- KFBB-TV
Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KFBB-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = News Channel 5
analog = 5 (VHF)
digital = 8 (VHF)
other_chs = KHBB-LP 21 Helena
affiliations = ABC (secondary until 1966)
network =
founded =
airdate =March 21 ,1954
location =Great Falls, Montana
callsign_meaning = Duplicated from radio:
F.A. Buttrey Broadcast Inc.
(original owners of radio station)
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = [http://www.maxmediallc.com/ Max Media, LLC]
licensee = MMM License II, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =CBS (1954-69, secondary from 1966)
DuMont (secondary, 1954-55)NBC (secondary, 1954-58 and 1969-86)
PBS (Sesame Street , 1969-?)
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
31 kW (digital)
HAAT = 180 m (analog)
143.3 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 34412
coordinates = coord|47|32|6.5|N|111|17|5.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kfbb.com/ www.kfbb.com]KFBB-TV is a full-service
television station inGreat Falls, Montana , broadcasting locally on VHF channel 5 as an affiliate of ABC. The station broadcasts its digital signal on channel 8. FoundedMarch 21 ,1954 , the station is owned by Max Media ofMontana . KFBB-TV is repeated in the Helena area on KHBB-LP channel 21 (UHF), and on several translator stations.History
KFBB-TV began broadcasting on
March 21 ,1954 . As the first television station in Great Falls, KFBB-TV was affiliated with all three major networks, and would broadcast programming from all three untilKRTV signed on and took theNBC affiliation in October 1958. KFBB-TV continued to airCBS and ABC programming as a member of the Skyline Network (as theMontana Television Network was then called).At first KFBB-TV was owned by Wilkins Broadcasting, of which
The Anaconda Company owned a 27.5% share. Anaconda, through its Fairmount division, controlled most of the major newspapers in Montana (although not theGreat Falls Tribune ) and was notorious for manipulating the state's political visions for its own needs. Then in1959 , Anaconda sold its media holdings toLee Enterprises ofDavenport, Iowa . Because of anti-trust concerns, Lee decided to sell KFBB. The station was sold in1962 toHarriscope Broadcasting , which in1965 scored a deal for a primary ABC affiliation - Montana's first. The new affiliation took effect onFebruary 1 ,1966 . Harriscope severed KFBB's links with the Skyline Network (which signed up with KRTV), and sold off the KFBB radio station in February,1969 , but continued to run KFBB-TV, eventually selling it to Donald P. Nathanson in1977 . After affiliating primarily with ABC, the station continued secondary affiliation with CBS until that network switched to KRTV in 1969, and then started running NBC on a per program basis as late as December 1986, whenKTGF signed on and took over the NBC affiliation. [http://www.ellwanger.tv/collect/tvg/eds/can/sa.html] [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/1998/..%5C..%5CDecisions%5C1988%5CDB88-221.htm] KFBB also carriedSesame Street for several years, before Montana had aPBS service of its own.An April 1981 application with the FCC requested transfer of control of the licensee corporation from owner Donald P. Nathanson to his estate, following his death. [http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/comment.pl?Application_id=29735&File_number=BTC-19810408KE] In early 1982, the station saw a flurry of transfers that saw KFBB-TV moved, first from the Nathanson estate to Advance TV of California, then from Advance TV to Wooster Republican Printing Company of Ohio. Wooster Republican Printing held onto the license through various holding companies (eg., KFBB Corpration, KFBB LLC, Dix Communications) until November 2004, when Max Media of Montana completed the purchase of KFBB-TV from Wooster Republican Printing. Max Media already owned KTGF in the market, and was forced to sell it in order to purchase KFBB-TV, as the Great Falls market was too small to allow a broadcast duopoly.
In June 2003, prior to selling KFBB-TV, Wooster Republican Printing made deep cuts in local news production, ending morning, noon and weekend newscasts. In February 2005, new owner Max Media instituted a regional newscast, branded as "Montana News Network", which was produced at KFBB. The regional newscast didn't last long.
Digital television
The station received its digital television (DTV) allocation from the FCC in April 1997. Originally, KFBB-DT was to be on channel 39 [http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/MTatwch.html] , but in June 2001, the FCC agreed to change the allocation to channel 8. [http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Orders/2001/da011322.txt] , and granted the permit to construct digital facilities on
March 14 ,2002 . By the end of April 2002, the station was already on the air [http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/releases/2102.htm] and was licensed onNovember 1 ,2002 . KFBB-DT has elected to remain on channel 8 once the full-service station transition to DTV is complete in February 2009.On
August 9 ,2006 , the FCC granted "flash-cut" authorization to KHBB-LD, meaning that on or beforeAugust 9 ,2009 , analog station KHBB-LP would shut down and digital station KHBB-LD would commence broadcasting on channel 21.Programming
As an ABC affiliate, KFBB-TV airs most of the network schedule, including ABC Daytime and ABC Primetime programs during the weekdays. Overnights are split between local programming,
World News Now andABC World News This Morning . KFBB-TV airs Nightline immediately following the late local news.Of the three full-service television stations in Montana owned by Max Media, only KFBB-TV offers a significant schedule of local news. There is a half-hour local newscast at 5:30 PM and a 35-minute newscast at 10:00 PM each weeknight, plus half-hour newscasts at 10:00 PM on the weekends.
Despite the green and blue logos featured on the station's website, the station is currently using an on-air logo identical to ABC affiliate WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio.
Translators
KFBB-TV is rebroadcast on several translator stations throughout Montana:
*K10BK Big Sandy
*K63AR Chinook
*K06KY Circle, Etc.
*K16GP Circle
*K12GP Dodson / Wagner
*K13JO Hinsdale / N. Rural
*K09CB Horse Ranch / Roy
*K54AM Joplin
*K07VA Jordan, Etc.
*K43DC Lewistown
*K11AD Loma
*K07IC Malta, Etc.
*K53CP Phillips County
*K46GS Plentywood
*K13PZ Poplar
*K09BX Saco, Etc.
*K63AQ Sweetgrass, Etc.
*K25HO Wolf Point
*K13DU WynotExternal links
* [http://www.kfbb.com/ Official site]
*TVQ|KFBB
*TVQ|KHBB-LP
*TVQ|K06KY
*TVQ|K07IC
*TVQ|K07VA
*TVQ|K09BX
*TVQ|K09CB
*TVQ|K10BK
*TVQ|K11AD
*TVQ|K12GP
*TVQ|K13DU
*TVQ|K13JO
*TVQ|K13PZ
*TVQ|K16GP
*TVQ|K25HO
*TVQ|K43DC
*TVQ|K46GS
*TVQ|K53CP
*TVQ|K54AM
*TVQ|K63AQ
*TVQ|K63AR
*BIA|KFBB|TV|TV
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.