KMNF-LD
Channels
Branding
  • KEYC; KEYC CW (on LD2)
  • KEYC News Now (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KEYC-TV
History
First air date
  • March 2012; 12 years ago (2012-03) (as a KEYC-TV translator in St. James, Minnesota; license moved to Mankato in 2019)
  • December 1, 2019; 4 years ago (2019-12-01) (as a separate station)
Former call signs
  • K38MY-D (2011–2019)
  • K13AAR-D (CP/STA, 2018–2019)
  • K07AAH-D (CP, 2019)
Former channel number(s)
  • Digital: 38 (UHF, 2012–2018), 7 (VHF, 2018–2024)
  • Virtual: 12 (2012–2017)
  • CBS and Fox (as translator of KEYC-TV, 2012–2017)
  • Dark (2017–2019)
  • Circle (DT3, 2022–2023)
Call sign meaning
Mankato, New Ulm, and Fairmont[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID183814
ClassLD
ERP3 kW
HAAT292.7 m (960 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°56′12.3″N 94°24′39″W / 43.936750°N 94.41083°W / 43.936750; -94.41083
Translator(s)K33MW-D Mankato
Links
Public license information
LMS

KMNF-LD (channel 7) is a low-power television station in Mankato, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside dual CBS and Fox affiliate KEYC-TV (channel 12). The two stations share studios on Lookout Drive in North Mankato; KMNF-LD's transmitter is located near Lewisville, Minnesota.[4]

History

[edit]

The KMNF-LD license originated as K38MY-D in St. James, Minnesota, a translator for KEYC-TV (then owned by United Communications) on UHF channel 38[5] that signed on in March 2012.[6] K38MY-D went off the air on December 21, 2017, after the expiration of its tower lease agreement with BENCO/CTV; KEYC had operated UHF translators from Cooperative TV's Godahl tower since 1993.[7]

On September 14, 2018, K38MY-D was granted a construction permit to move to channel 13 from KEYC-TV's tower as K13AAR-D;[8] the channel change was required following the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s spectrum incentive auction and the subsequent repacking of the television band.[9] To maintain its license, the station operated under special temporary authority at reduced power from this facility[9] from November 29[10] to December 6, 2018.[11]

K13AAR-D was included in Gray Television's 2019 purchase of United Communications' television stations.[12]

On May 23, 2019, the station was granted a construction permit to move to channel 7 as K07AAH-D;[13] on June 3, 2019, the call letters were changed to KMNF-LD, a close match for those originally proposed for sister station KEYC-TV in 1958.[14]

On June 24, 2019, Gray announced that KMNF-LD would launch as early as September as an NBC affiliate, with The CW on its second subchannel.[4][15] KEYC-TV itself had launched in 1960 as an NBC affiliate, switching to CBS in 1961.[4] For the next 58 years after that, NBC programming was not available over-the-air in the Mankato market. Since 1981, Minneapolis affiliate KARE and Rochester affiliate KTTC had served as the default NBC affiliates for southwestern Minnesota via cable. KMNF-LD's sign-on leaves ABC and PBS as the only networks to not have over-the-air affiliates in Mankato; ABC programming is carried on cable via KSTP-TV and KAAL, and PBS programming carried via KTCA-TV; with KSTP and KTCA being carried on CTV translators K30FN-D (KSTP) and K26CS-D (KTCA) in St. James.[16][17][18][19]

Testing on KMNF-LD began on October 28, 2019.[20] The station officially signed on December 1, 2019.[21]

On January 17, 2023, KMNF-LD began broadcasting translator K33MW-D from the KEYC-TV studio tower.[22]

Newscasts

[edit]

KMNF-LD began simulcasting some KEYC newscasts on December 2, 2019. KEYC News Now This Morning airs weekdays from 5:30 to 7 a.m. on both KEYC-TV and KMNF-LD. The stations also simulcast the 10 p.m. news on weeknights, with each station airing separate commercials during each simulcast.

On February 21, 2022, KMNF-LD began simulcasting KEYC's 6 p.m. newscast.

On September 3, 2023, KMNF-LD began airing a 5 p.m newscast on Sunday evenings.

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KMNF-LD[23]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
7.1 1080i 16:9 KMNFLD1 NBC
7.2 720p KMNFLD2 The CW Plus
7.3 KMNFLD3 The365

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Displacement Application of Licensed Digital Low Power Television Station" (PDF). fcc.gov. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Arola, Brian (June 24, 2019). "KEYC adding NBC programming in late 2019". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KMNF-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ a b c Keegan, Mitch (June 24, 2019). "KEYC-TV adding 2 more network affiliates this fall". KEYC-TV. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  5. ^ Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV To Add NBC, CW Affiliations in Mankato". Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  6. ^ "Application for a Low Power TV, TV Translator or TV Booston Station License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  7. ^ Keegan, Mitch (December 21, 2017). "Translator Changes May Impact Some Over-the-Air Viewers of KEYC News 12". KEYC.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "LPTV Translator Engineering STA Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  10. ^ "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 29, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  11. ^ "Resumption of Operations of a LPTV Translator Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 11, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  12. ^ Ellis, Jon (June 24, 2019). "Gray TV Buys Mankato Station, First in Minnesota". Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "Displacement for LPTV Translator Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 22, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  14. ^ "Call Sign History (KMNF-LD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "CW PLUS Market Clearance (as of September 1, 2019)" (PDF). © 2019 The CW Television Network. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  16. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
  17. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
  18. ^ The Webpage of Cooperative TV (CTV)
  19. ^ CTV Channel Listing via the Cooperative TV (CTV) Website
  20. ^ Keegan, Mitch. "Testing underway on new NBC, CW affiliates". KEYC News 12. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  21. ^ Keegan, Mitch. "Programming to start soon for NBC, CW". KEYC News 12. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  22. ^ Keegan, Mitch (January 13, 2023). "New translator added for KMNF in North Mankato". KEYC News Now. Gray Television. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  23. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KMNF". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
Reception may vary by location, and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Full-powered station
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Local cable channels
see also
List of television stations in Minnesota
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state of Minnesota
ABC
CBS
Fox
NBC
The CW
MyNetworkTV
Ion Television
PBS
Other
Defunct
ABC
CBS
Fox
NBC
The CW
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Telemundo
Other
Radio stations
Programming
Other assets
Acquisitions
  • 1 Owned by American Spirit Media; Gray operates these stations through an SSA.
  • 2 Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting; Gray operates these stations through an SSA.
  • 3 Owned by Tegna Inc.; Gray operates these stations through an SSA.
  • 4 Owned by Gray; E. W. Scripps Company operates this station through an SSA.
  • 5 Owned by Tougaloo College and operated by American Spirit Media through a JSA; Gray provides limited engineering support through an SSA.
  • 6 Owned by Branson Visitors TV; Gray holds a 50.1% interest in this company.
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