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KFBB-TV

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KFBB-TV
Channels
BrandingNonStop Local Great Falls
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
March 21, 1954(70 years ago)(1954-03-21)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:5 (VHF, 1954–2009)
  • CBS(primary 1954–1966, secondary 1966–1969)
  • DuMont(secondary, 1954–1955)
  • NBC(secondary, 1954–1958 and 1969–1986)
  • ABC (secondary, 1954–1966)
  • PBS(per-program, 1970–1984)
Call signmeaning
F. A. Buttrey Broadcast Inc. (original owners of radio station)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34412
ERP31kW
HAAT143.3 m (470 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°32′8″N111°17′5″W/ 47.53556°N 111.28472°W/47.53556; -111.28472(KFBB-TV)
Translator(s)see§ Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.nonstoplocal.com/great-falls-helena/
Translator
KHBB-LD
Channels
BrandingNonStop Local Helena
Programming
Affiliations
  • 21.1:ABC
  • 21.2:Fox/MyNetworkTV
  • 21.3:SWX Right Now
History
FoundedJuly 7, 1992(32 years ago)(1992-07-07)
Former call signs
KHBB-LP (1992–2008)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:21 (UHF, 1992–2008)
Call signmeaning
Helena Buttrey Broadcast Inc.
Technical information[2]
Facility ID34413
ClassLD
ERP5 kW
HAAT220.3 m (723 ft)
Transmitter coordinates46°46′11.7″N112°1′24.9″W/ 46.769917°N 112.023583°W/46.769917; -112.023583(KHBB-LD)
Links
Public license information
LMS

KFBB-TV(channel 5) is atelevision stationinGreat Falls, Montana,United States, affiliated withABC,FoxandMyNetworkTV.Owned by theCowles Company,the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Old Havre Highway inBlack Eagle(with a Great Falls mailing address).

KHBB-LD(channel 21) inHelenaoperates as asemi-satelliteof KFBB-TV. As such, itsimulcastsall network andsyndicatedprogramming as provided through KFBB-TV, but airs separate commercial inserts andlegal identifications.KHBB-LD is operated out of KFBB's sales office and news bureau on Euclid Avenue in Helena, while its transmitter is located atop Copper Butte. Both stations offer Fox via their seconddigital subchannels(until 2009, only KHBB-LD did so, as Fox programming in Great Falls was seen onKLMN[3][4]). KFBB-TV is also repeated on several translators.

History

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KFBB-TV/KHBB-LP logos, used through 2008.

KFBB-TV began broadcasting on March 21, 1954. As the first television station in Great Falls, KFBB-TV was affiliated with all four major networks, and would broadcast programming from all three untilKRTVsigned on and took theNBCaffiliation in October 1958. KFBB-TV continued to airCBSand ABC programming as a member of the Skyline Network (as theMontana Television Networkwas then called).

At first KFBB-TV was owned by Wilkins Broadcasting along with KFBB radio (1310 AM, nowKEIN), of whichThe Anaconda Companyowned a 27.5% share. Anaconda, through its Fairmount division, controlled most of the major newspapers in Montana (although not theGreat Falls Tribune) and was notorious for manipulating the state's political visions for its own needs. Then in 1959, Anaconda sold its media holdings toLee EnterprisesofDavenport, Iowa.Because of antitrust concerns, Lee decided to sell KFBB. The station was sold in 1962 to Harriscope Broadcasting, which in 1965 scored a deal for a primary ABC affiliation—Montana's first. The new affiliation took effect on February 1, 1966. Harriscope severed KFBB's links with the Skyline Network (which signed up with KRTV), and sold off KFBB radio in February 1969, but continued to run KFBB-TV, eventually selling it to Donald P. Nathanson in 1977. After affiliating primarily with ABC, the station continued secondary affiliation with CBS until that network switched to KRTV in 1969, and then started running NBC on a per program basis as late as December 1986, when KTGF (nowKJJC-TV) signed on and took over the NBC affiliation.[5][6]KFBB also carriedSesame Streetfor several years, before Montana had aPBSservice of its own.

KFBB's ABC affiliation allowed it to be carried oncable televisionsystems in bothAlbertaandSaskatchewan;it even maintained a sales office inSaskatoon,as didWillistonstationsKUMV-TVandKXMD-TV.This arrangement continued until 1986, when KFBB was largely replaced by a satellite signal fromWXYZ-TV,the ABC affiliate inDetroit.

An April 1981 application with theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) requested transfer of control of the licensee corporation from owner Donald P. Nathanson to his estate, following his death.[7]In early 1982, the station saw a flurry of transfers that saw KFBB-TV moved, first from the Nathanson estate to Advance TV of California, then from Advance TV to Wooster Republican Printing Company of Ohio, which would operate the station through various holding companies (e.g., KFBB Corporation, KFBB LLC, Dix Communications).

KFBB-TV logo used from 2008 through 2012, the "5" in the logo survived until 2014.

In June 2003, Wooster Republican Printing made deep cuts in local news production, ending morning, noon and weekend newscasts. It retained KFBB until November 2004, when it was sold toMax Mediaof Montana, owner of KTGF. Since the Great Falls market did not have enough full-power television stations to allow abroadcast duopoly,Max Media kept the more-established KFBB and sold KTGF. In 2008, the station began using an on-air logo identical to the former logos of ABC affiliateWEWS-TVinClevelandand CBS affiliateKREX-TVinGrand Junction, Colorado—neither station is related to KFBB. In 2012, the station returned to the "ABC 5" branding (which had been used prior to 2006).

