Except for local cable viewers, who received
KCTS-TV from
Seattle, the Tri-Cities area was unserved by educational television, though plans first emerged for a translator service in 1962. To fill the gap, in March 1966, WSU applied for a translator of KWSC-TV, its educational station in Pullman, to broadcast to the Tri-Cities area on channel 71. The next year, the university received a $48,000 grant to expand its service with five new translators, notably including one in
Spokane and the Tri-Cities rebroadcaster. The translator was intended into go into service on November 30, 1968, rebroadcasting programs for the Tri-Cities on channel 76 and feeding repeaters at
Ephrata and
Walla Walla. However, it was found that the original plan of feeding the Jump Off Joe Butte rebroadcaster directly from another atop
Steptoe Butte, away, was insufficient; though some people apparently were seeing programming, another relay at
Lind was built to finally allow broadcast of KWSU-TV through the previously completed network in 1970. In 1982, WSU began providing public radio service to the area through KFAE-FM, now part of the
Northwest Public Radio regional network. In 1984, citing the comparatively low-power installation and resultant poor signal of the translator, WSU applied to build a full-service, high-power public TV station for the Tri-Cities area which would rebroadcast KWSU-TV by direct microwave link and also have studio facilities for the production of programs of local interest; station officials noted that the area had three commercial stations but no public TV of its own. The construction permit for KTNW was granted in January 1986, though the university dropped full studio plans in favor of relocating its mobile production unit from Pullman to Richland. The university provided $150,000, with local backers starting a campaign to raise another $200,000 to fund construction costs; WSU was twice unsuccessful in obtaining federal funding grants. KWSU hoped that the new market would also assist the Pullman station by providing a major increase in viewership; at the time, it could not afford to air some PBS programs or produce many local shows. Business offices were established in
Kennewick. After major grants totaling $75,000 from
Battelle Northwest and Kaiser Engineers Hanford helped push the campaign to its goal, construction began that summer. Another was added to the mast on Jump Off Joe Butte used for the translator station, After nearly two decades of translator operation, KTNW went on the air on October 18, 1987. The station was run rather lean in its early years; in addition to the lack of studios beyond the mobile unit with its three cameras and video tape editing equipment, there was no full-time employee dedicated to KTNW for two years. Permanent studios became a reality in 1991 when a $12.7 million addition to the campus of WSU Tri-Cities, established the year before, included studios for radio and television. KTNW has been digital-only since February 17, 2009. In 2018, the station was repacked from digital channel 38 to channel 22; the resultant technical work also improved coverage to Walla Walla and
Hermiston, Oregon, which had not been in the previous coverage area. ==Local programming==