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KNBN

Rapid City, South Dakota United States
Channels	Digital: 21 (UHF) Virtual: 21
Branding	NewsCenter 1
Programming
Affiliations	21.1: NBC 21.2: MyNetworkTV/YTA TV
Ownership
Owner	Forum Communications Company
Sister stations	KWBH-LD, KSFL-TV, KCWS-LD
History
Founded	July 15, 1996
First air date	May 14, 2000 (24 years ago) (2000-05-14)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 21 (UHF, 2000–2009)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	81464
ERP	50 kW 100 kW (CP)
HAAT	210.8 m (692 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	44°5′33″N 103°14′55″W / 44.09250°N 103.24861°W / 44.09250; -103.24861
Translator(s)	see § Translators
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.newscenter1.tv

KNBN (channel 21) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with NBC, MyNetworkTV and YTA TV. Owned by Forum Communications Company, the station maintains studios on South Plaza Drive in Rapid City, and its transmitter is located on Cowboy Hill west of downtown.

History

In March 1996, KEVN-TV's owner, Blackstar, announced plans to affiliate the longtime NBC outlet for the Rapid City area with the Fox network; Fox held an equity stake in Blackstar. This presented the possibility that Rapid City would be left without an NBC affiliate. Locally based Rapid Broadcasting, whose president Gilbert Moyle had been a part-owner of KEVN from 1973 to 1985, bought low-power TV station K24AM, a primarily Christian outlet which had broadcast since the mid-1980s, and increased its transmitter power. It also obtained the NBC affiliation for Rapid City for the low-power outlet, all with a month to go. KNBN-LP (channel 24, later KKRA-LP) officially launched July 15, the date that KEVN switched to Fox, and immediately appeared on local cable systems (including channel 10 in Rapid City).

KNBN launched without a local news presence. In December 1996, it began producing news cut-ins during Today. A full news service debuted September 22, 1997, as NewsCenter1, airing at 6 and 10 p.m. nightly; the early evening time slot contrasted with KOTA and KEVN, who presented their main news at 5:30. By the time that newscast had debuted, KNBN-LP—call sign and programming—had moved from the channel 24 station to channel 27 in Rapid City with a translator on channel 31 in Lead; the next year, KKRA became an affiliate of Pax TV. The channel 27 and 31 construction permits had been held by the Plaza Boulevard Wesleyan Church.

Rapid Broadcasting had been one of 11 applicants seeking to obtain a full-power license on channel 21. The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Balanced Budget Act of 1997 forced the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to scrap the comparative hearing process and led to the auction of the assignment in September 1999. Rapid made the winning bid, holding off four other hopefuls, notably including Sunbelt Communications Company. KNBN began broadcasting at full power on channel 21 on May 14, 2000.

On August 14, 2024, it was announced KNBN (and KWBH-LD) would be sold to Fargo, North Dakota–based Forum Communications Company, which owns former sister station KSFL-TV in Sioux Falls. The sale was completed on October 2.

News operation

KNBN presently broadcasts 16 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with three hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

Technical information

Subchannels

The signals of KNBN and KWBH-LD are multiplexed:

Translators

• K22AD-D Gillette, WY
• K35MW-D Lead
• KKRA-LD 25 Rapid City
• KWBH-LD 27 Rapid City

Analog-to-digital conversion

KNBN shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on February 1, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation on channel 21. The "flash-cut" was necessary as the station had its original construction permit granted after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 27, 1997; as a result, the station did not have a companion channel for a digital signal.

See also

• Channel 1 branded TV stations in the United States
• Channel 21 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 21 virtual TV stations in the United States

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for KNBN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Bell, Heidi (July 16, 1996). "Reception spotty from new TV signal". Rapid City Journal. p. B2. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
3. "City's newest television station adds Hit Video USA to schedule". Rapid City Journal. September 5, 1987. p. TV-24. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
4. Daly, Dan (June 13, 1996). "New NBC TV station on air for Olympics". Rapid City Journal. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
5. Daly, Dan (July 12, 1996). "KNBN, KEVN ready for the Fox shuffle". Rapid City Journal. p. B1. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
6. Daly, Dan (December 7, 1996). "KNBN-TV eases into news business". Rapid City Journal. p. B3. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
7. Buchholz, Stephen (September 12, 1997). "KNBN to start local newscasts Sept. 22". Rapid City Journal. p. B2. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
8. ^ Daly, Dan (September 28, 1999). "Stakes high in broadcast auction". Rapid City Journal. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
9. "Wesleyan Church celebrates 10th". Rapid City Journal. July 25, 1992. p. A8. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
10. Daly, Dan (October 8, 1999). "TV channel winning bid claimed". Rapid City Journal. p. B1.
11. "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
12. "Notification of Consummation". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. October 2, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
13. "RabbitEars TV Query for KNBN". RabbitEars.
14. "RabbitEars TV Query for KWBH". RabbitEars.
15. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
16. FCC 387 DTV transition status report 2008/05/08

External links

• Official website

• 2000 establishments in South Dakota
• Forum Communications Company
• MyNetworkTV affiliates
• NBC affiliates
• Television channels and stations established in 2000
• Television stations in Rapid City, South Dakota