Major network shakeups in Nebraska and North Dakota

Mr Tony

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I could type it out but I'll let northpine list it out.
from northpine

With increased FCC scrutiny of deals that allow one TV station to run another, Gray TV is trying a different method to add major network affiliations in central Nebraska and western North Dakota: It's moving the affiliations to stations it already owns.

KHAS announced Wednesday that beginning Friday, NBC and KHAS-TV newscasts will move to Gray's KSNB/4.1 (Superior). The programming will be simulcast on Gray's KOLN/10.2 (Lincoln) and KGIN/11.2 (Grand Island). KOLN/10.1 and KGIN/11.1 carry CBS.

KSNB, KOLN-DT2, and KGIN-DT2 currently carry Me-TV and My Network TV, which will continue on KSNB-DT2/4.2 only. KHAS-TV's announcement said it expected cable and satellite providers would continue carrying NBC and the Me-TV/MNT affiliations on their current channel numbers.

Meanwhile, in North Dakota, current FOX affiliates KNDX/26 (Bismarck) and KXND/24 (Minot) have announced that beginning Friday, the FOX lineup will move to KFYR/5.2 (Bismarck), KMOT/10.2 (Minot), KQCD/7.2 (Dickinson), and KUMV/8.2 (Williston). FOX will continue to be seen on KNDX-LD/38 (Dickinson) and KXND-LP/38 (Williston), which Gray bought from Prime Cities Broadcasting for $500,000.

Gray is in the process of buying KFYR-TV, KMOT, KQCD, and KUMV from Hoak Media in a deal that already has FCC approval. The stations carry NBC on their .1 channels. KFYR-TV's website says Me-TV, which currently airs on the .2 channels, will move to .3 on Friday.

The announcements did not say what would happen to KHAS-TV, KNDX, or KXND. KHAS-TV did say on its Facebook page that Cozi TV, currently seen on 5.2, would no longer be available, suggesting that channel 5 may go silent. (An earlier version of the announcement had said KHAS-TV would go silent.) KHAS-TV has been on the air since 1956 and the FCC just granted license renewal on Tuesday.

Late last year, Gray TV had announced plans to operate KHAS-TV, KNDX, and KXND through shared services agreements after Excalibur Broadcasting purchased the stations from Hoak (KHAS-TV) and Prime Cities Broadcasting (KXND/KNDX). Several months later, the FCC announced it would give extra scrutiny to such deals. Prime Cities withdrew its application to transfer the KNDX/KXND licenses, while the application to transfer KHAS-TV from Hoak to Excalibur remains pending.

Federal ownership rules do not allow a top-four TV station to directly buy another top-four station in the same market. Shared services agreements that allow one station to run another have become commonplace in small markets over the past decade, but the FCC has been cracking down on the practice both through increased scrutiny of sales and an order that companies end deals that allow one station to sell more than 15 percent of advertising on another. The moves have prompted a legal challenge from the National Association of Broadcasters.

Gray is also in the process of buying Hoak NBC affiliate KVLY-TV/11.1 (Fargo), which already operates Parker Broadcasting CBS affiliate KXJB/4.1 (Valley City-Fargo). Gray has said it would operate KXJB after a sale to Excalibur is completed. The KVLY sale has received FCC approval but the KXJB sale has not; no announcements about Fargo-market programming had been made as of Wednesday night.

The Nebraska move will mark the first time that an in-market NBC affiliate has been available over-the-air in Lincoln, where Omaha stations (first KMTV/3 and then WOWT/6) have served as the capital city's de facto NBC affiliates since the 1950's. WOWT is also owned by Gray
 
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so in a nutshell
in Grand Island/Lincoln

NBC moves from KHAS 5 to KSNB 4 and will be simulcast on 10.2 & 11.2 in Lincoln & Grand Island
Me/My moves from 4-1 to 4-2. The simulcast on 10.2 & 11.2 will be dropped
No clue as to what happens to 5-1

in western ND Fox moves to the subchannel on NBC...dont know if MeTV will move to -3 or not
edit: above it says MeTV will move to -3
 
FOX ND statement

Effective 1200AM Friday June 13, 2014 your FOX television stations will now be available on KFYR-TV channel 5.2 in the Bismarck viewing area, and will be available on KNDX-LD channel 38.1 and KQCD-TV channel 7.2 in the Dickinson viewing area. Please rescan your local channels on your television sets and converter boxes on the 13th to continue to receive your favorite FOX programming. If you are a cable or satellite subscriber, you will continue to receive your FOX station on your current channel and no action is necessary.
 
