KXMC-TV
Encyclopedia
KXMC-TV, channel 13, is the CBS
affiliated television station for Minot, North Dakota
. The station serves the northern half of the Western North Dakota television market. It is owned by Reiten Television of Minot.
KXMC is the flagship station of KX Television, a network of four CBS
affiliates that reach most of central and western North Dakota, along with parts of South Dakota
and Montana
.
The station operates a semi-satellite, KXMD-TV, channel 11 (digital 14) in Williston
. KXMD identifies itself as a station in its own right, but simulcasts KXMC most of the day. However, KXMD airs separate commercials and places local inserts into KXMC's newscasts. Additionally, KXMC's programming is repeated on low-powered translator K07EZ in Beulah
.
KXMC's broadcasts are digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.
KXMC and KXMD, along with sister stations KXMB-TV
in Bismarck, North Dakota and KXMA-TV in Dickinson, North Dakota signs off every night at 1:05 am Tuesday to Saturday Morning and at 1:35 am Sunday and Monday Morning, during the sign-offs are the national anthem and the national feed of CBS Up to the Minute
with Public Service Announcements, while weekends simulcast the local weather conditions of North Dakota.
businessman John Boler bought the station in 1958. The duo already owned KXMB-TV
in Bismarck
, and renamed the station KXMC-TV to reflect this.
KXMD signed on in November 1969. Previously Williston viewers had to pick up CBS programming on cable from KOOK-TV in Billings, Montana
(now KTVQ
), although KUMV
had not been above breaking away from the KFYR/KMOT feed when CBS had something very important to present.
Boler sold his interest in the stations to Reiten in 1971. Tim Reiten, Chester's son, still owns the stations today (including KXMA-TV in Dickinson
, which he bought in 1985).
The KX stations formerly had a secondary affiliation with ABC
before full-time ABC affiliate KMCY
signed on in 1986. During the late 1950s, the stations were also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
Until 1986, KXMD was carried by cable systems
across neighboring Saskatchewan
, even operating a sales office in Saskatoon
, as did KUMV and Great Falls
ABC station KFBB-TV
. These arrangements ended in 1986 when the Canadian cable companies were granted permission to replace the North Dakota signals with network affiliates from Detroit and Toledo, Ohio
.
KXJB-TV
in Fargo was co-owned with the KX stations (though programmed separately) until Boler sold his interest in 1971. The stations still occasionally share stories.
After an ice ice storm on April 6, 1997 caused the KXJB-TV mast
to collapse, some cable systems replaced KXJB with KXMC, either temporarily or permanently, to maintain CBS service.
On Sunday, February 6, 2011, KXMC and KXMD started broadcasting local news in high-definition
, joining KXMB and KXMA, which began broadcasting HD local news on Monday, January 31, 2011. The four KX Television stations are the first (and only) stations with HD local news in the Bismarck-Minot-Dickinson, ND market and the entire states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.
-like website called KX Net, with each station's website displaying a localized front page. The stations continue to be branded as "KX Television" and as "KX News" on the air, but also use the "KX Net" monkier on the air also.
KXNet.com combined the previous domains kxma.com, kxmb.com, kxmc.com and kxmd.com under one umbrella. The original domains are still active. KXNet.com won the 2007 Teddy Award for Best Website and the 2007 Eric Severaid Award for best website small market television in a 6 state region.
In 2008 KXNet.com became the first web site in North Dakota to deliver a live news broadcast over the Internet when they streamed a 1-hour special coverage of the 2008 Presidential Caucuses from Bismarck.
In October 2007, KXNet.com along with Midkota Solutions launched DakotaPolitics.com, a web site focusing on North Dakota political news coverage. DakotaPolitics featured profile information, voting records and some analysis. DakotaPolitics also launched weekly tracking polls for the 2008 elections.
As a whole, KX Television has long trailed NBC North Dakota
in the ratings by a significant margin; the main stations and their satellites are counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes. However, KXMC has historically been well ahead of KMOT
in the ratings for the northern part of the market. This is largely because it is the only station airing a full schedule of local news for the northern part of the market. Also, KX News Morning has recently surged well ahead of NBC North Dakota's Country Morning Today--the first time in recent memory that NBC North Dakota has lost consecutive ratings periods in any time slot.
The North Dakota State Fair
parade in Minot is aired live every July.
