KSVI (channel 6) 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's s ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

, United States, affiliated with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Its second

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

serves as an

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

(via

The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...

). It is owned by

Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television station ...

, which provides certain services to Hardin-licensed

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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate

KHMT KHMT (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Hardin, Montana, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Billings area. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements with Ne ...

(channel 4) under joint sales and

shared services Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the ...

agreements with

Mission Broadcasting Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 29 full-power television stations in 26 markets in the United States. The group's chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2 ...

. The two stations share studios on South 24th Street West in Billings; KSVI's transmitter is located on Old Hardin Road east-northeast of the city. Mid-Rivers Communications (based in

Circle, Montana Circle is a town in and the county seat of McCone County, Montana, United States. The population was 591 at the 2020 census. The community was so named because a rancher there branded his cattle with the image of a circle. History After arrivi ...

) carries KSVI on

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

Glendive, Montana Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the Northern Pacific Railway during the building of the railroad line. The town of Glendive is ...

(the smallest DMA in the U.S. according to Nielsen), as that market has no local ABC affiliate of its own. KSVI's programming is relayed on

translator station 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 ...

K25BP-D (channel 25) in Billings, in areas where KSVI's signal is poor. It can also be seen in Miles City on K16DH-D (channel 16), and in Howard on K32MN-D (channel 32).

History

KSVI went on the air January 8, 1993, under the ownership of Big Horn Communications. Big Horn had previously signed on KOUS-TV (channel 4) in 1980. However, for most of its existence, KOUS was plagued by marginal reception in some parts of Billings, since its transmitter was located east of the city in order to ensure city-grade coverage of its city of license, Hardin. In hopes of getting better reception in Billings, Big Horn won a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for channel 6 after the allocation was moved from Miles City. KOUS signed off for the last time on January 8, and later that day the KOUS intellectual unit—including the ABC affiliation—moved to KSVI on channel 6. At the outset, channel 6's programming was also seen on

KYUS-TV KYUS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Miles City, Montana, United States, broadcasting to eastern Montana from a transmitter northwest of the city. It operates as a full-time satellite of KULR-TV in Billings. The station is separately ...

(channel 3) in Miles City and KCTZ (channel 7) in

Bozeman Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, both of which had previously served as satellites of KOUS. KCTZ was sold to

Cordillera Communications Evening Post Industries is a privately held American media company, based in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It has been led by four generations of the Manigault family. On August 6, 2013, the company changed its name from the Evening ...

several months later to become a satellite of

KXLF-TV KXLF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Butte, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network (MTN), a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KXLF-TV's ...

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

(eventually becoming

KBZK KBZK (channel 7) is a television station in Bozeman, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network (MTN), a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KBZK has ...

), while KYUS was sold to

Stephen Marks Stephen Anthony Solomon Marks (born 23 May 1946) is a British fashion retailer and founder, chairman and chief executive of the French Connection brand.Chris Blackhurst'The Big Interview: Stephen Marks' ''London Evening Standard'', 26 May 2009 ...

in 1995 (originally proposed to become a satellite of

KXGN-TV KXGN-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Glendive, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by The Marks Group, it shares studios with radio stations KXGN (1400 AM) and KDZN (96.5 FM) on South Douglas Street in downtown Glend ...

Glendive Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the Northern Pacific Railway during the building of the railroad line. The town of Glendive i ...

, KYUS now simulcasts

KULR-TV KULR-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by the Cowles Company. The station's studios are located on Overland Avenue in the Homestead Business Park section of Billings, and i ...

from Billings). Following the sale of KCTZ, KSVI's programming was carried on translators K26DE (channel 26) in Bozeman and K43DU (channel 43) in Butte; this ended when

KWYB KWYB (channel 18) is a television station in Butte, Montana, United States, affiliated with ABC and Fox. Owned by the Cowles Company, the station has studios on Dewey Boulevard in Butte, and its transmitter is located on XL Heights east of the ...

signed on in 1996. Channel 6 also, at its sign-on, inherited Billings translator station K25BP, which was originally intended to improve KOUS' signal in Billings. KSVI added a secondary affiliation with

in April 1994; this was primarily to carry the network's NFL coverage, but 15 hours a week of other Fox programs, such as '' Married... with Children'' and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', were aired in overnight and weekend timeslots not programmed by ABC. Following this deal, cable systems in the Billings area removed

Foxnet Foxnet was a national cable programming service of the Fox Broadcasting Company (known simply as Fox) that was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group division of News Corporation. The service, which operated (in its original form) from June 6, 1991 ...

from their lineups. The secondary Fox affiliation ended when channel 4 returned to the air in August 1995 as Fox affiliate

under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

with KSVI. Also in June 1995, channel 6 added a secondary affiliation with

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

(it had carried the first season of the network's '' Star Trek: Voyager'' on a standalone basis before signing as a formal secondary affiliate that June). this affiliation, which was eventually shared with KHMT, continued until UPN closed down in 2006. Big Horn Communications sold KSVI to Great Trails Broadcasting Corporation for $17.37 million in 1997. The following year, Great Trails exited broadcasting and sold the station (and its LMA with KHMT), along with WHAG-TV in

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...

, and

WFFT-TV WFFT-TV (channel 55) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Allen Media Group, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Hillegas Road in Fort Wayne. History As ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

, to Quorum Broadcasting Company for $65 million. Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired Quorum for $230 million in December 2003.

News operation

KSVI launched a news operation, shared with sister station KHMT, on April 18, 2002. After 18 months, the newscasts were canceled in September 2003, following Nexstar taking control of the stations in advance of its purchase of Quorum. Though the news operation had won Montana Broadcasters Association and

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

awards during its run, it was not successful in the ratings, as KSVI's newscasts trailed

KTVQ KTVQ (channel 2) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KTVQ's studi ...

(channel 2) and

(channel 8) by a substantial margin. Nexstar said that shutting down the news operation was necessary to keep the stations profitable.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...

Translators

Billings Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billin ...

: K25BP-D * Bridger, etc.: K31LE-D * Columbus: K33EA-D * Colstrip: K07WJ-D, K24KM-D *

Emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

: K23LW-D * Hardin: K16DZ-D * Harlowton–

Shawmut Shawmut, according to 19th-century scholarship, is a term derived from the Algonquian word ''Mashauwomuk'' referring to the region of present-day Boston, Massachusetts.Forsford, Eben Norton, ''The Indian names of Boston, and their meaning''Univers ...

: K07ZR-D * Harlowton: K15JA-D *

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

: K32MN-D * Judith Gap: K04RT-D * Martinsdale–

Lennep Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid ha ...

: K09LW-D * Miles City: K16DH-D *

Roundup A roundup is a systematic gathering together of people or things. Roundup, Round Up or Round-up may also refer to: Agriculture * A muster (livestock) (AU/NZ) or a roundup (US/CA) is the process of gathering livestock. * Roundup (herbicide), a M ...

: K07WP-D * White Sulphur Springs: K11MP-D

References

External links

* {{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations 1993 establishments in Montana American Broadcasting Company affiliates Antenna TV affiliates The CW affiliates Ion Mystery affiliates Nexstar Media Group Television channels and stations established in 1993 SVI