Update: FOX Changes Channels in Sioux Falls

Posted on by Jon Ellis

Gray TV stations are now carrying a third major network in Sioux Falls, but the circumstances of why FOX changed channels have not been publicly announced.

On Monday, Nov. 2, at Noon, FOX moved from its longtime home on KTTW/7.1 to Gray’s KDLT/46.2. KDLT is a primary NBC affiliate and is operated alongside ABC affiliate KSFY/13.1 as a result of the FCC’s only-ever waiver allowing one top four station to buy another.

Later in the week, KTTW owner Independent Communications submitted an FCC filing indicating that Gray is buying KTTW’s five translators for $1, with plans to relay KDLT. They are K36NW-D (Aberdeen), K25OU-D (Brookings), K14IO-D (Pierre), K32DK-D (Watertown), and K18MO-D (Worthington, MN).

The filing does not mention anything about KTTW itself, which remains on the air carrying ThisTV. As of Friday evening, Gray TV has not issued any news releases about the situation and it does not appear that KSFY/KDLT has told viewers why KDLT is now carrying FOX.

Purchases of programming rights are not subject to FCC approval and subchannels do not count towards ownership caps.

KTTW announced the changes on its Facebook page Monday and said in a reply to that post on Tuesday that the station had been sold. The buyer was not specified.

By Wednesday, KTTW’s Facebook page had been taken down. Its website was down briefly and later restored with the FOX 7 logo removed.

The change also affected some subchannels, with Cozi TV moving from 7.3 to 46.4 and Antenna TV moving from 46.2 to 46.3. KTTW’s one channel of ThisTV is apparently still being relayed on satellite KTTM/12 (Huron).

FOX is also being carried on channel 5.2 of Gray’s KDLV (Mitchell), according to a slide on KTTW’s former FOX channel and TitanTV listings. KDLV also carries NBC and ABC.

KTTW had been the market’s FOX affiliate since it signed on in 1987. The station originally broadcast on analog channel 17 and moved to channel 7 as part of the digital transition.

As a small locally-owned station without a news department, KTTW received a fraction of the revenue in the Sioux Falls market, which has been dominated by Nexstar CBS affiliate KELO-TV/11 since the 1950’s. Gray’s 2018 application to buy KDLT said that KELO’s market share had never fallen below 56.6 percent in the previous five years.

This story was originally posted Nov. 2 and will be updated as more information is released.