KPAX-TV
KPAX-TV, virtual channel 8 (VHF digital channel 7), is a dual CBS/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Missoula, Montana, United States. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KPAX-TV's studios are located on West Central Avenue in Missoula, and its transmitter is located on TV Mountain north of the city.
Missoula, Montana United States | |
---|---|
Channels | Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 8 (PSIP) |
Branding | KPAX 8 (general) MTN News (newscasts) |
Slogan | Montana's News Leader |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 8.1: CBS (1970–1976, 1984–present)/MTN 8.2: CW+ 8.3: Grit (O&O) |
Ownership | |
Owner | E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC) |
History | |
First air date | 1970[1] |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF, 1970–2009) |
Former affiliations | ABC (1970–1991; secondary 1970–1976 and 1984–1990) |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 35455 |
ERP | 22.5 kW |
HAAT | 653.5 m (2,144 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 47°1′2.1″N 114°0′50.5″W |
Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
Website | www |
Kalispell, Montana United States | |
---|---|
Channels | Digital: 18 (UHF) Virtual: 18 (PSIP) |
Branding | KAJ 18 (general) MTN News (newscasts) |
Slogan | see KPAX-TV infobox |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 18.1: CBS/MTN 18.2: CW+ 18.3: Grit (O&O) |
Ownership | |
Owner | E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC) |
History | |
First air date | 1982 |
Former call signs | K18AJ (1982–2011) KAJJ-CA (2011–2012) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 18 (UHF, 1985–2012) Digital: 39 (UHF, 2012-2018) |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 35453 |
Class | CD |
ERP | 9.55 kW |
HAAT | 805 m (2,641 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 48°8′48″N 114°21′58″W |
Links | |
Public license information | (semi-satellite of KPAX-TV) Profile LMS |
Website | www |
KAJJ-CD (virtual and UHF digital channel 18) in Kalispell operates as a low-powered, Class A semi-satellite of KPAX-TV; known on-air as KAJ, it broadcasts the same schedule as KPAX, but with local commercials and news segments. To comply with the requirements of its Class A license, KAJJ also produces its own weeknight 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts with a separate anchor, which premiered in 2010.
History
Channel 8 signed on for the first time in 1970 as a semi-satellite of KXLF-TV in Butte. The station was originally owned by Garryowen Corporation, controlled by Joe Sample, as part of the Montana Television Network.[2] In 1977, KPAX opened a new studio on Regent Street in Missoula and severed the electronic umbilical cord with Butte.
For most of its existence, KPAX-TV has been a primary CBS affiliate.[3] However, it shared ABC with KGVO-TV (channel 13, now KECI-TV)[3] until 1976, when KPAX, along with KXLF-TV, upgraded ABC to a primary affiliation,[4] relegating CBS to a secondary affiliation shared with KGVO.[5] KPAX returned to CBS in 1984,[6] and continued to air ABC in off-hours (shared with KECI) until KTMF (channel 23) signed on in 1990.
In 1984, Sample sold the MTN stations to SJL, Inc. for $20 million.[7] SJL, in turn, sold KPAX-TV, KXLF-TV, and KRTV in Great Falls to Evening Post Publishing Company, through its Cordillera Communications subsidiary, for $24 million in 1986.[8]
KAJJ was established in 1984[9] as K18AJ. Its original owner, Telecrafter Broadcasting Corporation (whose principals, Thomas A. Curtis and Daniel W. Coon, were stockholders in KOUS-TV in Billings and KYUS-TV in Miles City[10]), sold K18AJ to Cordillera in 1988.[11] It became KAJJ-CA in 2011, and KAJJ-CD in 2012.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[12][13] |
---|---|---|---|---|
8.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KPAX-DT | Main KPAX-TV programming / CBS |
8.2 | 720p | KPAX-CW | CW 8.2 | |
8.3 | 480i | 4:3 | Grit TV | |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KPAX-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[14] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 7.[15] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 8.
Notable former on-air staff
- Christine Clayburg - meteorologist
Repeaters
References
- The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says June 5, while the Television and Cable Factbook says May 1.
- 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1972. p. A-35. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "Listing of channel lineups in TV Guide Montana Edition". matthewsittel.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 7, 1976. p. 24. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 (PDF). 1977. p. B-116. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. C-36. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 16, 1984. p. 138. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 29, 1986. p. 78. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- "Application Search Details (KAJJ-CD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- "In re Applications … For Construction Permit for a New Television Station Billings, Montana". Federal Communications Commission. October 6, 1987. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
Curtis and Coon each own a 50% in Telecrafter Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of LPTV station K18AJ, Kalispell, Montana.
- "Public Notice Content". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- RabbitEars TV Query for KPAX
- RabbitEars TV Query for KAJJ-CD
- Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise Station Gets Power Boost". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- "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.
External links
- Official KPAX-TV website
- Official KAJJ-CD website
- CW 8.2
- KPAX in the FCC's TV station database
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPAX-TV