KXMC-TV

KXMC-TV

Minot, North Dakota United States
Branding	KXMC CBS 13 (general) KX Television (regional) KX News (newscasts)
Slogan	Your Eye on Dakota
Channels	Digital: 13 (VHF) Virtual: 13 (PSIP)
Subchannels	13.1 CBS 13.2 CW+ 13.3 Laff 13.4 Escape
Affiliations	CBS (Secondary through 1986)
Owner	Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date	April 3, 1953 (1953-04-03)
Call letters' meaning	KX Television Magic City
Sister station(s)	KXMA-TV, KXMB-TV, KXMD-TV
Former callsigns	KCJB-TV (1953–1958)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 13 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital: 45 (UHF, until 2009)
Former affiliations	Both secondary: ABC (1953–1986) NTA (1956–1961)
Transmitter power	16.1 kW
Height	334 m
Facility ID	55685
Transmitter coordinates	48°3′0″N 101°23′32″W / 48.05000°N 101.39222°W / 48.05000; -101.39222 (KXMC-TV)
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.myndnow.com

KXMC-TV, channel 13, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Minot, North Dakota. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 (or virtual channel 13.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southwest of Minot. The station can also be seen on Midcontinent cable channel 3 in the Minot area, cable channel 13 in most other areas and SRT cable channel 3.

There is a high definition feed provided on Midcontinent digital channel 603 and SRT digital channel 503. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it has studios on the intersection of 2nd Street SE and 18th Avenue SE in Minot. KXMC is the oldest station and served as the flagship of the KX Television regional network until the 2000s, when master control and internal operations were moved to KXMB-TV in Bismarck. While being one of two full-fledged stations of the KX network, KXMC is actually considered a semi-satellite of KXMB. It clears all network and syndicated programming as provided through its parent but airs separate newscasts, station identifications, and commercial inserts. KXMD-TV in Williston simulcasts KXMC while KXMA-TV in Dickinson simulcasts KXMB. KXMB and KXMC often share news stories (along with ABC affiliates WDAY-TV in Fargo and WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks), and co-produce joint morning and 5:00 p.m. newscasts seen on all four stations. The four stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. Dish Network only provides KXMC, while DirecTV only provides KXMB, as central and western North Dakota's CBS affiliate.

The over-the-air signal of KXMC reaches portions of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but are no longer available on any cable systems there.

Syndicated programming on KXMC includes Dr. Phil, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Entertainment Tonight, Friends, Rachael Ray, among others.

History

KXMC was the first television station in North Dakota, going on the air as KCJB-TV in April 1953. Minot businessman Chester Reiten and Fargo businessman John Boler, owners of KBMB-TV in Bismarck (now KXMB), bought the station in 1958 and changed KCJB's call letters to the current KXMC-TV.

Boler sold his interest in the KX stations to Reiten in 1971. Reiten retired in the 1990s and turned over his interest to his five children: Steve Reiten, Dave Reiten, Kathleen Reiten Hruby, Tim Reiten, and Melanie Reiten Shonkwiler. Tim served as company president.

The KX stations formerly had a secondary affiliation with ABC before full-time ABC affiliate KMCY signed on in 1986. During the late 1950s, the stations were also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[1]

Until 1986, KXMD was carried by cable systems across neighboring Saskatchewan, even operating a sales office in Saskatoon, as did KUMV and Great Falls ABC station KFBB-TV. These arrangements ended in 1986 when the Canadian cable companies were granted permission to replace the North Dakota signals with network affiliates from Detroit and Toledo, Ohio.

KXJB-TV in Fargo was co-owned with the KX stations (though programmed separately) until Boler sold his interest in 1971. The stations still occasionally share stories. After an ice storm on April 6, 1997 caused the KXJB-TV mast to collapse, some cable systems replaced KXJB with KXMC, either temporarily or permanently, to maintain CBS service.

In 2006, the stations began a web portal-like website called KX Net, with each station's website displaying a localized front page. The stations continue to be branded as "KX Television" and as "KX News" on the air, but also use the "KX Net" monkier on the air also. KXNet.com combined the previous domains kxma.com, kxmb.com, kxmc.com and kxmd.com under one umbrella. The original domains are still active. KXNet.com won the 2007 Teddy Award for Best Website and the 2007 Eric Severaid Award for best website small market television in a 6 state region.

