KCTV Digital Media

What KCTV Digital Media does

KCTV Digital Media operates KCTV5, a CBS-affiliated local broadcast television station serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Fairway, KS and surrounding counties (Johnson, Jackson, Miami, Cass, Leavenworth, Clay, and Platte). Established in 1953 and headquartered at 4500 Shawnee Mission Parkway in Fairway, KS, the station delivers local news, weather (under the First Warn 5 Weather brand with a 3 Degree Guarantee accuracy commitment), sports coverage of Kansas City teams (Chiefs, Royals, Sporting KC, KC Current, Jayhawks, Wildcats, Tigers), and community programming.

The company's product portfolio is built on a multi-platform content distribution architecture. Core technology is broadcast television with digital streaming capabilities, supplemented by a suite of mobile applications (KCTV5 News App and First Warn 5 Weather App on iOS and Android) and connected TV applications for AppleTV, FireTV, and Roku. The station also operates NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) broadcast capability, enabling enhanced data services. Content is produced at the Fairway facility by a newsroom staff of 51-100 employees, including named journalists and meteorologists, and supported by KCTV5 Investigates editorial team. KCTV5 maintains a companion station, KSMO-TV, as a wholly-owned subsidiary in the same market.

KCTV5 is owned and operated by Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE: GTN) through its Gray Local Media subsidiary, with Gray Television providing advertising network access, corporate resources, and operational infrastructure. Revenue is generated primarily through advertising — including local television commercials, digital display advertising, and sponsored content segments (e.g., 'Your House Your Home', 'Aging & Style', 'KCTV5 Cares') — sold to both local Kansas City advertisers and national brand advertisers via Gray's network. Specific advertising rates and station-level financials are not publicly disclosed.

Name

KCTV Digital Media

Legal name

Gray Local Media, Inc.

Website

https://kctv5.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

KCTV5 is a CBS-affiliated local television station serving the Kansas City metropolitan area with news, weather, and sports content distributed across broadcast, mobile, and connected TV platforms, owned and operated by Gray Television, Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Broadcast Television

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Network-Affiliated Local TV Stations (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW/Telemundo/Univision, etc.) (MPABACAE)

Keywords

• Local news broadcasting
• Weather forecasting apps
• Connected tv streaming
• Mobile news applications
• Television broadcast media

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising: Primary revenue stream from local and national advertising, including television commercials, digital display ads, and sponsored content. The station serves both local Kansas City advertisers and national brand advertisers through Gray Television's advertising network.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

KCTV Digital Media operates KCTV5, a CBS-affiliated local broadcast television station serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station produces and distributes local news, weather, sports, and community programming via over-the-air broadcast, a website (kctv5.com), mobile news and weather applications, and connected TV apps on AppleTV, FireTV, and Roku.

Product overview

KCTV Digital Media operates KCTV5, a local broadcast television station serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The company's product portfolio consists of its broadcast television operations supplemented by a suite of digital streaming and mobile applications. The core offerings include the KCTV5 News App for iOS and Android devices, the First Warn 5 Weather App for weather forecasting and alerts, and three connected TV applications for AppleTV, FireTV, and Roku platforms. These products deliver local news content, weather updates, sports coverage, and live streaming video to viewers across multiple device platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• First Warn 5 Weather: The station's weather brand featuring meteorologists and severe weather coverage
• KCTV5 News App
• First Warn 5 Weather App

Products and services

• KCTV5 News App
• First Warn 5 Weather App
• KCTV5 News AppleTV App
• KCTV5 News FireTV App
• KCTV5 News Roku App
• KCTV5 Broadcast Television Service Over-the-air CBS-affiliated broadcast television signal delivering local news, weather, sports, investigative journalism, and community programming to Kansas City metro area households, also carried on cable and satellite (DirecTV, Dish Network).

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gray Television / Gray Local MediacoreOthersKCTV5 is owned and operated by Gray Television through its Gray Local Media subsidiary. Gray Television is one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the United States, providing operational support, advertising networks, and corporate resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Graham Media Group: Mid-sized US local TV station operator with stations in major markets. Comparable operating model and digital expansion strategy to KCTV5/Gray Television stations.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: One of the largest US TV broadcast operators, controlling numerous local affiliates. A broader incumbent competitor to Gray Television's portfolio strategy, with shared content distribution and local sports coverage models.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest US TV station operator and a direct competitor to Gray Television at the portfolio level. Owns local affiliates across major DMAs and competes for the same national advertising budgets.
• Tegna: Major US local TV broadcaster with stations across mid-to-large DMAs. Comparable in business model (network-affiliated local stations monetized through advertising) and competes for national ad dollars alongside KCTV5.

Direct peers

• WDAF-TV (Fox 4 Kansas City): Fox-affiliated local TV station serving the same Kansas City DMA. Direct head-to-head competitor for local news, weather, sports (Chiefs), and advertising dollars in the same geographic market.
• KMBC-TV (Channel 9 News): ABC-affiliated local TV station in Kansas City. Competes directly with KCTV5 for the same KC metro audience, advertisers, and CBS/NBC primetime viewership share.
• KSHB-TV (41 Action News): NBC-affiliated local TV station serving Kansas City. Direct competitor on local news, weather coverage, and sports rights (notably Chiefs content shared with KCTV5).
• KSMO-TV: A companion station already owned by KCTV5's parent in the same Kansas City market. Operates as a sister station with overlapping coverage and shared parent-company resources.

Emerging players

• Weather Channel (The Weather Company): National digital weather platform that competes with KCTV5's First Warn 5 Weather brand for severe weather alerts, daily forecasts, and hyperlocal radar — particularly among KC-area mobile users.

Others

• Local News Live (Gray Television): Gray Television's own national streaming news network that aggregates local news from Gray stations including KCTV5. Functions as an extension/amplifier of KCTV5's content reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kctv5
• YouTubeyoutube.com/kctv5
• Facebookfacebook.com/KCTV5
• Instagraminstagram.com/kctv5
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kctv-ksmo-meredith-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KCTV Digital Media