KSNT
kW | |
HAAT | 320 m (1,050 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 39°5′34″N 95°47′4″W / 39.09278°N 95.78444°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
KSNT (channel 27) is a
History
Early years
The station first signed on the air on December 28, 1967, as KTSB. It was originally owned by
In 1982, George Hatch—owner of the Kansas State Network, a chain of NBC-affiliated stations originating at KARD-TV (now
On May 15, 2005, Emmis Communications announced that it would sell its 16 television stations in order to concentrate on its portfolio of radio stations.
New Vision Television ownership, acquisition of KTMJ-CA and LMA with KTKA-TV
On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced that it would sell all of its stations (KSNT, KSNW and its satellites, as well as KHON-TV and KOIN) to
On February 4, 2011, Free State Communications announced that it would sell KTKA to Los Angeles–based PBC Broadcasting for $1.5 million.[10] As part of the deal, New Vision Television – then-owner of KSNT, and which already maintained shared services and local marketing agreements with PBC-owned stations in Youngstown, Ohio, and Savannah, Georgia, would operate KTKA-TV under a local marketing agreement. Despite objections to the sale by the American Cable Association that alleged the sale could give the virtual triopoly involving KSNT, KTKA and KTMJ-CA too much leverage in negotiations for retransmission consent agreements, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the sale on July 21, 2011.[11] PBC officially consummated on the purchase one week later on July 28. Two days later on July 30, KTKA relocated from its existing studio facility on 21st Street and Chelsea Drive in southwestern Topeka, and merged its operations with KSNT and KTMJ-CA at the two stations' facilities on Northwest 25th Street.
Sale to LIN Media, and then Media General, then Nexstar
On May 7, 2012,
On March 21, 2014,
KSNT-DT2
On April 10, 2006, Montecito Broadcast Group signed an affiliation agreement with The CW in which KSNT-DT2 would serve as the network's Topeka affiliate.[22] On September 18, 2006, Montecito took over the operations of "Northeast Kansas CW 5" (the channel number referencing its primary cable position in the market on Cox Communications), which originated as a cable-only affiliate of The WB 100+ Station Group—a national feed of The WB intended for smaller markets—when it launched on September 21, 1998, under the fictional call letters "WBKS" (branded on-air as "WB5"). Programming on KSNT-DT2 as a CW affiliate was received through The CW's small-market national feed The CW Plus; as The CW handles programming responsibilities for its CW Plus affiliates during non-network time periods, KSNT only provided local advertising services for the subchannel.
On November 1, 2008, KSNT-DT2 disaffiliated from The CW Plus, which moved to the third digital subchannel of ABC affiliate KTKA-TV, replacing it with a standard-definition simulcast of Fox affiliate KTMJ-CA to provide a digital signal for the low-power station and to extend its programming to the far northern and eastern fringes of the Topeka market.
Programming
KSNT carries the entire NBC programming schedule, though the station airs NBC News Daily "live" with its airing in the Eastern Time Zone as a noontime offering, rather than its usual 1 p.m. Central slot on most affiliates.
News operation
KSNT presently broadcasts 26 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with four hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). Unlike most NBC affiliates, the station does not carry newscasts on weekday middays. In addition, KSNT presently produces an additional 13+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week for Fox affiliate KTMJ-CD (consisting of 2+1⁄2 hours on weekdays and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays); KSNT also simulcasts its weekday morning and weeknight 10 p.m. newscast on KTKA-TV.
From its sign-on, KSNT's newscasts have traditionally placed second behind the longer-established WIBW-TV, although it placed far ahead of the perennial third place KTKA-TV after that station signed on in 1983 as KLDH. As a part-time member of the Kansas State Network, KSNT was one of only two stations in the group (along with KSNF in Joplin, Missouri, another former KSNW semi-satellite) that maintained a full in-house news department separate from KSNW; however, KSNT provided news content focusing on northeast Kansas to KSNW and the other KSN stations, while KSNW provided news stories focusing on central and western Kansas to KSNT in turn. While in its role as airing partial simulcasts of KSNW programming, the station used the "Hello News" music package by Frank Gari for its newscasts and station imaging from 1982 to 1986.
In September 2003, KSNT gradually scaled back its sports department, with the departures of sports director Leo Doyle, and later, weekend sports anchor Katrina Hancock; during this time, the station's evening anchors provided sports-related stories on Monday through Thursday evenings, while sports content aired in the form of a standalone segment within the newscasts on Friday through Sunday evenings; this lasted until April 2004, when Lance Veeser was hired as KSNT's sports director.[23][24][25] In April 2009, following that station's purchase by New Vision Television, KSNT began producing a two-hour weekday morning newscast at 7 a.m. and a half-hour newscast at 9 p.m. weeknights for Fox affiliate KTMJ-CA, replacing news simulcasts from fellow Fox station WDAF-TV in Kansas City in those timeslots.
