KXGN-TV

KXGN-TV
Glendive, Montana
United States
Branding "KXGN TV5" (general)
"Montana East News" (local newscasts)
"Montana's News Station" (statewide newscasts)
"KULR 8 News" (DT2 newscasts)
Slogan "The Choice Cut of Two States"
Channels Digital: 5 (VHF)
Subchannels 5.1 CBS (through
Montana Television Network)
5.2 NBC
Translators (see article)
Owner Marks Radio Group
(Glendive Broadcasting Corporation)
First air date November 1, 1957
Call letters' meaning KX5 GleNdive
Sister station(s) KXGN, KDZN
Former channel number(s) 5 (VHF analog, 1957–2009)
Former affiliations NBC (secondary, to 2009)
ABC, Fox, UPN
(all as part of a mix with CBS and NBC)
The Sportsman Channel (secondary, to 2009)
Transmitter power 1 kW
Height 152.4 m
Facility ID 24287
Transmitter coordinates 47°2′39.2″N 104°40′54.9″W / 47.044222°N 104.681917°W / 47.044222; -104.681917
Website www.kxgn.com

KXGN-TV, channel 5, is a television station in Glendive, Montana, a primarily agricultural region in eastern Montana, which is the smallest of the 210 US Nielsen-designated broadcast television market areas in the United States; the market serves a total potential home-market audience of a mere five thousand households in Dawson and Prairie counties in eastern Montana, as well as some rural areas in western North Dakota.[1] The market is also the smallest in North America.[2] KXGN celebrated its 50th year on the air in November 2007.

KXGN is a dual CBS/NBC affiliate, and also airs news and other programs from the Montana Television Network, a network of CBS affiliates in Montana.

KXGN-TV is owned by Glendive Broadcasting Corporation. Glendive Broadcasting also operates two of the three Glendive radio stations, KXGN radio (1400 AM) and KDZN (96.5 FM). KXGN-TV was founded by Lewis Moore,[3] who sold it and KXGN radio to Stephan Marks in 1990.[4] Marks added KDZN in 1995.[5]

Digital channels

KXGN was allocated ATSC TV channel 10 by the FCC in September 2004[6] after receiving multiple extensions of the original May 1, 2002 deadline to go digital due to financial hardship.[7] In fall 2008, it received FCC permission to place its final post-transition digital signal on its existing channel, VHF 5, reducing the cost of its digital transition by an estimated $100,000 by not simulcasting digitally on another channel during transition.[8]

By 2007, Glendive would be the only remaining US terrestrial television market to have no digital signals at all.[9]

Initial obstacles to small-market digital transition included the high costs involved and the small number of ATSC TV sets in use in the local area. The latter was magnified by the limited number of households which would be able to receive the digital signal over-the-air. Much of this market can only receive KXGN via a repeater over the air, and cable television is all but essential for an acceptable signal. Costs of installing a new hilltop digital transmitter in Makoshika plus new digital-capable microwave equipment, while undisclosed by KXGN, were estimated to be in the upper six figure range.[10]

KXGN-TV's digital broadcast equipment was scheduled to be delivered just before the original February 17, 2009 shutdown of analogue broadcasting;[11] as of February 15, the equipment had yet to arrive. Once the national shut-off date had been extended, a clearly unready KXGN opted to take advantage of the new transition date, June 12, 2009.[12] KXGN's digital conversion was completed in June 2009 with relatively minimal disruption.

The exemption of LPTV operations from the 2009 DTV transition requirement left KXGN as an analogue signal for viewers of numbered repeater stations long after the main signal became entirely digital. Individual KXGN broadcast translator sites, however, needed to update their equipment in order to convert the new digital signal back to analogue for rebroadcast; the readiness of these facilities and the availability of the KXGN-DT 5 signal over the air at the individual repeater sites was largely unknown until the transition's completion. However, the station’s low-power translators were required to convert to digital by September 1, 2015 as part of the Digital TV transition for low-powered television stations. While the added capacity available on a digital signal allows the station to dedicate a digital subchannel to full NBC programming (as is currently the case) or even (through Miles Community College) to obtain Montana PBS feeds, translator viewers retain their existing analogue coverage and do not currently receive any extra channels.

KXGN was also (albeit indirectly) listed as one of the charter affiliates of the .2 Network, which was originally slated to have begun broadcasting sometime in 2008;[13] it never signed on.

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [14]
5.11080i16:9KXGN-HDMain KXGN-TV programming / CBS
5.2480i4:3KXGN-SDKXGN-DT2 / NBC

Multiple affiliations

In addition to its primary programming, KXGN operates an NBC affiliate on its second digital subchannel; until September 2009, its primary feed carried NBC on a secondary basis in addition to CBS. KXGN was the last "Big 3" station in the US to air more than one network's programming on a single feed.[15][16] In the past, KXGN also carried some ABC and Fox programming; the station also carried UPN during the overnight hours until UPN closed on September 15, 2006 to combine with The WB to form The CW network (currently CW programming is seen on cable-only channel CW Glendive, formerly "KWZB").

KXGN also offered programming from The Sportsman Channel during the late-night hours on weekends, until that channel restricted availability to cable and satellite systems.

Programming

KXGN-TV

KXGN-TV's studios along South Douglas Street in Downtown Glendive, MT.

