KUMV-TV

KUMV-TV
(semi-satellite of KMOT,
Minot, North Dakota)

Williston, North Dakota
United States
Branding KUMV-TV (general)
NBC North Dakota (regional)
West Dakota Fox (on DT2)
Me-TV North Dakota (on DT3)
Slogan Your News Leader
Channels Digital: 8 (VHF)
Virtual: 8 (PSIP)
Subchannels 8.1 NBC
8.2/38.1 Fox
8.3 Me-TV
Translators KXND-LD 38.1 Williston (relays KUMV-DT2)
Affiliations NBC (primary until 1986; exclusive 1986-present)
Fox (on DT2)
Owner Gray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
First air date February 6, 1957
Call letters' meaning Upper Missouri Valley
Sister station(s) KFYR-TV, KMOT, KQCD-TV, KVLY-TV
Former channel number(s) Analog: 8 (VHF, 1957-2009)
Former affiliations Secondary: CBS (1957-1969), ABC (1957-1986)
Transmitter power 6 kW
Height 323 meters
Facility ID 41429
Transmitter coordinates 48°8′2.3″N 103°51′37.9″W / 48.133972°N 103.860528°W
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information:
(semi-satellite of KMOT,
Minot, North Dakota) Profile

(semi-satellite of KMOT,
Minot, North Dakota) CDBS
Website www.kumv.com
www.westdakotafox.com

KUMV-TV, channel 8, is the NBC affiliate for Williston, North Dakota. The station operates as a semi-satellite of KMOT in Minot, North Dakota. This outlet broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 (or virtual channel 8.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter west of Williston near the North Dakota/Montana border. KUMV identifies itself as a station in its own right, but simulcasts all programming from KMOT. However, KUMV airs local news inserts into KMOT's weeknight newscasts, airs separate commercials and station identifications. The station maintains its studios and advertising sales office at the intersection of Main Street (U.S. 2 Business) and 6th Street East in Williston. The Montana portion KUMV's viewing area is within the Mountain time zone, and the station airs 6 p.m. starts to primetime rather than the usual 7 p.m. for the time zone. The station can also be seen on Midcontinent cable channel 5 in Williston, and cable channel 8 in most other areas. There is a high definition feed provided on Midcontinent digital channel 605.

There is a high definition feed provided on Midcontinent digital channel 607 and SRT digital channel 509. KUMV is owned by Gray Television. KUMV is a part of the four station NBC North Dakota network of NBC affiliates in central and western North Dakota, originating from flagship station KFYR-TV in Bismarck, North Dakota. The NBC North Dakota network relays NBC network programming and other programs from KFYR across central and western North Dakota, as well as bordering counties in Montana and South Dakota.

Syndicated programming on KUMV includes Access Hollywood, The Dr. Oz Show, The Doctors, The Insider, Jeopardy!, Live! with Kelly and Michael, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, among others.

The over-the-air signal of KUMV reaches portions of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, but is no longer available on any cable systems there. KUMV is also carried in the Glendive, Montana market through cable television; and until 2013, it operated a translator, K13PL in that city. CBS affiliate KXGN-TV in Glendive also has a digital subchannel carrying NBC programming, but it is not associated with KUMV and airs separate programming that includes newscasts from Billings NBC affiliate KULR-TV.

The Fox-affiliated subchannel can also be seen on cable channel 4 in most areas and Midcontinent channel 3 in Williston. There is a high definition feed provided on Midcontinent digital channel 604 (603 in Williston) and SRT digital channel 504. The cable channels previously carried KXND until their programming moved to the NBC North Dakota network's subchannels.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
8.1 1080i 16:9 KUMV-DT Main programming / NBC
8.2 720p 16:9 KXND Fox
8.3 480i 4:3 Me-TV Me-TV

KUMV-TV's second digital subchannel is also simulcast on KXND-LD (channel 38) in Williston.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KUMV-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on February 16, 2009, the day prior to the original date in which full-power television stations in the United States were set to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later rescheduled for June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 52, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 8 for post-transition operations.[2]

History

KUMV signed on February 6, 1957. The Upper Missouri Valley Television Corporation won the initial license in 1955, but soon afterward the Federal Communications Commission collapsed all of central and western North Dakota into one giant television market. Accordingly, the station was sold to the Meyer family of Bismarck, owners of KFYR-TV, just before it signed on. It was a semi-satellite of KFYR for a year, until it became a semi-satellite of KMOT.

