The only TV station in America’s smallest TV market is poised to switch to PBS, ending commercial TV broadcasting in eastern Montana.
An asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC indicates Montana State University, which operates Montana PBS, is buying KXGN-TV/5.1 (Glendive) and KYUS-TV/3.1 (Miles City) for $375,000. The stations are owned by the Estate of Stephen A. Marks through Glendive Broadcasting and KYUS Broadcasting.
Marks died in 2022. As previously reported here, Marks’ radio stations in eastern Montana and western North Dakota were sold to Andrew Sturlaugson’s P&A Media while TV and radio stations in Michigan were sold to Morgan Murphy Media.
Montana State University has also filed applications to convert KXGN-TV and KYUS-TV to non-commercial status. The switch may mean the end of Glendive as a TV market, as there is no Nielsen-defined TV market without a commercial station.
KXGN-TV is a CBS affiliate, clearing the prime time schedule from 6 to 9 p.m., an hour earlier than other Mountain time zone stations. Its schedule includes some newscasts from Scripps’ KTVQ/2.1 (Billings).
KXGN-TV has not had daily newscasts of its own since a five-minute cut-in ended about a decade ago. The Ranger-Review reports a weekly half-hour public affairs show ended at the end of last year.
KXGN-DT2 previously carried NBC, which had been carried as a secondary affiliation on the station’s primary channel prior to the digital conversion. Its NBC affiliation ended earlier this year.
KXGN-TV is the only broadcast TV station that can be received in Glendive. TV providers carry stations from Billings or Rapid City to provide missing networks (DirecTV does not offer broadcast networks in the Glendive market).
Meanwhile, KYUS-TV went silent on Jan. 1, telling the FCC that it had lost its affiliation with NBC. It had long operated as a satellite of Cowles’ KULR/8.1 (Billings); Miles City is considered to be part of the Billings market, with translators there carrying several Billings stations.
Both KXGN-TV and KYUS-TV transmit digitally on VHF Low frequencies, which have proven to be difficult to receive with indoor antennas. For example, I was unable to receive KXGN-TV’s signal while staying at a Glendive hotel on Thursday night. After checking reception at a few locations around town, I was finally able to confirm that the station is still on the air.
The sale also includes KXGN-TV translator K13IG-D (Sidney-Fairview).
Montana PBS has five other full-power stations and ten other translators across the state. It’s also seen on additional translators owned by other entities but cannot currently be received in Glendive, Miles City, or Sidney.