KMNF-LD

KMNF-LD, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, is a low-powered, dual NBC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Mankato, Minnesota, United States. Owned by Gray Television, it is a sister station to dual CBS/Fox affiliate KEYC-TV (channel 12). The two stations share studios on Lookout Drive in North Mankato and transmitter facilities near Lewisville, Minnesota.[2]

"KMNF" redirects here. For the Mountain View, Missouri airport with ICAO code KMNF, see Mountain View Airport (Missouri).
KMNF-LD
Mankato, Minnesota
United States
BrandingKEYC NBC (general)
KEYC News Now (newscasts)
KEYC CW (on LD2)
ChannelsDigital: 7 (VHF)
Virtual: 7 (PSIP)
Affiliations7.1: NBC
7.2: CW+
OwnerGray Television
LicenseeGray Television Licensee, LLC
First air dateMarch 2012 (2012-03)
(as a KEYC translator in St. James, Minnesota; license moved to Mankato in 2019)
December 1, 2019 (2019-12-01)
(as a separate station)
Call sign meaningMankato, New Ulm, and Fairmont[1]
Sister station(s)KEYC-TV
Former call signsK38MY-D (2011–2019)
K13AAR-D (CP/STA, 2018–2019)
K07AAH-D (CP, 2019)
Former channel number(s)Digital:
38 (UHF, 2012–2018)
12 (PSIP, 2012–2017)
Former affiliationsCBS/Fox (via KEYC, 2012–2017)
Dark (2017–2019)
Transmitter power3 kW
Height295 m (968 ft)
ClassLD
Facility ID183814
Transmitter coordinates43°56′12.3″N 94°24′39″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS

History

The KMNF-LD license originated as K38MY-D in St. James, Minnesota, a translator for KEYC-TV (then owned by United Communications) on UHF channel 38[3] that signed on in March 2012.[4] K38MY-D went off the air on December 21, 2017 after the expiration of its tower lease agreement with BENCO/CTV; KEYC had operated UHF translators from CTV's Godahl tower since 1993.[5]

On September 14, 2018, K38MY-D was granted a construction permit to move to channel 13 from KEYC-TV's tower as K13AAR-D;[6] the channel change was required following the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s spectrum incentive auction and the subsequent repacking of the television band.[7] To maintain its license, the station operated under special temporary authority at reduced power from this facility[7] from November 29[8] to December 6, 2018.[9]

K13AAR-D was included in Gray Television's 2019 purchase of United Communications' television stations.[10]

On May 23, 2019, the station was granted a construction permit to move to channel 7 as K07AAH-D;[11] on June 3, 2019, the call letters were changed to KMNF-LD, a close match for those originally proposed for sister station KEYC-TV in 1958.[12]

On June 24, 2019, Gray announced that KMNF-LD would launch as early as September as an NBC affiliate, with The CW on its second subchannel.[2][13] KEYC-TV itself had launched in 1960 as an NBC affiliate, switching to CBS in 1961.[2] For the next 58 years after that, NBC programming was not available over-the-air in the Mankato market. Since 1981, Minneapolis affiliate KARE and Rochester affiliate KTTC had served as the default NBC affiliates for southwestern Minnesota via cable. KMNF-LD's sign-on leaves ABC and PBS as the only networks to not have over-the-air affiliates in Mankato; that network's programming is carried on cable via KSTP-TV, KTCA-TV and KAAL, with KSTP and KTCA being carried on CTV translators K30FN-D (KSTP) and K26CS-D (KTCA) in St. James.[14][15][16][17]

Testing on KMNF-LD began on October 28, 2019.[18] The station officially signed on December 1, 2019.[19]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[20]
7.11080i16:9KMNFLD1Main KMNF-LD programming / NBC
7.2720pKMNFLD2KEYC CW

Newscasts

KMNF-LD began simulcasting some KEYC newscasts on December 2, 2019. KEYC News Now This Morning airs weekdays from 5:30 to 7 a.m. on both KEYC-TV and KMNF-LD. The stations also simulcast the 10 p.m. news on weeknights, with each station airing separate commercials during each simulcast.

On February 3, 2020, KMNF-LD launched a stand-alone newscast at 6:30 p.m. KEYC News Now at 6:30 airs weeknights and features local and national news as well as in-depth interviews.

References
  1. Arola, Brian (June 24, 2019). "KEYC adding NBC programming in late 2019". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  2. Keegan, Mitch. "KEYC-TV adding 2 more network affiliates this fall". KEYC-TV. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  3. Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV To Add NBC, CW Affiliations in Mankato". Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  4. "Application for a Low Power TV, TV Translator or TV Booston Station License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  5. Keegan, Mitch (December 21, 2017). "Translator Changes May Impact Some Over-the-Air Viewers of KEYC News 12". KEYC.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  6. "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  7. "LPTV Translator Engineering STA Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  8. "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 29, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  9. "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 11, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  10. Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV Buys Mankato Station, First in Minnesota". Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  11. "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 22, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  12. "Call Sign History (KMNF-LD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  13. "CW PLUS Market Clearance (as of September 1, 2019)" (PDF). © 2019 The CW Television Network. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  14. RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for K30FN-D
  15. RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for K26CS-D
  16. The Webpage of Cooperative TV (CTV)
  17. CTV Channel Listing via the Cooperative TV (CTV) Website
  18. Keegan, Mitch. "Testing underway on new NBC, CW affiliates". KEYC News 12. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  19. Keegan, Mitch. "Programming to start soon for NBC, CW". KEYC News 12. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  20. RabbitEars TV Query for KMNF-LD
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