps Up its Pursuit of Station Acquisitions in NFL Markets |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/fox-steps-up-its-pursuit-of-station-acquisitions-in-nfl-markets-1200579687/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015020346/http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/fox-steps-up-its-pursuit-of-station-acquisitions-in-nfl-markets-1200579687/ |archive-date=October 15, 2014}}</ref> In 2013, Fox had made a similar move in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]] (home market of the [[Carolina Panthers]]), exercising an option to buy [[WJZY]] and move its affiliation there.<ref name="tvnc-foxnflstrategy">{{Cite news |date=September 23, 2014 |title=Fox NFL Strategy Drives Seattle Affiliate Grab |work=TVNewsCheck |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/79502/fox-nfl-strategy-drives-seattle-affiliate-grab |url-status=live |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115022959/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/79502/fox-nfl-strategy-drives-seattle-affiliate-grab/ |archive-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref>

In September 2014, the ''[[New York Post]]'' reported that Fox was planning to acquire KCPQ from Tribune in exchange for its Chicago [[MyNetworkTV]] station [[WPWR-TV]]—which would have created a duopoly with [[WGN-TV]] in that city.<ref name="nyp-kcpqfox">{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Claire |date=September 22, 2014 |title=Fox targets Tribune's Fox affiliation in Seattle over NFL revenues |work=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2014/09/22/fox-targets-tribunes-fox-affiliation-in-seattle-over-nfl-revenues/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923022432/http://nypost.com/2014/09/22/fox-targets-tribunes-fox-affiliation-in-seattle-over-nfl-revenues/ |archive-date=September 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lieberman |first=David |date=September 23, 2014 |title=Hoping To Score NFL Cash, Fox Says It Will Cut Tribune Media's TV Affiliation In Seattle |language=en-US |work=Deadline |url=https://deadline.com/2014/09/nfl-cash-fox-withdraw-tv-network-affiliation-tribune-media-seattle-839513/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821194255/https://deadline.com/2014/09/nfl-cash-fox-withdraw-tv-network-affiliation-tribune-media-seattle-839513/ |archive-date=August 21, 2022}}</ref> On September 23, Tribune revealed that Fox had sent a notice terminating its affiliation with KCPQ effective January 17, 2015; in a statement, Tribune noted that discussions between the two companies were still ongoing.<ref name="b&c-kcpqfoxtermination">{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=September 23, 2014 |title=Fox Gives Tribune Termination Notice For Seattle Affiliate |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/fox-gives-tribune-termination-notice-seattle-affiliate/134266 |url-status=live |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925234522/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/fox-gives-tribune-termination-notice-seattle-affiliate/134266 |archive-date=September 25, 2014}}</ref> Days earlier, on September 19, Fox had struck a deal to buy [[KBCB]], a station in [[Bellingham, Washington|Bellingham]], for $10&nbsp;million;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asset Purchase Agreement dated as of September 19, 2014 by and among World Television of Washington, LLC, Fox Television Stations, Inc. and Venture Technologies Group, LLC |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101651610&qnum=5040&copynum=1&exhcnum=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006083006/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101651610&qnum=5040&copynum=1&exhcnum=1 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 6, 2014 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref> the purchase, submitted for FCC approval on October 3,<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 3, 2014 |title=Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License (KBCB) |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101651610&formid=314&fac_num=53586 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006114248/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101651610&formid=314&fac_num=53586 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 6, 2014 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref><ref name="tvnc-foxkbcb">{{Cite web |date=October 7, 2014 |title=Fox Buying Station In Seattle |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/79826/fox-buying-station-in-seattle |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529042244/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/79826/fox-buying-station-in-seattle |archive-date=May 29, 2015 |access-date=October 7, 2014 |website=TVNewsCheck |last1=Miller |first1=Mark K. }}</ref> was described as a "strategic option" for Fox by an insider. Naming KBCB as Fox's Seattle affiliate would have had immediate complications for Fox's distribution in the market, as the Bellingham station provides a marginal signal to Seattle proper.