FOX 13 Seattle

U.S. center (local Fox affiliate)

Background

Channel 13 signed on August 2, 1953 as KMO-TV out of Tacoma, Washington, co-owned with KMO radio by Carl Haymond; early financial difficulties led to bankruptcy and successive ownership changes. The station cycled through several call signs and owners over the following decades before adopting the KCPQ call letters. In 1986, KCPQ became one of the first affiliates of the newly launched Fox Broadcasting Company. Tribune Company acquired the station in August 1998 as part of purchasing Kelly Broadcasting's television assets, and under Tribune it was paired with sister station KTWB-TV (later KZJO) as a Seattle-Tacoma duopoly. Fox Television Stations acquired KCPQ and KZJO from Nexstar Media Group in a station-swap deal that closed on March 2, 2020, making the station a Fox Corporation owned-and-operated outlet rather than merely an affiliate. In October 2021, the station rebranded from 'Q13 FOX' to 'FOX 13 Seattle' to align with Fox's unified owned-and-operated branding. Media Bias/Fact Check rates the local news operation as 'Least Biased' with high factual reporting marks, and Biasly places it at a slight center-left lean (-18%), both assessments reflecting a local newsroom serving the liberal Seattle-Tacoma market rather than the national Fox News editorial line.

Sources

1. KCPQ — Wikipedia
2. Fox Corp. acquires two Seattle TV stations — The Seattle Times
3. History of FOX 13 Seattle — FOX 13 Seattle
4. KCPQ – Fox 13 – Seattle – Bias and Credibility — Media Bias/Fact Check
5. Fox 13 Seattle Media Bias — AllSides
6. Fox-Owned Stations in Seattle Rebrand as Fox13 and Fox13 Plus — Next TV
7. Q13 FOX — Bias and Reliability — Biasly

Profile compiled 2026-07-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record