KBMT

KBMT, virtual and VHF digital channel 12, is a dual ABC/NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Beaumont, Texas, United States and serving southeast Texas' Golden Triangle region. Owned by Tegna Inc., it is a sister station to low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate KUIL-LD (channel 12.5). KBMT's studios are located along I-10/US 69/US 96/US 287 in Beaumont, and its transmitter is located in Mauriceville, Texas. On cable, KBMT-DT1 is available on Charter Spectrum channel 5 in both standard and high definition; KBMT-DT2 (branded on-air as K-JAC: Your NBC) is carried on Spectrum channel 11.

For the airport in Beaumont, Texas assigned the ICAO code KBMT, see Beaumont Municipal Airport.
KBMT

Beaumont/Port Arthur/Orange, Texas[1]
United States
CityBeaumont, Texas
ChannelsDigital: 12 (VHF)
Virtual: 12 (PSIP)
Branding
  • 12.1: KBMT 12
  • 12 News (newscasts)
  • 12.2: K-JAC: Your NBC
  • 12.4: MeTV Beaumont[1]
SloganExpect More
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerTegna Inc.
(LSB Broadcasting, Inc.)
Sister stationsKBMT-LD
History
First air dateJune 18, 1961 (1961-06-18)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
12 (VHF, 1961–2009)
Digital:
50 (UHF, until 2009)
Former affiliations
  • Analog/DT1:
  • NBC, DuMont and ABC
Call sign meaningBeauMonT[1]
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID10150
ERP18 kW
HAAT305 m (1,001 ft)
Transmitter coordinates30°11′26″N 93°53′8″W
Translator(s)K27JJ 27 Warren, TX
KVHP-LD 44 Jasper, TX[1]
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewww.12newsnow.com

History

The callsign KBMT originally transmitted on UHF channel 31, beginning on May 9, 1954, as the first television station to broadcast in the Golden Triangle. The station was owned by Television Broadcasters, Inc. whose stockholders were H.D. Williams and R.C. Reed with Reed as president.[2] It carried NBC, DuMont Television Network and ABC as of November 1955;[3] the station also carried CBS programming before KFDM-TV went on the air in April 1955. Since the FCC did not mandate television sets to have UHF included until 1964, channel 31 went off the air on August 1, 1956.[4] Its original tower still stands (though only 250 feet (76 m) instead of 500 feet (152 m) tall) west of Vidor south of US 90.

KBMT's owners subsequently applied for the later allocation on channel 12 and, after winning the allocation from the FCC, began broadcasting on its new assigned channel using the KBMT callsign on June 18, 1961 as an ABC affiliate. Before 1961, ABC had been relegated to limited clearances on KPAC-TV (now KBTV-TV) and KFDM-TV. The original owners were N.D. "Doug" Williams and Randolph Reed. The original tower site for the transmitter and antenna was Sabine Pass, south of Port Arthur (this to prevent co-channel interference with KSLA-TV, Channel 12 in Shreveport). The transmitter and antenna were later moved to its current site near Mauriceville in the early 1960s with the antenna modified for a "directional" signal to prevent interference to KSLA's coverage area. The station was later sold to Cowles Broadcasting in 1965, H&C Communications in 1980 and McKinnon Broadcasting in 1991.

On January 1, 2009, KBMT added NBC programming on digital subchannel 12.2. This came after KBTV, which previously held the affiliation, switched to Fox. This in turn caused former Fox affiliate KUIL-LP (now KBMT-LD) to go independent, although they pursued the NBC affiliation.[5] The NBC subchannel uses the fictional callsign "K-JAC," a nod to channel 4's former calls from 1965 to 1999. In a ten-year deal with London Broadcasting, KBMT began to manage KUIL's programming as well.

KBMT shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, 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.[6] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 50 to VHF channel 12 for post-transition operations.[7]

Texas Telecasting, Inc. sold the station to London Broadcasting in August 2009.[8] That channel was dropped in early 2013 in favor of MundoFOX (now MundoMax). Due to a realignment, four digital channels are carried on the main 12 signal while the other two (12.5 MyTX and 12.6 MundoFOX) are carried via the low-power stations, KBMT-LD on 43 SW of Beaumont and K36ID-D on 36 in Orange. In Jasper, KVHP-LD on 44 and in Warren, K27JJ-D on 27 carries the main RF12 signal with ABC, NBC, COZI and MeTV.

In May 2010, London Broadcasting revealed that the company was developing a state network, MYTX, using subchannels like KIUL's .2 (now KBMT-LP .2) operated by KBMT. MYTX would share Texas news and sports and productions from 41 Entertainment, which is owned by London.[9]

On May 14, 2014, Gannett announced its intent to purchase KBMT and five other stations from London Broadcasting.[10] The sale was completed on July 8.[11] By the middle of September 2014, Gannett had also purchased the four low-power digital signals mentioned above. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KBMT and the low-power digital signals were retained by the latter company, named Tegna.[12]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
12.1720p16:9KBMT-HDMain KBMT programming / ABC
12.2K-JACHDKBMT-DT2 / NBC
12.3480iCOZICozi TV
12.4720pMeTVMeTV

Newscasts
Its news logo.

KBMT launched its news operation in 1962. On September 16, 2009, several changes occurred in the newscast lineup. The weekday morning show, Good Morning Southeast Texas, began simulcasting on both the ABC and NBC channels while becoming a full two-hour broadcast. There began to be a half-hour newscast weekday mornings at 11:30 on KBMT-DT2. The NBC channel also launched a weeknight show at 6:30 and begin to simulcast the main channel's weeknight 10 o'clock news.[13] Originally, there was only a separate short news and weather update at that time. KBMT-DT2 does not offer local newscasts on weekends unlike the main channel. On April 28, 2010, KBMT became the first in the market to air local news in high definition.[14]

Notable former staff

Translators

All the translators for KBMT and KBMT-LD (43) are on the same display or Virtual channel 12 as do these two main stations.[1]

for KBMT:
for KBMT-LD (43):
  • K27JJ-D (27) Forbes/Jasper City, Texas[16]
  • KUIL-LD (36) Beaumont, Texas[17]
gollark: And yet.
gollark: Guess better.
gollark: You wouldn't, but you don't need that.
gollark: You know, if you didn't say that, you probably could have anonymously messaged.
gollark: Actually, my intelligence is maximal.

References
  1. "Digital TV Market Listing for KBMT". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  2. Telecasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1957–58 (PDF). 1957. p. 234. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  3. "Telestatus November 1955" (PDF). Broadcasting * Telecasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. November 7, 1955. p. 73. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  4. "Texas U Suspends Operation" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. July 30, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  5. Guy, Colin (November 25, 2008). "KBMT will add NBC shows to its ABC lineup". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. Guy, Colin (February 16, 2009). "Southeast Texans might have more time to prep for digital switch". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  7. "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.
  8. "KBMT-TV bought by London Broadcasting". Beaumont Enterprise. August 4, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  9. Malone, Michael (May 5, 2010). "London Broadcasting Plots Texas Network". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-18. Retrieved 2014-05-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Gannett Completes London Broadcasting Buy, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  12. "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  13. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/TV_stations_add_lose_anchors.html
  14. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/2010/04/26/daily.7/
  15. "Digital TV Market Listing for KVHP-LD". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  16. "Digital TV Market Listing for K27JJ-D". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  17. "Digital TV Market Listing for KUIL-LD". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
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