KDLT-TV
Encyclopedia
KDLT, is an NBC
affiliated television station
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
, USA, serving Eastern South Dakota
and Southwestern Minnesota
. It broadcasts on ATSC
channel
47, which redirects to former NTSC
channel 46 via PSIP
. It also operates a full-powered satellite station--KDLV in Mitchell, South Dakota
(digital channel 26/PSIP 5). KDLT's 2000 feet (609.6 m) tower is located near Rowena
.
as KORN-TV on channel 5, an NBC affiliate. Just months later, however, it switched to ABC
. The station's original call letters were intended to honor the famous Mitchell Corn Palace
.
In 1972, the station changed its calls to KXON-TV. In 1982, KXON changed its call letters to KDLT when it was purchased by Dakotaland Broadcasting. Dakotaland Broadcasting eventually sold KDLT to Heritage Broadcasting in the mid-1980s. In 1982, KDLT and KSFY-TV
switched affiliations, with KSFY getting ABC and KDLT getting NBC. At the time of the switch KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one and ABC was the #1 network with NBC in third, making it logical for the more popular network to align with the more dominant station. The next year NBC and ABC ratings flip-flopped leaving KDLT once again affiliated with the more popular network. The station eventually moved its main studio to Sioux Falls in the mid to late 1980s.
On September 8, 1998 KDLT moved its city of license to Sioux Falls and began broadcasting on channel 46 from a new tower in Rowena, where most of the other Sioux Falls stations have their towers. This was largely because the channel 5 tower was too far away from Sioux Falls to adequately cover it with a digital signal. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) rules required a station's digital signal to cover at least 80 percent of its analog footprint. Channel 5 in Mitchell survives as a full-power satellite, KDLV. Due to the way the changeover was structured legally, the FCC considers KDLV to be the same station as the old KDLT.
On February 1, 2009, KDLT ceased analog transmissions, and began broadcasting only in digital. KDLV flash-cut
to digital on the same day.
Weekends
Weather team:
Sports:
Reporters:
television show World's Toughest Fixes
.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...
, USA, serving Eastern South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and Southwestern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It broadcasts on ATSC
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
channel
North American broadcast television frequencies
The North American broadcast television frequencies are on designated television channels numbered 2 through 69, approximately between 54 and 806 MHz. Traditionally, the frequencies are divided into two sections, the very high frequency band and the ultra high frequency band. The VHF band is...
47, which redirects to former NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
channel 46 via PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
. It also operates a full-powered satellite station--KDLV in Mitchell, South Dakota
Mitchell, South Dakota
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 14,558 people, 6,121 households, and 3,599 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,475.7 people per square mile . There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 664.4 per square mile...
(digital channel 26/PSIP 5). KDLT's 2000 feet (609.6 m) tower is located near Rowena
Rowena, South Dakota
Rowena is an unincorporated community in Minnehaha County, South Dakota along South Dakota State Highway 42.Rowena is located at , just over a mile north of the border with Iowa, about east of Sioux Falls, and west of the Minnesota border, at an elevation of 1,411 feet...
.
History
In 1960, KDLT started broadcasting from Mitchell, South DakotaMitchell, South Dakota
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 14,558 people, 6,121 households, and 3,599 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,475.7 people per square mile . There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 664.4 per square mile...
as KORN-TV on channel 5, an NBC affiliate. Just months later, however, it switched to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The station's original call letters were intended to honor the famous Mitchell Corn Palace
Corn Palace
The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. It is a popular tourist destination, visited by more than 500,000 people each year. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with Crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and...
.
In 1972, the station changed its calls to KXON-TV. In 1982, KXON changed its call letters to KDLT when it was purchased by Dakotaland Broadcasting. Dakotaland Broadcasting eventually sold KDLT to Heritage Broadcasting in the mid-1980s. In 1982, KDLT and KSFY-TV
KSFY-TV
KSFY-TV is the ABC television affiliate in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It broadcasts on ATSC Channel 13 . Its transmitter is located near Rowena, South Dakota. KSFY is currently owned by Hoak Media Corporation of Dallas, Texas.-Station history:...
switched affiliations, with KSFY getting ABC and KDLT getting NBC. At the time of the switch KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one and ABC was the #1 network with NBC in third, making it logical for the more popular network to align with the more dominant station. The next year NBC and ABC ratings flip-flopped leaving KDLT once again affiliated with the more popular network. The station eventually moved its main studio to Sioux Falls in the mid to late 1980s.
