Happy 65th Birthday To Cheyenne’s First TV Station, Channel Five

March 22, 1954, the first television station in the state of Wyoming signed on. 65 years and eight owners later, Channel 5 is still broadcasting from Cheyenne.

Originally owned by Wyoming-Tribune Eagle publisher Tracy McCraken, KFBC-TV was the only commercial television station in the area for several decades, broadcasting a mix of programming from the three major networks. After an FCC rule barred media companies from owning a newspaper and television station in the same market, the McCraken family was forced to sell the station in 1972. New owners Wyneco Communications changed the call letters to KYCU and became an ABC network affiliate.

In 1983, the station was sold to Burke Broadcasting and the network affiliation switched to CBS. Three years later, KYCU was acquired by Stauffer Communications, who adopted the current call letters KGWN (Greater Wyoming Network) on January 1, 1987.

KWGN is now owned by Gray Television and continues to be the only station with a Cheyenne-based news department and has been a CBS affiliate since 2008.