<ref name="b&c-kbcbfts">{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=October 7, 2014 |title=Fox Television Stations Acquiring Seattle Independent |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/fox-television-stations-acquiring-seattle-independent/134626 |url-status=live |access-date=October 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009174233/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/fox-television-stations-acquiring-seattle-independent/134626 |archive-date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> By the time the KBCB purchase was disclosed, talks between Tribune and Fox had deteriorated; a ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' report on October 7 stated that Fox no longer planned to include WPWR in a potential swap for KCPQ.<ref name="wsj-foxtribuneimpasse?">{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Joe |date=October 7, 2014 |title=Eyeing NFL Value, 21st Century Fox Acquires Seattle Area TV Station |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/eyeing-nfl-value-21st-century-fox-acquires-seattle-area-tv-station-1412714995 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010004140/http://online.wsj.com/articles/eyeing-nfl-value-21st-century-fox-acquires-seattle-area-tv-station-1412714995 |archive-date=October 10, 2014}}</ref>

Fox announced on October 17, 2014, that Tribune had agreed to extend its affiliation agreement for KCPQ through July 2018 and pay increased [[reverse compensation]] fees to Fox for the broadcasting of its programming beginning in January 2015.<ref name="tvnc-foxextend">{{Cite news |date=October 17, 2014 |title=Tribune To Keep KCPQ And Fox Affiliation |work=TVNewsCheck |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/80123/tribune-to-keep-kcpq-and-fox-affiliation |url-status=live |access-date=October 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827003700/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/80123/tribune-to-keep-kcpq-and-fox-affiliation |archive-date=August 27, 2017}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, Fox's purchase of KBCB was abandoned and was dismissed by the FCC on November 20, 2014.<ref name="fcc-kbcbnofox">{{Cite web |title=Application Search Details (KBCB to Fox) |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1651610 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210124548/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1651610 |archive-date=December 10, 2014 |access-date=December 6, 2014 |website=CDBS Public Access |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref>

===Sinclair sale attempt; acquisition by Nexstar and Fox===
{{Further|Attempted acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group}}
Tribune Media agreed to be sold to [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] on May 8, 2017, for $3.9 billion and the assumption of $2.9 billion in debt held by Tribune.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frankel |first=Todd |date=May 8, 2017 |title=Sinclair Broadcast to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, giving it control over 215 local TV stations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/05/08/sinclair-broadcast-to-buy-tribune-media-for-3-9-billion-creating-nations-largest-tv-station-group/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522182043/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/05/08/sinclair-broadcast-to-buy-tribune-media-for-3-9-billion-creating-nations-largest-tv-station-group/ |archive-date=May 22, 2017 |access-date=June 6, 2017 |publisher=[[Jeff Bezos|Nash Holdings, LLC]] |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Frankel |first=Todd C. |date=May 8, 2017 |title=Sinclair Broadcast to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, giving it control over 215 local TV stations |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Jeff Bezos|Nash Holdings, LLC]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/05/08/sinclair-broadcast-to-buy-tribune-media-for-3-9-billion-creating-nations-largest-tv-station-group/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522182043/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/05/08/sinclair-broadcast-to-buy-tribune-media-for-3-9-billion-creating-nations-largest-tv-station-group/ |archive-date=May 22, 2017}}</ref> As Sinclair already owned KOMO-TV and [[KUNS-TV]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Dominic |author-link=Dominic Gates |date=May 9, 2017 |title=Current FCC rules bar Sinclair from owning both KOMO and KCPQ – but that could change |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |publisher=The Seattle Times Company |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/current-fcc-rules-bar-sinclair-from-owning-both-komo-and-kcpq-but-that-could-change/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602195542/http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/current-fcc-rules-bar-sinclair-from-owning-both-komo-and-kcpq-but-that-could-change/ |archive-date=June 2, 2017}}</ref> KCPQ was among 23 stations identified for divestment in order to meet regulatory compliance for the merger.