KASW

KASW (channel 61), branded as The Spot – Arizona 61, is an independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside ABC affiliate KNXV-TV (channel 15). The two stations share studios on North 44th Street on the city's east side; KASW's primary transmitter is located on South Mountain. KASW is the high-power ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) station for the Phoenix area and provides the ATSC 3.0 broadcasts of six major Phoenix commercial stations.

KASW went on the air in 1995 as the Phoenix affiliate of The WB. Its first owner contracted with KTVK (channel 3) for programming and support services, and KTVK bought the station in 1999. In addition to being an affiliate of The WB and later The CW, the station also broadcast several secondary local sports teams at various times. As a result of KTVK's sale to the Meredith Corporation, KASW was sold to Nexstar Media Group in 2014. In 2019, Scripps acquired KASW from Nexstar as part of the latter's acquisition of Tribune Media.

In 2023, Scripps moved KASW's CW affiliation to a KNXV subchannel, and relaunched KASW as an independent station anchored by broadcasts of Arizona Coyotes NHL hockey. With the team's franchise being deactivated after the 2023–24 season, the Coyotes were replaced with broadcasts of the Utah Mammoth (which acquired the Coyotes' hockey operations) and the Vegas Golden Knights syndicated from Scripps sister stations.

Prior to KASW's sign-on, the UHF channel 61 frequency in the Phoenix market was originally occupied by low-power station K61CA; that station carried a locally programmed music video format known as "Music Channel" and operated from March 15, 1983, until November 12, 1984, closing due to mounting debts and lack of cash to continue operating.

The construction permit for K61CA remained active for several more years; by 1988, it was owned by Channel 61 Development Corporation and was planned as a satellite-fed relay of KSTS, a Telemundo affiliate in San Jose, California.

In November 1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated channel 61 for full-power use in Phoenix. KUSK-TV applied alongside four other groups; the field was narrowed to three, and Brooks Broadcasting, owned by Chandler farmer Gregory R. Brooks, was granted the permit in February 1991 by the FCC review board.

Little activity occurred on the permit, with the call sign KAIK; Brooks considered running home shopping on the station, and he was approached by KPHO-TV about potentially splitting rights to a new major league baseball team with the station.

In December 1994, Brooks entered into a local marketing agreement with Media America Corporation, then owners of KTVK (channel 3). KTVK, in the concluding phase of losing its ABC affiliation, had acquired a large inventory of children's programs, including Fox Kids, and the WB affiliation that did not fit with its planned programming as an independent. Brooks, who was wanting to run a station catering to Phoenix's youth audience but had not been able to get the station going, was surprised when KTVK approached him; Delbert Lewis, the owner, owned a farm adjacent to one of Brooks's properties in Florence but had never met him.