KNOP-TV

KNOP-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 2, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to North Platte, Nebraska, United States. Owned by Gray Television, it is sister to two low-power stations: CBS affiliate KNPL-LD (channel 10) and Class A Fox affiliate KIIT-CD (channel 11). The three stations share studios on South Dewey Street in downtown North Platte; master control and some internal operations are based at the facilities of sister station KOLN on North 40th Street in Lincoln. KNOP-TV's transmitter is located at the site of its former studio on US Route 83 in the northern part of North Platte.

KNOP-TV
North Platte, Nebraska
United States
ChannelsDigital: 2 (VHF)
Virtual: 2 (PSIP)
BrandingNBC Nebraska 2 (general)
NBC Nebraska News 2 (newscasts; visually displayed as NBC Nebraska News)
Fox 11 (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations2.1: NBC
2.2: Fox
2.3: Ion Television
Ownership
OwnerGray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
KIIT-CD, KNPL-LD, KNEP, KNHL, KOLN/KGIN, KSNB-TV, WOWT
History
First air date
December 15, 1958 (1958-12-15)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
2 (VHF, 1958–2009)
Digital:
22 (UHF, until 2009)
Call sign meaning
NOrth Platte
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID49273
ERP16 kW
HAAT196 m (643 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°12′13″N 100°44′0″W
Translator(s)K18DH 18 Broken Bow
KAQY-LP 35 Lexington
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.knopnews2.com

KNEP (channel 2.1/4.1) in Scottsbluff, Nebraska operates as a semi-satellite of KNOP-TV.

History

KNOP-TV was founded by local investors headed by attorney Rush Clarke and went on-air December 15, 1958.[1]

In 1968, it was purchased by Richard F. Shively, Harold O. Shively and Ulysses Carlini Sr.[2] Richard died on December 4, 2003.[3] In 1997, Shively and Carlini bought KHAS-TV in Hastings, and formed Greater Nebraska Television as a holding company for their television interests.

In 2005, Greater Nebraska Television sold its stations (including KNOP-TV) to Hoak Media.[4]

KNOP started rebroadcasting NBC programming in high definition, and carrying K11TW's Fox programming on its second digital subchannel, in March 2011.[5]

KNOP gained national attention in February 2012 for being the only station in the country to air a Will Ferrell-produced Super Bowl commercial for Old Milwaukee beer.[6][7]

On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including KNOP-TV and K11TW, to Gray Television. The sale made them sister stations to North Platte CBS affiliate KNPL-LD, a semi-satellite of Gray's KOLN/KGIN; it would have also partially separated KNOP from KHAS-TV, which was planned to be sold to Excalibur Broadcasting but be operated by Gray's KOLN/KGIN and KSNB-TV through a shared services agreement.[8] However, in the wake of heightened FCC scrutiny about local marketing agreements, on June 11, 2014, KHAS-TV announced it would leave the air at midnight on June 13 and NBC programming would be moved to KSNB-TV and the digital subcarrier of KOLN/KGIN.[9] The whole sale was completed on June 13.[10] (KHAS was ultimately sold to Legacy Broadcasting,[11] the call letters were changed to KNHL,[12] and it returned to the air in June 2015 as a SonLife Broadcasting Network affiliate.[13]

On September 14, 2015, Gray announced that it would purchase the television and radio stations owned by Schurz Communications, including Scottsbluff, Nebraska based KDUH-TV (a satellite of Rapid City's ABC-affiliated KOTA-TV) for $442.5 million.[14][15][16] Gray planned to convert KDUH into a semi-satellite of KNOP-TV,[17][18] change the station's call letters to KNEP, and also change KDUH/KNEP's city of license to Sidney, Nebraska (which will move it from the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff market to the Denver market, eliminating an ownership conflict with KSTF, a Gray-owned, Scottsbluff-based semi-satellite of Cheyenne, Wyoming-based CBS affiliate KGWN-TV).[19][20][21] The sale approved by the FCC on February 12, 2016,[22] and was completed on February 16.[23] The FCC approved the change of station's city of license on May 16.[24] KNEP's NBC feed for the Nebraska Panhandle (which is branded as "NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff" and produces its own newscasts) signed on May 5, 2016.[25] However, the station is still airing KOTA-TV programming on its DT1 channel.[26]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[27]
2.11080i16:9KNOPMain KNOP-TV programming / NBC
2.2720pKIITSimulcast of KIIT-CD / Fox
2.3480i4:3ION TVIon Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

KNOP-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on February 10, 2009.[28][29] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 22 to VHF channel 2 for post-transition operations.[30]

Newscasts

KNOP-TV presently broadcasts 17 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with three hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station also produces 2½ hours of weekly news programming each for CBS and Fox affiliated sister stations KIIT-CD and KNPL-LD. Between the three stations, the news operation produces about 22 hours of news programming each week.

References
  1. 1959 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF), 1954, p. B-53
  2. Sportscaster Joe Swift out of job - The North Platte Bulletin
  3. Application for Consent to Assign Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License, or to Transfer Control of Entity Holding Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License - Federal Communications Commission
  4. KNOP may get new owners - The North Platte Telegraph
  5. New Broadcasting Qualities - KNOP News 2
  6. Burke, Timothy. "We Now Have The Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee Super Bowl Ad In HD, Along With More Info About It". Deadspin. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  7. Carlini, Holly. "Commercial Ran Only On KNOP-TV". KNOP-TV. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  9. "KHAS TV - KSNB TV Statement". KHAS-TV. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  10. Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  11. "Gray Sets Buyers For Its Six SSA Stations". TVNewsCheck. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 9, 2015.
  13. "September 2015". NorthPine.com: Upper Midwest Broadcasting. 11 September 2015.
  14. "GRAY TELEVISION PURCHASES KOTA-TV, KDUH". KNEB. September 15, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  15. "Schurz Communications to sell WSBT and other TV, radio stations". South Bend Tribune. September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  16. Kuperberg, Jonathan (September 14, 2015). "Gray Acquiring TV, Radio Stations from Schurz for $442.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  17. "Comprehensive Exhibit" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  18. Gray Television unveils some changes for Scottsbluff station. KOTA-TV, 17 February 2016, Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  19. "Comprehensive Exhibit" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  20. KOTA Territory News to bring more statewide coverage., Scottsbluff Star-Herald, 19 February 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  21. "Sale of KDUH-TV Parent Complete". KCSR. February 16, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  22. FCC Approves Gray-Schurz TV Station Deal. Broadcasting & Cable, 12 February 2016, Retrieved 13 February 2016
  23. Gray Closes Schurz Acquisition, Related Transactions, And Incremental Term Loan Facility Press Release, Gray Television, Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  24. Report and Order, Federal Communications Commission, 16 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  25. "KOTA announces switch to KNEP in May". Scottsbluff Star-Herald. March 29, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  26. May 2016 - Upper Midwest Broadcasting
  27. RabbitEars TV Query for KNOP-TV
  28. Notification of Suspension of Operations - Federal Communications Commission
  29. KNOP switches to digital - The North Platte
  30. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.