montana kyus miles city montana united states branding kulr 8 general kulr 8 local news newscasts slogan your local news leader channels digital kulr 11 vhf kyus 3 vhf virtual kulr 8 psip kyus 3 psip subchannels 8.1 3.1 nbc 8.2 swx right now translators k06fe d 6 miles city affiliations nbc 1958 1969 1987 present owner kulr cowles company kyus marks radio group kulr cowles montana media company kyus kyus tv broadcasting corporation first air date kulr march 15 1958 kyus august 29 1969 1 call letters meaning kulr kulor color television calls were inaugurated with launch of color service kyus cayuse a type of native american pony former callsigns kulr kghl tv 1958 1963 former channel number s analog kulr 8 vhf 1958 2009 kyus 3 vhf 1969 2009 former affiliations kulr abc 1963 1987 secondary until 1969 pbs per program 1970 1984 kyus independent 1969 1970 abc 1987 1996 fox 1996 1998 upn secondary c. 1997 1998 the wb secondary c. 1997 1998 transmitter power kulr 16 kw kyus 2.9 kw height kulr 191 m kyus 30 m facility id kulr 35724 kyus 5237 transmitter coordinates kulr 45 45 35.5 n 108 27 17.4 w 45.759861 n 108.454833 w 45.759861 ; 108.454833 kyus 46 25 34.6 n 105 51 40 w 46.426278 n 105.86111 w 46.426278 ; 105.86111 kyus tv website www.kulr8.com kulr tv virtual channel 8 is an nbc affiliate broadcasting on channel 11 in billings montana . kulr is owned by cowles company . kulr maintains studios located on overland avenue in the homestead business park section of billings and its transmitter is located on coburn hill southeast of downtown billings . kulr s programming and schedule is also seen on kyus tv virtual and digital channel 3 in miles city montana ; that station is owned and operated by the marks radio group who also owns several radio stations in montana among other broadcasting properties . kulr programs and operates the station on marks behalf . at one point known as the smallest network affiliate in america kyus has largely served as a satellite of other stations since 1984 and has simulcast kulr since 1998 . in miles city kulr can also be seen on k06fe d channel 6 ; this translator is owned by cowles and not the marks radio group . marks radio group also owns kxgn tv in glendive montana which broadcasts kulr s newscasts on a digital subchannel . contents 1 digital channels 2 history 2.1 kulr tv 2.2 kyus tv 3 news operation 3.1 former on air staff 4 references 5 external links digital channels edit in february 2009 kulr ktvq and two other stations in the billings market were refused federal communications commission permission 2 to end analogue broadcasts and operate as digital only effective on the originally scheduled february 17 2009 date . 3 channel video aspect psip short name programming 8.1 3.1 1080i 16 9 kulr dt kyus dt main kulr tv kyus programming nbc 8.2 3.2 480i 4 3 kulr d2 kyus d2 kulr 8 swx history edit kulr tv edit channel 8 s first broadcast was on march 15 1958 as kghl tv an nbc affiliate owned by midland empire broadcasting company along with kghl radio am 790 . 4 the station s first studios were co located with kghl radio on north 30th street in billings . 5 midland empire broadcasting sold kghl am tv to crain snyder television in 1962 ; crain snyder immediately spun kghl radio off to george c. hatch retaining kghl tv . 6 the following year the new owners changed the station s call letters to kulr tv 7 which were a play on the word color as most programs in the mid 1960s started changing from being televised in black and white to color . during this time most on air verbal references to the station called it color 8 . 5 kulr also added a secondary affiliation with abc in 1963 . 8 in the late 1960s the station moved its studios to a new building adjacent to the transmitter on coburn road southeast of downtown billings . 5 chicago based harriscope broadcasting purchased the station in 1967 for 350 000 . 9 harriscope agreed in 1967 to change the primary network affiliation for kulr tv and kfbb tv in great falls to abc at the end of each station s existing affiliation contract ; 10 kulr s switch took effect january 1 1969 at which point nbc was relegated to secondary status . 11 channel 8 then became the fourth primary abc affiliate in montana . this was very unusual for a two station market especially one as small as billings . nbc wouldn t return to billings on a full time basis until kous tv channel 4 now khmt which signed on in 1980 became a primary nbc affiliate in 1982 . from 1970 until kusm in bozeman now part of montana pbs signed on in 1984 kulr aired some pbs programming as montana was one of the few states at the time that did not have a pbs member station of its own . in spring 1981 kulr dumped the color 8 branding and became known as straight 8 . during this time its local newscast straight 8 newsservice featured anchor dave rye sports director larry gebert and weather forecaster kit carson . other on air reporters and weekend anchors at the time included joni earle monica gayle kyle safely and david smock . the station announced in september 1983 that it would build new studios on overland avenue in billings ; 5 kulr completed the move in 1984 . 12 harriscope sold kulr tv and ktwo tv in casper wyoming to dix communications in 1986 for 12.2 million . 13 in 1987 nbc wanted a stronger affiliate in the market and quickly negotiated a return to kulr ; the switch took effect that august . 