In 1962, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that central and western Kansas was part of the Wichita market, Central Kansas Television purchased KARD (channel 3, now KSNW) and merged it with KCKT-TV (channel 2) in Great Bend and its satellites KGLD-TV (channel 11) in Garden City and KOMC-TV (channel 8) in Oberlin. The three stations, which were collectively branded as the "Tri-Circle Network," relayed NBC programming throughout central and western Kansas. The Tri-Circle Network changed its name to the "Kansas State Network" a few years later, with KARD serving as the flagship of the new four-station regional network.