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Gray buys KOTA-TV, to merge with KEVN: do they spin off ch. 3 or 7?

J

joebtsflk1

Gray is buying Schurz-owned KOTA-TV ch.3 (RF 2) and plans to merge it with Gray-owned KEVN ch 7 (RF 7).

Will Gray move KEVN's FOX affiliation to KOTA and spin-off channel 7, or will KOTA's ABC affiliation and KOTA calls move to RF channel 7 which would become the new home of virtual channel 3?

RF channel 2 isn't exactly prime DTV real estate, but it has per FCC contours slightly better coverage than KEVN's RF channel 7. Will be interesting to see what choice Gray will make here.
 
More from Northpine:

TV viewers in Rapid City may not notice any change to their channel lineup when Gray TV divests a station in the market. Though it'll be "moving" the ABC affiliation to a different station from a regulatory perspective, viewers will still find ABC on the same virtual broadcast channel and with the same callsign, according to an asset purchase agreement recently filed with the FCC. Gray TV will retain the rights to the KOTA-TV callsign and virtual channel 3.1 as part of its sale of the current KOTA-TV license to Legacy Broadcasting. The divestiture is needed because FCC rules prohibit co-ownership of both KOTA-TV, which Gray is buying as part of its purchase of Schurz Communications, and existing Gray FOX affiliate KEVN/7. The new virtual channel 3.1 could originate from either the current KEVN or new low-power station KEVN-LD, one of which will presumably take the KOTA-TV callsign.

The filing also revealed that KOTA-TV satellite KHSD/11 (Lead) will be included in the sale to Legacy, which is a change from Gray's previous statement that it would retain KHSD. Besides the KOTA-TV and KHSD licenses, which will operate under new callsigns, Legacy's purchase also includes the current KOTA-TV and KHSD transmitter sites, KOTA-TV's translator on channel 18 in Rapid City, and the rights to the MeTV and ThisTV affiliations -- all for $1.

Gray will retain current KOTA-TV satellites KSGW/12 (Sheridan, WY) and KDUH/4 (Scottsbluff, NE), but switch them to relay other Gray stations. KSGW will relay NBC affiliate KCWY/13 (Casper, WY), while KDUH will relay NBC affiliate KNOP/2 (North Platte, NE). In a revision of its original September filing, Gray now says it will apply to change KDUH's community of license to Sidney, NE, legally removing it from the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff market, where Gray already owns KGWN/5 (Cheyenne, WY) and satellite KSTF/10 (Scottsbluff, NE). Sidney is in the Denver market. KDUH would not change its transmission facility as part of the community of license change.
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