KTWO-TV
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Channels | |
Branding |
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Programming | |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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Operator | Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC viaSSA |
KFNB,KGWC-TV | |
History | |
First air date | March 1, 1957[a] |
Former channel number(s) | Analog:2 (VHF,1957–2009) |
Call signmeaning | Channel 2 |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 18286 |
ERP | 52.9kW |
HAAT | 560 m (1,837 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°44′26″N106°21′36″W/ 42.74056°N 106.36000°W |
Translator(s) | see§ Translators |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | yourwyominglink |
KTWO-TV(channel 2) is atelevision stationinCasper, Wyoming,United States, affiliated withABC.It is owned by Vision AlaskaLLC,which maintains ashared servicesagreement (SSA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, owner ofFoxaffiliateKFNB(channel 20), for the provision of certain services. Coastal also operatesCBSaffiliateKGWC-TV(channel 14) under a separate SSA with owner Big Horn Television LLC. The three stations share studios on Skyview Drive in Casper; KTWO-TV's transmitter is located atopCasper Mountain.
KTWO-TV is also available on a network of UHF andVHFtranslatorsacross the state. It is also available on the second digital subchannel of KGWC and its satellites and translators; as well as the second digital subchannels of KFNB satellites KFNE and KFNR (but not KFNB itself). Under previous ownerEquity Broadcasting,it had also been available on a free-to-air satellite uplink (as with all of Equity's stations, hubbed out ofLittle Rock, Arkansas,and sent to the transmitter via FTA satellite) until Equity wentbankruptand the satellite was sold.
KKTQ-LD(channel 16) in Cheyenne operates as asemi-satelliteof KTWO-TV.
History
[edit]KTWO-TV signed on the air on March 1, 1957; it was owned by Harriscope Inc.,[2]and was a primaryNBCaffiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation.[3]A secondaryCBSaffiliation was added in 1959, after the shutdown of previous CBS affiliateKSPR-TV(channel 6);[4]KTWO's owners also purchased KSPR radio (then at 1470 AM; now at 1030 AM), a longtimeCBS Radioaffiliate,[5]and changed its call sign toKTWOto match its new television sister.[6]
In March 1978, after 21 years as a primary NBC affiliate, ABC announced that KTWO-TV would become a primary affiliate effective September 5;[7]this was around the same time that ABC became the nation's highest rated network. The station lost CBS to KCWY-TV (channel 14, nowKGWC-TV) when it signed on in 1980. In 1984, another new station, KXWY-TV (channel 20), began carrying NBC programming not cleared by KTWO. In early 1986, KTWO agreed to once again become a primary NBC affiliate effective September 1;[8]the ABC affiliation went to KXWY (nowKFNB). Later that year, Harriscope sold KTWO-TV, along withKULR-TVinBillings, Montana,to Dix Communications for $12.2 million.[9]On August 28, 1987, Dix signed on KKTU (channel 33) as a satellite of KTWO-TV.