KXGN-TV clears the entire CBS schedule. However, KXGN-TV airs CBS's prime-time lineup from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; some other CBS programs, particularly daytime programming, are also aired one hour ahead of normal. Until September 2009, KXGN would, at 9 p.m., air NBC programming that is either airing at that time or recorded earlier that evening. While the station did also carry all of NBC's soap operas (Days of Our Lives and, until September 2007, Passions) in later years in addition to CBS's, NBC's other programs did not air on KXGN, opting instead to show CBS's programming or local shows.

Even after dropping NBC from its primary subchannel, KXGN has retained the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. CBS prime-time block intact, opting to show syndicated programming at 9 p.m., including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on weeknights.

Syndicated programming on KXGN currently includes Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Rachael Ray.[17]

KXGN-DT2

Like KXGN-TV, KXGN-DT2 clears the entire NBC schedule. In contrast to KXGN-TV, KXGN-DT2 generally clears NBC programming in their normal time periods. Syndicated programming on KXGN-DT2 include The Dr. Oz Show, Right This Minute, Entertainment Tonight, and The People's Court; it also shares Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with KXGN-TV.

A full-time NBC affiliate, KUMV-TV from Williston, North Dakota, was and still is available on cable. Until 2013, KUMV operated a local 2630-watt repeater in Glendive, K13PL channel 13; due to KXGN's NBC-affiliated subchannel and its prior secondary affiliation, this was one of very few situations where a commercial network had, in effect, two different affiliates in the same city.

Newscast

KXGN aired a daily evening local newscast called Montana East News until 2015. Former longtime personality Ed Agre[18] was once profiled by Sports Illustrated for his duties in this capacity.[19] "Dapper" Dan Frenzel, KXGN's weekend TV weatherman and radio DJ since April 1964, served as vice president and general manager of the station from 1988 until his death (due to a heart condition) in 2003.[20] In the later years of the newscast's operation, Emilie Boyles served as the station's sole reporter and editor. By that time, the newscast consisted of a five-minute segment airing at 9:55 PM and 7:25 AM, the following day, on KXGN's CBS subchannel and 4:55 PM on KXGN's NBC subchannel.[21] The local newscast was cancelled in 2015; since then, the only local production on KXGN has been Let's Talk About It, a half-hour public affairs program that airs on Sundays on both of KXGN's subchannels.[22]

KXGN's CBS subchannel simulcasts most newscasts from Billings' KTVQ, with the exception of its morning newscast, as an affiliate of the Montana Television Network. CBS Morning News and CBS This Morning are the only morning newscasts on KXGN's CBS subchannel. Likewise, KXGN's NBC subchannel simulcasts newscasts from another Billings station, KULR-TV; unlike the CBS subchannel, this arrangement includes the second hour of KULR's morning newscast, Wake Up Montana.

Translators

Like many other Montana stations, KXGN relies heavily on a mix of broadcast translators and cable TV systems to extend its reach to more viewers.

K13IG-D is the only translator owned by KXGN—all others are either owned by local governments or television associations.

References

  1. ↑ "Market information". Backchannelmedia. Archived from the original on May 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  2. ↑ The Glendive market has 5,000 households; Canada's smallest market, Kenora, Ontario (with CJBN-TV as its only local broadcaster), has about 5,800 households.
  3. ↑ "Burnett Asks for Ogden Ch. 9, KXGN Seeks Glendive Ch. 5" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. December 31, 1956. p. 71. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  4. ↑ "One-to-a-market waived in Montana" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 14, 1990. p. 44. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Memorandum Opinion and Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. March 7, 1995. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  6. ↑ "FCC Report and Order for DTV Allotment" (PDF). 2004-09-23. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
  7. ↑ S. Talwani. "Digital Television Coming...Slowly". Montana Journalism Review. Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  8. ↑ http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101257357&formid=387&fac_num=24287
  9. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  10. ↑ Glendive TV station prepares for transition Archived 2012-07-22 at Archive.is: KXGN serves nation's smallest Nielsen-rated broadcast market, has rich history, LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA, Billings Gazette, February 15, 2009
  11. ↑ TV stations pay high price for digital conversion • RICHARD ECKE • Great Falls Tribune • February 1, 2009
  12. ↑ FCC document: "APPENDIX B: ALL FULL-POWER TELEVISION STATIONS BY DMA, INDICATING THOSE TERMINATING ANALOG SERVICE BEFORE ON OR FEBRUARY 17, 2009."
  13. ↑ Harry A. Jessell (2008-04-15). "New .2 Network Lines Up First Affils". TVNEWSDAY. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  14. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KXGN#station
  15. ↑ "Glendive TV station is one-man operation". Billings Gazette. 2003-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  16. ↑ 100000watts.com
  17. ↑ http://www.kxgn.com/?page=stations
  18. ↑ Glendive Legion honors Agre Archived 2012-07-21 at Archive.is, Inside glance, Billings Gazette, July 19, 2003
  19. ↑ Walters, John (March 19, 2001). "It Doesn't Get Smaller Than This". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  20. ↑ 'Dapper Dan' will be missed on the Eastern Montana dials Archived 2012-07-21 at Archive.is, MIKE ZIMMER, Billings Gazette, Jan 28, 2003
  21. ↑ "QUARTERLY COMMUNITY ISSUES/PROGRAMS LIST KXGN AND KDZN, GLENDIVE MONTANA" (PDF). FCC Public Inspection File. 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "LET'S TALK ABOUT IT SYNOPSIS FOR FIRST QUARTER 2018" (PDF). FCC Public Inspection File. 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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