| Missoula, Montana | |
|---|---|
| Branding | ABC 23 ABC 42 |
| Channels | Digital: 23 (UHF) |
| Translators | KTMF-LP 42 Kalispell K19GD Kalispell K14LT Polson K11KE Woods Bay |
| Affiliations | ABC Fox (DT2) |
| Owner | Max Media, LLC (MMM License, LLC) |
| First air date | November 16, 1991 |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 23 (UHF, 1991-2009) Digital: 36 (UHF) |
| Transmitter power | 92.6 kW |
| Height | 642 m |
| Facility ID | 14675 |
| Website | www.abcmontana.com |
KTMF is a full-service television station in Missoula, Montana, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 23 as an affiliate of ABC. Founded April 12, 1989, the station is owned by Max Media of Montana. The station's signal is rebroadcast on station KTMF-LP channel 42 in Kalispell and on three other low-power translator stations in the Flathead Lake area of northwestern Montana.
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On April 12, 1989, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted an original construction permit to Continental Television Network (CTN) for a full-service station on channel 23 to serve Missoula. The station, at first known by its application identification number, 881130KG, soon took the call letters KLFV, but before the station went on air, had changed calls again, this time to KTMF. The station was issued a license on February 28, 1991 and signed on later that year. This made Missoula one of the last cities in the nation to get full service from all three major networks. Previously, ABC had been relegated to limited clearances on KECI-TV and KPAX-TV, or via cable from KXLY-TV in Spokane.
In February 2001, CTN sold KTMF, along with KTMF-LP in Kalispell, KWYB in Butte, KWYB-LP in Bozeman 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 KTMF and its other stations, to debut in early 2002.[1] They launched the newscast, produced by Independent News Network of Davenport, Iowa and branded Big Sky News, in October 2002, [2] 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 1,175 miles (1,900 km) away, with only one reporter actually assigned to and located in Missoula.
Max Media launched another attempt at a regional newscast for KTMF and its other stations in February 2005, this time branded Montana News Network but this time it was produced out of KFBB in Great Falls.
On January 6, 1992, the FCC granted an original construction permit to CTN for a low-power station on channel 59 to serve Kalispell. The station was given callsign K59EQ and after an expired construction permit and a couple of extensions of the new permit, K59EQ was licesnsed on July 11, 1995. The station changed its calls to KTMF-LP later in the same year.
In February 2001, CTN sold the station to Max Media of Montana as part of the same transaction as KTMF and participated in the same newscasts as KTMF.
KTMF-LP was granted a permit to move to channel 42 in October 2003 and as of August 2006, the station had completed the move, but had not applied for a license to operate on the new channel.
On May 27, 2010, KTMF-LP was granted a construction permit to flash-cut from analog to digital on channel 42. No word on when the flash-cut will commence. [3]
On September 26, 2001, the FCC granted a construction permit to build KTMF-DT on UHF channel 36. The station received Special Temporary Authority (STA) on April 22, 2001 to broadcast at reduced power. KTMF has elected to remain on channel 23 once the transition to digital television is completed.
On February 17, 2009, KTMF shut off their analog transmitter, and began broadcasting KTMF-DT on UHF channel 23.
KTMF airs Fox programming on a subchannel.[4]
As an ABC affiliate, KTMF airs most of the network schedule. ABC's 6:30 PM network newscast, World News with Diane Sawyer, airs at 4:30 PM on KTMF (Montana is in the Mountain Time Zone, two hours behind the East Coast.) KTMF airs Nightline one-half hour after the 10 PM local evening news ends and fills the overnight schedule with World News Now and America This Morning.
KTMF broadcasts very little local news. The Montana News Network regional newscast no longer airs on KTMF, so there is no early evening local newscast. The late local news, called 10@10, is a 10-minute newscast summarizing local weather and sports.
KTMF can be seen in other parts of western Montana on the following translator stations:
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