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KNEP (channel 4) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,757 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for Sidney Dillon, president of the Uni ...
, United States, serving Scottsbluff and the
Nebraska Panhandle The Nebraska Panhandle is an area in the western part of the state of Nebraska and one of several U.S. state panhandles, or elongated geographical regions that extend from their main political entity. The Nebraska panhandle is two-thirds as br ...
as an affiliate of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. It is owned by
Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
alongside
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...
–licensed dual
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
/ CW+ affiliate
KGWN-TV KGWN-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on East Lincolnway/East 14th Street/ I-80 BUS/US 30 in Cheyen ...
(channel 5). KNEP's studios are located on 1st Avenue in Scottsbluff, and its
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is located in
Angora, Nebraska Angora (also Antelope Hill) is an unincorporated community in northern Morrill County, Nebraska, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 385, north of the city of Bridgeport, the county seat of Morrill County. The community was established in ...
. Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KNEP is considered a
semi-satellite A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
of
KNOP-TV KNOP-TV (channel 2) is a television station in North Platte, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside two low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power stations: CBS affiliate KNPL-LD (channel 10) and ...
(channel 2) in
North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
.


History

The station signed on for the first time on March 5, 1958, as KDUH-TV, broadcasting from
Hay Springs, Nebraska Hay Springs is a city in Sheridan County in the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 570 at the 2010 census. History Hay Springs was established in 1885 when the railroad was extended to that ...
. The station was owned by
Helen Duhamel Helen S. Duhamel (November 26, 1904 – November 8, 1991) was an American businesswoman and broadcaster, best known for saving the Duhamel Company from bankruptcy and establishing a cluster of radio and television stations in western South Dakota ...
, whose last name formed the basis of the callsign. It was a semi-satellite of the original
KOTA-TV KOTA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside MeTV affiliate KHME (channel 23) and low-power Fox affiliate KEVN-LD (channel 7). The station ...
in Rapid City (license now held by
KHME KHME (channel 23) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the classic television network MeTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC affiliate KOTA-TV (channel 3) and low-power Fox affiliate KE ...
). Like its parent, it carried programming from all four major networks, but was a primary CBS affiliate. In 1965, in tandem with its parent, KDUH took on an unusual joint primary affiliation with CBS and ABC, slightly favoring CBS. This caused a good deal of confusion for viewers in the Nebraska Panhandle, since future sister station KSTF, which had signed on three years earlier in 1955, also held a joint primary affiliation with CBS and ABC, slightly favoring ABC. It was not unheard of for both stations to air the same program at the same time. However, in 1970, again in tandem with its parent, KDUH became a joint primary affiliate of ABC and NBC. This came after NBC finally lost patience with its longtime affiliate in the Black Hills, KRSD-TV (channel 7), whose signal had deteriorated to the point of unacceptability. KRSD would be forced off the air in 1976, replaced by a new station on channel 7, KEVN-TV (license now held by the present
KOTA-TV KOTA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside MeTV affiliate KHME (channel 23) and low-power Fox affiliate KEVN-LD (channel 7). The station ...
). That station took all ABC programming, resulting in KOTA and KDUH becoming primary NBC affiliates with a secondary CBS affiliation. KDUH lost CBS in 1981 after
KELO-TV KELO-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls; its tran ...
in
Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...
signed on a low-powered repeater in Rapid City, and became a sole full-time NBC affiliate in 1981 before swapping affiliations to ABC in 1984. Also in 1981, operations were moved from Hay Springs to Scottsbluff. In 1988, KDUH consolidated its operations at KOTA-TV. On September 24, 2002, the station's mast in Hemingford, which was built in the 1960s, collapsed during an installation of a digital transmitter. Two workers were killed and other three were injured. A new tower was located in Angora was built in 2003 as a replacement the collapsed transmitter. The full signal was restored on September 19, 2003. During the construction of the tower, KDUH reached viewers on cable systems in the area and Duhamel-owned translators K02NT in Scottsbluff, and K02NY in Chadron. Bill Duhamel announced on October 31, 2013, that KOTA-TV and its satellites (including KDUH-TV) would be sold to
Schurz Communications Schurz Communications is a South Bend, Indiana-based broadband media group and cloud services provider. It owned newspapers. History The company was founded in 1872 by Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett with the creation of the ''South Bend ...
' subsidiary
Rushmore Media Company Rushmore Media Company, Inc. is a small radio broadcasting company, which owns and operates four radio stations and one television station in the Black Hills region of western South Dakota. Its parent is Schurz Communications, a radio, television, c ...
, pending FCC approval. The FCC granted the sale on March 31, 2014; and it was completed on April 28, 2014. On September 14, 2015, Schurz announced that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including KDUH-TV, to
Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
for $442.5 million. In its original filing with the FCC, Gray said that KDUH would be converted to a satellite of KNOP-TV, a Gray-owned NBC affiliate in North Platte. In a subsequent filing with the FCC, Gray requested change the KDUH-TV call letters to KNEP following its conversion to a KNOP-TV satellite. It also sought to change KDUH/KNEP's city of license to Sidney. By changing its city of license, KNEP was now officially reckoned as part of the
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
market rather than the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff market, eliminating an ownership conflict with KSTF in Scottsbluff, a semi-satellite of
KGWN-TV KGWN-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on East Lincolnway/East 14th Street/ I-80 BUS/US 30 in Cheyen ...
in
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...
. The FCC does not allow one company to own two of the four highest-rated stations in the market. Additionally, the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff market had only five full-power stations (KGWN and KSTF are counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes), which was three stations too few to legally permit a duopoly in any case. The sale was approved by the FCC on February 12, 2016, and was completed on February 16. The FCC approved the change of station's city of license on May 16, making KDUH/KNEP a Denver DMA station. For all intents and purposes, however, it remained a
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
Scottsbluff station. On May 5, 2016, the station officially became the NBC affiliate for the Nebraska Panhandle. Despite officially becoming a semi-satellite of KNOP-TV, the station formerly aired ABC programming from KOTA on channel 4.1 until 2020, when it was replaced with a simulcast of
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
programming from
Rapid City Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
-licensed
KEVN-LD KEVN-LD (channel 7) is a low-power television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC affiliate KOTA-TV (channel 3) and MeTV affiliate KHME (channel 23 ...
until 2022; initially, "NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff" was aired on channel 2.1. , NBC programming is seen on channel 4.1.


Newscasts

KNEP presently broadcasts 8½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 1½ hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). As KDUH, the station produced full-length newscasts focused on the Nebraska Panhandle for years. However, due to cutbacks in later years, KDUH's newscasts were reduced to inserts in KOTA's weeknight newscasts with a few personalities locally based in Scottsbluff. On May 5, 2016, KNEP's full-length localized newscasts in Scottsbluff were reinstated, upon the launch of NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff.


Technical information


Subchannel


Analog-to-digital conversion

KNEP (as KDUH-TV) shut down its analog signal, over
VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 4, 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). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 7. Through the use of
PSIP The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the A ...
, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former VHF analog channel 4.


References


External links

*
KOTA Territory
{{DEFAULTSORT:knep Television channels and stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Nebraska ABC network affiliates NBC network affiliates Gray Television Television stations in Nebraska