| Helena, Montana | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Beartooth NBC |
| Slogan | News For You |
| Channels | Digital: 12 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 12.1 NBC |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner | Intermountain West Communications Company (Beartooth Communications Company) |
| First air date | January 1, 1958 |
| Call letters' meaning | TeleVision Helena |
| Sister station(s) | KMTF |
| Former callsigns | KXLJ-TV (1958-1962) KBLL-TV (1963-1975) KTCM (1975-1980) KTVG (1980-1985) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1958-2009) Digital: 14 (UHF) |
| Transmitter power | 17.5 kW |
| Height | 713.2 m |
| Facility ID | 5290 |
| Website | www.beartoothnbc.com |
KTVH-DT is a full-service television station serving Helena, Montana and the surrounding area as an NBC affiliate, broadcasting on digital channel 12. The station ceased its analog broadcasts on November 10, 2008. The station is owned by Beartooth Communications Company, a subsidiary of Intermountain West Communications Company of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the flagship station for Beartooth NBC, a network of NBC affiliates in central and western Montana.
KTVH is relayed by KBGF-LP channel 50 (Bresnan cable 6) in Great Falls.
Contents |
KTVH was the first television station in Helena, Montana, signing on the air on January 1, 1958 as an NBC affiliate. The station originally had the call letters KXLJ and was a semi-satellite of KXLF Butte. In December 1962, Bob Magnus and two partners bought the station, weaned it from KXLF, and changed the call letters to KBLL-TV. In 1969, former Montana Governor Tim M. Babcock bought the station and changed the station's call letters to KTCM (Television for the Capitol of Montana). In 1976, KTCM built a new tower and expanded its coverage to include Missoula, Butte, and Great Falls; indeed it became effectively the default NBC affiliate for quite a large part of Montana and remained so until 1986. Babcock sold the station to Lynn Koch in 1979, and the station changed call letters again, this time to KTVG. A few years later, Koch sold the station to Don Bradley, who again changed the call letters to KTVH (TeleVision for Helena), which remain to this day. By 1988, the station was in financial trouble and Bradley sold it to John Raddeck and Big Sky Broadcasting Limited Partnership. Big Sky Broadcasting restored the station's financial health and in 1997, sold KTVH to Beartooth Communications Company, a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company based in Las Vegas, NV.
An original construction permit was granted on November 16, 2004 to Charles C. Townsend, III of Aloha Partners, to build a low-power television station serving Great Falls, Montana. The station being constructed on channel 50 was given call letters K50IQ. In April 2005, Townsend sold the permit to Beartooth Communications, who immediately changed the call letters to KBGF-LP. The station was licensed on December 5, 2005 and is a translator for Helena station KTVH. The station brands as KBGF 50. The station had its own office in Great Falls, but it has since closed.
On December 8, 1997, Sunbelt Communications Company obtained an original construction permit to build a full-service television station in Havre, Montana. KBBJ channel 9 became the first television station for Havre and north central Montana on December 5, 2001 when it was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH. Sunbelt assigned the station's license to subsidiary Beartooth Communication Company in 2005. KBBJ went silent in 2008. On July 8, 2009, Sunbelt requested that the license for KBBJ be cancelled.[1]
Beartooth Communications Company was granted an original construction permit on December 12, 1997 to build a full-service television station to serve Lewistown and surrounding areas in central Montana. On July 18, 2001, KBAO channel 13 was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH, and as Lewistown's first television station. The station expanded its reach when the four translator television stations serving Phillips County in northern Montana became repeaters for KBAO. KBAO went silent in 2008. On July 9, 2009, Sunbelt requested that the license for KBAO be cancelled.[2]
The following stations were rebroadcasting the signal of KBAO prior to going silent:
The station runs a news operation out of KTVH. The Newscasts are weekdays at 6 and 10 PM. Unlike most NBC Affiliates; KTVH does not run morning or weekend newscasts.
On November 10, 2008, KTVH ceased its analog broadcasts on channel 12 and digital broadcasts on channel 14 and began digital broadcasting on channel 12.[3] KTVH is the first station in Helena to broadcast programming in High Definition.
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||