KSFY-TV

KSFY-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 13, is a dual ABC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The station is owned by Gray Television, as part of a duopoly with NBC affiliate KDLT-TV (channel 46). The two stations share studios on Courthouse Square in Sioux Falls;[1] KSFY-TV's transmitter is located near Rowena, South Dakota.

KSFY-TV
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
United States
BrandingKSFY (general)
Dakota News Now (newscasts)
CW Sioux Falls (on DT2)
MeTV Sioux Falls (on DT3)
SloganExpect More
ChannelsDigital: 13 (VHF)
Virtual: 13 (PSIP)
Subchannels13.1: ABC (secondary 1960–1969, primary 1983–present)
13.2: CW+
13.3: MeTV
13.4: Justice Network
OwnerGray Television
LicenseeGray Television Licensee, LLC
First air dateJuly 31, 1960 (1960-07-31)
Call sign meaningSioux Falls, disambiguation of last call letter for former owner Forum's flagship station WDAY
Sister station(s)KDLT-TV, KOTA-TV
Former call signsKSOO-TV (1960–1975)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
13 (VHF, 1960–2009)
Digital:
29 (UHF, until 2009)
Former affiliationsNBC (1960–1983)
Transmitter power22.7 kW
Height610 m (2,001 ft)
Facility ID48658
Transmitter coordinates43°31′7″N 96°32′5.7″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.dakotanewsnow.com

Satellite stations

KSFY is rebroadcast on a satellite station in central South Dakota:

Station City of license Channels
TV (RF)		 First air date Call letters' meaning ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Public license information
KPRY-TV Pierre 4 (PSIP)
19 (UHF)		 January 30, 1976 (1976-01-30) PieRre 311 kW 347 m (1,138 ft) 48660 44°3′7.2″N 100°5′4.2″W Profile
CDBS

KSFY was previously rebroadcast on a satellite station in northeastern South Dakota:

Station City of license
(other cities served)		 Channels
TV (RF)		 First air date Last air date Call letters' meaning ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates
KABY-TV1 Aberdeen
(Watertown)		 9 (PSIP)
9 (VHF)		 November 27, 1958 (1958-11-27) January 12, 2017 (2017-01-12)
(License canceled on April 6, 2018[2])		 ABerdeen 19.4 kW 427 m (1,401 ft) 48659 45°6′22.9″N 97°53′58″W

Notes:

  • 1. KABY-TV used the callsign KXAB-TV from its 1958 sign-on to 1970 and then KCOO-TV from 1970 to 1975. The station went silent on January 5, 2016 when its tower was taken down after failing an inspection, and again on January 12, 2017 after briefly broadcasting from a low-power facility.[3] KABY's license was returned to the FCC for cancellation on April 6, 2018;[2] its call sign was transferred to a Gray-owned low-power station in Sioux Falls.

Until 2013, programming from KSFY was also rebroadcast on translator K07QL in Mitchell.

History
KSFY logo, used from 2004 to 2008.
KSFY logo, used from 2008 to 2011.

The station debuted on July 31, 1960 as KSOO-TV, the third station in Sioux Falls. It was owned by the South Dakota Broadcasting Company along with KSOO radio and was an NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. From 1960 to 1969, it operated as the flagship of a regional network with separately-owned KORN-TV in Mitchell (channel 5, now KDLT-TV on channel 46). KSOO-TV served the eastern portion of the market, while KORN-TV served the western portion. In 1969, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) forced the breakup of this network, and KSOO-TV became the sole NBC affiliate.

In 1970, it bought KXAB-TV in Aberdeen to boost its coverage in northeastern South Dakota. As part of the sale, KXAB's calls changed to KCOO-TV. The two stations were bought by Forum Publishing Company of Fargo, North Dakota in 1975 and switched their call letters respectively to the current KSFY and KABY. KPRY-TV in Pierre was added a year later in 1976. In 1983, KSFY swapped affiliations with channel 5, then recently renamed KDLT and became an ABC affiliate. ABC was the top-rated network at the time and wanted to be on a stronger station. Additionally, KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one, and Forum's flagship stations WDAY and WDAZ in the eastern part of North Dakota were also converting to ABC affiliations at the same time.

