KBMY
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| KMCY | |
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| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| History | |
First air date | June 1985[2] |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 14 (UHF, 1985–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Magic City (nickname of Minot) |
| Technical information[3] | |
| Facility ID | 22127 |
| ERP | 40 kW |
| HAAT | 217 m (712 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 48°3′11″N 101°23′7″W / 48.05306°N 101.38528°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
KBMY (channel 17) is a
Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, KBMY is considered a
KMCY (channel 14) in
History
KBMY signed on for the first time on March 31, 1985, and KMCY signed on for the first time in June 1985; bringing the full ABC schedule to central and western North Dakota and eastern Montana for the first time ever. Before 1985, this area had been one of the last in the United States without full network service. ABC was limited to off-hours clearances on
) until it swapped affiliations with WDAY/WDAZ in 1983. From 1983 onward, cable systems in Bismarck piped in WDAY-TV, while cable systems in Minot piped in WDAZ.On paper, western North Dakota had been large enough to support three full network affiliates since at least the late 1960s. However, this region is one of the largest geographic markets in the nation, spilling across large slices of North Dakota,
In the early 2000s, KBMY signed on two low-powered translators to serve the smaller cities in the market, K44HR in Williston and K42FY in Dickinson. Prior to K44HR's inception, cable systems in Williston, Dickinson and the western half of the market piped in Denver's ABC affiliate—KUSA prior to 1995 and KMGH-TV after 1995. The Dickinson station directly repeated KBMY, while the Williston station repeated KMCY.
From the 1990s until 2007, KBMY and KMCY were known collectively as "ABC West". That year, the stations changed their monikers in favor of the station identities for their area. From 2002 until 2008, KBMY/KMCY was operated by Prime Cities Broadcasting, owner of western North Dakota's Fox affiliate, KNDX/KXND, in a local marketing agreement. The LMA allowed KBMY/KMCY to share the facilities, staff, and some equipment of KNDX/KXND.
The LMA with KNDX/KXND ended in 2008, with Forum opting to partner with Reiten Television in KBMY/KMCY's local operations via a joint sales agreement. While some local advertising staffers were based at KXMB-TV in Bismarck and KXMC-TV in Minot, most operations have been consolidated at WDAY-TV's studios in Fargo.
Under this arrangement, KBMY and KMCY's programming was transported from WDAY-TV's studios to Bismarck via leased microwave relay bandwidth furnished by
As part of the JSA with Reiten, KBMY/KMCY were picked up on the digital subchannels of KX Television satellites KXMA-TV in Dickinson and KXMD-TV in Williston starting in May 2009, and the translators serving Dickinson and Williston were shut down. The JSA was terminated following the acquisition of the KX stations by
WDAY X
WDAY X is a
WDAY X (as WDAY Xtra) became available in HD in 2014, and in 2016, MyNetworkTV programming began airing (in prime time), although on KBMY and KMCY only (in Bismarck and Minot respectively) but not on WDAY-TV in Fargo or WDAZ-TV in Devils Lake–Grand Forks (the most likely reason being that both of those stations broadcast to a viewing area that is currently being serviced by MyNetworkTV affiliate KRDK-TV from Valley City–Fargo).[9]
Starting on August 29, 2016, WDAY Xtra and the
News and programming
When KBMY/KMCY signed on in 1985, the stations originated and aired a local newscast at 10 p.m. with on-location
For the next quarter-century, the stations were among the few Big Three affiliates in the nation with no long form newscasts. From the mid-1990s to 2014, the closest thing to a newscast on the stations was Good Morning West Dakota, a 30-minute morning show produced by Bismarck radio station KBMR. Even then, there were no local cut-ins during Good Morning America.
Starting in 2014, WDAY-TV began reorienting its newscasts to a statewide focus, and gradually began simulcasting them on KBMY/KMCY. The Sunday 5:30 p.m. (Central Time) newscast was the first rolled out to Bismarck, in February 2014.[11] First News broadcasts during weekday mornings from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. (Central Time) debuted in April 2014, and the stations began airing WDAY's 5 p.m. (Central Time) weekday newscast in August 2014. Local cut-ins during Good Morning America are broadcast from WDAY-TV's studios. WDAY's 6 p.m. newscast debuted on September 14, 2015, with the 10 p.m. news starting on December 5, 2016.
The stations do not produce much local content, mostly serving as "pass-throughs" for automated programming from ABC and WDAY/WDAZ.
KBMY and KMCY sign off on Monday mornings at 4:30 a.m., returning to the air just minutes later.
Technical information
Subchannels
The stations' signals are
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KBMY | KMCY | KBMY | KMCY | |||
| 17.1 | 14.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
KBMYABC | KMCYABC | Main programming / ABC |
| 17.2 | 14.2 | 480i | CRIME | True Crime Network | ||
| 17.3 | 14.3 | 720p | XTRA | MyNetworkTV / WDAY X | ||
| 17.4 | 14.4 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | ||
| 17.5 | 14.5 | Defy | Defy TV | |||
| 17.6 | 14.6 | CourtTV | Court TV | |||
Analog-to-digital conversion
KBMY shut down its analog signal, over
KMCY shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 14, on February 10, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 14.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KBMY". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KMCY signed on June 22, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on June 19.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KMCY". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "North Dakota TV Stations". Upper Midwest Broadcasting. May 19, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ "Nexstar Buys 4 North Dakota Stations". TVNewsCheck. September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ^ "Consummation Notice - Federal Communications Commission".
- ^ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License - Federal Communications Commission".
- ^ "TitanTV Guide". titantv.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014.
- ^ "MyNetworkTV Gets New Fargo Station". Northpine. May 13, 2021.
- ^ Olson, Jeff (March 12, 1989). "Death of a newsroom: Fired and stunned, KBMY employees wonder what went wrong". The Bismarck Tribune. pp. 1A, [1]. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ "Fargo TV station starting statewide broadcast". The Bismarck Tribune. February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
- ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "News". Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2009.