In October 2007, KXNet.com along with Midkota Solutions launched DakotaPolitics.com, a web site focusing on North Dakota political news coverage. DakotaPolitics featured profile information, voting records and some analysis. DakotaPolitics also launched weekly tracking polls for the 2008 elections. In 2008 KXNet.com became the first web site in North Dakota to deliver a live news broadcast over the Internet when they streamed a 1-hour special coverage of the 2008 Presidential Caucuses from Bismarck.

In July 2008, Reiten Television began a joint agreement to sell television commercial slots on both KXMC and KMCY, Minot's ABC affiliate owned by Forum Communications Company. KXMC houses sales and engineering personnel solely for KMCY's operations.

On June 23, 2011, then anchorman/reporter, Shaun Sipma received a phone call from Minot native, Josh Duhamel who was in Moscow, Russia at the time to pledge his support when his hometown got flooded during KXMC's 24-hour flood coverage.^[2]

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced its $44 million purchase of the Reiten Television stations, including KXMC-TV, on September 17, 2015.^[3] Sale was completed on February 2, 2016.^[4] As result of the acquisition, Nexstar terminated the Joint Sales Agreement with KMCY.^[5]

Satellite stations

To reach viewers throughout vast Minot/Bismarck/Dickinson/Williston Designated Market Area, KXMC extends its over-the-air coverage area through a network of three full-power stations encompassing much of the western and central two-thirds of North Dakota and parts of eastern Montana and northwestern South Dakota, branded as KX Television.

These stations mostly rebroadcast KXMC. However, their full-power licenses allow them to broadcast separate station identifications and local commercial inserts, as well as different programming if desired. KXMB maintains a separate studio facility, which houses its Bismarck newsroom and sales office, and produces separate local newscasts that air nightly KXMB and simulcast on KXMA. KXMD simulcasts KXMC's newscasts.

KXMA simulcasts ABC affiliate KBMY in Bismarck on its second digital subchannel, while KXMD simulcasts KMCY in Minot on its second subchannel (KMCY is a semi-satellite of KBMY.)

Programming

The North Dakota State Fair parade in Minot is aired live every July.

The KX network carries CBS News Up To The Minute (though with public service announcements instead of local commercials), while weekends simulcast the local weather conditions of North Dakota. All four stations provide a formal sign-off, including The Star Spangled Banner, every night at 1:05 a.m. CT/12:05 a.m. MT Tuesday-Saturday mornings and at 1:35 a.m. CT/12:35 a.m. MT on Sunday and Monday mornings.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

KXMC-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power 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 45 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.^[8][9]

News operation

KXMC and KXMB produce separate daily local newscasts at 6 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays, 6 and 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 p.m. on Sundays. KXMD simulcasts KXMC, while KXMA simulcasts KXMB. KXMC produces a morning show at 6 a.m., KX News Morning, and co-produces a 5 p.m. newscast with KXMB. Both are simulcast on all four stations. All of the local newscasts are broadcast in high definition.

For many years, KXMD placed inserts into KXMC's newscasts. However, recent cutbacks have resulted in KXMD's operations being largely merged with those of KXMC, and local inserts have been eliminated.

As a whole, KX Television has long trailed NBC North Dakota in the ratings by a significant margin; the main stations and their satellites are counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes. However, KXMC has historically been well ahead of KMOT in the ratings for the northern part of the market. This was largely because it was the only station airing a full schedule of local news for the northern part of the market. Since Nexstar's acquisition, KXMC no longer produces a full local newscast originating from Minot. Also, KX News Morning has recently surged well ahead of NBC North Dakota's Country Morning Today—the first time in recent memory that NBC North Dakota has lost consecutive ratings periods in any time slot.

See also

• KXMA-TV
• KXMB-TV
• KXMD-TV

References

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXMC
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXMC-TV
• Program Information for KXMC at TitanTV.com