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KTTW

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Not to be confused withWTTW.

KTTW
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
May 29, 1987
(37 years ago)(1987-05-29)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:17 (UHF,1987–2009)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID28521
ERP7.5kW
HAAT217.6 m (714 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°30′14″N96°34′18.8″W/ 43.50389°N 96.571889°W/43.50389; -96.571889
Links
Public license information
Satellite station
KTTM
Channels
Ownership
Owner
  • Tri-State Christian Television
  • (Radiant Life Ministries, Inc.)
History
First air date
August 31, 1991
(32 years ago)(1991-08-31)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:12 (VHF, 1991–2009)
  • Digital:22 (UHF, until 2009)
  • Virtual:12 (until 2020)
  • Fox (1991–2020)
  • This TV (2020–2021)
Technical information[2]
Facility ID28501
ERP12.6 kW
HAAT257 m (843 ft)
Transmitter coordinates44°11′39.0″N98°19′5.0″W/ 44.194167°N 98.318056°W/44.194167; -98.318056(KTTM)
Links
Public license information

KTTW(channel 7) is areligious television stationinSioux Falls, South Dakota,United States,owned and operatedbyTri-State Christian Television(TCT) with transmitter inRowena, South Dakota.It is rebroadcast onKTTMinHuron,whose transmitter is located nearAlpena, South Dakota.KTTM covers areas of south-central and southeastern South Dakota that receive a marginal to non-existentover-the-airsignal from KTTW.

Established as aFoxaffiliate on channel 17 in 1987, KTTW was the fourth commercial station to be built in Sioux Falls and the first Fox affiliate in the state. KTTM went on the air in 1991. Its owner, Independent Communications, Inc., sold the programming and Fox affiliation, as well as its five dependent translators, toGray Televisionin 2020, resulting in the establishment of Fox Sioux Falls, a subchannel ofKDLT-TV.It then sold the KTTW and KTTM facilities and licenses to Radiant Life Ministries, a sister company of TCT.

History[edit]

After applying on June 1, 1984, theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) granted Family Broadcasting Company, Inc., ofFairfield, Iowa,a construction permit to build a new commercial television station on channel 17 in Sioux Falls in November of that year. Work began in earnest in 1986,[3]and the station began broadcasting on May 29, 1987. Family Broadcasting soon reorganized as Independent Communications, Inc. Upon sign-on, channel 17 affiliated withFox,[4]which had launched its prime time schedule only a month earlier. However, Fox did not consider itself a network at the time, but a "satellite-delivered national program service" that only carried programming on weekends.[5]Thus, for all intents and purposes, KTTW was programmed as an independent, as was the case with most early Fox affiliates. It filled the weekday schedule with cartoons, home shopping shows, and fare from theHit Video USAservice andAmerican Christian Television System.[4]Chuck Poppen was the general manager, with rental company owner Jim Elmen as the major financial backer of the venture; the Elmens would own 89 percent of KTTW. Elmen recalled in 1991 that he bought into the station to give viewers a chance to see programming that had previously only been seen on cable, particularly children's programming. By then, the station had significantly upgraded its programming, airing bothStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Next Generationas well asMinnesota Twinsbaseball andMinnesota Timberwolvesbasketball.[6]

On August 31, 1991, KTTM signed on, expanding coverage to cities including Huron andMitchell.[6]By this time, the station had turned the corner from what Elmen would recall as "a couple years of H-E-double-L" financially.[7]The station moved to offices on West 11th Street in 1995, which it would occupy for 25 years.[7]In 1997, Poppen resigned, citing differences with the majority stakeholders.[8]After thedigital television transition,in 2009, KTTW changed its branding from its former analog channel 17 to its digital physical channel of 7.

On November 2, 2020, KTTW's non-license assets were purchased byGray Television,owner ofABCaffiliateKSFY-TV(channel 13) and NBC affiliateKDLT-TV(channel 46); Fox programming moved to KDLT on digital subchannel 46.2.Cozi TV,which was also carried on KTTW, moved to subchannel 46.4. KTTW and KTTM's main channels began carryingThis TV.[9]Independent also sold five translators of KTTW, atAberdeen,Brookings,Pierre,Watertown,andWorthington, Minnesota,to Gray for $1.[10][a]According to a local business publication, Independent Communications was exiting television altogether and intended to sell or donate KTTW "to a nonprofit entity in the near future".[12]On February 10, 2021, it was announced thatMarion, Illinois–based Tri-State Christian Television would acquire the license assets of KTTW/KTTM for $850,000.[13]The transaction was completed on December 21;[14]the stations switched to TCT programming the next day.

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

KTTW and KTTM both broadcast TCT and additional national multicast channels:

Subchannels of KTTW[15]and KTTM[16]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
7.1 720p 16:9 KTTW HD TCT
7.2 480i ThisTV Blank
7.3 SBN Sonlife
7.4 LAFF Laff
7.5 Bounce Bounce TV
7.6 Grit Grit
7.7 DEFY Ion Plus
7.9 NEWSY Blank
7.10 Quest Quest
7.11 Twist Blank

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

Both stations shut down their analog signals for the 2009 analog shutoff date:[17]

  • KTTW shut down its analog signal, overUHFchannel 17; the station's digital signal broadcasts on its pre-transitionVHFchannel 7.
  • KTTM shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 22 to VHF channel 12.

Note[edit]

  1. ^KTTW had a sixth translator, K44ME-D inLowry.That translator closed on January 31, 2019, when the Five County TV Translator District that operated it ceased operations.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for KTTW".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for KTTM".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^Bolding, Julie (October 16, 1986)."New TV station is in the works".Argus-Leader.Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 3C.RetrievedJune 18,2022– via Newspapers.
  4. ^abGrauvogl, Ann (July 7, 1987)."Station channels new shows to city".Argus-Leader.Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 5A.RetrievedJune 18,2022– via Newspapers.
  5. ^Crook, David (April 5, 1987)."Fox makes its sly, crafty debut".Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^abTerveen, Joyce (September 8, 1991)."New kids on the dial".Argus-Leader.Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 1F.RetrievedJune 18,2022– via Newspapers.
  7. ^abKeyes, Bob (April 20, 1997)."Poppen dedicated to KTTW growth".Argus-Leader.Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 1G,4G.RetrievedJune 18,2022– via Newspapers.
  8. ^Callison, Jill (May 17, 1997)."KTTW founder, general manager steps down".Argus-Leader.Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 1D.RetrievedJune 18,2022– via Newspapers.
  9. ^Ellis, Jon (November 2, 2020)."FOX Changes Channels in Sioux Falls".Northpine.RetrievedNovember 3,2020.
  10. ^"Application for Transfer of Control of a Corporate Licensee or Permittee, or for Assignment of License or Permit of TV or FM Translator Station or Low Power Television Station".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.November 4, 2020.RetrievedNovember 7,2020.
  11. ^"CC Commission learns that TV Translator District will be ending".Prairie Pioneer.January 3, 2019.RetrievedMarch 3,2022.
  12. ^"KTTW 'exiting broadcast business'; Fox moves to Gray Television".SiouxFalls.Business.November 10, 2020.RetrievedNovember 11,2020.
  13. ^"Assignments".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.February 11, 2021.RetrievedFebruary 11,2021.
  14. ^"Notification of Consummation".Licensing and Management System,Federal Communications Commission.December 21, 2021.RetrievedDecember 21,2021.
  15. ^RabbitEars TV Query for KTTW
  16. ^RabbitEars TV Query for KTTM
  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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