The first San Francisco station that I can recall using its cable number in its branding(and legal ID) was then KBHK, circa 1983, "TV 44, cable 12"(later amended to 'Bay Area cable 12', since there were apparently some systems outside the nine counties that carried it on another channel). Eventually, it branded itself as "UPN 44, Digital 45, Bay Area Cable 12 on most systems." Even later, it was reduced to simplistic 'jingle' with one line, sung, '44, cable 12!' Now, t's 'The CW Bay Area', keeping with the current practice of not mentioning a channel number at all.
KTZO/KOFY ('TV 20, cable 13') and KICU ('TV 36, Cable 6') followed KBHK's lead.