The two stations share studios on North 44th Street on the city's east side; KASW's primary transmitter is located on South Mountain.

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,[2] until November 12, 1984, closing due to mounting debts and lack of cash to continue operating.

[3] 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.

[7] In December 1994, Brooks entered into a local marketing agreement with Media America Corporation, then owners of KTVK (channel 3).

[9] Brooks, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also aired the twice-yearly LDS General Conference on channel 61.

[12] Later that year, Belo announced that it would purchase KASW from Gregory Brooks, forming the first television duopoly in the Phoenix market just as they were being legalized.

[18][19] On June 13, 2013, Belo announced that KTVK and KASW would be acquired by the Gannett Company, owner of local NBC affiliate KPNX and the Arizona Republic.

[20] On December 23, 2013, shortly after the approval and completion of the Gannett/Belo deal, the Meredith Corporation announced that it would purchase KTVK and the non-license assets of KASW from Sander Media and Gannett in a $407.5 million transaction.

[9] After the station was sold to Scripps, KNXV-TV began producing two local newscasts for KASW; both of them debuted in a gradual basis over the course of 2020.

[37] The Coyotes returned to KASW in November 2023 as part of Scripps's broadcast deal with the team, airing all regionally-televised games.

[39] The station also airs select games from the Vegas Golden Knights,[40] whose TV territory was expanded to include the state of Arizona after the Coyotes relocated.

[49] On March 27, 2020, this station was launched as a high-power ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) transmitter for Phoenix, operating alongside KFPH-CD and carrying the main program streams of KASW, KNXV, KSAZ and KUTP.

[50] On July 8, 2021, KPHO and KPNX were added to KASW from KFPH-CD, placing all four major network affiliates on the same ATSC 3.0 multiplex.