KNHL

KNHL (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Hastings, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with The CW Plus. It is a full-power satellite of Lincoln-based KCWH-LD (channel 18) which is owned by Gray Television. As KHAS-TV, it formerly served as the NBC affiliate for the western side of the Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney market. KNHL is a sister station to NBC affiliate KSNB-TV (channel 4) in York and CBS affiliates KOLN/KGIN (channels 10 and 11) in Lincoln and Grand Island. KNHL's transmitter is located on US 281 north of Hastings.

Not to be confused with KHNL.

KNHL
Satellite of KCWH-LD, Lincoln, Nebraska
CityHastings, Nebraska
Channels
BrandingThe CW Nebraska
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KCWH-LD, KNPL-LD, KOLN–KGIN, KSNB-TV
History
First air date
January 1, 1956 (1956-01-01)
Former call signs
KHAS-TV (1956–2014)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 5 (VHF, 1956–2009)
  • Digital: 21 (UHF, 2005–2008)
Call sign meaning
"Nebraska, Hastings, Lincoln"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID48003
ERP45 kW
HAAT217 m (712 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°38′56″N 98°23′2″W
Links
Public license information

In 2014, Gray acquired Hoak Media; as it already owned the three aforementioned stations (KOLN/KGIN and KSNB) in the same market, it planned to sell KHAS to the shell company Excalibur Broadcasting and operate KHAS under a shared services agreement (SSA). As a result of growing FCC scrutiny towards "virtual duopolies", Gray instead let KHAS fall silent on June 13, 2014, and its programming and news operation were relocated to KSNB-TV, pending a sale of KHAS-TV to a minority owned broadcaster, Legacy Broadcasting. In September 2018, Gray agreed to purchase KNHL.

History

KNHL was founded in 1956 as KHAS-TV by a group of local investors headed by Fred A. Seaton, publisher of the Hastings Tribune newspaper and Secretary of the Interior during the Eisenhower Administration.[2] It took its calls from KHAS radio, which Seaton had founded in 1940. In 1967, it was one of the first stations in the area to acquire color broadcasting equipment.

The Seaton family owned KHAS-TV until 1997, when it was sold to Dick Shively and Ulysses Carlini Sr., owners of North Platte TV stations KNOP-TV and K11TW, operating the three stations under the name Greater Nebraska Television. In 2005, Greater Nebraska Television sold the stations to Hoak Media.[3]

Former logo as KHAS-TV in 2013-2014, KSNB briefly used this logo in 2014 after KHAS-TV went silent

The station's studio was located north of Hastings on US 281. The transmitter tower was located next to the studio. KHAS-TV was formerly rebroadcast on translator station K14IY in Holdrege; this translator went dark in 2009. KHAS-TV was later also carried on K02HJ in Ord and K35AL analog channel 35 in Lexington, Nebraska.[4] All three translators broadcast an analog signal. K35AL formerly carried programming from sister station KNOP-TV but Lexington is in the Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney market while North Platte is a separate market. Both local and national programming on KHAS was carried in high definition.

Starting around 2004, KHAS began branding itself as a full-market NBC station, challenging the long-standing status of Omaha's WOWT as the default NBC affiliate in the capital. It identified as "Hastings/Kearney/Grand Island/Lincoln" on-air and on its Website. It was also available on the Lincoln DirecTV and Dish Network feeds as the local NBC station, boosting its potential audience to over 700,000 people across Nebraska and Kansas.

In June 2012, KHAS and other Hoak-owned stations were pulled from Dish Network after they failed to renew a carriage agreement. The refusal to renew reportedly surrounds Dish Network's "Hopper" digital video recorder and its controversial commercial-skipping feature AutoHop—which has also led to complaints from the major U.S. television networks.[5][6]

Shutdown and sale

On November 20, 2013, Gray Television announced it would purchase Hoak Media in a $335 million deal. As Gray already owned KOLN/KGIN, KHAS was to be sold to Excalibur Broadcasting and operated by Gray under a local marketing agreement.[7] However, in the wake of heightened FCC scrutiny of local marketing agreements, on June 11, 2014, KHAS-TV announced it would leave the air at midnight on June 13 and NBC programming would be moved to KSNB-TV and the digital subcarrier of KOLN/KGIN.[8] KHAS would then be sold off to minority interests, which under this arrangement would allow the station to return to the air on the conditions that the new owner operate the station independently (under minority, female and/or non-profit ownership) and not make any partnerships or sharing arrangements with other broadcasters.[9]

On August 27, 2014, Gray announced that it would sell KHAS-TV along with KAQY, KNDX, and KXND to Legacy Broadcasting, a new broadcasting company controlled by Sherry Nelson and daughter Sara Jane Ingram.[10] On December 1, 2014, the call letters became KNHL.[11] The sale was completed on December 15.[12] Legacy returned KNHL to the air June 6, 2015[13] as an affiliate of the SonLife Broadcasting Network.[14]