Forum sold the KSFY stations to AFLAC in 1985. AFLAC sold its broadcasting division to Retirement Systems of Alabama in 1996, who merged it with Ellis Communications to form Raycom Media. In 2004, Raycom sold the KSFY stations to The Wicks Group of Companies.

Hoak Media bought KSFY and its satellite stations in July 2006, as well as KVLY-TV and KXJB-TV (LMA with Catamount Broadcasting) of Fargo and KFYR-TV of Bismarck, North Dakota and its satellite stations. The sale was approved by the FCC on November 17, 2006. On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including KSFY and its satellites to Gray Television.[4] The sale was completed on June 13, 2014.[5]

On May 1, 2018; Gray announced it had agreed to buy KDLT from owner Red River Broadcasting for $32.5 million. The combined operation will presumably be based at KSFY's studios; in its announcement of the KDLT purchase, Gray noted that the KSFY studio has enough space to house a second station's news and sales department.[6] Gray needed to obtain a waiver in order to complete the deal, since the FCC normally does not allow one person to own two of the four highest-rated stations in a market. However, in its filing requesting such a waiver, Gray argued that KDLT would be in a stronger position to compete in the market if its resources were combined with those of KSFY. Gray contended that a KSFY/KDLT duopoly would fulfill "a dire need for an effective competitor" in the Sioux Falls market, where KELO-TV has been the far-and-away leader for as long as records have been kept.[7] The sale was approved by the FCC on September 24, 2019,[8] and was completed the following day.[9][10] Soon afterward, on January 13, 2020, KDLT moved its studios from South Westport Avenue to KSFY's studios on Courthouse Square.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[11]
13.1720p16:9KSFY-TVMain KSFY-TV programming / ABC
13.2CWThe CW Sioux Falls
13.3480iME-TVMeTV
13.4JusticeJustice Network

On September 10, 2012, KSFY-TV added programming from The CW on a new second digital subchannel.[12] It is part of The CW Plus,[13] and replaced KWSD as Sioux Falls' CW affiliate.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSFY-TV shut down its analog signal over VHF channel 13 on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 29 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.[14]

Programming

KSFY-TV clears the entire ABC network schedule, including the network's Saturday morning block Litton's Weekend Adventure. Syndicated programming currently broadcast on KSFY-TV includes The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jeopardy!, Inside Edition, Extra and Wheel of Fortune. KSFY is one of the few television stations in the United States that continues to sign off the air during the overnight hours, going off the air on Saturday nights/early Sunday mornings from 2:05 to 5:00 a.m.

News operation

Currently, KSFY broadcasts a total of 19½ hours of local newscasts each week with 3½ hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays. KSFY has been nominated for numerous Midwest Emmy Awards.

On August 1, 2011, KSFY became the first television station in the Sioux Falls market and in the state of South Dakota to begin producing its local newscasts in high definition from their studio only and not from the field; the station unveiled a new HD-ready set, dropped Action News from its newscast and station branding, and renamed its newscasts as KSFY News (which the station used from 2004 to 2008).

With the purchase of KDLT, KSFY and KDLT merged their news operations on January 13, 2020, rebranding as Dakota News Now.[15]

Out-of-market cable coverage

Some cable systems like CSI Cable in Jamestown, North Dakota discontinued carrying the service after January 1, 2009, due to duplication of networks already carried.

References
  1. KSFY's new building construction begins. Archived 2016-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, ksfy.com.
  2. Cancellation Application
  3. Broadcasting News-January 2017
  4. "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  5. Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  6. Press release announcing Gray's purchase of KDLT
  7. Request for FCC waiver
  8. "Memorandum Opinion and Order", Federal Communications Commission, 24 September 2019, Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  9. "Gray Television completes purchase of KDLT-TV". KSFY.com. Gray Television. September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  10. "Owner of KSFY-TV finalizes purchase of KDLT-TV", Argus Leader, 25 September 2019, Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  11. RabbitEars TV Query for KSFY
  12. KSFY Sioux Falls Adding CW On Subchannel, TVNewsCheck, June 4, 2012.
  13. http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=psip_search&callsign=KSFY
  14. "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.
  15. Anderson, Patrick. "KSFY, KDLT to become Dakota News Now". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
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