I personally think this is dumb--on the KHAS etc. swap in the Nebraska--this is where I'm at--I didn't watch COZI or METV much due to their signals being in SD-but now there is no COZI or METV affiliates in this area-at least where I live-- on OTA.
Both 5.1 KHAS--NBC and 5.2 KHAS2 COZI are blank and NBC is on 11.2 OTA in my area --which was METV.
I'll up-date if I see any other changes.
 
A follow up to my post above--METV--that was on OTA channel 11.2 in the Lincoln DMA was in 720P HD the last few months--not in SD as I stated in a previous post. METV was also Dish channel 4 in the Lincoln/Kearney DMA.
Now--after the changes all I have OTA here is;
13.1 ABC--
13.2 Fox-
11.1 CBS-
11.2 NBC --
these 4 channels are in either 720P or 1080i.
I also receive PBS from 2 different transmitters;
3.1--the main PBS in HD
3.2--World
3.3--Create
29.1-primary PBS channel in HD
29.2--World
29.3---Create
The 29. ones come in better and more consistent. Sub-channels .2 and .3 are in SD.
 
What did they do to the audio? At my OK residence they share networks on one transmitter. They keep the 1080i/720p but cut the 5.1 down to just 2 channel.
 
What did they do to the audio? At my OK residence they share networks on one transmitter. They keep the 1080i/720p but cut the 5.1 down to just 2 channel.
Looks like on the channels that share transmitters--11.1 CBS -is in 5.1 DD--11.2 NBC -is 2 channel--this one was 5.1 when is was on channel 5.1- and then 13.1 ABC and 13.2 FOX are both 2 channel and I believe PBS is 2 channel also. At least when I checked a couple of times today (6/14).
 
CBS in Fargo moving to a subchannel on NBC

The CBS-TV affiliation in Fargo will move to a subchannel, Gray TV announced Friday, matching moves made in two other markets.

The announcement came as Gray closed on its purchase of NBC affiliate KVLY-TV/11.1 (Fargo), along with several other stations in the Dakotas and Nebraska, from Hoak Media. Gray said it would assume Hoak's agreement to operate Parker Broadcasting CBS affiliate KXJB/4.1 (Valley City-Fargo), but that the CBS affiliation would move to a KVLY subchannel within the next few months, pending network approval.

KXJB will then go silent and Gray will work with the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council to find a minority-owned, female-owned, or non-profit organization to buy KXJB. The same applies to KHAS-TV/5.1 (Hastings), KNDX/26 (Bismarck), and KXND/24 (Minot), which all went silent Friday after their programming was moved to Gray stations (see earlier story below).

Gray also confirmed that it bought almost all of the non-license assets of KHAS-TV from Hoak and hired KHAS-TV's employees; a similar announcement about buying the assets of KNDX/KXND had already been made.

Gray had originally planned to operate the stations under shared services agreements with Excalibur Broadcasting, which was buying the stations, but the company said Friday the deals have been abandoned amid increased FCC scrutiny of joint sales and shared services agreements.
 
Wow, a stranglehold on ND television. Gray controlling CBS and NBC in the whole state of ND. Only Fox and ABC to go.
 
Gray doesnt own the CBS in the Western Part of the state

They own all the NBC's in the state (from Hoak), the CBS in Fargo and Fox in Western ND.
 
Sounds like what Sinclair wants to do in Birmingham to get their Allbritton deal through, except they are surrendering licenses to the FCC. They own WTTO 21, WABM 68, and have a SSA with WDBB 17 (owned by their shell company, Cunningham).
Having the ABC affiliate would put them over the limit, so they propose to turn in the license of WCFT 33 and WJSU 40, both powerhouse full power satellites of WBMA-LD 58 (ABC), the two stations combined coverage stretches from eastern Mississippi to western Georgia to nearly Tennessee, basically covering the entire northern half of Alabama.
They want to move ABC to WABM 68, the market's lowest rated station that BARELY even covers the whole market, and doesn't in many places.