On May 21, 2018, Gray agreed to acquire KNHL from Legacy Broadcasting for $475,000; in filing for FCC approval of the purchase in September 2018, Gray proposed to operate the station as a satellite of KSNB-TV. In connection with the sale, Gray began leasing KNHL's third digital subchannel on September 1, 2018, to simulcast KCWH-LD,[15] Gray's Lincoln-based CW affiliate (through The CW Plus); the affiliation formally launched on October 1.[16][17] The sale of the station was approved on February 12, 2019.[18][19][20] The sale was completed on March 1,[21] reuniting KNHL with many of its former Hoak Media sisters. Upon completion of the sale, KNHL was converted into a satellite station of KSNB-DT1, KSNB-DT2, and KSNB-DT3 (on 5.2, 5.1, and 5.4, respectively) and KCWH-LD1 (on 5.3). Through the utilization of updated multiplexer equipment, NBC and CW+ programming is being aired in high definition on 5.2 and 5.3, respectively (although in 720p for both HD feeds; the KSNB-DT1 simulcast is downconverted from the native 1080i resolution of the NBC network), with MyNetworkTV and MeTV programming on 5.1 and Ion Television programming on 5.4 airing in 16:9 standard definition.

News operation

KHAS-TV produced 16 hours of local news per week, with 3 hours each weekday and 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday. Newscasts aired weekday mornings at 6:00 and 11:30 a.m., weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. and a weekend newscast at 10:00 p.m.

Upon the station going dark on June 13, 2014, the entire news operation moved to KSNB-TV.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KNHL[22][17]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
5.1 720p16:9CW-HDThe CW Nebraska (KCWH-LD)
5.2 480iCourtTVCourt TV
5.3 StartTVStart TV
5.4 ION TVIon Television (KSNB-DT3)

In September 2005, KHAS-TV began operating NBC Weather Plus (known as "News 5 Weather Plus") on digital subchannel 5.2 and until 2008, it was the only Hoak Media-owned NBC affiliate to carry the network when it was dropped due to NBCUniversal's purchase of The Weather Channel. In September 2010, KHAS-TV digital subchannel 5.2 switched from a standard-definition simulcast to This TV. It identified locally as "This Nebraska". On November 1, 2013, KHAS replaced This TV with Cozi TV.[23]

Analog-to-digital conversion

KNHL (as KHAS-TV) shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, on December 1, 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 21 to VHF channel 5.[24][25] Due to Nebraska's cold winter weather, the station elected to make the transition early rather than on the national February 17, 2009, analog shutoff date.[26] The digital signal on channel 5 is one of only 48 US full-power stations to broadcast digitally using a low-VHF/Band I channel.[27]

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for KNHL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "KHAS-TV : A History". khastv.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  3. Fowler, Gretchen (August 31, 2005). "Hoak Media reaches deal to purchase KHAS-TV". The Grand Island Independent. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  4. "News 5 Severe Weather Safety (refer to coverage map on last page)" (PDF). Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  5. "Because of dispute, DISH customers lose Hastings' KHAS-TV". Lincoln Journal Star. June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  6. Jeffrey, Don (June 5, 2012). "Dish's Ad-Skip Tool May Benefit From Cablevision DVR Case". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  7. "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  8. "KHAS TV - KSNB TV Statement". khastv.com/. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  9. Press Release from Gray Television (June 13, 2014)
  10. "Gray Sets Buyers For Its Six SSA Stations". TVNewsCheck. August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  11. "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  12. Consummation Notice. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  13. "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 9, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  14. "A belated note that KNHL-TV/5..." NorthPine.com: Upper Midwest Broadcasting. September 11, 2015. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  15. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  16. "Gray Television launches local CW affiliates in Nebraska", KOLN, October 1, 2018, Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  17. Pluhacek, Zach (October 1, 2018). "CW affiliates coming to Lincoln, central Nebraska". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  18. "Letter", "CDBS Public Access", Federal Communications Commission, February 12, 2019, Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  19. "Notice of Consent to Assignment", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, February 12, 2019, Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  20. "Gray Gets OK For Legacy Plan In Nebraska", rbr.com, February 12, 2019, Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  21. "Consummation Notice" CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, March 20, 2019, Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  22. "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
  23. "FCC 398 Children's Television Programming Report". KidVid Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 9, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014. In the 4th Qtr of 2013 we also became a COZI TV affiliate. On November 1st 2013 we switched from THIS TV to COZI TV on our 5.2 digital channel.
  24. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  25. "Web Page Under Construction". www.tvnewsday.com.
  26. http://new.khastv.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15352&storytopic=4%5B%5D
  27. "Redirect".
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