On September 30, 2013, theCowles Companyacquired Max Media's Montana television station cluster (KULR, and ABC affiliatesKWYB/Butte,KFBB-TV/Great Falls, KHBB-LD/Helena andKTMF/Missoula) for $18 million.[8][9]The sale was completed on November 29.[10]Soon after the purchase, Cowles merged its Montana ABC stations into a regional network based at KFBB, under the branding "ABC Montana."

KFBB-DT2/KHBB-LD2 (Fox Montana)

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Since July 13, 2009, KFBB's subchannel has been carryingFoxprograms. Prior to that, only KHBB did so, since October 2008, as Fox was received via KLMN, and before that, in Helena, viewers received Fox programming viaKMTF,later fromFoxnet,when KMTF joined Pax TV (later i, nowIon) in 2001, and then from the network's Denver affiliateKDVRafter Foxnet shut down in 2006. Fox is broadcast on digital channel 21.2, and, like 21.1, is available in720phigh definition.Programming from Fox's secondaryMyNetworkTVservice is aired unbranded an hour after Fox prime time, after a half-hour newscast andInside Editionon weeknights.

News operation

[edit]
Main article:NonStop Local

Of the three full-service television stations in Montana owned by Cowles Company, only KFBB-TV offers a significant schedule of local news. There are two half-hour local newscasts at 5 and 6 p.m. and a 35-minute newscast at 10 p.m. each weeknight, plus half-hour newscasts at 5 and 10 p.m. on the weekends. KFBB also produces a ten-minute nightly newscast for Cowles' other ABC Montana stations, KTMF in Missoula andKalispelland KWYB in Butte andBozeman.The newscast is called10@10,and focuses on Montana sports and weather in the first ten minutes.

In February 2005, Max Media instituted a regional newscast, branded asMontana News Network,which was produced at KFBB. The regional newscast did not last long. KFBB was then rebrandedNewsChannel 5,with a focus on "Live, Local, Late-Breaking Coverage". In addition to the morning weather cut-ins and its weeknight newscasts at 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts, the station soon added weekend newscasts back to the lineup.

In 2009, KFBB added staff to become the largest news team in central Montana. The newscasts took on a new slogan, "NewsChannel 5is Everywhere ", to capitalize on its reporting strength in Great Falls and its three bureaus. The weather segments took on the identity of" Pinpoint Weather ", showcasing the station's award-winning customized forecasts for central and northern Montana. The station also increased its news production on the weekend, adding a 5:30 p.m. newscast, as well as the 10 p.m. weekend news already running.

On September 21, 2009, KFBB expanded further, adding a 5 p.m. newscast and moving the 5:30 newscast to 6 p.m., swapping withABC World News Tonight.A full page ad inSignature Montanamagazine in April 2010 highlighted the fact that KFBB has the most TV newscasts in the evening in the market.

Technical information

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Subchannels

[edit]

The stations' signals aremultiplexed:

Subchannels of KFBB-TV[11]and KHBB-LD[12]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
KFBB-TV KHBB-LD KFBB-TV KHBB-LD
5.1 21.1 720p 16:9 KFBB-AB ABC ABC
5.2 21.2 KFBB-FO FOX FoxandMyNetworkTV
5.3 21.3 SWX SWX Right Now[13]

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

KFBB-TV received its digital television (DTV) allocation from the FCC in April 1997. Originally, KFBB-DT was to be on channel 39,[14]but in June 2001, the FCC agreed to change the allocation to channel 8,[15]and granted the permit to construct digital facilities on March 14, 2002. By the end of April 2002, the station was already on the air[16]and was licensed on November 1, 2002. The station shut down its analog signal, overVHFchannel 5, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 8,[17]usingvirtual channel5.

On August 9, 2006, the FCC granted "flash-cut" authorization to KHBB-LD, meaning that on or before August 9, 2009, analog station KHBB-LP would shut down and digital station KHBB-LD would commence broadcasting on channel 21. On November 27, 2008, KHBB-LP turned off its analog signal and began broadcasting in digital, with ABC programming on 21.1, and Fox programming on 21.2. Both subchannels broadcast in 720p high definition.

Translators

[edit]

All translators relay KFBB-TV unless noted.

References

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  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for KFBB-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for KHBB-LD".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^Today's Digital Upgrade Will Leave Some in Area without Fox for a While, "Richard Ecke,Great Falls Tribune,June 12, 2009.
  4. ^Malone, Michael (July 21, 2009)."Fox on Montana Stations' Digi-Channels".Broadcasting & Cable.RetrievedJuly 22,2009.
  5. ^"TV Guide: Calgary-Southern Alberta Edition".
  6. ^http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/1998/..%5C..%5CDecisions%5C1988%5CDB88-221.htm[permanent dead link]
  7. ^"Public Notice Comment".Archived fromthe originalon January 12, 2016.RetrievedAugust 18,2006.
  8. ^Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License"Federal Communications Commission",October 1, 2013
  9. ^Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License"Federal Communications Commission",October 1, 2013
  10. ^"CDBS Print".
  11. ^RabbitEars TV Query for KFBB
  12. ^RabbitEars TV Query for KHBB-LD
  13. ^Lutz, Andrea (December 7, 2016)."Where to watch: SWX 24hr 'Sports and Weather'".ABCFOXMontana.com.Cowles Company.RetrievedMay 10,2018.
  14. ^"6TH R & O DTV Channel Allotments - Montana".
  15. ^http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Orders/2001/da011322.txt[bare URL plain text file]
  16. ^"NAB NEWS RELEASE-4/30/02-21 MORE STATIONS SIGN ON WITH DIGITAL SIGNALS".Archived fromthe originalon July 11, 2003.
  17. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
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