kbzk bozeman montana united states branding kxlf 4 kxlf general kbzk 7 kbzk general mtn news newscasts slogan fair . accurate . to the point . channels digital kxlf 5 vhf kbzk 13 vhf virtual kxlf 4 psip kbzk 7 psip affiliations cbs mtn the cw dt2 owner cordillera communications kxlf kxlf communications llc kbzk kctz communications llc first air date kxlf august 14 1953 kbzk september 1 1987 call letters meaning kxlf xl radio network kbzk bozeman former callsigns kxlf none kbzk kctz 1987 2000 former channel number s analog kxlf 6 vhf 1953 1956 4 vhf 1956 2009 kbzk 7 vhf 1987 2009 former affiliations kxlf nbc 1953 1966 ; secondary from 1960 dumont secondary 1953 1955 abc secondary 1955 1976 and 1984 1990s ; primary 1976 1984 upn secondary 2000 2006 kbzk abc 1987 1993 fox 1996 2000 upn secondary 1996 2006 transmitter power kxlf 8 kw kbzk 18.9 kw height kxlf 576 m kbzk 271 m facility id kxlf 35959 kbzk 33756 transmitter coordinates kxlf 46 0 27 n 112 26 33 w 46.00750 n 112.44250 w 46.00750 ; 112.44250 kbzk 45 40 22.4 n 110 52 2.4 w 45.672889 n 110.867333 w 45.672889 ; 110.867333 kbzk website www.kxlf.com www.kbzk.com kxlf tv is a television station in butte montana broadcasting locally as a cbs affiliate on digital channel 4.1 vhf channel 5 . programming from the cw is broadcast on digital channel 4.2 . the station operates a semi satellite in bozeman kbzk channel 7 . both stations are owned by the cordillera communications subsidiary of evening post industries as part of its montana television network mtn . kxlf is the technical operations center for all mtn stations . the station operates its programming and commercials with an automated playout system and video servers . programming and commercials are microwaved from butte to bozeman s kbzk . contents 1 history 1.1 kxlf tv 1.2 kbzk 2 news operation 2.1 current news staff 2.2 notable former on air staff 3 repeaters 4 references 5 external links history edit kxlf tv edit kxlf tv was founded on august 14 1953 . it is montana s oldest television station and was originally owned by television montana a company largely owned by industry pioneer ed craney ; it was a sister station to kxlf radio am 1370 now kxtl . at the outset the station operated on channel 6 as a primary nbc affiliate with some dumont programming . 1 the nbc affiliation matched its radio sister which was part of the z bar network a regional pacific northwest radio network based in portland and including affiliates in spokane helena great falls missoula and bozeman . kxlf added abc programming in 1955 ; 2 soon afterward the station lost dumont when it shut down . kxlf tv s first home was the second floor of a pay n save food and drug store in downtown butte along with kxlf radio . however the studio soon suffered heavy damages because of a burglary to the grocery store downstairs . the burglars cut a hole in the floor of the studio and used the studio camera cable to climb down and gain access to the grocery store . a few months later the cable was replaced and the studio was up and running for good . in addition to network programming in its early years kxlf tv aired a number of local programs all of which was produced live in the studio including shows and commercials . some of butte s local shows in the 1950s were the oldtimer featuring john diz this afternoon with you hosted by darien carkeet what s new hosted by ed craney and kxlf the clown featuring wes haugen and shadow stumpers where viewers called in to identify what object s shadow was on tv . kxlf tv moved to channel 4 in october 1956 due to concerns that the concurrent operation of channel 6 stations in butte and pocatello idaho would result in interference channel 4 had previously been used in butte by kopr tv from 1953 to 1954 while channel 6 would return to the air in butte as ktvm in 1970 . 3 4 the following year was a time of change for the station . a complicated operation saw the transmitter moved on top of a mountain east of butte subsequently dubbed xl heights . the transmitter tower was directly positioned on the continental divide thereby giving the station the moniker the continental divide station . the new transmitter location made an off air signal available for kxlj tv in helena now ktvh dt creating the first tv network in montana . also in 1957 kxlf found a permanent home in the former chicago milwaukee st. paul and pacific railroad station on montana street . the station was built in 1916 and features a 95 foot 29 m clock tower . in the 1970s the depot became one of butte s first major restoration projects . it continues to serve as an example of historic restoration . in the late 1990s kxlf installed a live webcam atop the clock tower which offers a live view of downtown butte . in 1958 kxlf tv and kxlj tv in association with kfbb tv in great falls kook tv in billings now ktvq kid tv in idaho falls idaho now kidk and klix tv in twin falls idaho now kmvt formed the skyline network . 5 kfbb was later replaced by great falls other station krtv . later that year the station added a secondary affiliation with cbs ; 6 by 1960 cbs was the station s primary network though nbc was retained on a secondary basis . 7 that year craney sold kxlf am tv along with kxlj am tv in helena to joe sample president of garryowen corporation and owner of kook tv for over 1 million earning a handsome return on his original investment in kxlf radio in 1929 . 