KEVN-TV

KEVN-TV / KIVV-TV

KEVN: Rapid City, South Dakota KIVV: Lead, South Dakota
Branding	Black Hills Fox (general) Black Hills Fox News (news)
Slogan	Real People. Real News.
Channels	Digital: KEVN: 7 (VHF) KIVV: 5 (VHF) Virtual: KEVN: 7 (PSIP) KIVV: 5 (PSIP)
Subchannels	7.1/5.1 Fox
Affiliations	Fox
Owner	Mission TV, LLC (KEVN, Inc.)
First air date	Both stations: July 11, 1976
Call letters' meaning	KEVN: SEVeN KIVV: FIVe
Former channel number(s)	Analog: KEVN: 7 (VHF, 1976-2009) KIVV: 5 (VHF, 1976-2009) Digital: KEVN: 18 (UHF) KIVV: 29 (UHF)
Former affiliations	CBS (1976-1988) NBC (secondary, 1976-1988; primary, 1988-1996; see text)
Transmitter power	KEVN: 43.5 kW KIVV: 9.2 kW
Height	KEVN: 204 m KIVV: 561 m
Facility ID	KEVN: 34347 KIVV: 34348
Transmitter coordinates	KEVN: 44°4′0″N 103°15′1″W KIVV: 44°19′30″N 103°50′14″W
Website	www.blackhillsfox.com

KEVN-TV, channel 7, is a Fox television station affiliate based in Rapid City, South Dakota. It also operates a satellite in Lead, South Dakota, KIVV-TV (channel 5), which can also be seen over the air in Rapid City. Both stations are owned by Mission TV (an independent private company led by California attorney William Reyner, unrelated to the holding company of the same name that is controlled by Nexstar Broadcasting Group). KEVN's transmitter is located in Rapid City.

Digital television

As of 2007, KEVN-DT's digital television transmitter was not yet operating at full power due to financial problems; in submissions to the FCC the station's owners indicated that KEVN-DT Rapid City was the subject of a current bankruptcy proceeding and to expend the funds necessary to complete construction of its full power DTV facility "could be fatal." The station asked to defer further DTV construction until the end of the DTV transition.

Channels	Aspect	Format	Programming
7.1 / 5.1	16:9	720p	main KEVN-TV programming / Fox

History

Channel 7 in Rapid City was originally the home of KRSD-TV, which was not associated in any way with KEVN. KRSD operated from 1958 until 1971.

KEVN arose out of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) concern over duplication of CBS service in the Scottsbluff, Nebraska area, which is considered part of the Cheyenne, Wyoming market. KOTA-TV operates a satellite station in Scottsbluff, KDUH. Cheyenne's KYCU-TV (now KGWN-TV) had its own satellite in Scottsbluff, KSTF. Both KYCU/KSTF and KOTA/KDUH held unusual "joint primary" affiliation with both ABC and CBS; KYCU/KSTF slightly favored ABC, while KOTA/KDUH slightly favored CBS. Needless to say, this was causing a lot of confusion in Scottsbluff, especially when both satellites were carrying the same CBS program and the only other choice non-cable viewers had was KTNE-TV on the Nebraska ETV network.

So when the FCC awarded the license to KEVN, the intention was to end the duplication problem and to lighten KOTA/KDUH's network load. KEVN started operations on July 11, 1976, as did KIVV. Both were primary CBS affiliates that also carried secondary affiliations with NBC, which had been without a station in Rapid City since KRSD left the air.

In 1988, KELO-TV in Sioux Falls signed on a Rapid City satellite, KCLO-TV, which took the CBS affiliation. KEVN then became a sole NBC affiliate. In July 1996, KEVN dropped NBC to join Fox, leaving the Black Hills region with no full-power NBC affiliate until KNBN signed on in 2000. During that period, KUSA-TV in Denver was piped in on cable. The station was known as "KEVN Fox 7" in its first 11 years as a Fox affiliate, becoming "Black Hills FOX" in early 2007. This rebranding removed the channel number from KEVN's identity.

KEVN and KIVV are among a handful of stations that still sign-off, doing so at 2:00 each morning.

News operation

Currently, KEVN produces a total of 9½ hours of local newscasts each week (with 1½ hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station is among the few Fox affiliates to carry a 6 p.m. newscast and one of the only Fox stations to offer a 6 p.m. newscast, but not have a 5 p.m. newscast as well; the station also does not carry morning or midday newscasts.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• (KEVN) Action News (1976–1996)
• KEVN Fox 7 News (1996–2007)
• Black Hills Fox News (2007–present)

Station slogans

• "KEVN, Seven's the One" (1976-1978)
• "Turn to KEVN" (1978-1979)
• "Action News: The News Specialists" (early 1980s)
• "Keep Your Eyes on Us!" (mid 1980s)
• "The Black Hills' Best" (early 1990s-1996)
• "The Black Hills' News Leader" (1996–2007)
• "Real People, Real News" (2007–present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

Newscast music

• Classical Gas by Telesound (1976-1978)
• Streets of... by Telesound (1978-1980)
• I Feel Love by Donna Summer (1980-1982)
• CBS News Ticker by unknown composer (1982-1984)
• KEVN 1984 News Theme by unknown composer (1984-1988)
• Production Music: Energy by Network Music (1988-1993)
• KEVN 1993 News Theme by unknown composer (1993-1996)
• Production Music: Last Frontiers by FirstCom (1996-2003)
• Overture by Stephen Arnold Music (2003-2006)
• FOX Affiliate News Theme by OSI Music (2007-present)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Jack Caudill - weeknights at 6 p.m.; also news director
• Zach Nugent - weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Julie Oberlander - weeknights at 6 and 9 p.m.
• Justin Pazera - weeknights at 9 p.m.; also 9 p.m. co–executive producer

SkyView Forecast Team

• Taylor Nicolaisen - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 9 p.m.
• Darren Leeds - meteorologist; weekends at 9 p.m. and also weekday reporter.

Sports team

• Jamie Zepp - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 9 p.m.
• Cory Coppock - sports anchor; weekends at 9 p.m., also sports reporter

Reporters

• Dave Kidd - videojournalist
• Brendyn Medina - general assignment reporter
• Tessa Thomas - general assignment reporter
• Amanda Webber - general assignment reporter
• Al Van Zee - general assignment reporter

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KEVN
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KIVV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KEVN-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KIVV-TV