KSNB-TV
 | |
| Lincoln/Grand Island, Nebraska | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Superior, Nebraska |
| Branding | 10/11 Central Nebraska |
| Channels |
Digital: 4 (VHF) Virtual: 4 (PSIP) |
| Translators |
K18CD-D 18 Lincoln KWAZ-LP 35 Lincoln KOLN 10.2 Lincoln KGIN 11.2 Grand Island |
| Affiliations |
MyNetworkTV Me-TV (secondary) Antenna TV (DT2) |
| Owner |
Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | October 1, 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning | Superior, NeBraska or KanSas-NeBraska as Superior is just a few miles from the state line. |
| Sister station(s) | KOLN, WOWT |
| Former callsigns | KHTL-TV (1965–1974) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1965–2009) Digital: 34 (UHF, c. 2004–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Primary: ABC (1965–1996, as satellite of KHGI) Fox (1996–2009) silent (2009-2011) 3ABN (2011-2012) Antenna TV (on DT1; 2012–2013) Secondary: UPN (to 2005) Ion Television (2000s) |
| Transmitter power | 23.5 kW |
| Height | 278 m |
| Facility ID | 21161 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°45′7″N 97°27′4″W / 40.75194°N 97.45111°W |
| Website | www.11011centralnebraska.com |
KSNB-TV is the MyNetworkTV and Me-TV-affiliated television station for Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska. Licensed to Superior, it broadcasts on VHF channel 4 from a transmitter located near York. Owned by Gray Television, it is sister to Lincoln CBS affiliate KOLN and its satellite KGIN in nearby Grand Island, and is operated out of KOLN's facility on North 40th Street in Lincoln. Since KSNB's signal is weak in Lincoln, it is carried on KOLN and KGIN's digital subcarriers. The station also operates two translators in Lincoln, K18CD-D digital channel 18 and KWAZ-LP analog channel 35.
History
Early history
KSNB signed on the air on October 1, 1965 as KHTL-TV, and was part of the ABC-affiliated Nebraska Television Network (NTN) alongside KHOL-TV (now KHGI-TV) in Kearney, KHPL-TV (now KWNB-TV) in Hayes Center and KHQL-TV in Albion (later joined by KHGI-CA in North Platte). The callsign was changed to KSNB-TV on June 3, 1974.[1] During the 1980s, the chain was rebranded as NTV; around this time, KCNA-TV (the former KHQL) was spun off (the station is now Lincoln-based KLKN).
Fox affiliation
In September 1996, KSNB dropped ABC for Fox, changing its parent station from KHGI to KTVG.[2] By this time, KSNB was owned by Colins Broadcasting Corporation, while KTVG was owned by Hill Broadcasting Company. Both were operated by Pappas Telecasting Companies, owner of KHGI, under a time brokerage agreement.
During the early 2000s, KSNB and KTVG would pick up a secondary affiliation with Pax (which was renamed i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005 and Ion Television on January 29, 2007); the Ion affiliation was later discontinued. It was also during this time that the station carried programs from UPN — that was until KOLN/KGIN launched a UPN-affiliated subchannel on September 1, 2005.[3] The network shut down a year later in favor of The CW, which was seen on KCWL-TV channel 51 until 2009, when it became KFXL-TV and started simulcasting KSNB/KTVG.
Prior to June 2009, the stations were identified on-air as "Nebraska Fox 4 & 17". KSNB and KTVG began broadcasting network programming in high-definition on January 1, 2009 prior to the broadcast of the Orange Bowl.
KSNB was hampered by opting to return to channel 4 after the June 12, 2009 transition date (its digital signal had broadcast on UHF channel 34 before then), as the issue of lower VHF frequencies not transmitting well in digital (along with KSNB being one of the few stations digitally on channel 4 in the country) meant the station's coverage area was less than what had been mapped, and the lack of viewers with VHF-optimized digital antennas further complicated the situation. This likely led Pappas to switch Lincoln's KCWL from The CW to Fox as KFXL-TV, in order to maintain Fox service to southern Nebraska in a way that KSNB could not. In August 2009, KFXL became the main station, and all three stations became branded as "KFXL, Fox Nebraska".
Shutdown and transition
The time brokerage agreement between Pappas Telecasting and Colins Broadcasting Corporation expired on November 30, 2009. As a result, KSNB and its two translators were removed from the Fox Nebraska network and shut down on December 1 (a third Colins-owned translator, K17CI in Beatrice, Nebraska, had left the air on June 12, 2009).[4] KTVG soon followed in April 2010, leaving KFXL as the market's sole Fox station.
In 2010, Colins then put the dormant KSNB license up for sale.[5][6] The station was broadcasting intermittently as an affiliate of the Three Angels Broadcasting Network.[7] On June 23, 2011, Colins Broadcasting filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission[8] to increase the ERP of the station to 23.5 kW, moving the transmitter site to the existing tower of FM radio station KTMX, near York, roughly 50 miles (80km) northeast of the current site.