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jessell |first=Harry A. |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Sinclair Unveils Tribune Merger Spin-Off Plan |work=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheck Media |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/111389/sinclair-to-spin-off-trib-tvs-in-ny-chicago |url-status=live |access-date=April 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165041/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/111389/sinclair-to-spin-off-trib-tvs-in-ny-chicago |archive-date=February 22, 2018}}</ref> Sinclair agreed to purchase KZJO and sell KCPQ to Fox Television Stations as part of a $910&nbsp;million deal;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Stephen |date=December 15, 2017 |title=Report: Q13 to be sold once Sinclair, Tribune merger finalized |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/q13-sale-fox-kcpq-sinclair-tribune-merger-12433656.php |url-status=live |access-date=December 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217030946/http://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/q13-sale-fox-kcpq-sinclair-tribune-merger-12433656.php |archive-date=December 17, 2017}}</ref> [[Howard Stirk Holdings]] additionally agreed to purchase KUNS-TV.<ref name="tvnc-kcpqsale">{{Cite news |last=Harry A. Jessell |date=April 24, 2018 |title=Sinclair Spins Off 23 TVs To Grease Trib Deal |work=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheck Media |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/113054/sinclair-spins-off-23-tvs-to-grease-trib-deal |url-status=live |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425121326/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/113054/sinclair-spins-off-23-tvs-to-grease-trib-deal |archive-date=April 25, 2018}}</ref> Lead FCC commissioner [[Ajit Pai]] publicly rejected the deal in July 2018 after details of Sinclair's proposed divestitures came to light;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feder |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Feder |date=July 16, 2018 |title=FCC throws Sinclair/Tribune deal in doubt |work=RobertFeder.com |url=https://www.robertfeder.com/2018/07/16/fcc-throws-sinclairtribune-deal-doubt/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717012938/https://www.robertfeder.com/2018/07/16/fcc-throws-sinclairtribune-deal-doubt/ |archive-date=July 17, 2018}}</ref> weeks later, Tribune terminated the merger agreement with Sinclair, nullifying both transactions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lafayette |first=Jon |date=August 9, 2018 |title=Tribune Ends Deal with Sinclair, Files Breach of Contract Suit |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/tribune-ends-deal-with-sinclair-files-breach-of-contract-suit |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809182004/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/tribune-ends-deal-with-sinclair-files-breach-of-contract-suit |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |access-date=August 9, 2018 |publisher=NewBay Media |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable}}</ref>

Tribune Media agreed to be acquired by [[Nexstar Media Group]] for $6.9 billion in cash and debt on December 3, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lafayette |first=Jon |date=December 3, 2018 |title=Nexstar Announces Deal to Buy Tribune for $6.4B |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/nexstar-announces-deal-to-buy-tribune-for-6-4b |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405084338/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/nexstar-announces-deal-to-buy-tribune-for-6-4b |archive-date=April 5, 2019 |access-date=December 6, 2018 |publisher=NewBay Media |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable}}</ref> Following the merger's completion on September 19, 2019,<ref name="b&c-nexstartribunecomplete">{{Cite news |last=Lafayette |first=Jon |date=September 19, 2019 |title=Nexstar Completes Acquisition of Tribune Station Group |language=en-us |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/nexstar-completes-acquisition-of-tribune-station-group |url-status=live |access-date=November 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921152439/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/nexstar-completes-acquisition-of-tribune-station-group |archive-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref> Fox Television Stations purchased KCPQ and KZJO as part of a $350&nbsp;million deal, with Fox citing KCPQ's status as the broadcaster of most Seahawks home games as the impetus for the transaction.