KCWE is the CW-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 (or virtual channel 29.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at the East 23rd Street/Topping Avenue intersection in Kansas City, Missouri's Blue Valley section. Owned by Hearst Television, KCWE is sister to ABC affiliate KMBC-TV and the two outlets share studios on Winchester Avenue in the city's Swope Park Ridge-Winchester section along I-435.

The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 2, Time Warner Cable channel 7, and SureWest channel 16. There is a high definition feed provided on Comcast digital channel 236, SureWest digital channel 615, and Time Warner Cable digital channel 1007. Syndicated programming on the station includes The New Adventures of Old Christine, Extra, Maury, The Big Bang Theory, The Dr. Oz Show and 30 Rock among others.

KCWE ceased analog transmission on December 15, 2008 two months before the originally scheduled 2009 analog shutdown for full-service stations. The UHF channel 29 allotment was subsequently taken over by the digital signal of sister station KMBC. On March 3, 2009, the station began airing This TV on a new second digital subchannel.