Reporters
Weather team
Sports team
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliated television station for Minot, North Dakota
Minot, North Dakota
Minot is a city located in north central North Dakota in the United States. It is most widely known for the Air Force base located approximately 15 miles north of the city. With a population of 40,888 at the 2010 census, Minot is the fourth largest city in the state...
. The station serves the northern half of the Western North Dakota television market. It is owned by Reiten Television of Minot.
KXMC is the flagship station of KX Television, a network of four CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliates that reach most of central and western North Dakota, along with parts of 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 Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
The station operates a semi-satellite, KXMD-TV, channel 11 (digital 14) in Williston
Williston, North Dakota
-Demographics:Preliminary data from a 2010 housing study indicates that population has grown by nearly 22 percent over the past decade; the actual increase might be much higher. Williston is in western North Dakota's booming oil patch, and adequate, affordable housing has become a concern. The...
. KXMD identifies itself as a station in its own right, but simulcasts KXMC most of the day. However, KXMD airs separate commercials and places local inserts into KXMC's newscasts. Additionally, KXMC's programming is repeated on low-powered translator K07EZ in Beulah
Beulah, North Dakota
At the 2000 census, there were 3,152 people, 1,213 households, and 851 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,307.8 inhabitants per square mile . There were 1,475 housing units at an average density of 612.0 per square mile...
.
KXMC's broadcasts are digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.
KXMC and KXMD, along with sister stations KXMB-TV
KXMB-TV
KXMB-TV, channel 12, is the CBS affiliated television station for Bismarck, North Dakota. The station serves the southern half of the Western North Dakota television market....
in Bismarck, North Dakota and KXMA-TV in Dickinson, North Dakota signs off every night at 1:05 am Tuesday to Saturday Morning and at 1:35 am Sunday and Monday Morning, during the sign-offs are the national anthem and the national feed of CBS Up to the Minute
Up to the Minute
Up to the Minute is a CBS overnight broadcast which offers hard news, features, interviews, weather, sports, business and commentary. Up to the Minute draws from the full resources of CBS News, including the CBS Evening News, Newspath, affiliate stations, the CBS Radio Network and Reuters Television...
with Public Service Announcements, while weekends simulcast the local weather conditions of North Dakota.
History
KXMC was the first television station in North Dakota, going on the air as KCJB-TV in April 1953. Minot businessman Chester Reiten and FargoFargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
businessman John Boler bought the station in 1958. The duo already owned KXMB-TV
KXMB-TV
KXMB-TV, channel 12, is the CBS affiliated television station for Bismarck, North Dakota. The station serves the southern half of the Western North Dakota television market....
in Bismarck
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
, and renamed the station KXMC-TV to reflect this.
KXMD signed on in November 1969. Previously Williston viewers had to pick up CBS programming on cable from KOOK-TV in Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
(now KTVQ
KTVQ
KTVQ is the CBS TV affiliate in Billings, Montana, USA. It broadcasts on channel 2 and is owned by the Evening Post Publishing Company...
), although KUMV
KMOT
KMOT, channel 10, is an NBC affiliate located in Minot, North Dakota. The station serves the northern half of the Western North Dakota television market...
had not been above breaking away from the KFYR/KMOT feed when CBS had something very important to present.
Boler sold his interest in the stations to Reiten in 1971. Tim Reiten, Chester's son, still owns the stations today (including KXMA-TV in Dickinson
Dickinson, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,010 people, 6,517 households, and 4,020 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,690.7 inhabitants per square mile . There were 7,033 housing units at an average density of 742.7 per square mile...
, which he bought in 1985).
The KX stations formerly had a secondary affiliation with 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...
before full-time ABC affiliate KMCY
ABC West
KBMY digital channel 17 is the ABC affiliate for western North Dakota. It is owned by Forum Communications, owners of eastern North Dakota's ABC affiliates, WDAY-TV in Fargo and WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks. However, it is operated by Reiten Television, owners of the KX Television network of CBS...
signed on in 1986. During the late 1950s, the stations were also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
Until 1986, KXMD was carried by cable systems
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
across neighboring Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, even operating a sales office in Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, as did KUMV and Great Falls
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
ABC station KFBB-TV
KFBB-TV
KFBB-TV is a full-service television station in Great Falls, Montana, broadcasting locally on digital VHF channel 8 as an affiliate of ABC. Founded March 21, 1954, the station is owned by Max Media. KFBB-TV also operates a semi-satellite for the Helena area, KHBB-LD channel 21...
. These arrangements ended in 1986 when the Canadian cable companies were granted permission to replace the North Dakota signals with network affiliates from Detroit and Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
.
