KFBB-TV

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KFBB-TV
KFBB-TV/KHBB-LP logos
Great Falls, Montana
Branding News Channel 5
Channels Analog: 5 (VHF)

Digital: 8 (VHF)
Translators KHBB-LP 21 Helena
Affiliations ABC (secondary until 1966)
Owner Max Media, LLC
(MMM License II, LLC)
First air date March 21, 1954
Call letters’ meaning Duplicated from radio:
F.A. Buttrey Broadcast Inc.
(original owners of radio station)
Former affiliations CBS (1954-69, secondary from 1966)
DuMont (secondary, 1954-55)
NBC (secondary, 1954-58 and 1969-86)
PBS (Sesame Street, 1969-?)
Transmitter Power 100 kW (analog)
31 kW (digital)
Height 180 m (analog)
143.3 m (digital)
Facility ID 34412
Transmitter Coordinates 47°32′6.5″N, 111°17′5.4″W
Website www.kfbb.com

KFBB-TV is a full-service television station in Great Falls, Montana, broadcasting locally on VHF channel 5 as an affiliate of ABC. The station broadcasts its digital signal on channel 8. Founded March 21, 1954, the station is owned by Max Media of Montana. KFBB-TV is repeated in the Helena area on KHBB-LP channel 21 (UHF), and on several translator stations.

Contents

[edit] History

KFBB-TV began broadcasting on March 21, 1954. As the first television station in Great Falls, KFBB-TV was affiliated with all three major networks, and would broadcast programming from all three until KRTV signed on and took the NBC affiliation in October 1958. KFBB-TV continued to air CBS and ABC programming as a member of the Skyline Network (as the Montana Television Network was then called).

At first KFBB-TV was owned by Wilkins Broadcasting, of which The Anaconda Company owned a 27.5% share. Anaconda, through its Fairmount division, controlled most of the major newspapers in Montana (although not the Great Falls Tribune) and was notorious for manipulating the state's political visions for its own needs. Then in 1959, Anaconda sold its media holdings to Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa. Because of anti-trust concerns, Lee decided to sell KFBB. The station was sold in 1962 to Harriscope Broadcasting, which in 1965 scored a deal for a primary ABC affiliation - Montana's first. The new affiliation took effect on February 1, 1966. Harriscope severed KFBB's links with the Skyline Network (which signed up with KRTV), and sold off the KFBB radio station in February, 1969, but continued to run KFBB-TV, eventually selling it to Donald P. Nathanson in 1977. After affiliating primarily with ABC, the station continued secondary affiliation with CBS until that network switched to KRTV in 1969, and then started running NBC on a per program basis as late as December 1986, when KTGF signed on and took over the NBC affiliation. [1] [2] KFBB also carried Sesame Street for several years, before Montana had a PBS service of its own.

An April 1981 application with the FCC requested transfer of control of the licensee corporation from owner Donald P. Nathanson to his estate, following his death. [3] In early 1982, the station saw a flurry of transfers that saw KFBB-TV moved, first from the Nathanson estate to Advance TV of California, then from Advance TV to Wooster Republican Printing Company of Ohio. Wooster Republican Printing held onto the license through various holding companies (eg., KFBB Corpration, KFBB LLC, Dix Communications) until November 2004, when Max Media of Montana completed the purchase of KFBB-TV from Wooster Republican Printing. Max Media already owned KTGF in the market, and was forced to sell it in order to purchase KFBB-TV, as the Great Falls market was too small to allow a broadcast duopoly.

In June 2003, prior to selling KFBB-TV, Wooster Republican Printing made deep cuts in local news production, ending morning, noon and weekend newscasts. In February 2005, new owner Max Media instituted a regional newscast, branded as Montana News Network, which was produced at KFBB. The regional newscast didn't last long.

[edit] Digital television

The station received its digital television (DTV) allocation from the FCC in April 1997. Originally, KFBB-DT was to be on channel 39 [4], but in June 2001, the FCC agreed to change the allocation to channel 8. [5], and granted the permit to construct digital facilities on March 14, 2002. By the end of April 2002, the station was already on the air [6] and was licensed on November 1, 2002. KFBB-DT has elected to remain on channel 8 once the full-service station transition to DTV is complete in February 2009.

On August 9, 2006, the FCC granted "flash-cut" authorization to KHBB-LD, meaning that on or before August 9, 2009, analog station KHBB-LP would shut down and digital station KHBB-LD would commence broadcasting on channel 21.

[edit] Programming

As an ABC affiliate, KFBB-TV airs most of the network schedule, including ABC Daytime and ABC Primetime programs during the weekdays. Overnights are split between local programming, World News Now and ABC World News This Morning. KFBB-TV airs Nightline immediately following the late local news.

Of the three full-service television stations in Montana owned by Max Media, only KFBB-TV offers a significant schedule of local news. There is a half-hour local newscast at 5:30 PM and a 35-minute newscast at 10:00 PM each weeknight, plus half-hour newscasts at 10:00 PM on the weekends.

Despite the green and blue logos featured on the station's website, the station is currently using an on-air logo identical to ABC affiliate WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio.

[edit] Translators

KFBB-TV is rebroadcast on several translator stations throughout Montana:

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Great Falls market  (Nielsen DMA #191)

Local television stations
KRTV 3 (CBS / MTN, The CW on DT2) - KFBB 5 (ABC) - K08IU / K12DJ / K36DK / K63AQ / K65BR (Global) - KTGF 16 (Ind)
KLMN 26 (Fox) - K31IA 31 (TBN) - KBGF-LP 50 (NBC)

Broadcast television available on cable only:
KUSM 9 (PBS, Bozeman)

Regional cable television stations:
TVMT
v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Helena market (Nielsen DMA #206)

KMTF 10 (The CW) - KTVH 12 (NBC) - KHBB 21 (ABC) - KXLH 25 (CBS/MTN) - KJJC 34 (JCTV) - K41CX 41 (TBN) - K44GE 44 (Ind) - K49EH 49 (PBS)
Broadcast television available on cable only:
KDVR 31 (FOX, Denver)
Regional cable television channels
TVMT
See also: Broadcast Television in Billings, Great Falls, and Missoula
v • d • e
ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Montana
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Montana