<ref name="b&c-salebacktofox">{{Cite news |last=Lafayette |first=Jon |date=November 5, 2019 |title=Fox Buys Affiliates in Seattle, Milwaukee From Nexstar |language=en-us |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/fox-buys-affiliates-in-seattle-milwaukee-from-nexstar |url-status=live |access-date=November 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105235345/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/fox-buys-affiliates-in-seattle-milwaukee-from-nexstar |archive-date=November 5, 2019}}</ref><ref name="thr-salebacktofox">{{Cite news |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=November 5, 2019 |title=Fox to Buy Three Local TV Stations for $350 Million |language=en |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-buy-three-local-tv-stations-350-million-1252596 |url-status=live |access-date=November 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105235344/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-buy-three-local-tv-stations-350-million-1252596 |archive-date=November 5, 2019}}</ref> The sale was completed on March 2, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2020 |title=Fox Corporation completes acquisition of Q13 FOX and JOEtv |url=https://q13fox.com/2020/03/02/fox-corporation-completes-acquisition-of-q13-fox-and-joetv/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302220520/https://q13fox.com/2020/03/02/fox-corporation-completes-acquisition-of-q13-fox-and-joetv/ |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |access-date=March 2, 2020 |website=Q13Fox.com |publisher=Fox Television Stations |language=en}}</ref> After its acquisition by Fox, KCPQ dropped the Q13 moniker and rebranded to "Fox 13" on September 26, 2021, conforming with the branding of other Fox-owned stations.<ref name="Fox 13 rebrand - B&C">{{cite news |last1=Lafayette |first1=Jon |title=Fox-Owned Stations in Seattle Rebrand as Fox13 and Fox13 Plus |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-owned-stations-in-seattle-rebrand-as-fox13-and-fox13-plus |access-date=September 30, 2021 |work=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=Future US |date=September 29, 2021 |archive-date=September 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929224305/https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-owned-stations-in-seattle-rebrand-as-fox13-and-fox13-plus |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Local programming==
===Newscasts===
[[File:KCPQ studios on Westlake Avenue, Oct 2021.jpg|thumb|right|The KCPQ and KZJO studios in Seattle|alt=A three-story building with KCPQ and KZJO logos on a sign outside]]

The first local news service on channel 13 operated when the station was KMO-TV in 1953;<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1953 |title=Studio Design Is Unique Example Of New Trend |page=36 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295417/studio-design-is-unique-example-of-new/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203825/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84295417/studio-design-is-unique-example-of-new/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the next time channel 13 attempted a regular local newscast was in 1981, when the station aired regular news updates, expanding briefly by running a half-hour 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast by the mid-1980s. This news operation could not compete with the more established 10&nbsp;p.m. news on then-independent KSTW and was axed in June 1986 as part of economic cutbacks by the station.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Helen |date=June 2, 1986 |title=Channel 13 news staff gutted: 'News at 10' staff part of 18-person economic layoff |page=C-10 |work=Tacoma News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84309598/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203829/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84309598/channel-13-news-staff-gutted-news-at/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1991, KIRO-TV pitched KCPQ management on the idea of producing a 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast for the station; channel 13 "wasn't ready" for the venture, per KIRO-TV news director [[John Lippman]], and KTZZ aired it instead, lasting until 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engstrom |first=John |date=August 18, 1991 |title=News team will see double duty in KIRO/KTZZ deal |page=C6 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Engstrom |first=John |date=September 3, 1993 |title=KIRO names Raible to top anchor job |page=What's Happening 31 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> By 1997—as the Fox network had added a national news service and more of its affiliated stations were adding newscasts, and after KCPQ had relocated to the larger Seattle studios—KCPQ began planning to start up a newscast of its own. As a potential stopgap, KCPQ considered airing a 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast from KIRO-TV, which at that time was preparing to switch back from UPN to CBS and was shopping the 10&nbsp;p.m. hour to other local stations.