Branding Faith & Family TV | Affiliations MeTV (2014–present) | |
Channels Digital: 45 (UHF)
Virtual: 16 (PSIP) Subchannels 16.1 MeTV
16.2 JUCE TV/Smile of a Child
16.3 TBN
16.4 TBN Salsa
16.5 Hillsong Channel Owner PetroMedia Corporation
(KTGF License Corporation) First air date September 21, 1986; 30 years ago (1986-09-21) | ||
KTGF, digital channel 45, is a television station in Great Falls, Montana. The station is owned by PetroMedia Corporation, which acquired the station in March 2012. KTGF is affiliated with MeTV and JUCE TV.
Contents
History
KTGF started broadcasting on September 21, 1986 under the ownership of Continental Television. The station immediately became the city's first full-time affiliate of the NBC television network. From its inception, the station was far behind KRTV and KFBB-TV in the ratings. In March 2001, Continental Television sold KTGF (along with KTMF in Missoula and KWYB in Butte) to Max Media.
In 2003, Max Media signed an agreement to purchase KFBB, as well as KULR-TV in Billings, from Dix Communications. Since the Great Falls television market is not large enough to own two television stations, Max immediately put KTGF up for sale. For more than a year, Max Media could not find a buyer for the station. Finally, Max Media sold KTGF in November 2004 to Destiny Communications of Wichita, Kansas.
In April 2005, Beartooth Communications, the owner of KTVH (the NBC affiliate in Helena), purchased a low power television permit in Great Falls for channel 50. It became obvious that Beartooth was positioning itself to take the NBC affiliation away from KTGF when the NBC affiliation agreement expired at the end of June. Destiny Communications filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent NBC from removing the affiliation and giving it to Beartooth's station, now known as KBGF-LP. As the end of June approached, confusion reigned. Both parties claimed they would be the NBC affiliate on July 1 in Great Falls. On June 29, Destiny announced that it would affiliate with the Fox network beginning July 1. This created another confusing situation because another television station in Great Falls, KLMN, was already the Fox affiliate (although the local cable system did not carry the station). As a result, after the NBC affiliation moved from KTGF to KBGF on July 1, 2005, Fox programming was seen on both KTGF and KLMN for a time. Eventually, KLMN dropped Fox programming for UPN, and in September 2006 became an affiliate of MyNetworkTV.
In May 2007, Destiny signed a joint sales agreement with KLMN's parent company, Equity Media Holdings. As a result, Fox programming moved back to KLMN, and KTGF became an independent station. After being offline for several weeks, KTGF unveiled an updated website with a revised logo.
After Destiny defaulted on its debt payments, the station filed to transfer the KTGF license to creditor RGW Investments LLC in September 2009. Shortly afterward, the station affiliated with JCTV.
KTGF went off the air December 19, 2009, citing problems with its microwave system. However, in February 2010, the station was noted as carrying a slide stating that it was no longer airing programming; that March, Max Media, which had retained the studio building and leased it to Destiny, sold the building to a local law firm. These events indicated that KTGF had ceased operations.
KTGF's license was formally transferred to RGW Investments on September 27, 2010. In December 2011, RGW Investments entered into an agreement to sell KTGF to PetroMedia Corporation, a company owned by veteran radio and TV broadcaster Roger Lonnquist. The sale closed on March 7, 2012. Soon afterward, the station returned to the air, again as a JCTV affiliate. In September 2013, MeTV announced that KTGF would begin to carry its programming; as of 2014, MeTV programming is carried on its primary channel, with JUCE TV (the former JCTV) being moved to a second subchannel.
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Newscasts
In KTGF's early years, the station produced a local newscast. However, due to weak ratings, the station ended its local news department in the mid 1990s.
Max Media brought "local" news back to KTGF in 2002 with Big Sky News. Max Media contracted with the Independent News Network to produce local news on Max Media's stations in Montana. The program actually originated in Davenport, Iowa. After a year, Big Sky News was cancelled.
As a Fox affiliate and as an independent station, KTGF broadcast short news updates anchored by Karen Wolf; the only other news programming on the station was the syndicated CBN NewsWatch.
Repeaters
Television tower
The KTGF television tower is a 244 meter high guyed TV mast at Great Falls, Montana, USA ( 47°36′24.7″N 111°21′33.2″W ). KTGF's tower was built in 1986 and is the tallest structure of Montana.