KVOS TV 12 is an independent station broadcasting out of Bellingham with a coverage area that extends south to the Seattle area and north to British Columbia, Canada. The station dates back to 1953, and is available over-the-air throughout its market reach and on the area's various cable providers as well. Having no network affiliation, the station relies mainly on movies and syndicated repeats of popular programs to fill its schedule.
Bellingham's other full-power broadcaster is also a minor programmer -- KBCB Channel 24. Owned by World Television of Washington, the station also serves the Seattle area and offers ShopNBC programming. On a smaller scale, the city of Bellingham operates Bellingham TV Channel 10 (BTV10), a public access channel dedicated to distributing local information and broadcasting city council and other local government meetings.
For local affiliates of the major national networks, Bellingham must look to the Seattle metropolitan area and its stations serving the greater northwest Washington region. Among these are KOMO Channel 4, an ABC affiliate, KING TV 5 (NBC), KIRO TV 7 (CBS) and KCPQ TV 13 (Fox). Each of these stations is available in Bellingham over-the-air with a powerful enough antenna, or on the major cable and satellite providers, including Comcast Cable.
Other over-the-air broadcasters serving the Bellingham area include Seattle's KCTS 9, a public broadcasting service (PBS) station offering its local and national programming, and KSTW TV 11, also from Seattle, serving as the area's CW Network affiliate. Also, KONG TV 16, under the same ownership group as KING TV, is an independent station similar to that of Bellingham's KVOS.