{{r|smell}} While KCPQ reached an initial agreement to air the KIRO newscast for three years,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=June 14, 1997 |title=KCPQ May Air KIRO News |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970624/2546281/kcpq-may-air-kiro-newscast |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=October 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003094445/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970624&slug=2546281 |url-status=live }}</ref> minutes from signing the contract, an impasse was reached over a "deep philosophical issue":<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=June 25, 1997 |title=Issues Snag KIRO, KCPQ News Pact |work=Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970625/2546334/issues-snag-kiro-kcpq-news-pact |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=October 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003094456/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970625&slug=2546334 |url-status=live }}</ref> the length of the contract, because KCPQ wanted a term of no more than 18 months before it would start up its own newscast.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chuck |date=June 28, 1997 |title=KIRO-TV can't get outlet for 10&nbsp;p.m. news |page=F7 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

After no agreement could be reached with KIRO, Kelly decided to re-launch the station's news division (and newscast) independently and hired Todd Mokhtari, producer of KCRA-TV's morning and evening newscasts, to be the news director for a new 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 18, 1997 |title=KCPQ news head |page=E2 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> ''Q13 Reports'' began airing on January 18, 1998, initially running as a half-hour from Sunday to Thursday nights; the broadcast debuted without its lead anchor, Leslie Miller, a Canadian who was still awaiting a work permit<ref name="button">{{Cite news |last=Levesque |first=John |date=December 22, 1997 |title=KCPQ hesitates on pushing button to launch station's new news show |page=D3 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref><ref name="launches">{{Cite news |last=Levesque |first=John |date=January 19, 1998 |title=KCPQ launches its 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast, without lead anchor |page=E8 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> and wound up not debuting until April.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levesque |first=John |date=April 7, 1998 |title=There's relief all around as wait ends for new Q13 anchor |page=E6 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> The station benefited from the decision of [[Paramount Stations Group]] to drop KSTW's competing newscast after 21 years on air in December 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |date=December 2, 1998 |title=KSTW-TV's evening news team gets the ax |page=D1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

By early 1999, the station was beginning to contemplate an expansion into morning news.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |date=April 12, 1999 |title=KCPQ could be joining the morning news battle |page=E1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> In January 2000, the morning show debuted, with [[Christine Chen]]—a former KSTW anchor who worked at KCPQ on a freelance basis for nearly a year—selected as its first anchor.<ref name="chen">{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |date=November 16, 1999 |title=Christine Chen to co-host KCPQ-TV's morning show |page=E4 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McFarland |first=Melanie |date=January 18, 2000 |title=Hip and lively, KCPQ's new morning show is local and perky |work=Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000118/4000127/hip-and-lively-kcpqs-new-morning-show-is-local-and-perky |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=October 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003094503/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000118&slug=4000127 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After adding a 9&nbsp;p.m. newscast on KMYQ (now KZJO) in 2008,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malone, Michael |date=March 19, 2008 |title=KMYQ Seattle Adds 9&nbsp;p.m. News |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6542492.html?industryid=47169 |access-date=December 14, 2008 |website=Broadcasting & Cable |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203828/https://www.nexttv.com/?industryid=47169 |url-status=live }}</ref> KCPQ expanded into early evening news in the 2010s with 4 and 5&nbsp;p.m. programs added. A half-hour 11&nbsp;p.m. newscast followed in 2014 when the revival of ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]'' was canceled.