WPKD-TV (channel 19), branded KDKA+, is an independent television station licensed to Jeannette, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Pittsburgh area.

The two stations share studios at the Gateway Center in Downtown Pittsburgh; WPKD-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Perry North neighborhood along with KDKA-TV.

WPKD-TV signed on the air on October 15, 1953, as WARD-TV on analog UHF channel 56, with studios on Franklin Street in downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

[2] In 1972, Jonel Construction Company bought Cover Broadcasting, the parent of WARD-AM-TV, and changed their call signs to WJNL-AM-TV on August 13.

[3][4] Having been issued a construction permit to do so in 1969, the television station then moved to the stronger UHF channel 19 and dropped ABC programming.

The radio stations moved to the Benshoff Hill location in 1977, after the Franklin Street studios were destroyed in a massive flood.

Channel 19 was sold on February 1, 1983, to WFAT Incorporated—a company headed by Leon Crosby, a former owner of the original KEMO-TV in San Francisco—and renamed WFAT-TV on March 14.

[8] The new transmitter finally provided city-grade coverage to all of Johnstown, allowing many viewers who had struggled to watch the station over-the-air for 30 years to get a clear picture for the first time.

However, it still had a problem attracting Altoona viewers due to the mountainous terrain separating the two cities, resulting in marginal reception at best on the eastern side of the market.

At the time of the change, WJNL-TV had a mixture of independent and religious programs; the relaunch saw it extend its broadcast day from 8 hours to 13.

The very few locally produced programs WFAT now had left were limited to discussion-based talk shows on simple, undecorated sets with little more than chairs and plywood platforms covered with low-quality carpeting.

David Smith and Lee Mack (the former had been program director of WJNL radio) served as the station's booth announcers.

[9] The studio site was repossessed, and the transmitter equipment was said to be located in "somebody's basement" by a broker attempting to find suitors for the failed station.

[10] Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, Venture Technologies Group had signed on low-power station W29AH (channel 29) in 1989 with the Video Jukebox Network, later known as The Box.

[13] On July 27, 1996, Venture reactivated the channel 19 facility under the WTWB-TV calls,[14] operating from a new transmitter on Laurel Mountain west of Jennerstown.

However, cable systems in Pittsburgh were not required to carry channel 19 because it was licensed to Johnstown, located in a separate media market.

As a result, after claiming that Johnstown–Altoona could not support five TV stations, Venture won permission to move WTWB-TV's city of license to Jeannette, an eastern suburb of Pittsburgh.

[12] After taking ownership on February 1, 1999, Paramount announced that WNPA's Monroeville facilities would close; technical operations were moved to WPSG in Philadelphia, while a new sales and marketing staff would be based out of Downtown Pittsburgh.

That September, CBS announced that WNPA's operations would be consolidated into the studios at One Gateway Center already occupied by KDKA-TV and KDKA radio.

On May 5, 2023, CBS announced that it would exercise that right and WPCW would cease airing the network's programming at the end of August and become an independent station.

[29] On July 18, CBS News and Stations submitted a request to change WPCW's call letters to WPKD-TV as of September 1.

As WJNL-TV in Johnstown, the station produced a local newscast from 1971 to 1974 on weekdays and a few public affairs programs to try to compete against WJAC-TV.

KDKA was the last major Pittsburgh television station to begin airing newscasts in HD and the WPCW shows were included in the upgrade.

[44] WPKD was previously relayed on WBPA-LP in Pittsburgh (owned by Venture Technologies Group) from the days when it did not have a strong signal throughout the city.