KMOT signed on January 23, 1958 as the third station in the Meyer group, and KUMV became a semi-satellite of KMOT.

Until KBMY/KMCY signed on in 1986, the Meyer stations carried a secondary affiliation with ABC. Until KXMD-TV signed on in 1969, KUMV carried CBS on a per-program basis.

In the late 1970s, KUMV became one of the first stations to be transmitted via terrestrial cable television into most of Saskatchewan; it even maintained a sales office in Saskatoon, as did KXMD and ABC affiliate KFBB-TV of Great Falls, Montana. This arrangement continued until 1986 when the signal was replaced by a satellite signal from WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit.

The Meyers sold off their broadcast holdings in 1997, with the television stations going to Sunrise Television Corporation. Sunrise sold them to The Wicks Group of Companies of New York City in 2002.

Hoak Media bought the NBC North Dakota network in July 2006, as well as KVLY-TV in Fargo and KSFY in Sioux Falls and its satellite stations. On November 17, 2006, the sale was approved by the FCC.

KUMV began broadcasting digital-only on February 16, 2009.[3]

KUMV picked up Me-TV in April 2013, with an official launch date of May 1, 2013.[4]

On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including KUMV-TV, to Gray Television. Gray initially planned, through Excalibur Broadcasting, to also acquire Fox affiliate KXND and its Williston translator from Prime Cities Broadcasting and operate it under a shared services agreement, which would have made it a sister station to KUMV.[5] On March 25, 2014, Prime Cities Broadcasting requested that the FCC dismiss the sale of KXND to Excalibur;[6] Gray would instead acquire the non-license assets of KXND, as well as the license of Williston repeater KXND-LP.[7] The sale of the Hoak stations was completed on June 13;[8] at that time, Gray shut down KXND's full-power signal and moved Fox programming to the second digital subchannel of KUMV.[9]

Newscasts

KUMV airs its own newscasts from Monday through Friday at 6 pm and 10 pm. The first 10 minutes (which includes regional news and weather) originate at KMOT in Minot, with weekend newscasts on both KMOT and KUMV originating from KFYR-TV. KUMV has its own news and sports anchor who fill the remaining 20 minutes.

From 2002 to 2007, KMOT was forced to cut its newscasts to 20 minutes while simulcasting the first 10 minutes of KFYR-TV's 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts, much as KUMV does now. In January 2007, KMOT began broadcasting a full half-hour of news at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m once again. It also added a weatherman and photographer/reporter to the staff.

The stations occasionally share stories with co-owned KVLY-TV. The five stations simulcast key North Dakota sport events under the NBC North Dakota brand name and share certain equipment, such as remote broadcasting vehicles.

NBC North Dakota has long dominated the ratings in western North Dakota as a whole; the main stations and their semi-satellites count as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes. However, KMOT has spent most of its history as a distant runner-up to KXMC-TV in the northern half of the market.

The Fox-affiliated subchannel debuted "West Dakota Fox News at Nine" during October 2014, originating from KFYR's studios in Bismarck.

See also

References

  1. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KUMV
  2. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  3. ↑ Answers to DTV Questions, KFYR-TV, January 19, 2009]
  4. ↑ http://northpine.com/
  5. ↑ "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ Paxson, Ann Thomas (March 25, 2014). "Re: Prime Cities Broadcasting, Inc. Request for Dismissal of Group Application for Assignment of Broadcast Station License(s)…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Gray Adds North And South Dakota TVs". TVNewsCheck. May 1, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved 13 June, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Gray Completes Hoak-Prime Station Buy". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 16 June 2014.

External links