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 26, 2014 |title=KCPQ Seattle To Add 11&nbsp;p.m. Newscast |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/kcpq-seattle-to-add-11-p-m-newscast/ |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203828/https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/kcpq-seattle-to-add-11-p-m-newscast/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=April 27, 2015 |title=Market Eye: Seattle Still Working Off Its Super Hangover |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-seattle-still-working-its-super-hangover-140266 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122151051/https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-seattle-still-working-its-super-hangover-140266 |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2021, KCPQ was producing 54 hours of locally produced newscasts weekly, with 11 hours each weekday.<ref name="Fox 13 rebrand - B&C" /> This was further expanded by the addition of a 6&nbsp;p.m. news hour in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Mark |date=January 18, 2022 |title=Fox's KCPQ-KZJO Seattle Launch 6&nbsp;p.m. Weeknight News |language=en |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/more-news/journalism/article/foxs-kcpq-kzjo-seattle-launch-6-p-m-weeknight-news/ |access-date=January 18, 2022 |archive-date=January 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118180756/https://tvnewscheck.com/more-news/journalism/article/foxs-kcpq-kzjo-seattle-launch-6-p-m-weeknight-news/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2022, KCPQ relaunched its morning show as ''Good Day Seattle'', adopting the ''Good Day'' title used by other Fox-owned stations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Mark |date=April 19, 2022 |title=KCPQ Seattle Rebrands Morning Newscast As 'Good Day Seattle' |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kzjo-seattle-rebrands-morning-newscast-as-good-day-seattle/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |website=TVNewsCheck |language=en |archive-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821194246/https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kzjo-seattle-rebrands-morning-newscast-as-good-day-seattle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In June 2025, KCPQ rebranded its newscasts, with the 4, 5, and 10&nbsp;p.m. newscasts becoming ''Seattle News Tonight'' and the 6&nbsp;p.m. news hour split between ''Washington News Wrap'' (focused on state headlines) and ''Washington Sports Wrap''. The ''Seattle News Tonight'' branding also encompasses the 8 and 9&nbsp;p.m. newscasts on KZJO. It was also announced that ''Good Day Seattle'' would add a 10&nbsp;a.m. hour later in the year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 5, 2025 |title=Fox Seattle Expands News Lineup and Adds Streaming Content |url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/fox-seattle-expands-news-lineup-and-adds-streaming-content/ |access-date=June 17, 2025 |language=en-US |work=TVSpy |first=Kevin|last=Eck}}</ref>

===Non-news programming===
The station produces a local program on law enforcement and crime news, ''The Spotlight with David Rose'', which airs every Friday at 11:00&nbsp;p.m. The program began production in 2008 as ''Washington's Most Wanted'', a local version of ''[[America's Most Wanted]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 14, 2009 |title=Local TV show helping cops collar suspects |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.q13fox.com/shows/the-spotlight-with-david-rose|title=The Spotlight with David Rose|website=Fox 13 Seattle|access-date=August 7, 2022|archive-date=June 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608163517/https://www.q13fox.com/shows/the-spotlight-with-david-rose|url-status=live}}</ref>

KCPQ has two regular sports programs: the Sunday night ''Seattle Sports Live'' and the weeknight ''Washington Sports Wrap'', the latter of which debuted in 2024.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/seattle-fox-station-to-launch-daily-sports-show/|work=TVSpy|date=July 18, 2024|title=Seattle Fox Station to Launch Daily Sports Show|first=Kevin|last=Eck}}</ref>

KCPQ became the local broadcast partner of the Seattle Seahawks in [[2012 Seattle Seahawks season|2012]], airing preseason games and team features; KING-TV, which lost the partnership to KCPQ, regained it in [[2022 Seattle Seahawks season|2022]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Paul |date=November 5, 2019 |title=Fox Corp. acquires two Seattle TV stations in its pursuit of sports content |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/fox-corp-acquires-two-seattle-tv-stations-in-its-pursuit-of-sports-content/ |url-access=subscription |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214174958/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/fox-corp-acquires-two-seattle-tv-stations-in-its-pursuit-of-sports-content/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Seattle Seahawks And KING 5 Announce New Multi-Year Partnership |website=Seattle Seahawks |url=https://www.seahawks.com/news/seattle-seahawks-and-king-5-announce-new-multi-year-partnership |access-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510212113/https://www.seahawks.com/news/seattle-seahawks-and-king-5-announce-new-multi-year-partnership |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, KCPQ and KZJO began broadcasting locally televised games of the [[Seattle Storm]] of the [[WNBA]]; initially starting with 15 home games on channel 22 in 2016,<ref>{{Cite web|website=Seattle Storm|url=https://storm.wnba.com/news/storm-announces-partnership-q13-foxjoetv-15-games-joetv/|title=Storm Announces Partnership with Q13 FOX/JOEtv, 15 Games on JOEtv|date=April 7, 2016|access-date=April 7, 2023|archive-date=April 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407170313/https://storm.wnba.com/news/storm-announces-partnership-q13-foxjoetv-15-games-joetv/|url-status=live}}</ref> KZJO was slated to carry 29 games in the 2023 season plus six more on KCPQ.