KWCH 12 Eyewitness News history

In August 1954, channel 12 opened a satellite studio in Wichita's Lassen Hotel.

In 1955, Wichita-Hutchinson Company sold 80 percent of KTVH to the Des Moines-based Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company (owned by the Cowles family), for $1.07 million.

Cowles expanded channel 12's Wichita presence in 1956 by purchasing the former studios of KEDD, the first station to be built in that city, which had just closed.

Further, KAYS-TV joined CBS on November 1, 1962.

In 1963, the station activated a new transmitter located northwest of Burrton and east of Hutchinson, operating from the tallest broadcast tower in the state at 1,504 ft (458 m).

Cowles announced the sale of KTVH to the WKY Television System of Oklahoma City for $4.4 million in December 1968.

However, much to both parties' surprise, the FCC voted 4–2 to designate the transaction for hearing in August 1969.

In 1976, the FCC granted permission for KTVH to shift its main studio from Hutchinson to Wichita as long as it retained current staffing and service levels at its Hutchinson site.

In 1978, KTVH originated 45 percent of its local programming from Hutchinson and 55 percent from Wichita.

However, the company had suffered through an 89 percent decline in earnings in 1981, sparking rumors of a sale.

By 1982, Cowles Media—as the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company was renamed that year to reflect its media diversification—owned two television properties: KTVH and WDRB, an independent station in Louisville, Kentucky.

The sale took effect in January 1983.

Under Beach and Schmidt, the rebadged KWCH turned around its local news ratings and had become a serious and successful challenger to KAKE, the metro-area leader, by 1986.

In addition, Beach and Schmidt had acquired KTVC, the last television station in western Kansas not owned by a Wichita-area station, in 1988.

Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, South Carolina, purchased KBS from DiPasquale in 1994 for $58 million.

In July 2007, KSCW became a sister station to KWCH after Schurz bought the station through a failing station waiver.

Schurz announced on September 14, 2015, that it would exit from broadcasting and sell its entire broadcasting division, including KWCH (and its satellites), KSCW-DT, and the JSA with KDCU-DT, to Gray Television for approximately $442.5 million.

Gray already owned KAKE, which it divested Lockwood Broadcast Group in order to retain the higher-rated KWCH. The FCC approved the sale on February 12, 2016, and the sale was completed on February 16.

Scanning Event - April 24, 2020, 10.30 AM-12.30 PM, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (2351 N Market St)

Public Presentation - September 17, 2021, 11 AM, LatinFest ICT, Wichita City Arts (334 N Mead)