8 sample immediately spun the kxlj stations off to helena television ; 8 kxlj tv which was renamed kbll tv eventually severed its ties with kxlf and left the skyline network . in march 1966 the federal communications commission merged butte and missoula into a single television market . kxlf tv became the cbs affiliate for the merged market ; it kept the secondary abc affiliation but lost nbc to kgvo tv now keci tv . 9 the skyline network shut down on september 30 1969 after various ownership and affiliation changes at its stations made it difficult for the network to continue operating . 10 the following month sample started the montana television network composed of kxlf tv kook tv and krtv . 11 in 1970 sample expanded his montana network by building kpax tv in missoula which operated as a semi satellite of kxlf for several years . kxlf along with kpax became primary abc affiliates on august 30 1976 ; 12 cbs programming was then split between kxlf kpax and kgvo tv ktvm . 13 this made kxlf one of the few stations to have been a primary affiliate of each of the big three television networks . in 1984 sample sold the mtn stations to sjl inc. for 20 million ; 14 kxlf radio was concurrently sold to separate interests . that year kxlf tv returned to a primary cbs affiliation ; it continued to air abc in the off hours shared with ktvm 15 until the early 1990s . sjl sold kxlf kpax tv and krtv to evening post publishing company through its cordillera communications subsidiary for 24 million in 1986 . 16 in 1995 17 kxlf launched a low power repeater in helena 18 k25ej channel 25 ; on august 22 2000 that station changed its call letters to kxlh lp . 19 in 2005 kxlh s operating responsibilities were transferred to sister station krtv ; it now operates as kxlh ld channel 9 . during the early 2000s kxlf tv had a secondary affiliation with upn ; 20 the network shut down in 2006 as part of the formation of the cw which is seen on a digital subchannel of kxlf and kbzk . after the dtv conversion on june 12 2009 kxlf was one of more than 10 stations asking for a power increase because of the problems with vhf digital signals particularly vhf lo frequencies . 21 kbzk edit kbzk was founded in september 1987 as kctz and was originally bozeman s abc affiliate . 22 the station s original owner bee broadcasting associates agreed to sell kctz to big horn communications shortly afterward an earlier attempt by eagle communications owner of keci tv to acquire the station and operate it as a satellite of keci had been denied by the federal communications commission in january 1987 ; in its early years channel 7 largely carried the same programming as kous tv now khmt in billings and station identifications mentioned kctz alongside kous and its miles city satellite kyus tv . 23 the sale to big horn was completed november 16 1988 . 24 after big horn shut down kous tv and moved its programming to ksvi in 1993 kctz became a satellite of ksvi . 25 later that year evening post publishing company acquired the station and made it a satellite of kxlf tv ; 25 two cordillera owned translators k26de channel 26 in bozeman and k43du channel 43 in butte then began carrying most of ksvi s programming including abc programming 26 as well as local bozeman newscasts produced by cordillera . 27 after kwyb channel 18 signed on in september 1996 and took the abc affiliation in the butte bozeman market k43du was taken off the air 27 the repeater was sold to montana state university in 2001 28 and now carries montana pbs ; on october 31 after k26de s abc affiliation ended in advance of the launch of kwyb repeater k28fb channel 28 now kwyb ld kctz became a fox affiliate and channel 26 became a repeater of kxlf . 29 during this time channel 7 also took on a secondary affiliation with upn . 30 kctz dropped fox on august 21 2000 saying that the network usually generated lower ratings than the big three television networks in smaller markets . 31 at that point the station once again became a satellite of kxlf tv though with separate advertising 32 and changed its call letters to kbzk tv the tv suffix was dropped eight days later . 33 area cable systems then picked up foxnet for fox programming after an unsuccessful attempt to pipe in khmt from billings ; 32 the butte bozeman market would not get another fox affiliate until kbtz channel 24 signed on in 2003 . news operation edit kxlf s newscasts at 5 30 p.m. and 10 00 p.m. have long dominated the market in no small part because they are the only local newscasts in the area . in addition to local news kxlf produces a noon news segment . kctz produced local bozeman newscasts while owned by big horn communications ; 34 after the station was sold to cordillera communications these newscasts were broadcast on k26de . 27 local news returned to kctz after the switch to fox in 1996 ; 29 however after channel 7 became kbzk in 2000 the newscasts were canceled and replaced with simulcasts of kxlf s newscasts retaining a small newsroom in bozeman to cover stories from the area . 32 in 2007 kbzk returned to producing a separate newscast from its studios in bozeman . current news staff edit donna kelley weeknights at 5 30 and 10 00 p.m. ; also executive producer notable former on air staff edit cara capuano sports reporter now back with espn previously with fsn . stella inger emmy nominated reporter repeaters edit boulder k08kt d bozeman k26de d emigrant k10ah d grasshopper k07oc d townsend k13kh d white sulphur springs k09mh