KDLT-TV

KDLT-TV
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
United States
Branding KDLT (general)
KDLT News (newscasts)
Slogan We Know What Matters
Channels Digital: 47 (UHF)
(to move to 21 (UHF))
Virtual: 46 (PSIP)
Subchannels 46.1 NBC
46.2 Antenna TV
Affiliations NBC (1960–1969, 1983–present)
Owner Red River Broadcasting
(sale to Gray Television pending)
(Red River Broadcast Company, LLC)
First air date June 12, 1960 (1960-06-12)
Call letters' meaning K-DakotaLand Television (former owners)
Former callsigns KORN-TV (1960–1972)
KXON-TV (1972–1982)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
5 (VHF, 1960–1998)
46 (UHF, 1998–2009)
Former affiliations ABC (1969–1983)
Transmitter power 1000 kW
589 kW (CP)
Height 608 m (1,995 ft)
Facility ID 55379
Transmitter coordinates 43°30′18″N 96°33′22″W / 43.50500°N 96.55611°W / 43.50500; -96.55611
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.kdlt.com
KDLV-TV
(satellite of KDLT-TV)
Mitchell, South Dakota
United States
Branding see KDLT-TV infobox
Slogan see KDLT-TV infobox
Channels Digital: 26 (UHF)
Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
Subchannels 5.1 NBC
5.2 Antenna TV
Affiliations NBC (1998–present)
Owner Red River Broadcasting
(sale to Gray Television pending)
(Red River Broadcast Company, LLC)
Founded April 1, 1997
First air date September 8, 1998 (1998-09-08)
Call letters' meaning K-DakotaLand V (Roman numeral 5)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
5 (VHF, 1998–2009)
Transmitter power 1000 kW
Height 315 m (1,033 ft)
Facility ID 55375
Transmitter coordinates 43°45′33″N 98°24′44″W / 43.75917°N 98.41222°W / 43.75917; -98.41222 (KDLV-TV)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information:
(satellite of KDLT-TV) Profile

(satellite of KDLT-TV) CDBS

KDLT-TV, virtual channel 46 (UHF digital channel 47), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, serving eastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota. The station is owned by Red River Broadcasting. KDLT's studios are located on South Westport Avenue in Sioux Falls, and its transmitter is located southeast of the city near Rowena.

KDLT operates a full-powered satellite station: KDLV-TV (virtual channel 5, UHF digital channel 26) in Mitchell, with transmitter near Plankinton.

History

On June 12, 1960, KDLT started broadcasting from Mitchell, South Dakota as KORN-TV on channel 5, an NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. The station's original call letters were intended to honor the famous Mitchell Corn Palace. It was owned by Mitchell Broadcasting Associates. Only a month later, KSOO-TV (now KSFY-TV) signed on. From then until 1969, KSOO-TV and KORN-TV operated as a regional network, although separately owned. KSOO-TV served the eastern portion of the market, while KORN-TV served the western portion. But in April 1969, the Federal Communications Commission ruled against this combination, suggesting that they operate as competitors in the Sioux Falls-Mitchell market. So on May 12 of that year, Channel 5 affiliated with ABC and moved its tower closer to Sioux Falls, although KCAU-TV in Sioux City was well received in Sioux Falls and identified at that time as Siouxland ABC.

Mitchell Broadcasting sold the station to Buford Television of Tyler, Texas in 1972. The new owners changed the calls to KXON-TV. Buford sold the station to Gillett Broadcasting in 1978. In 1982, KXON changed its call letters to KDLT when it was purchased by Dakotaland Broadcasting. The next year, KDLT and KSFY switched affiliations, with KSFY getting ABC and KDLT returning to NBC. At the time of the switch, ABC was the highest-rated network in the nation with NBC in third. KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one, making it logical for the more popular network to align with a station with better coverage. The next year, NBC and ABC's ratings flip-flopped, leaving KDLT once again affiliated with the more popular network. Dakotaland Broadcasting eventually sold KDLT to Heritage Broadcasting in 1985. Heritage Broadcasting became Heritage Media in 1987 when it merged with Rollins Telecasting. The station eventually moved its main studio to Sioux Falls in the mid to late 1980s.

Heritage Media sold KDLT to current owner Red River Broadcasting in 1994. On September 8, 1998, KDLT moved its city of license to Sioux Falls and began broadcasting on channel 46 from a new tower in Rowena, where most of the other Sioux Falls stations have their towers. This was largely because the channel 5 tower was too far away from Sioux Falls to adequately cover it with a digital signal. FCC rules required a station's digital signal to cover at least 80 percent of its analog footprint. Channel 5 in Mitchell survives as a full-power satellite, KDLV.

Due to the way the changeover was structured legally, KDLV operates under KDLT's old license on channel 5.[1] KDLT's current facility, on channel 46 in Sioux Falls, is officially a new license; its construction permit was issued on April 1, 1997 under the call letters KDLV; the two stations swapped callsigns on September 8, 1998.[2]

Gray Television announced its purchase of KDLT-TV for $32.5 million on May 1, 2018; the deal would create a duopoly with KSFY-TV.[3]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[4][5]
46.1
5.1		1080i16:9KDLT-DT
KDLV-DT		Main programming / NBC
46.2
5.2		480i4:3[6]KDLT-SD
KDLV-SD		Antenna TV [7]

Analog-to-digital conversion

Both stations shut down their analog signals respectively on February 1, 2009:[8]

  • KDLT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 46; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 47. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 46.
  • KDLV-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 5; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 5.

News operation

KDLT presently broadcasts 19½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 17½ hours on weekdays and 1 hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

Translators

Besides KDLV, the programming of KDLT is also rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

Transmitter antenna replacement

The station's television transmitter antenna replacement was featured on the National Geographic Channel television show World's Toughest Fixes.[9]

References

  1. ↑ FCC callsign history for KDLV-TV
  2. ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=55379&Callsign=KDLT-TV
  3. ↑ Miller, Mark K. "Gray Buying KDLT Sioux Falls For $32.5M". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KDLT
  5. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KDLV
  6. ↑ "Digital Antenna: Sioux Falls, SD 57101". SiliconDust.com. Silicondust USA, Inc. - HDHomeRun. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "TitanTV Programming Guide - KDLV and KDLT". TitanTV.com. Broadcast Intrractive Media, L.L.C. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
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