KSNT

KSNT

Topeka, Kansas
City of license	Topeka, Kansas
Branding	27 KSNT (general) Kansas First News (news) Fox 43 KTMJ (on DT2)
Slogan	Complete Local Coverage
Channels	Digital: 27 (UHF)
Subchannels	27.1 NBC 27.2 Fox
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	LIN Media, LLC (LIN License Company, LLC)
First air date	December 28, 1967
Call letters' meaning	Kansas State Network Topeka
Sister station(s)	KTKA-TV KTMJ-CD KSNW
Former callsigns	KTSB (1967–1982)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 27 (UHF, 1967–2009) Digital: 28 (UHF)
Former affiliations	ABC (per program, 1967–1983) The CW (on DT2, 2006–2008)
Transmitter power	77.9 kW
Height	320 m
Facility ID	67335
Transmitter coordinates	39°5′34″N 95°47′4″W / 39.09278°N 95.78444°W / 39.09278; -95.78444
Website	KansasFirstNews.com

KSNT is the NBC-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter at its studios on Northwest 27th Street (U.S. 24) near the Kiro section of Topeka. Owned by LIN Media, the station is sister to and shares facilities with Class A Fox affiliate KTMJ-CD, it also operates ABC affiliate KTKA-TV under a shared services agreement with Vaughan Media, LLC Syndicated programming on KSNT includes: Ellen, Dr. Phil, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

On cable, KSNT is carried on analog channel 7 in standard definition and digital channel 2007 in high definition on Cox Communications in Topeka, on analog channel 8 in standard definition and digital channel 208 in high definition on Knology in the Lawrence area, and on analog channel 8 in standard definition on RESNET in Lawrence.

Digital Television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSNT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 28 to its former analog-era UHF channel 27.^[2][3][4]

History

It debuted on December 28, 1967 as KTSB, originally owned by Ralph C. Wilson Jr., founding owner of the Buffalo Bills NFL football team. It was Topeka's second commercial television station and the first full-powered UHF station in Kansas. The station has been an NBC affiliate from the first day. Unlike most then two-station markets, KTSB did not take a formal secondary affiliation with ABC but did clear a few shows from that network. It had little need to air many ABC shows because KMBC-TV in Kansas City and KQTV in St. Joseph both decently cover Topeka. In any case, KTKA got the ABC affiliation when it began operations in 1983.

In 1982, George Hatch (owner of the Kansas State Network based at KARD-TV in Wichita—now KSNW) bought the station. Later that year, this station was renamed KSNT as part of an effort to help viewers think of the KSN stations as part of one large network. During the next few years, the station referred to itself as KSN but only did limited simulcasting with KSNW and the other three KSN stations in Western Kansas, but still provides stories from the northeast area to KSNW and the other KSN stations and KSNW providing central and western Kansas news stories to KSNT today, in addition to University of Kansas Jayhawks basketball games and NBC programming. While in its role as airing partial simulcasts of KSNW programming, it used the Hello News music package until 1986.

George Lilly (SJL Communications) purchased the station from Hatch in 1990 along with KSNW and eventually dismantled part of the microwave system that linked the two stations in a cost cutting effort. In 1995, Lee Enterprises picked up the KSN group including KSNT. In 2000, Emmis Communications acquired the KSN stations but eventually sold it back to Montecito Broadcasting Group (formerly SJL Communications) for $259 million.

It was announced in April 2006 that KSNT-DT2 would be Northeast Kansas' home of the The CW beginning on September 18. On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced the sale of all of its stations (KSNT, KSNW and its satellites, plus KHON-TV in Honolulu and its satellites, and KOIN in Portland) to New Vision Television. The sale closed on November 1 of that year.^[5] In July 2008, New Vision purchased low-powered Fox affiliate KTMJ, and in November, replaced The CW programming on KSNT-DT2 with a digital broadcast of that channel since it did not air one of its own due to being a Class A station. KTMJ moved from its original studios on Southwest Southgate Drive in Topeka to KSNT's facilities.