Sale to Gray Television and MyNetworkTV affiliation
On November 21, 2012, it was announced that Gray Television, the owners of KOLN/KGIN, would acquire KSNB for $1.25 million. The Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market has only five full-power stations (KOLN/KGIN and KHGI/KWNB are both counted as single stations for ratings and regulatory purposes), not enough to legally permit a duopoly. Colins and Gray sought a "failed station" waiver to allow the acquisition to move forward.[9] The station deal includes Lincoln translators K18CD and KWAZ-LP. On February 15, 2013, the FCC granted the assignment of license to Gray, with the sale officially completed on February 25.[10][11]
KSNB aired programming from Antenna TV in the interim on channels 4.1 and 4.2 from the new licensed facilities near York, as well as on K18CD-D 18.1 and 18.2 in Lincoln, and analog KWAZ-LP 35 in Lincoln. The affiliation agreement with Antenna TV was exclusively intended for the station's second digital subchannel, but was carried on the primary digital channel as well while the station ownership changed hands. On April 1, 2013, the station took the MyNetworkTVaffiliation previously held by the second digital subchannels of both KOLN and KGIN.[12][13] It also resumed a general entertainment programming schedule and introduced increased local programming, including the expected addition of local high school sports coverage.[14]
Digital television
Digital channels
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KSNB | Main KSNB-TV programming / MyNetworkTV/Me-TV |
| 4.2 | 480i | 4:3 | Antenna TV |
Newscasts
With the sale to Gray Television, KSNB began to air two half-hour daily newscasts produced by KOLN: an early evening broadcast at 5:30 p.m. on weeknights and a nightly primetime newscast at 9:00 p.m. Both newscasts, which debuted on April 1, 2013, are broadcast in high definition and originate from KOLN's studios on North 40th Street on the northeast side of Lincoln.[13]
News team
Current on-air staff[15]
- Anchors
- Natalie Wood - Weeknights at 9:00 p.m.
- Jeff Packer - Weeknights at 9:00 p.m.
- Eamon O'Meara - weekends at 9:00 p.m.; also video journalist
- Cassie Hager - weekends at 9:00 p.m.; also video journalist
- Jon Vanderford - host of Pure Nebraska; also producer
- 10/11 Weather
- Brandon Rector (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weeknights at 5:30 p.m.
- Ken Siemek - Chief Meteorologist; Monday through Thursday at 9:00 p.m.
- Tony DeGrand- meteorologist; Fridays, Weekends at 9:00 p.m.
- Sports team
- Jeff Packer - sports anchor; weeknights at 9:00 p.m.
- Matt Santa Maria - sports videojournalist
- Adam Krueger - sports videojournalist
- Dave Polzin - sports videojournalist
- Michael Bennett - sports producer
- Reporters
- Cassie Anderson - video journalist
- Kristen Bauer - video journalist
- Owen Jensen - video journalist
- David Jespersen - special report coordinator; also reporter
- Megan Johnson - Grand Island bureau video journalist
- Stephanie Morrissey - videojournalist; also producer
- Lance Schwartz - special projects coordinator
Translators
KSNB-TV repeats its programming on two translator stations both of which are licensed to Lincoln.
| Active translators | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Channel | Founded | First air date | Facility ID | ERP | Status |
| K18CD-D | Digital: 18 (UHF) | 1988 | 1999 | 21165 | 15 kW | On air |
| KWAZ-LP | Analog: 35 (UHF) | 1989 (as K22CX) | 2007 | 21167 | 0.236 kW | On air at reduced power |
References
- ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. June 24, 1974. p. 70. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ↑ "RESPONSE OF PAPPAS TELECASTING OF CENTRAL NEBRASKA, HILL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC., AND FANT BROADCASTING COMPANY OF NEBRASKA, INC. REGARDING LOCAL MARKETING AGREEMENTS" (PDF). Electronic Comment Filing System. Federal Communications Commission. July 8, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
- ↑ Korbelik, Jeff (July 13, 2005). "KOLN/KGIN-TV to launch UPN channel". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
- ↑ "KSNB-TV signs off for final time". The Superior Express. December 1, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
- ↑ northpine.con Broadcasting News, December 28, 2010.
- ↑ FCC records: "KSNB-TV, Superior, Nebraska (Facility ID No. 21161), STA – Exhibit, December 2010"
- ↑ FCC: COLINS BROADCASITNG CORPORATION, KSNB-DT TV4, Superior, Nebraska, Quarterly List of Issue – Responsive Programming (Third Quarter 2012 – July 1, 2012 thru September 30, 2012)
- ↑
- ↑ Gray Lines Up 2nd Station In Lincoln, NE, TVNewsCheck, November 26, 2012.
- ↑ Consent to Assignment Application
- ↑ Consummation Notice
- ↑ Gray TV Plans to Add MyNet to KNSB Lincoln, Broadcasting & Cable, November 28, 2012.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Gray Television Buys KSNB Lincoln, Neb., TVNewsCheck, February 25, 2013.
- ↑ FCC Purchase Agreement, November 21, 2012.
- ↑ News Team
External links
- Official website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KSNB-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K18CD
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KWAZ-LP
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KSNB-TV
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