14 dix communications sold kulr tv along with kfbb tv in great falls to max media on june 16 2004 for 12.25 million . 15 16 dix chairman robert dix said that the sale made sense as kulr and kfbb were the company s last two television stations . 17 on september 30 2013 the cowles company announced that it would acquire max media s montana television station cluster comprising kulr and abc affiliates kwyb in butte kfbb tv in great falls khbb ld in helena and ktmf in missoula for 18 million . 18 19 the sale was completed on november 29 . 20 kyus tv edit kyus tv went on the air august 29 1969 under the ownership of custer broadcasting corporation . 21 originally an independent station it joined nbc in 1970 . 22 in its early years kyus was known as the smallest network affiliate in america . 23 24 the station s principal owner david rivenes did the news sports weather and reporting himself 23 he was also featured in the late 1970s on nbc s real people and in tv guide for his career . he also hosted much of the station s other local programming which comprised up to five hours of the kyus schedule along with his wife ella ; 23 in a 1980 interview with sports illustrated rivenes said that the local programs which were broadcast in lieu of acquiring syndicated programming were what the fcc wants real public service television . 24 during the station s early years kyus did not turn a profit and was supported by rivenes title insurance business . 24 in 1984 the riveneses sold kyus to the owners of kous tv for 200 000 ; 23 at that point channel 3 became a satellite of kous 25 and the station s local programming was discontinued . 23 kyus along with kous switched to abc in 1987 . 26 after kous shut down and moved its programming to ksvi channel 6 in 1993 kyus became a satellite of ksvi . 27 as a satellite of kous tv and ksvi kyus tv was on the verge of closure several times as the station generated insufficient revenue to cover its costs . in addition the station s owner big horn communications had difficulties listing kyus for sale due to the size and location of miles city ; one media brokerage company blackburn & company said it was economically impossible for kyus to operate as a standalone station . ultimately big horn sold the station to stephan marks in 1995 . marks originally proposed to operate kyus as a satellite of kxgn tv his cbs and nbc affiliate in glendive . 28 however in 1996 kyus became a fox affiliate ; 29 by 1997 channel 3 had also added secondary affiliations with upn and the wb . 30 after two years with fox kyus tv became a satellite of kulr tv under a time brokerage agreement on may 1 1998 . 31 the original agreement expired after ten years ; 31 however the arrangement has continued under a series of informal month to month rebroadcast consent agreements while stephan marks evaluates the station s future even though kyus generates no revenue of its own and has not received compensation payments from kulr since may 2010 . 32 news operation edit in 2009 kulr began broadcasting its local newscasts in widescreen standard definition . kulr became the first television in montana to switch to full hd news operation during its 5 p.m. newscast on august 27 2012 . studio cameras are currently still in 16 9 standard definition however . for a little more than a year after hd newscasts began the station adopted the look f presentation package and adopted the l.a. groove music package in use at wnbc knbc and kntv along with other nbc o & o s with some modifications . since kulr s purchase by cowles publishing company the station is using the same presentation and music package as khq in spokane . former on air staff edit conrad burns farm reporter former united states senator from montana monica gayle weekend anchor reporter former cbs news correspondent ; now weeknight anchor at wjbk in detroit references edit the broadcasting and cable yearbook says kyus signed on august 29 while the television and cable factbook says it signed on september 1 . http www.msnbc.msn.com id 29180127 http www.billingsgazette.net articles 2009 02 05 news local 25 digitalswitch.txt broadcasting yearbook 1959 pdf . 1959 . p. b 50 . retrieved september 25 2015 . a b c d johnson john c. kghl tv kulr tv channel 8 billings photos . john in arizona . retrieved september 25 2015 . for the record pdf . broadcasting . december 24 1962 . p. 67 . retrieved september 25 2015 . for the record pdf . broadcasting . february 4 1963 . p. 78 . retrieved september 25 2015 . broadcasting yearbook 1964 pdf . 1964 . p. a 36 . retrieved september 26 2015 . changing hands pdf . broadcasting . march 13 1967 . p. 66 . retrieved september 25 2015 . two harriscope stations affiliate with abc tv pdf . broadcasting . october 16 1967 . p. 63 . retrieved september 26 2015 . media reports pdf . broadcasting . december 23 1968 . p. 40 . retrieved september 26 2015 . kulr 8 history . kulr 8 television . archived from the original on december 11 2004 . retrieved september 27 2015 . changing hands pdf . broadcasting . november 3 1986 . retrieved september 26 2015 . in brief pdf . broadcasting . february 9 1987 . p. 145 . retrieved september 19 2015 . bia financial networks october 12 2003 . changing hands . broadcasting & cable . retrieved september 26 2015 . application search details . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved september 2 2015 . falstad jan september 30 2003 . kulr sold ; 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