On February 4, 2011, Free State Communications announced that would sell KTKA-TV to PBC Broadcasting, which also owns stations in Youngstown, OH and Savannah, GA. Both operations are part of shared service and local marketing agreements with stations owned by KSNT's owner New Vision Television in their respective markets, suggesting that KTKA would be structured under the same sort of arrangement with KSNT. Despite objections to the sale by the American Cable Association that the sale could give the virtual triopoly too much leverage in retransmission consent negotiations, leaving the possibility of the blackout of three of Topeka's network affiliates should retrans negotiations with area pay television providers break down in the future, the FCC approved the sale of KTKA to PBC Broadcasting for $1.5 million on July 21, 2011.^[6]

On May 7, 2012, LIN TV Corporation announced that it will acquire the New Vision Television station group, including KSNT and KTMJ-CD, for $330.4 million and the assumption of $12 million in debt. The agreement includes operational control of KTKA-TV through the existing shared services agreement with KTKA's owner PBC Broadcasting.^[7] On October 2, the FCC approved the proposed sale to LIN TV.^[8] The transition is expected to close by within the 4th quarter of 2012. The deal would mark a re-entry into Kansas for LIN, who briefly owned the licenses of Wichita ABC affiliate KAKE and its satellites in 2000, but never held operational control of the stations.

Programming

Syndicated programming currently featured on KSNT includes Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Entertainment Tonight, Criminal Minds, Live! with Kelly and Michael and Inside Edition.

News operation

Currently, KSNT broadcasts a total of 18½ hours of local newscasts each week (with 3½ hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

On July 30, 2011, KSNT and KTMJ-CA combined its news operations with KTKA-TV, under the banner name of Kansas First News; the newscasts are based out of the KSNT studios. The arrangement is similar to other virtual triopoly joint news operations such as Raycom Media/MCG Capital's Hawaii News Now in Honolulu, Hawaii and Granite/Malara's Indiana's NewsCenter in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Northland's NewsCenter in Duluth, Minnesota.^[9] On Saturday, May 4th, 2013, Kansas First News switched to HD.

News/station presentation

Kansas First News logo (2011–present)

Newscast titles

• Action News 27 (1973–1977)
• Pacesetter News (1977–1982)
• KSN NewsCenter (1982–1997)
• KSNT News
• 27 News (1990s–2005 and 2010–2011)
• KSNT 27 News (2005–2010)
• Kansas First News (2011–present)

Station slogans

• "Your Pacesetter Station" (late 1970s)
• "Hello Kansas... KSN Loves You" (early-mid 1980s; used in a series of promos using Frank Gari's "Hello News")
• "Turn to KSN" (late 1980s)
• "Starting a New Tradition"
• "Coverage You Can Count On" (1996–2002)
• "Clear, Accuate, To The Point" (2002–2008)
• "Complete Local Coverage" (2008–2013)
• "For More News, Weather, and Sports, KansasFirstNews.com" (2013-present)

News team

Anchors^[10]

• Kevin Boughton - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.
• Nate Hill - news director; weeknights at 5:00 p.m.
• Christina Frank - weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Jared Broyles - weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Natalie Davis - weekday mornings (5:00-7:00 a.m.)

Storm Track Weather Team^[10]

• Matt Miller (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Tom Hagen (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (5:00-7:00 a.m.)
• Kyle Borchert - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.

Sports team^[10]

• Alex Wiebel - sports director; weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Matt Gasper - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.

Reporters^[10]

• Bob Beatty - political analyst
• Kevin Boughton - general assignment reporter
• Katie Sampson - general assignment reporter; fill-in anchor
• Don Bolerjack - general assignment reporter
• Nicolette Schleisman - general assignment reporter

Former on-air staff

• Campbell Brown (later co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today, and anchor of CNN's Campbell Brown)
• Steve Doocy (now co-host of Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends)
• Bill Karins (now NBC News chief meteorologist of Weekend Today)
• Alycia Lane (now weekday morning anchor of KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, CA)
• Chris Earl - sports reporter (1997–1998, then at WEAU-TV, KDLH, back at WEAU-TV, now at KCRG-TV)

References

External links

• Kansas First News| KSNT, KTKA, & KTMJ
• Kansas First News mobile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KSNT