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KXLT-TV

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KXLT-TV
CityRochester, Minnesota
Channels
Branding
  • Fox 47
  • MeTV 47.2 (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
OperatorGray Television
KTTC,KXSH-LD
History
FoundedDecember 22, 1982
First air date
August 21, 1987(36 years ago)(1987-08-21)[a]
Former call signs
KXLT (1987–1989)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:47 (UHF, 1987–2009)
  • Digital:46 (UHF, 2004–2018)
Call signmeaning
derived from former sister stationKXLIinSt. Cloud
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35906
ERP108kW
HAAT343 m (1,125 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°38′34″N92°31′36″W/ 43.64278°N 92.52667°W/43.64278; -92.52667
Links
Public license information
Websitemyfox47

KXLT-TV(channel 47) is atelevision stationlicensed toRochester, Minnesota,United States, serving as theFoxaffiliate forSoutheast Minnesotaand NorthernIowa.It is owned bySagamoreHill BroadcastingalongsideTelemundoaffiliate KXSH-LD (channel 35); SagamoreHill maintains ashared servicesagreement (SSA) withGray Television,owner of dualNBC/CW+affiliateKTTC(channel 10), for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios in Rochester on Bandel Road Northwest alongUS 52,and also maintain an advertising sales office on Lakeview Drive inClear Lake, Iowa,that servesMason City.[2]KXLT-TV's transmitter is located inGrand Meadow Township, Minnesota.

History[edit]

KXLI satellite[edit]

KXLT signed-on for the first time on August 21, 1987, as a full-timesatelliteofSt. Cloud–basedindependentoutletKXLI.It was themarket's first independent station, as well as the area's first new commercial station in 33 years. Its programming consisted mostly of low-budget syndicated fare andcartoons,though for a time it also airedMinnesota North Starshockey. However, it found the going difficult, not in the least becauseKMSP-TVandWFTC,two independent stations fromMinneapolis–Saint Paul,were both already available on cable.

KXLI / KXLT were owned by Halcomm Inc. with its majority stockholder and president Dale W. Lang,[3]chairman of magazine publisher Lang Communications Inc.[4]Lang attempted with partners to create the "Minnesota Independent Network" (MIN) with 11 stations but never got past planning and initial work.[3]

Lang also made a $9.6 million loan to Halcomm. The station closed down in December 1988 with Lang calling the loan in 1989 taking possession of the stations.[3]

In 1989, Lang became the primary investor in a new television network, theStar Television Network,which featured four hours ofinfomercialsand eight hours of classic programming under theTV Heavenbanner.[4]KXLT returned on September 29, 1990, again simulcasting KXLI programming as an owned and operated Star station, with both stations on the air 22 hours a day.[3]Following the closure of Star in January 1991, KXLI/KXLT implemented a schedule of infomercials, religious programming and theHome Shopping Network.[4]

As a KXLI satellite, KXLT operated at lower-than-licensed power due to KXLI's financial problems. KXLI and KXLT were sold toPaxson Communicationsin 1996 which converted both stations to an all-infomercial format under Paxson's "inTV" network. In 1997, Paxson decided to sell KXLT to raise money to launch the Pax network (today'sIon Television). Late that year, Shockley Communications purchased KXLT.

Fox affiliate[edit]

On January 19, 1998, Shockley relaunched the station as a Fox affiliate. Previously,cablesystems on the Minnesota side of the market carried WFTC (and before it KMSP) while those on the Iowa side carriedKDSM-TVfromDes Moines.Shockley instantly invested in the station upgrading it to full power operations and moving to new studios in November of that year. On November 1, 1998, in partnership withThe WB,KXLT established a cable-only affiliate of the network. Known by the fauxcalls"KWBR", the station was programmed by the nationalThe WB 100+service but local promotion and advertising sales were handled by KXLT.[5]

In 2001, Shockley Communications was bought by Quincy Newspapers, owner of KTTC. However, Quincy could not buy KXLT due toFederal Communications Commission(FCC) rules governing duopolies. The FCC does not allow two of the four highest-rated stations to be owned by one company. Additionally, Rochester–Austin–Mason Cityhas only six full-power stations, not enough to legally permit a duopoly in any case. Nevertheless, Quincy took over KXLT's operations under a shared services agreement. As part of the arrangement, Quincy provides all technical support, promotions, commercial production, andmaster controlfor KXLT. Shockley would later sell the station to current owner SagamoreHill Broadcasting in 2005.

