KZJO - History

History

The station began broadcasting as KTZZ on June 22, 1985. The call letters stood for Television 22, the Zs closely resembling numeral 2s. At that time there was a hole in the market for cartoons and sitcoms. While KSTW (channel 11) was running such programming, KCPQ counter-programmed with more adult fare like dramas, game shows, and movies. As such, KTZZ signed on with a lineup of classic off-network sitcoms, westerns, cartoons, movies, and dramas. Initially the station was profitable under the ownership of Alden Television, Inc., Los Angeles, CA. Originally, to keep people from changing channels, the station broadcast only its station ID—no commercials—between the closing credits of one show and the opening credits of the next show. One Christmas season as snow fell in the Puget Sound area viewers were treated to a gag in which someone pretending to be a janitor takes control of the station for a few moments to deliver "the news" which was mostly a fake weather forecast which began "The weather outside is frightful. But inside it's quite delightful. As long as I've got no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

KTZZ began with a very promising start with fairly strong syndicated shows. A couple years later (1989), the station was sold to Dudley Broadcasting. By 1988, KCPQ and KSTW had strong lineups, including much of the children's programming available. KTZZ was losing ground and unable to acquire strong off network syndicated shows. With KCPQ now in the kids business, the best cartoons were now airing on KSTW and KCPQ, leaving KTZZ with leftovers (which still was about 5 hours worth of cartoons a day). KTZZ was also the home, for several years, of the eclectic Seattle talk show The Spud Goodman Show. Producing the weekly interview/music/feature show was an ambitious undertaking for a small station, and the program relied heavily on a large staff of volunteers. The programming costs became too high for KTZZ. As a result, KTZZ began airing CBS shows pre-empted by KIRO-TV (channel 7), along with paid programming and brokered shows. It still ran some conventional syndicated product, but they were essentially programs that no other stations wanted.

Originally, KTZZ agreed to affiliate with the new United Paramount Network in 1994. However, the UPN affiliation went to KIRO when that station lost its CBS affiliation to KSTW (which was eventually sold to Paramount Pictures), and KTZZ agreed to affiliate with The WB instead. KTZZ picked up syndicated cartoons formerly on KSTW, such as Disney Afternoon's Goof Troop and Bonkers in 1995, added more off-network sitcoms and moved away from the brokered format. As it began airing programming from The WB, KTZZ was helped in part by the fact that KCPQ was moving towards news and more first-run syndicated talk, courtroom, and drama shows.

KTZZ was purchased by Tribune Broadcasting (along with sister station WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan) from Emmis Communications in 1998, and changed its call letters to KTWB-TV (The Warner Brothers Network) the next year. After Tribune acquired KCPQ in early 1999, KTWB's license was transferred back to Emmis in the short-term until the FCC's approval of television duopolies later that year, though Tribune managed and operated the station during this period via a local marketing agreement. In 2004, KTWB revised its on-air brand from WB 22 to Seattle's WB as part of a groupwide branding effort.