KXJB-TV
KXJB-TV
KXJB-TV is a CBS affiliated television station in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, serving Eastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota. It broadcasts on ATSC channel 38, which redirects to former NTSC channel 4 via PSIP. It is licensed to nearby Valley City...
in Fargo was co-owned with the KX stations (though programmed separately) until Boler sold his interest in 1971. The stations still occasionally share stories.
After an ice ice storm on April 6, 1997 caused the KXJB-TV mast
KXJB-TV mast
The KXJB-TV mast is a television transmitting tower in Traill County, North Dakota, United States. At 2060 ft , it is the fourth-tallest artificial structure in the world, shorter by 3 ft than the KVLY-TV mast which stands a few miles away.Located 3.5 miles northeast of Galesburg,...
to collapse, some cable systems replaced KXJB with KXMC, either temporarily or permanently, to maintain CBS service.
On Sunday, February 6, 2011, KXMC and KXMD started broadcasting local news in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, joining KXMB and KXMA, which began broadcasting HD local news on Monday, January 31, 2011. The four KX Television stations are the first (and only) stations with HD local news in the Bismarck-Minot-Dickinson, ND market and the entire states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.
Website
In 2006, the stations began a web portalWeb portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
-like website called KX Net, with each station's website displaying a localized front page. The stations continue to be branded as "KX Television" and as "KX News" on the air, but also use the "KX Net" monkier on the air also.
KXNet.com combined the previous domains kxma.com, kxmb.com, kxmc.com and kxmd.com under one umbrella. The original domains are still active. KXNet.com won the 2007 Teddy Award for Best Website and the 2007 Eric Severaid Award for best website small market television in a 6 state region.
In 2008 KXNet.com became the first web site in North Dakota to deliver a live news broadcast over the Internet when they streamed a 1-hour special coverage of the 2008 Presidential Caucuses from Bismarck.
In October 2007, KXNet.com along with Midkota Solutions launched DakotaPolitics.com, a web site focusing on North Dakota political news coverage. DakotaPolitics featured profile information, voting records and some analysis. DakotaPolitics also launched weekly tracking polls for the 2008 elections.
Programming
KXMC produces local newscasts daily at 6 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. KXMD places local inserts into KXMC's broadcasts. KXMC produces a morning show at 6 a.m., KX News Morning, and co-produces a 5 p.m. newscast with KXMB. Both are simulcast on all four stations. All of the local newscasts are broadcast in high definition.As a whole, KX Television has long trailed NBC North Dakota
KFYR-TV
KFYR-TV, ATSC channel 31 , is the NBC affiliated television station for Bismarck, North Dakota. KFYR-TV is the flagship station of NBC North Dakota, a network of four stations that serve most of central and western North Dakota, along with parts of South Dakota and Montana.The station serves the...
in the ratings by a significant margin; the main stations and their satellites are counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes. However, KXMC has historically been well ahead of KMOT
KMOT
KMOT, channel 10, is an NBC affiliate located in Minot, North Dakota. The station serves the northern half of the Western North Dakota television market...
in the ratings for the northern part of the market. This is largely because it is the only station airing a full schedule of local news for the northern part of the market. Also, KX News Morning has recently surged well ahead of NBC North Dakota's Country Morning Today--the first time in recent memory that NBC North Dakota has lost consecutive ratings periods in any time slot.
The North Dakota State Fair
North Dakota State Fair
The North Dakota State Fair is an annual state fair held each July in Minot, North Dakota. The fair features carnival rides, agricultural expositions, government and commercial exhibitions, and a variety of musical and performance entertainment....
parade in Minot is aired live every July.
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Jim Olson - News Director; weeknights at 6 p.m.
- Shaun Sipma - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Alysia Huck - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Carla Burbidge - weekday noon
- Perry Olson - weekday mornings at 6 a.m.
- Jennifer Thorgramson - Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m. and Sundays at 10 p.m.
Reporters
- Jennifer Thorgramson - general assignment reporter
- Shaun Sipma - general assignment reporter
- Jim Olson - general assignment reporter
- Perry Olson - general assignment reporter
Weather team
- Tom Schrader - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Joe Goldade - Meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon
- Piper Jones - Weekend weather anchor; Saturdays 6pm and 10pm; Sundays 10pm
Sports team
- Mike Elm - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Eric Manlove - Weekend sports; Sat. 6pm and 10pm and Sun. 10pm