KMNF-LD
Channels
Branding
  • KEYC (general)
  • 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)
  • 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
HAAT295 m (968 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 33 (UHF, 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). Both stations share studios on Lookout Drive in North Mankato, while KMNF-LD's transmitter is located near Lewisville, Minnesota.[4]

History

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

Further information: KEYC-TV § Newscasts

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

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

  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.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
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