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Well KHAS is off the air as of last Friday. (as in KHAS 5)

The Fox LP stations Gray can buy as they dont count towards ownership issues
 
A follow up to my post above--METV--that was on OTA channel 11.2 in the Lincoln DMA was in 720P HD the last few months--not in SD as I stated in a previous post. METV was also Dish channel 4 in the Lincoln/Kearney DMA.
Now--after the changes all I have OTA here is;
13.1 ABC--
13.2 Fox-
11.1 CBS-
11.2 NBC --
these 4 channels are in either 720P or 1080i.
Gray said they would be putting MeTV back on 10/11 as a -3 station soon

from the 10/11 facebook page

The MeTV programming has moved to channel 4.2, and sometime this week will also be available on channels 10.3 and 11.3
 
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It's odd seeing KHAS 5--which is now on Channel 4--say News 5 or have the number 5 with the NBC banner on screen.
Also, I re-scanned my OTA channels last night but did not get the .3 MeTv subchannel yet--it should be on 11.3 for me--this is the KOLN/KGIN--10.1 and 11.1 (CBS) portion of OTA channels.
 
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I scanned the OTA today and 11.3 (MeTv) is on now in south central Nebraska. The station shows the MeTv programming but is called MyNetwork--the banner shows MyMe. It looks to be in 480i 16:9 format.
I was going to use a quote but wasn't sure how to do it.
 
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I scanned the OTA today and 11.3 (MeTv) is on now in south central Nebraska. The station shows the MeTv programming but is called MyNetwork--the banner shows MyMe. It looks to be in 480i 16:9 format.
I was going to use a quote but wasn't sure how to do it.
click on reply in the bottom right corner of box to do a quote in the new software.
 
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I scanned the OTA today and 11.3 (MeTv) is on now in south central Nebraska. The station shows the MeTv programming but is called MyNetwork--the banner shows MyMe. It looks to be in 480i 16:9 format.
I was going to use a quote but wasn't sure how to do it.
If I remember right when it was on KSNB4 it was MeTV but My Network from 7-9. Assume that just followed over to 10-3 & 11-3
 
CBS in Fargo moving to a subchannel on NBC

The CBS-TV affiliation in Fargo will move to a subchannel, Gray TV announced Friday, matching moves made in two other markets.
They simulcasted CBS on 11-2 for about 2 weeks then shut down KXJB 4 (RF38) on Sunday. From northpine

Longtime CBS affiliate KXJB-TV/4.1 (Valley City-Fargo) went silent Sunday night (Nov. 30) after its program lineup was moved to channel 11.2 of Gray TV NBC affiliate KVLY-TV (Fargo). Gray made the move after buying KVLY because new FCC rules limit shared services agreements like the one that had allowed KVLY to run KXJB for the past decade. Gray exercised an option to buy KXJB and then sold the station's license to Major Market Broadcasting for $75,000. Major Market Broadcasting, headed by Indian American journalist Ravi Kapur of San Francisco, will have to change the station's callsign and come up with new programming. KVLY ran a story about KXJB's 60-year history on its Sunday night newscast. Gray recently made similar moves in the Bismarck and Lincoln markets, but this move marks the first time a legacy "big three" network has been moved from a primary affiliation to a subchannel in the Upper Midwest. The addition of "KX4" on channel 11.2 moves Me-TV to 11.3.
 
Yep. KX4 had been simulcast since Friday, and the KX transmitter went silent Sunday in the wee hours.
Huh?? according to this Major Market Broadcasting will also manage KVLY for Gray.
Major Market Broadcasting - Looks like it's their first foray into TV broadcasting.
For some reason I can't quantify,I expect to see another shakeup of on air personalities and management, in the near future.
 
no Gray owns KVLY (and all the NBC"s in ND). They bought KXJB on the grounds they could sell it. They sold the assets (the license and transmitter) to MMB.

Whats crazy is that in some markets there are now only 3 OTA stations in a market covering all 4 nets (plus PBS)
CBS on -1, ABC on -2
NBC on -1, FOX on -2, ME on -3
PBS

Same as in Grand Island, NE
CBS on -1, NBC on -2, Me/My on -3
ABC on -1, FOX on -2
PBS
 
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