KTTW

KTTW (channel 7) is a religious television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's studios are located on West 11th Street in Sioux Falls, and its transmitter is located in Rowena, South Dakota.

Not to be confused with WTTW.
KTTW
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
United States
ChannelsDigital: 7 (VHF)
Virtual: 7
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerTri-State Christian Television
(Radiant Life Ministries, Inc.)
History
First air date
May 29, 1987 (1987-05-29)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
17 (UHF, 1987–2009)
  • Analog/DT1:
  • Fox (1987–2020)
  • This TV (2020–2021)
  • DT3:
  • Cozi TV (until 2020)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID28521
ERP7.5 kW
HAAT217.6 m (714 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°30′14″N 96°34′18.8″W
Translator(s)See below
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
KTTM
Satellite of KTTW
Huron, South Dakota
United States
ChannelsDigital: 12 (VHF)
Virtual: 7
Programming
Affiliationssee KTTW infobox
Ownership
OwnerTri-State Christian Television
(Radiant Life Ministries, Inc.)
History
First air date
January 31, 1992 (1992-01-31)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 12 (VHF, 1992–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 22 (UHF, until 2009)
  • Virtual:
  • 12 (until 2020)
  • Analog/DT1:
  • Fox (1992–2020)
  • This TV (2020–2021)
  • DT3:
  • Cozi TV (until 2020)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID28501
ERP12.6 kW
HAAT257 m (843 ft)
Transmitter coordinates44°11′39.0″N 98°19′5.0″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS

KTTM (channel 12) in Huron operates as a full-time satellite of KTTW; this station's transmitter is located near Alpena, South Dakota. KTTM covers areas of south-central and southeastern South Dakota that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from KTTW, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. KTTM is a straight simulcast of KTTW; on-air references to KTTM are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-mandated hourly station identifications during programming. Aside from the transmitter, KTTM does not maintain any physical presence locally in Huron.

History

KTTW signed on May 29, 1987 as a Fox affiliate, the first non-Big Three network commercial station in South Dakota. The station was founded by Independent Communications, Inc., a consortium of local investors. For its first six years on the air, it was effectively South Dakota's first general entertainment independent station. Fox didn't air a full week's worth of programming until 1993, and until then most early Fox affiliates were programmed as independents. Satellite station KTTM signed on in 1991 to serve the western portions of the Sioux Falls area that could not get a clear signal from KTTW.

In early 1996, Rapid City-based KEVN-TV announced that it would switch from NBC to Fox once its affiliation contract with NBC expired in July of that year. Prior to the switch, KTTW was the only Fox affiliate to be based in South Dakota, while the western portion of the state received the network's programming via either Foxnet or Denver-based KDVR.

KTTW aired on analog channel 17 since its inception, then took advantage of the digital transition in 2009 to use their physical digital channel 7 as their permanent PSIP virtual channel in order to better brand itself.

For most of its existence, especially since the turn of the millennium, it was mostly a pass-through for automated programming. It never produced a newscast, unlike most Fox affiliates; its studios were too small for an in-house news operation, and it never contracted with other stations to produce a newscast.

On November 2, 2020, KTTW's non-license assets were purchased by Gray Television, owner of ABC affiliate KSFY-TV (channel 13) and NBC affiliate KDLT-TV (channel 46); Fox programming moved to KDLT on digital subchannel 46.2. Cozi TV, which was also carried on KTTW, moved to subchannel 46.4.[1] According to a local business publication, Independent Communications is exiting television altogether, and intends to sell or donate KTTW "to a nonprofit entity in the near future".[2] On February 10, 2021, it was announced that Marion, Illinois–based Tri-State Christian Television would acquire the licensed assets of KTTW/KTTM for $850,000.[3] The transaction was completed on December 21;[4] the stations switched to TCT programming the next day.

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect Short name Programming[5][6]
7.1720p16:9KTTW-HDTCT
7.2480i4:3ThisTVThis TV
7.316:9Sonlife
7.44:3Laff
7.5Bounce TV
7.6Grit
7.716:9Defy TV
7.84:3TrueReal
7.916:9Newsy

Analog-to-digital conversion

Both stations shut down their analog signals for the 2009 analog shutoff date:[7]

  • KTTW shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 17; the station's digital signal broadcasts on its pre-transition VHF channel 7.
  • KTTM shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 22 to VHF channel 12.

Former translators

The programming of KTTW was also rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

City of license Callsign Channel ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Owner
AberdeenK36NW-D 363 kW99 m (325 ft)2853445°28′29.0″N 98°31′38.0″WIndependent Communications, Inc.
BrookingsK25OU-D 254.5 kW47 m (154 ft)3057844°18′03.0″N 96°46′00.0″W
LowryK44ME-D 444.24 kW250 m (820 ft)19850645°23′50.0″N 99°56′30.0″WSouth Dakota Five County TV Translator District
PierreK14IO-D 141.6 kW53 m (174 ft)2849944°18′42.0″N 100°21′10.0″WIndependent Communications, Inc.
WatertownK32DK-D 322.28 kW96 m (315 ft)2853344°51′56.0″N 97°06′21.0″W
Worthington, MNK18MO-D 182.5 kW139 m (456 ft)2849143°37′01.6″N 95°41′20.6″W

On November 4, 2020, KTTW's owner reached a deal to sell the translators to Gray Television for $1.[8] The Lowry translator had already closed as a result of the disbanding of the Five County TV Translator District on January 31, 2019.[9]

References
  1. Ellis, Jon (November 2, 2020). "FOX Changes Channels in Sioux Falls". Northpine.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  2. "KTTW ‘exiting broadcast business’; Fox moves to Gray Television", SiouxFalls.Business, 10 November 2020, Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  4. "Notification of Consummation", Licensing and Management System, Federal Communications Commission, 21 December 2021, Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. RabbitEars TV Query for KTTW
  6. RabbitEars TV Query for KTTM
  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. "Application for Transfer of Control of a Corporate Licensee or Permittee, or for Assignment of License or Permit of TV or FM Translator Station or Low Power Television Station". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  9. "CC Commission learns that TV Translator District will be ending". Prairie Pioneer. January 3, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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