KWYB

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KWYB / KWYB-LP
Butte / Bozeman, Montana
Branding	KWYB ABC18/28
Channels	18 (UHF) analog, 19 (UHF) digital
Translators	KWYB-LP 28 (UHF) Bozeman
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Max Media of Montana (MMM License LLC)
Founded	January 9, 1992
Former affiliations	Network One
Transmitter Power	KWYB: 1780 kW (analog) 125 kW (digital) KWYB-LP: 10 kW (analog) 15 kW (digital)
Height	KWYB: 585 m (analog) 585.2 m (digital) KWYB-LP: 542 m
Facility ID	KWYB: 14674 KWYB-LP: 38576
Website	www.kwyb.com

KWYB is a full-service television station in Butte, Montana, broadcasting locally in analog on UHF channel 18 and in digital on UHF channel 19 as an affiliate of ABC. The station's signal is rebroadcast on KWYB-LP UHF channel 28 in Bozeman. Founded January 9, 1992, the station is owned by Max Media of Montana, under the license name of MMM License LLC.

Contents 1 History 1.1 KWYB-LP history 2 Digital television 3 Programming 4 External links

[edit] History

On January 9, 1992, the FCC granted an original construction permit to Continental Television Network (CTN) for a full-service station on channel 18 to serve Butte. The station, at first known by its application identification number, 910225KE, soon took the call letters KWYB. After several construction permits to replace previously expired ones, the station was issued a license on November 20, 1998.

In February 2001, CTN sold KWYB, along with KWYB-LP in Bozeman, KTMF in Missoula, KTMF-LP in Kalispell and KTGF in Great Falls, to Max Media of Montana. They were the first television station acquisitions in Montana for Max Media.

CTN aired no news on its stations, but soon after Max Media acquired the stations, they began to make plans for a regional newscast for KWYB and its other stations, to debut in early 2002. They launched the newscast, produced by Independent News Network of Davenport, Iowa and branded Big Sky News, in October 2002, [1]] but the newscast generated controversy, in part because it tried to simultaneously serve the needs of five communities over 200 miles (322 km) apart, and in part because the newscast did not actually originate in Montana, but rather, in a city approximately 1,050 miles (1,690 km) away, with only one reporter actually assigned to and located in Butte.

Max Media launched another attempt at a regional newscast for KWYB and its other stations in February 2005, this time branded Montana News Network, but again using Independent News Network. This venture, too, did not last.

[edit] KWYB-LP history

On May 30, 1996, the FCC granted an original construction permit to Louise K. Corbin for a low-power station on channel 28 to serve Bozeman. The station was given callsign K28FB and was quickly built. K28FB was licensed on January 14, 1997. In May 1997, Continental Television Network purchased the station and six months later, changed its calls to KWYB-LP.

In February 2001, CTN sold the station to Max Media of Montana as part of the same transaction as KWYB and participated in the same newscasts as KWYB.

[edit] Digital television

On June 14, 2002, the FCC granted a construction permit to build KWYB-DT on UHF channel 19. The station received Special Temporary Authority (STA) on April 22, 2003 to broadcast at reduced power. As of August 2006, the station has not completed its final digital facilities and continues to broadcast per the STA. KWYB has elected to move to channel 19 once the transition to digital television is completed.

On August 11, 2006, the FCC granted "flash-cut" authorization to KWYB-LD, meaning that on or before August 11, 2009, analog station KWYB-LP would shut down and digital station KWYB-LD would commence broadcasting on channel 28.

[edit] Programming

As an ABC affiliate, KWYB airs most of the network schedule. ABC's 6:30 PM network newscast, World News with Charles Gibson, airs at 4:30 PM on KWYB (Montana is in the Mountain Time Zone, two hours behind the East Coast.) KWYB airs Nightline one-half hour after the 10 PM local evening news ends and fills the overnight schedule with World News Now and ABC World News This Morning.

KWYB broadcasts very little local news. The Montana News Network regional newscast no longer airs on KWYB, so there is no early evening local newscast. The late local news, called 10@10, is a 10-minute newscast summarizing weather and sports.

KWYB functions very much like a satellite of KTMF, as both stations air nearly identical schedules, save for a few differences on Sunday mornings. It is unknown whether or not KTMF and KWYB air the same 10@10 newscast.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KWYB