KSVI

KSVI (channel 6) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Hardin-licensed Fox affiliate KHMT (channel 4) under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting. Both stations share studios on South 24th Street West in Billings, while KSVI's transmitter is located on Old Hardin Road east-northeast of the city.

KSVI
The CW network logo in green with "MONTANA" in green, right-aligned.
Channels
BrandingABC 6
Montana CW (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KHMT
History
First air date
January 8, 1993 (1993-01-08)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 6 (VHF, 1993–2009)
  • Both secondary:
  • Fox (1994–1995)
  • UPN (1995–2006)
Call sign meaning
"Six", "VI" is the Roman numeral for 6
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID5243
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT227.5 m (746 ft)
Transmitter coordinates45°48′27″N 108°20′27.8″W
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.yourbigsky.com

Mid-Rivers Communications (based in Circle, Montana) carries KSVI on cable in Glendive, Montana (the smallest DMA in the U.S. according to Nielsen), as that market has no local ABC affiliate of its own.[2][3]

KSVI's programming is relayed on translator station K25BP-D (channel 25) in Billings, in areas where KSVI's signal is poor. It can also be seen in Miles City on K16DH-D (channel 16), and in Howard on K32MN-D (channel 32).

History

KSVI went on the air January 8, 1993,[4] under the ownership of Big Horn Communications.[5] Big Horn had previously signed on KOUS-TV (channel 4) in 1980. However, for most of its existence, KOUS was plagued by marginal reception in some parts of Billings, since its transmitter was located 18 miles (29 km) east of the city in order to ensure city-grade coverage of its city of license, Hardin.[6][4] In hopes of getting better reception in Billings, Big Horn won a construction permit for channel 6 after the allocation was moved from Miles City.[6]

KOUS signed off for the last time on January 8,[4] and later that day the KOUS intellectual unit—including the ABC affiliation—moved to KSVI on channel 6.[5] At the outset, channel 6's programming was also seen on KYUS-TV (channel 3) in Miles City[7] and KCTZ (channel 7) in Bozeman,[8] both of which had previously served as satellites of KOUS. KCTZ was sold to Cordillera Communications several months later to become a satellite of KXLF-TV in Butte[8] (eventually becoming KBZK), while KYUS was sold to Stephen Marks in 1995[9] (originally proposed to become a satellite of KXGN-TV in Glendive,[9] KYUS now simulcasts KULR-TV from Billings). Following the sale of KCTZ, KSVI's programming was carried on translators K26DE (channel 26) in Bozeman and K43DU (channel 43) in Butte;[10] this ended when KWYB signed on in 1996. Channel 6 also, at its sign-on, inherited Billings translator station K25BP, which was originally intended to improve KOUS' signal in Billings.[6]

KSVI added a secondary affiliation with Fox in April 1994; this was primarily to carry the network's NFL coverage,[11] but 15 hours a week of other Fox programs, such as Married... with Children and The Simpsons, were aired in overnight and weekend timeslots not programmed by ABC.[12] Following this deal, cable systems in the Billings area removed Foxnet from their lineups.[13] The secondary Fox affiliation ended when channel 4 returned to the air in August 1995 as Fox affiliate KHMT under a local marketing agreement with KSVI.[14] Also in June 1995, channel 6 added a secondary affiliation with UPN (it had carried the first season of the network's Star Trek: Voyager on a standalone basis before signing as a formal secondary affiliate that June).[15] this affiliation, which was eventually shared with KHMT,[16] continued[17] until UPN closed down in 2006.

Big Horn Communications sold KSVI to Great Trails Broadcasting Corporation for $17.37 million in 1997.[18] The following year, Great Trails exited broadcasting and sold the station (and its LMA with KHMT), along with WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Maryland, and WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Quorum Broadcasting Company for $65 million.[19] Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired Quorum for $230 million in December 2003.[20]

News operation

KSVI launched a news operation, shared with sister station KHMT, on April 18, 2002.[21] After 18 months, the newscasts were canceled in September 2003, following Nexstar taking control of the stations in advance of its purchase of Quorum.[22] Though the news operation had won Montana Broadcasters Association and Associated Press awards during its run, it was not successful in the ratings, as KSVI's newscasts trailed KTVQ (channel 2) and KULR-TV (channel 8) by a substantial margin.[23] Nexstar said that shutting down the news operation was necessary to keep the stations profitable.[22][23]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KSVI[24]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
6.1 720p16:9KSVI-DTMain KSVI programming / ABC
6.2 480iMysteryMontana CW
6.3 BounceIon Mystery
6.4 4:3AntennaAntenna TV

Translators

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for KSVI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "Channel Lineup Glendive" (PDF). Mid-Rivers Communications. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  3. "Local TV Listings, TV Schedules and TV Guides". TV Passport. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  4. Johnson, John C. "Montana Radio and TV Photos". John in Arizona. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  5. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1994 (PDF). 1994. p. C-41. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  6. Smith, Doug (December 1993). "TV News" (PDF). VHF-UHF Digest. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  7. Smith, Doug (August 1993). "TV News" (PDF). VHF-UHF Digest. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 27, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  8. Caton, William F. (September 17, 1993). "In Re Application of BIG HORN COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (Assignor) and KCTZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (Assignee) For Consent to Assign the License for Station KCTZ(TV), Channel 7, Bozeman, Montana". Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  9. Caton, William F. (February 27, 1995). "In re Application of Big Horn Communications, Inc. (Assignor) and KYUS Broadcasting Corporation (Assignee) For Consent to Assign the License for Station KYUS-TV, Channel 3 Miles City, Montana" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  10. Smith, Doug (April 1994). "TV News" (PDF). VHF-UHF Digest. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  11. "Fox's growing family" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. April 18, 1994. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  12. Smith, Doug (December 1994). "TV News" (PDF). VHF-UHF Digest. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  13. Smith, Doug (July 1994). "TV News" (PDF). VHF-UHF Digest. pp. 5–6. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  14. "Re: MM Docket Nos. 91-211, 87-8, 94-150, 92-51 and 87-154" (PDF). Electronic Comment Filing System. Federal Communications Commission. July 8, 1997. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  15. Flint, Joe (June 26, 1995). "UPN extends affil reach". Variety. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  16. "UPN Affiliate Stations (Montana)". UPN.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 1999. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  17. "UPN Affiliate Stations (Montana)". UPN.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2006. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  18. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. June 23, 1997. p. 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  19. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. November 16, 1998. p. 65. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  20. "Nexstar completes $230M buy of Quorum Broadcast". Dallas Business Journal. December 31, 2003. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  21. "Falstad Column: Kmart, Penske will close 550 tire centers". Billings Gazette. April 13, 2002. Archived from the original on June 5, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2015. KSVI, the Billings ABC affiliate, and KHMT, the Fox Television affiliate licensed in Hardin, are teaming up on a local newscast which starts Thursday evening…
  22. Falstad, Jan (September 30, 2003). "KULR sold; ABC-6/Fox-4 drop local news". Billings Gazette. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  23. Eggerton, John (October 5, 2003). "Nexstar Nixes Newscasts". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  24. "RabbitEars TV Query for KSVI". Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
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