In September 2006, The WB andUPNmergedto createThe CW.KTTC subsequently established a new seconddigital subchannelto offer The CW throughThe CW Plus,a similar national programming service as The WB 100+. At that point, the "KWBR" operation was shut down. KXLT has been digital-only since February 17, 2009[6]with it remaining on-air for a few more days airing "nightlight"service. KXLT's digital facility on channel 46 has been fully operational since 2004 until 2018 when the station relocated to channel 26 inthe repack.

News operation[edit]

Through a news share agreement in place since 2001, KTTC produces a half-hour prime time newscast on KXLT seen Sunday through Friday nights. Known asFox 47 News at Nine,the program originates from a secondary set at the Bandel Road Northwest studios. It features a unique graphics package and news music theme that is different from KTTC. KXLT uses most of the NBC outlet's on-air personnel but maintains separate news anchors who can report for KTTC.

At some point in 2009,CBSaffiliateKIMT(channel 3) added the market's second prime time local news show at 9 to itsMyNetworkTV-affiliated second digital subchannel. This newscast could be seen for thirty minutes competing with KXLT's broadcast. Eventually, the effort would be reduced to a five-minute weather cut-in featuring an updatedforecast.On March 21, 2011, a day after KTTC performed an upgrade to high definition news production, KXLT completed the switch. With the change to HD came an updated set of graphics (still separate from the NBC station). On July 28, 2014, KXLT debuted a weekday morning show known asFox in the Morning(that is produced by KTTC). Airing for thirty minutes at 8 a.m., the program is formatted with news, weather, local features and entertainment segments.Fox in the Morningis the area's only 8 a.m. newscast. Nicholas Quallich, anchor, Ted Schmidt, meteorologist, have been with the show since its summertime 2014 premiere. Tori Bokios, who joined channel 47 in January 2015, as of the summer of 2015, is the anchor ofFox 47 News at Nine.Amanda Hari is the newest member of the morning show, arriving in September 2015, replacing Bokios. In December 2016, Quallich left KXLT, leaving Hari & Schmidt to handle the morning news. Earlier in 2016, chief meteorologist Randy Brock left his post and went on to pursue a career in real estate. He said that part of his decision was to spend more time with his family.

On September 27, 2019,Fox in the Morningbroadcast its last show, with anchor Jack Keenan and meteorologist Ted Schmidt. The 30 minute slot for the morning was used to expandFox 47 News at Nineto a one-hour broadcast in January 2020, anchored by Maddy Wierus and chief meteorologist Nick Jansen.

The evening program on KXLT maintains separate anchors from KTTC (except for weather segments) and its own graphics scheme.[7]The NBC outlet also maintains an Austin bureau, within theRiverland Community Collegecampus, on 8th Avenue Northwest.

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of KXLT-TV[8]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
47.1 720p 16:9 KXLTFOX Fox
47.2 480i MeTV MeTV
47.3 MeToons MeTV Toons
47.4 Mystery Ion Mystery
47.5 Quest Quest
47.6 Grit Grit
47.7 Laff Laff

Notes[edit]

  1. ^TheBroadcasting and Cable Yearbooksays August 1, while theTelevision and Cable Factbooksays August 10.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for KXLT-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"KXLT - Tv Fox 47".
  3. ^abcd"KXLT-TV to return to the airwaves in Rochester in Sept".PostBulletin. July 28, 1990.RetrievedNovember 22,2015.Lang and some partners previously tried to put together a Minnesota Independent Network with 11 stations strung from Rochester in the southeast toBemidjiin the north. However, that network never was organized.
  4. ^abcStrother, Susan G. (January 17, 1991)."Tv Network Signs Off - Out Of Cash".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedJanuary 20,2015.
  5. ^"Shockley Communications Corporation - Television".sccweb.Archived fromthe originalon December 5, 2000.RetrievedJanuary 11,2022.
  6. ^TV's digital conversion begins in Rochester[permanent dead link],Post-Bulletin, February 17, 2009
  7. ^http://m.postbulletin /life/lifestyles/new-fox-show-seeks-morning-viewers/article_26616350-9283-579b-aa6b-b3f31e39a7d9.html?mode=jqm[dead link]
  8. ^"RabbitEars TV Query for KXLT".RabbitEars.info.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KXLT-TV&oldid=1232461308"