As a result of KTKA's sale to PBC Broadcasting and local marketing agreement with New Vision Television, KSNT took over production of channel 49's newscasts, using existing staff from both stations. KSNT started producing channel 49's newscasts the following day on July 30 – beginning with the 6 p.m. newscast – under the uniform branding Kansas First News (which also encompassed the prime time newscast on KTMJ, in an arrangement similar to other joint news operations involving virtual triopolies such as
Beginning with the 5 p.m. newscast on January 26, 2015, KSNT quietly dropped the Kansas First News brand, with the introduction of a new graphics package and news set, as well as a uniform logo scheme for all three stations (consisting of only the station's respective call letters and the logo of their affiliated network), with newscasts on KSNT, KTMJ and KTKA being rebranded as KSNT News. KTMJ has been rebranded as Fox 43 News @ 9.
On March 25, 2022, KSNT introduced a new logo and revived the 27 News brand across newscasts seen on both KSNT and KTKA. Newscasts continued to use the previous graphics and music from the KSNT News brand at the time.[citation needed]
Notable former on-air staff
- Root Sports)
- Campbell Brown – reporter (later at NBC News as co-anchor of Weekend Today, and at CNN as host of Campbell Brown)
- Fox and Friends)
- Bill Karins – meteorologist (now at NBC News)
- Alycia Lane – anchor/reporter (later weekday morning anchor at KNBC in Los Angeles)
- Sirius XM Radio as a reporter for Howard 100 Newsand host of Leiberman Live)
- Brent Stover – sports anchor (now at the CBS Sports Network as a play-by-play announcer)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
27.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
KSNT-DT | NBC |
27.2 | 720p | FOX | Fox (KTMJ-CD) | |
27.3 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
27.4 | Bounce | Bounce TV |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KSNT shut down its analog signal, over
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KSNT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Hooper, Michael (March 9, 2000). "KSNT-TV among stations for sale". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ Lorenz, Jonna (May 9, 2000). "Indiana firm buys KSNT-TV". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "Emmis To Turn Off TV, Stay Tuned to Radio". Broadcasting & Cable. May 15, 2005.
- ^ Hooper, Michael (September 30, 2005). "Former owner to buy Channel 27". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "Emmis sells KHON-TV". Pacific Business News. American City Business Journals. September 15, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- Emmis Communications(Press release). January 27, 2006. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- ^ Malone, Michael (July 24, 2007). "New Vision Buys Montecito Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "New Vision Buying KTMJ Topeka, KS". TVNewsCheck. July 7, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "Topeka's KTKA-TV sold to LA company". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. February 4, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "FCC OKs KTKA Sale Over ACA Objection". TVNewsCheck. July 21, 2011.
- ^ Malone, Michael (May 7, 2012). "LIN Acquiring New Vision Stations for $330 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ Jessell, Harry A. (February 5, 2011). "Is An ABC-NBC Duopoly Coming To Topeka?". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "Joint Sales Agreement" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 4, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ "FCC approves sale of New Vision Television to Lin Media" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. October 2, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "LIN Completes New Vision Stations Buy". TVNewsCheck. October 12, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ Blackwell, John Reid (March 21, 2014). "MG will combine with LIN TV chain". Richmond Times-Dispatch. BH Media. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
- ^ "Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media" (Press release). Media General. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ^ Eggerton, John (December 12, 2014). "FCC Okays Media General/LIN Merger". Broadcasting & Cable.
- ^ "Nexstar Broadcasting seeks to buy Media General for $1.9 billion". USA Today. September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ^ Picker, Leslie (January 27, 2016). "Nexstar Clinches Deal to Acquire Media General". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ Romano, Allison (April 10, 2006). "CW Signs 13 More Affils". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Purinton, Cait (August 29, 2003). "KSNT to mix news, sports". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "KSNT hires news, sports directors". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. April 28, 2004. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ Dean, Rick (February 4, 2006). "KTKA will buck trend with sports". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "KSNT, KTKA combine news forces". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. August 1, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Malone, Michael (August 1, 2011). "Topeka Triopoly Takes Off". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KSNT". RabbitEars. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ Perry, Travis (February 14, 2009). "Three local TV stations make digital switch next week". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Morris Communications. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2009.