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.q13fox.com/sports/seattle-storm-fox-13-continue-partnership-35-games-to-broadcast-locally-on-fox-13-or-fox-13|date=March 14, 2023|website=KCPQ|title=Seattle Storm, FOX 13 continue partnership; 35 games to broadcast locally on FOX 13 or FOX 13+|access-date=April 7, 2023|archive-date=April 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407170311/https://www.q13fox.com/sports/seattle-storm-fox-13-continue-partnership-35-games-to-broadcast-locally-on-fox-13-or-fox-13|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[2022–23 Seattle Kraken season|2023]], KCPQ and KZJO entered into a content partnership with the [[Seattle Kraken]] hockey team which included a weekly show on the team, titled ''What's Kraken?''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=January 23, 2023 |title=KCPQ Seattle, Seattle Kraken Work Out Partnership |language=en |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/kcpq-seattle-seattle-kraken-work-out-partnership |access-date=January 23, 2023 |archive-date=January 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123192428/https://www.nexttv.com/news/kcpq-seattle-seattle-kraken-work-out-partnership |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beginning in [[2014 Seattle Sounders FC season|2014]], KCPQ and KZJO became the broadcast home for locally televised [[Seattle Sounders FC]] matches;<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 10, 2013 |title=Sounders FC to Partner with Q13 FOX and JOEtv for 2014 MLS Season |url=https://www.soundersfc.com/news/sounders-fc-partner-q13-fox-and-joetv-2014-mls-season |website=Seattle Sounders FC |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203829/https://www.soundersfc.com/news/sounders-fc-partner-q13-fox-and-joetv-2014-mls-season |url-status=live }}</ref> while all the matches were carried on KZJO, KCPQ aired two specials on the team each year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 14, 2021 |title=Sounders FC announces complete regional broadcast lineup for 2021 |url=https://www.soundersfc.com/news/sounders-fc-announces-complete-regional-broadcast-lineup-2021 |website=Seattle Sounders FC |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=July 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718184640/https://www.soundersfc.com/news/sounders-fc-announces-complete-regional-broadcast-lineup-2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> All [[Major League Soccer]] local television rights agreements ended after 2022 to make way for MLS's 10-year deal with [[Apple Inc.|Apple]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3490012/2022/06/14/mls-agrees-to-10-year-broadcast-deal-with-apple-worth-2-5-billion-sources/|work=[[The Athletic]]|first=Sam|last=Stejskal|title=MLS agrees to 10-year broadcast deal with Apple worth $2.5 billion: Sources|quote=Apple TV matches will not be shown on local television networks...|date=June 14, 2022|url-access=subscription|access-date=July 26, 2022|archive-date=July 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718022734/https://theathletic.com/news/mls-tv-deal-espn-apple-univision/cbC0ubEBpHsb/|url-status=live}}</ref> but the Sounders entered into a new deal for team-related programming in 2025. The Sounders's sister women's club, [[Seattle Reign FC]], was included in the agreement, with 11 Reign matches to be televised on KCPQ in 2025.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Seattle Reign FC and Seattle Sounders FC Announce Historic Regional Media Partnership with FOX 13 Seattle |url=https://www.reignfc.com/news/seattle-reign-fc-and-seattle-sounders-fc-announce-historic-regional-media-partnership-with-fox-13-seattle |access-date=May 1, 2025 |publisher=Seattle Reign FC |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Notable former on-air staff===
*[[Peter Alexander (journalist)|Peter Alexander]] — reporter and anchor<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sitt |first=Pamela |date=May 28, 2004 |title=Alexander leaves Q13 for NBC |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20040528&slug=peter28 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203828/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20040528&slug=peter28 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Christine Chen]] — anchor{{r|chen}}
*[[Ron Corning]] — anchor{{r|button}}