In 1994, Dix sold KTWO-TV and KKTU, along withKAAL-TVinAustin, Minnesota,to Eastern Broadcasting for $13 million.[10]For a time starting in 1995, KTWO and KKTU had a secondary affiliation withThe WB.[11]Eastern sold its stations — KTWO-TV and KKTU, KAAL-TV, andKODE-TVinJoplin, Missouri— to Grapevine Communications for $40 million in 1997;[12]Grapevine merged with GOCOM Communications to formGOCOM Holdingsin 1999.[13]Equity Broadcasting bought KTWO-TV and KKTU for $3.5 million in 2001.[14]
Affiliation transition from NBC to ABC
[edit]On September 1, 2003, NBC moved its affiliation from KTWO toKCWY(channel 13).[15]Equity had known at the time it acquired the station that the NBC affiliation would expire; in preparation for the move, on June 27, 2003, KTWO-TV announced that it had agreed to affiliate with ABC, and that the new affiliation would not take effect until the expiration of ABC's contract with KFNB on June 5, 2004.[15]In the interim, KTWO operated as anindependent station,but carried programming from Pax TV (nowIon Television), includingCandid CameraandMiracle Pets;before the affiliation change, Pax programming had been seen on KCWY.[15]Cheyenne satellite station KKTU was able to immediately switch from NBC to ABC,[15]and began branding itself as "ABC 8", after its position on the Cheyenne cable system. After reaching an agreement with KTWO, KFNB agreed to end its ABC affiliation early; on March 8, 2004, KTWO officially became an ABC affiliate, KFNB obtained the Fox affiliation from K26ES (nowMyNetworkTVaffiliateKWYF-LDchannel 29) and K26ES became an affiliate ofUPNand Pax.[16]
Coinciding with the affiliation switch, on March 1, 2004, K-TWO TV of Wyoming, controlled by Cheryl Kaupp, began operating KTWO-TV under alocal marketing agreement,and that October filed to purchase the station outright from Equity Broadcasting for $1.7 million.[17]Kaupp was the daughter of Marvin Gussman, whose Wyomedia Corporation owned KFNB;[18]Wyomedia's general manager, Mark Nalbone, served as a consultant to KTWO and owned a thirty-percent interest in Mark III Media, which was in the process of acquiring KGWC-TV,[19]though in December 2005 he toldTelevision Business Reportthat he did not speak for KTWO inretransmission consentnegotiations.[18]In April 2004, Nalbone announced that KTWO would vacate its longtime studios on East Second Street in Casper;[19]its present location shares operations with KFNB, KWYF, and KGWC on Skyview Drive. K-TWO TV of Wyoming assigned its right to acquire KTWO-TV to Silverton Broadcasting, headed by Barry Silverton, in May 2005;[20]Silverton completed the purchase on May 31, 2006.[21]
Equity Broadcasting retained ownership of channel 33 in Cheyenne, which had changed its call sign to KDEV in 2005, and allowed KTWO to continue to operate it; KTWO later moved its ABC programming in Cheyenne to a low-powered repeater, KKTU-LP (channel 40), after KDEV dropped ABC in favor of programming fromRTN.On June 24, 2008, KKTU-LP changed its call letters toKDEV-LP,after KDEV changed its call sign toKQCK.In September 2010, KDEV dropped all ABC programming; in 2011, KTWO-TV signed on a new low-powered satellite in Cheyenne, K16JM (channel 16), which changed its call sign to KKTQ-LD on June 5, 2013.[22]KKTQ is simulcast on KLWY's second digital subchannel, and airs its ownstation identificationsand commercials.
In July 2005, KTWO was added to theDish Networkline up of channels for customers in the Casper/Rivertondesignated market area.On January 1, 2012, KTWO, KFNB, and KGWC were dropped from Dish Network after failing to come to an agreement on a new contract. The signals were restored by Dish Network on May 1, 2012.
2018–present
[edit]Silverton Broadcasting agreed to sell KTWO-TV to Legacy Broadcasting on February 8, 2018. The deal would have created aduopolywith KFNB, which Legacy would have concurrently acquired from Wyomedia Corporation; in its filing with theFederal Communications Commission(FCC), Legacy stated that the duopoly was permissible because KFNB was the fifth-ranked station in the Casper–Riverton market.[23]The sale was canceled in October 2018.[24]
On October 8, 2019, Silverton Broadcasting announced that it would sell KTWO-TV and KKTQ-LD to Vision Wyoming, a subsidiary of Vision Alaska (run by Stephen Brissette); the sale was concurrent with Big Horn Television's purchase of KGWC-TV and Coastal Television Broadcasting Company's purchase of KFNB and KLWY.[25]Coastal Television (run by Bill Fielder) and Vision Alaska already jointly operated stations inAlaska.[26]The sale was completed on June 1, 2020.[27]Shortly afterwards, the news department was significantly downsized, and weekend newscasts were replaced by programming from Michigan-basedNewsNet.[28]On July 3, KTWO radio reported that KTWO-TV's morning newscast,Good Morning Wyoming,would be replaced by a new morning show on July 6, and that the station's other newscasts would incorporate NewsNet content, with local reports primarily seen at the start of newscasts. Coastal Television's Alaska stations had moved to a NewsNet-based model the preceding April; in a June 28 interview with KTWO radio, Fielder said that the shift to NewsNet had been accelerated by thecoronavirus pandemic.[29]Coastal later blamed the cutbacks on difficulties in achieving theeconomies of scaleneeded to maintain a full newsroom in rural areas, and in July 2021 cited this as the reason it was merging with Waypoint Media, another small rural broadcaster.[30]
Notable former on-air staff
[edit]- Pete Williams(later withNBC News;retired)
Technical information
[edit]Subchannels
[edit]The station's signal ismultiplexed:
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KTWO | ABC |
2.2 | 480i | 4:3 | KTWO-SD | Cozi TV |
2.4 | 16:9 | [blank] | [blank] |
Translators
[edit]- K07HM-DBig Piney,etc.
