KSBW

KSBW is a television station licensed to Salinas, California, United States, serving the Monterey Bay area as an affiliate of NBC and ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, and its transmitter is located on Fremont Peak in the Gabilan Mountains. KSBW-TV began broadcasting on September 11, 1953. It was originally a shared-time operation with KMBY-TV, which operated from Monterey; the stations were outgrowths of radio stations KSBW and KMBY and shared programs from all four major television networks. KSBW bought out KMBY in 1955, becoming the sole station on channel 8. In 1957, its owners began operating KSBY in San Luis Obispo as a semi-satellite; the two stations remained commonly owned for more than three decades, and KSBW became the dominant local news outlet in the area. It retained this status despite a series of ownership transfers in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time Elisabeth Murdoch and her husband briefly owned KSBW and KSBY. Hearst acquired KSBW in 1998 as part of a trade with Sunrise Television Corporation. Under Hearst, KSBW was the first station in the area to broadcast a digital signal.