KMNF-LD
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Channels | |
Branding | KEYC NBC (general) KEYC News Now (newscasts) KEYC CW (on LD2) |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 7.1: NBC 7.2: CW+ |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
KEYC-TV | |
History | |
First air date | March 2012 (as a KEYC translator in St. James, Minnesota; license moved to Mankato in 2019) December 1, 2019 (as a separate station) |
Former call signs | K38MY-D (2011–2019) K13AAR-D (CP/STA, 2018–2019) K07AAH-D (CP, 2019) |
Former channel number(s) | Digital: 38 (UHF, 2012–2018) 12 (PSIP, 2012–2017) |
CBS/Fox (via KEYC, 2012–2017) Dark (2017–2019) | |
Call sign meaning | Mankato, New Ulm, and Fairmont[1] |
Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 183814 |
Class | LD |
ERP | 3 kW |
HAAT | 295 m (968 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°56′12.3″N 94°24′39″W / 43.936750°N 94.41083°W |
Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
KMNF-LD, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, is a low-powered, dual NBC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Mankato, Minnesota, United States. Owned by Gray Television, it is a sister station to dual CBS/Fox affiliate KEYC-TV (channel 12). The two stations share studios on Lookout Drive in North Mankato; KMNF-LD's transmitter is located near Lewisville, Minnesota.[3]
History
The KMNF-LD license originated as K38MY-D in St. James, Minnesota, a translator for KEYC-TV (then owned by United Communications) on UHF channel 38[4] that signed on in March 2012.[5] K38MY-D went off the air on December 21, 2017 after the expiration of its tower lease agreement with BENCO/CTV; KEYC had operated UHF translators from CTV's Godahl tower since 1993.[6]
On September 14, 2018, K38MY-D was granted a construction permit to move to channel 13 from KEYC-TV's tower as K13AAR-D;[7] the channel change was required following the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s spectrum incentive auction and the subsequent repacking of the television band.[8] To maintain its license, the station operated under special temporary authority at reduced power from this facility[8] from November 29[9] to December 6, 2018.[10]
K13AAR-D was included in Gray Television's 2019 purchase of United Communications' television stations.[11]
On May 23, 2019, the station was granted a construction permit to move to channel 7 as K07AAH-D;[12] on June 3, 2019, the call letters were changed to KMNF-LD, a close match for those originally proposed for sister station KEYC-TV in 1958.[13]
On June 24, 2019, Gray announced that KMNF-LD would launch as early as September as an NBC affiliate, with The CW on its second subchannel.[3][14] KEYC-TV itself had launched in 1960 as an NBC affiliate, switching to CBS in 1961.[3] For the next 58 years after that, NBC programming was not available over-the-air in the Mankato market. Since 1981, Minneapolis affiliate KARE and Rochester affiliate KTTC had served as the default NBC affiliates for southwestern Minnesota via cable. KMNF-LD's sign-on leaves ABC and PBS as the only networks to not have over-the-air affiliates in Mankato; that network's programming is carried on cable via KSTP-TV, KTCA-TV and KAAL, with KSTP and KTCA being carried on CTV translators K30FN-D (KSTP) and K26CS-D (KTCA) in St. James.[15][16][17][18]
Testing on KMNF-LD began on October 28, 2019.[19] The station officially signed on December 1, 2019.[20]
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[21] |
---|---|---|---|---|
7.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KMNFLD1 | Main KMNF-LD programming / NBC |
7.2 | 720p | KMNFLD2 | KEYC CW |
Newscasts
KMNF-LD began simulcasting some KEYC newscasts on December 2, 2019. KEYC News Now This Morning airs weekdays from 5:30 to 7 a.m. on both KEYC-TV and KMNF-LD. The stations also simulcast the 10 p.m. news on weeknights, with each station airing separate commercials during each simulcast.
References
- ^ Arola, Brian (June 24, 2019). "KEYC adding NBC programming in late 2019". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KMNF-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b c Keegan, Mitch. "KEYC-TV adding 2 more network affiliates this fall". KEYC-TV. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV To Add NBC, CW Affiliations in Mankato". Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Application for a Low Power TV, TV Translator or TV Booston Station License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ Keegan, Mitch (December 21, 2017). "Translator Changes May Impact Some Over-the-Air Viewers of KEYC News 12". KEYC.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "LPTV Translator Engineering STA Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 29, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 11, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV Buys Mankato Station, First in Minnesota". Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 22, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Call Sign History (KMNF-LD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "CW PLUS Market Clearance (as of September 1, 2019)" (PDF). © 2019 The CW Television Network. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for K30FN-D
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for K26CS-D
- ^ The Webpage of Cooperative TV (CTV)
- ^ CTV Channel Listing via the Cooperative TV (CTV) Website
- ^ Keegan, Mitch. "Testing underway on new NBC, CW affiliates". KEYC News 12. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Keegan, Mitch. "Programming to start soon for NBC, CW". KEYC News 12. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KMNF-LD