Outlet profile

KAKE

U.S. local TV news, mainstream/center (no strong ideological slant)

Owned byLockwood Broadcast Group, a privately held U.S. broadcaster. It bought KAKE from Gray Television in a deal that took effect in early 2016. Lockwood's stations include KLBY and KUPK in western Kansas.

FundingMainly local and national TV advertising. It also earns retransmission-consent fees from cable and satellite providers and fees tied to its ABC network affiliation. It takes no public subscriptions or state funding.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

KAKE-TV signed on October 19, 1954, on VHF channel 10. It was started by KAKE Broadcasting Company, which also owned an AM radio station. At first it was mainly an NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. After KARD (channel 3) took NBC full-time in 1956, KAKE stayed with ABC. In 1979 it was sold to Chronicle Publishing Company, the San Francisco publisher that also owned KRON-TV and WOWT. In 1999 Chronicle liquidated, and KAKE went to LIN TV, which quickly traded it to Benedek Broadcasting. Benedek went bankrupt in 2002, and Gray Television bought KAKE. In late 2015 Gray agreed to sell it to Lockwood Broadcast Group, which took over operations in early 2016. Lockwood named Mike Wright general manager in December 2025. The station's news is mostly local (weather, crime, government, human interest) and I found no major editorial controversies. Its perspective is that of a commercial, mainstream local station.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-18; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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