KTVH-DT

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KTVH is a full-service television station serving Helena, Montana and the surrounding area as an NBC affiliate, broadcasting on analog channel 12 and digital channel 14. The station is owned by Beartooth Communications Company, a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the flagship station for Beartooth NBC, a network of NBC affiliates in central and western Montana.

KTVH repeats its programming on the following full-power stations:

Station	City of license	Channel1	First air date	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter Coordinates
KBBJ	Havre	9 (VHF)	2000	9 kW	388.8 m	83689	48°20′32″N 109°43′44″W
KBAO	Lewistown	13 (VHF)	2000	9 kW	636 m	84794	47°10′40″N 109°32′10″W

KTVH is also relayed by KBGF-LP channel 50 in Great Falls.

• ^{1: Separate digital channel allotments were not assigned. See "Digital television" paragraph below.}

History

KTVH

KTVH was the first television station in Helena, Montana, signing on the air on January 1, 1958 as an NBC affiliate. The station originally had the call letters KXLJ and was part of the "XL" Radio Network, along with stations KXLF Butte, KXXL Bozeman and KXLY Spokane, Washington. Shortly afterward, Bob Magnus and two partners bought the station and changed the call letters to KBLL-TV. In 1969, former Montana Governor Tim M. Babcock bought the station and changed the station's call letters to KTCM (Television for the Capitol of Montana). Babcock sold the station to Lynn Koch in 1979, and the station changed call letters again, this time to KTVG. A few years later, Koch sold the station to Don Bradley, who again changed the call letters to KTVH (TeleVision for Helena), which remain to this day. By 1988, the station was in financial trouble and Bradley sold it to Big Sky Communications. Big Sky Communications restored the station's financial health and in 1997, sold KTVH to Beartooth Communications Company, a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company based in Las Vegas, NV.

KBGF-LP

An original construction permit was granted on November 16, 2004 to Charles C. Townsend, III of Aloha Partners, to build a low-power television station serving Great Falls, Montana. The station being constructed on channel 50 was given call letters K50IQ. In April 2005, Townsend sold the permit to Beartooth Communications, who immediately changed the call letters to KBGF-LP. The station was licensed on December 5, 2005 and is a translator for Helena station KTVH. The station brands as KBGF 50.

KBBJ

On December 8, 1997, Sunbelt Communications Company obtained an original construction permit to build a full-service television station in Havre, Montana. KBBJ channel 9 became the first television station for Havre and north central Montana on December 5, 2001 when it was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH. Sunbelt assigned the station's license to subsidiary Beartooth Communication Company in 2005.

KBAO

Beartooth Communications Company was granted an original construction permit on December 12, 1997 to build a full-service television station to serve Lewistown and surrounding areas in central Montana. On July 18, 2001, KBAO channel 13 was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH, and as Lewistown's first television station. The station expanded its reach when the four translator television stations serving Phillips County in northern Montana became repeaters for KBAO.

Translators

The following stations rebroadcast the signal of KBAO:

• K15AS Malta MT
• K20BP Phillips County MT
• K34DN Whitewater MT
• K36CW Dodson MT

News Operation

The station runs a news operation out of KTVH. There is no local morning show. The Newscasts are at 6 and 10 PM.

Personalities

Lisa Wolf- Anchor/Reporter Brooke Boone- Anchor/ Reporter Aman Garcia- Reporter/Fill-In Anchor Michelle Langowski- Reporter/Fill-In Anchor Courthey Fawthrowp- Reporter/Fill-In Anchor Rob Erverinham- Reporter/Fill-In Anchor Curtis Grevenitz- Weather Erin Yost- Weather Al Marks- Sports Director/ Sports Anchor Jason Epner- Sports Anchor

Digital television

KTVH-DT was granted Special Temporary Authority on April 13, 2004 to begin broadcasting a digital television signal on channel 14 at reduced power. The temporary authority has been extended several times, the last time in April 2006, and KTVH-DT has requested that the reduced power facilities become the final facilities on channel 14, as they intend to build out their full digital facilities on their analog allotment, channel 12. KTVH is the first station in Helena to broadcast programming in High Definition.

Because KBBJ and KBAO were granted original construction permits after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], they did not receive companion channels for digital television stations. Instead, on or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KBBJ and KBAO switch to digital signals only like KTVH. KBBJ and KBAO are silent as of September 2008. According to an FCC filing, both stations have suffered major "feed" problems and are unable to transmit programs.

According to the KTVH website and on-air announcements, KTVH wil silence their analog signal at Noon local time on 10 November 2008. Access to the station's transmitter site, some 8000 feet up in the surrounding mountains, is limited or non-existent during the winter months.

External links

• KTVH/Beartooth NBC official site
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