KREG-TV

MeTV station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado

KREG TV (channel 3) is a television station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, United States, broadcasting the classic television network MeTV. It is owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting, and has a transmitter atop Sunlight Peak. Since its purchase in 2020 by Weigel, and given KREG TV has no signal penetration into the Denver metropolitan area, KREG TV has been positioned as a station serving the entire Denver media market via cable and satellite, rather than its history as a repeater of stations based in Grand Junction.

KREG TV was launched January 28, 1984, by Western Slope Communications, a group of investors, as independent station KCWS on VHF channel 3. It promised the best selection of off network and first run syndicated programming available; plus an aggressive regional news operation that pioneered the first long form morning newscast on Western Slope television. At its launch, KCWS stated it had "one of the highest shares ever received by an independent station at sign on". However, the station's construction was hindered by what it said was "one of the worst winters in Colorado history", as well as equipment that was either delayed or damaged; in addition, the station fought with commissioners in Garfield County to locate its transmitter at the Sunlight Peak transmitter site used by its translator system. Mesa County's commissioners refused to allow KCWS to be carried on its translators; this prevented the station from being seen in Grand Junction, the largest community in the Western Slope, until the station was added to United Cable's lineup. it did not help matters that KWGN TV in Denver had been available on cable for decades in the area. The station underwent three rounds of layoffs, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 27, 1984. As a satellite of KREX, KREG had no local news inserts but did have a small office in Carbondale, near Glenwood Springs. Withers sold KREG TV, along with KREX TV, to Hoak Media in 2003. On December 19, 2013, Gray Television, who a month earlier announced its purchase of Hoak Media, sold KREG and its sister stations in Grand Junction (as part of Gray's divestment to comply with FCC rules because it was the owner of KKCO and operator of KJCT in the Grand Junction market) to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $33.5 million. The sale was completed on June 13, 2014.

On May 10, 2016, Nexstar agreed to sell KREG TV to Marquee Broadcasting for $350,000; the sale is part of a series of divestitures required following Nexstar's acquisition of Media General due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership caps. Following the sale, KREG, which is considered to be part of the Denver market, ceased to be a satellite of KREX. On July 1, 2017, KREG TV returned to the air broadcasting Heroes & Icons programming.

Marquee Broadcasting agreed to sell KREG TV to Weigel Broadcasting for $2 million on May 30, 2019. The sale was completed on January 2, 2020, making KREG an H&I owned and operated station. Later in 2020, MeTV was added on DT1, pushing Heroes & Icons to DT2.