- K30OU-DCody
- K33DS-DFreedom-Etna
- K22CI-DLander
- K16CS-DPinedale,etc.
- K26OM-DShoshoni
- K35CV-DShoshoni
Notes
[edit]- ^TheBroadcasting and Cable Yearbooksays March 1, while theTelevision and Cable Factbooksays March 8.
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for KTWO-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"KTWO-TV Casper Takes to Air"(PDF).Broadcasting-Telecastting.March 18, 1957. p. 92.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^1958 Broadcasting Yearbook(PDF).1958. p. A-215.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Media reports"(PDF).Broadcasting.August 17, 1959. p. 69.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Changing hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.October 5, 1959. p. 58.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"For the record"(PDF).Broadcasting.October 26, 1959. p. 120.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"ABC-TV grabs three more"(PDF).Broadcasting.March 13, 1978. p. 59.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"In Brief"(PDF).Broadcasting.March 3, 1986. p. 105.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.November 3, 1986. p. 85.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting & Cable.July 4, 1994. p. 30.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^Smith, Doug (November 1995)."TV News"(PDF).VHF-UHF Digest.pp. 11, 13.RetrievedApril 18,2015.
- ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting & Cable.March 24, 1997. p. 46.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^Television & Cable Factbook 2001 Edition(PDF).2001. pp. A-1415.RetrievedSeptember 23,2018.
- ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting & Cable.February 5, 2001. p. 34.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^abcdWestreicher, Tara (June 28, 2003)."KTWO-TV signs ABC contract".Casper Star-Tribune.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^Burke, Brendan (February 24, 2004)."Programming to change March 8".Casper Star-Tribune.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Casper deal is as easy as ABC".Radio Business Report.October 11, 2004.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^ab"Next retransmission showdown: Wyoming".Television Business Report.December 27, 2005.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^abVan Dusen, Matthew (April 27, 2004)."KTWO-TV to move from Second Street".Casper Star-Tribune.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^BIA Financial Networks (May 23, 2005)."Deals".Broadcasting & Cable.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^Silverton, Barry (June 1, 2006)."Consummation Notice".CDBS Public Notice.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Call Sign History (KKTQ-LD)".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJune 21,2020.
- ^"Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.February 12, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 13,2018.
- ^"Notification of Non-consummation".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.October 5, 2018.RetrievedOctober 9,2018.
- ^Learned, Nick (October 9, 2019)."21 Wyoming TV Stations to be Sold in 3 Transactions".K2 Radio.RetrievedJune 15,2020.
- ^Jessell, Harry A. (October 8, 2019)."Fielder, Brissette Buy Network Affils".TVNewsCheck.NewsCheckMedia.RetrievedOctober 8,2019.
- ^Brissette, Stephen (June 5, 2020)."Consummation Notice".CDBS Public Notice.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJune 15,2020.
- ^Learned, Nick (June 22, 2020)."Casper's K2TV Fires Anchors, Scraps Some Local Newscasts After Ownership Change".K2 Radio.RetrievedJune 24,2020.
- ^Learned, Nick (July 3, 2020)."Wyoming's K2 Television Ends 'Good Morning Wyoming,' New Show Starts Monday".K2 Radio.RetrievedJuly 4,2020.
- ^"Coastal Television Acquires Lafayette IN Cluster as Part of Larger TV Deal".
- ^"Digital TV Market Listing for KTWO-TV".RabbitEars.RetrievedAugust 20,2024.