History
The station signed-on July 28, 1985 with the calls KLJB-TV. It was the Quad Cities' first Independent outlet and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 18. It became a Fox affiliate in 1987 but reverted back to an Independent after a year following a dispute between General Manager Gary Brandt and the network. This occurred because Brandt was frustrated by the low ratings for Fox's Saturday night lineup and bumped it to overnight in favor of more profitable syndicated programming. However, following the success of The Simpsons, KLJB rejoined Fox in 1990.
On July 4, 1987, the station premiered Live on Tape (a late night comedy sketch show) which aired Saturday nights at 10 PM until 1990. It was produced at the station's studios in Davenport and was the area's only local entertainment show at that time, as well as the only original sketch comedy show produced in the Midwest.
Current owner Grant Broadcasting (overseen by Milton Grant) purchased KLJB on September 15, 1991. In 1996, the company obtained KJMH-TV (now KGCW) in Burlington, Iowa which then began to simulcast KLJB. That station had been a separate Fox affiliate serving the southern portion of the Quad Cities market but suffered interference and duplication from KLJB. In 2001, it broke-off becoming the area's first WB affiliate and adopted the call sign KGWB-TV.
KLJB began broadcasting its digital signal in high definition (network programming only) in January 2003. From September 14, 2004 until September 12, 2005, it aired the "Acri Creature Feature", which consisted of a personality from Acri Company hosting the show during a movie. It aired after MADtv from 11 PM until 1 AM. From September 18, 2005 to May 9, 2007, KLJB broadcasted "Zomboo's House of Horror Movies" where another personality hosted and commentated during a movie. It initially aired after MADtv, but starting in fall 2006, the show was shown after Talkshow with Spike Feresten.
Prior to KGCW's digital conversion, its Burlington-based analog signal only operated at an effective radiated power of 200 kilowatts at a height of only 96 meters. This resulted in a limited coverage area compared with most full-powered UHF channels in the United States. Later, it experienced interference from low-powered WBQD-LP in the Quad Cities which transmitted on the same UHF channel 26 frequency. Since 2001, the inadequacy has been made up by KGCW being available on cable systems in the area through a fiber optic link.
Today WQAD-TV based in Moline, Illinois has bought the news station, now KLJB broadcasts in Moline, Illinois in the WQAD-TV studios. KGCW's digital signal on UHF channel 41 covers most of the market except for the far northern parts. As a result, that station still benefits from having its signal simulcasted on KLJB-DT2. At noon on June 12, 2009, KLJB shut-off its analog signal on UHF channel 18 and continued digital broadcasts on its pre-transition channel (49) using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 18.1. Also after the digital transition, KLJB officially removed the "-TV" suffix from the now-defunct analog signal and the "-DT" suffix from its digital signal. It then began using KLJB as its legal call sign without any suffixes at the end.
On April 17, 2012, KLJB replaced the This TV simulcast on digital subchannel 18.3 with Me-TV. KGCW digital subchannel 26.3 will serve as Me-TV's primary affiliate for the Quad Cities market, while KLJB digital subchannel 18.3 will simulcast the network; This TV programming will continue to air on KGCW digital subchannel 26.2.
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