On September 8, 1998 KDLT moved its city of license to Sioux Falls and began broadcasting on channel 46 from a new tower in Rowena, where most of the other Sioux Falls stations have their towers. This was largely because the channel 5 tower was too far away from Sioux Falls to adequately cover it with a digital signal. Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) rules required a station's digital signal to cover at least 80 percent of its analog footprint. Channel 5 in Mitchell survives as a full-power satellite, KDLV. Due to the way the changeover was structured legally, the FCC considers KDLV to be the same station as the old KDLT.
On February 1, 2009, KDLT ceased analog transmissions, and began broadcasting only in digital. KDLV flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
to digital on the same day.
Newscasts
Monday -Friday- KDLT News Today - 6-7 AM
- KDLT News at 5
- KDLT News at 6
- KDLT News at 10
Weekends
- KDLT News at 5 (Sundays only)
- KDLT News at 6 (Saturdays only)
- KDLT News at 10
Current on-air staff
Anchors:- Tom Hanson: KDLT News at 6 and 10
- Jennifer Hudspeth: KDLT News at 5, 6 and 10
- Paul Heinert: KDLT News at 5 (News Director)
- Phil McIlrath: KDLT Today from 6-7am
Weather team:
- Cody Matz: Chief Meteorologist
- Kelly Smith: Morning Meteorologist
- Angela Schilling: Weekend Meteorologist
Sports:
- Mark Ovenden: Sports Director
- Kolbe Nelson: Weekend Sports
Reporters:
- Jeff Rusack: Reporter
- Jenna Mann: Reporter
- Melissa Payne: Reporter
- Anna Lempereur: Reporter
- Jason Rantala: Reporter
- Maren Larson: Reporter
Newscast titles
- Metro News
- Sioux First News
- News 5
- KDLT News (1990s-present)
Station slogans
- Channel 5, Let's All Be There (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- It's About Award Winning Journalism (2004-present)
Rebroadcasters
The programming of KDLT is also rebroadcast on the following translator stations:- K27HJ PierrePierre, South DakotaPierre is the capital of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. The population was 13,646 at the 2010 census, making it the second least populous state capital after Montpelier, Vermont...
- K33GX SpringfieldSpringfield, South DakotaSpringfield is a city in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1092 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Springfield is located at ....
- K33HC AberdeenAberdeen, South DakotaAberdeen is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, about 125 mi northeast of Pierre. Settled in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census. The American News is the local newspaper...
- K35GR BadgerBadger, South DakotaBadger is a town in Kingsbury County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 107 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Badger is located at ....
- K40FZ BrookingsBrookings, South DakotaBrookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is the fourth largest city in South Dakota, with a population of 22,056 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brookings County, and home to South Dakota State University, the largest institution of higher...
- K42FI WatertownWatertown, South DakotaWatertown is a city in and the county seat of Codington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 21,482 at the 2010 census. It is also the principal city of the Watertown Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Codington and Hamlin counties...
- K44GG MurdoMurdo, South DakotaMurdo is a city in Jones County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 488 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jones County. Murdo is named for Murdo MacKenzie, a Texas cattleman, and was the hometown of current Republican U.S...
- K47IC MilbankMilbank, South DakotaMilbank is a city in Grant County, South Dakota, along the South Fork of the Whetstone River. The population was 3,353 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grant County. In 1925 The American Legion Department of South Dakota established a new program for high school aged youth that grew...
Transmitter antenna replacement
The station's television transmitter antenna replacement was featured on the National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
television show World's Toughest Fixes
World's Toughest Fixes
World's Toughest Fixes is an American reality series that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on September 28, 2008. It features Sean Riley participating in various "tough fixes"; repairs and renovations done on equipment that is very large or dangerous...
.