*[[Stanley Kramer]] — movie host (1980s)<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 9, 1985 |title=Can you pick the Oscar winners? |page=D3 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |quote=Channel 13 and its own Oscar-winning host, producer-director Stanley Kramer...}}</ref>
*[[Don Poier]] — sports play-by-play (1980s)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Jim |date=January 24, 2005 |title=Don Poier, 1951–2005: Voice of Grizzlies honed his skills in NW |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Don-Poier-1951-2005-Voice-of-Grizzlies-honed-1164905.php |access-date=September 26, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927211057/http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Don-Poier-1951-2005-Voice-of-Grizzlies-honed-1164905.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
KCPQ's main transmitter is on [[Gold Mountain (Washington)|Gold Mountain]] in [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]].{{r|FCC-LMS-33894}} The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of KCPQ<ref name="re">{{Cite web |title=RabbitEars TV Query for KCPQ |url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KCPQ#station |url-status=live |website=[[RabbitEars]] |access-date=February 2, 2022 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225182756/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KCPQ#station }}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope="col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope="col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope="col" | Short name
! scope="col" | Programming
|-
! scope="row" | 13.1
| [[720p]] || rowspan=5| [[16:9]] || FOX13 || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
|-
! scope="row" | 13.2
| rowspan=4| [[480i]] || GRIT || [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
! scope="row" | 13.3
| Mystery || [[Ion Mystery]]
|-
! scope="row" | 13.4
| BUZZR || [[Buzzr]]
|-
! scope="row" | 13.5
| Weather || [[Fox Weather]]
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6; border-top: 2px solid #003399;"
! scope="row" | [[KONG (TV)|16.3]]
| rowspan=1|480i || rowspan=1|16:9 || Confess || Confess ([[KONG (TV)|KONG]])
|}
{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}

KCPQ carries a subchannel belonging to [[KONG (TV)|KONG]], one of Seattle's two [[ATSC 3.0]] television stations. In exchange, KCPQ is carried in ATSC 3.0 on the KONG multiplex.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Balderston |first=Michael |date=December 16, 2020 |title=Seattle Stations Begin Broadcasting NextGen TV |language=en |work=TVTechnology |url=https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/seattle-stations-begin-broadcasting-nextgen-tv |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506060752/https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/seattle-stations-begin-broadcasting-nextgen-tv |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Capitol Hill from Columbia Center (3794608670).jpg|right|alt=Three radio towers in the middle of midrise apartment buildings.|thumb|The rightmost of the three towers along [[Madison Street (Seattle)|East Madison Street]], in Seattle's [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood, broadcasts [[KZJO]] and KCPQ's digital replacement translator.]]
KCPQ's main channel is also simulcast on KZJO's transmitter as channel 22.2, which together with the digital replacement translator at that site makes the signal more accessible to viewers using UHF-only antennas and to viewers who receive a stronger signal from its transmitter in the [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] area.<ref name="re22">{{Cite web |title=RabbitEars TV Query for KZJO |url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KZJO#station |url-status=live |website=[[RabbitEars]] |access-date=August 29, 2021 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227091650/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KZJO#station }}</ref>

===Translators===
KCPQ is rebroadcast on three translators outside of the Seattle metropolitan area as well as a digital replacement translator co-sited with KZJO in Seattle:{{r|re}}

* [[Aberdeen, Washington|Aberdeen]]: {{FCC-LMS-Facility|33898|3=K25CG-D}}
* [[Centralia, Washington|Centralia]], [[Chehalis, Washington|Chehalis]]: {{FCC-LMS-Facility|33895|3=K17NX-D}}
* [[Seattle]]: {{FCC-LMS-Facility|33894|3=KCPQ (DRT)}} (RF 22)
* [[Wenatchee]]: {{FCC-LMS-Facility|71523|3=K14BF-D}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.fox13seattle.com/}}

{{Seattle TV}}
{{Fox Washington}}
{{Fox (company)}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kcpq}}
[[Category:1953 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Buzzr affiliates]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Fox Television Stations]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Mass media in Tacoma, Washington]]
[[Category:NFL primary television stations]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953]]
[[Category:Television stations in Seattle|CPQ]]