KSNB (TV) - History

History

KSNB-TV and KTVG-TV were the Fox affiliates for most of south-central Nebraska. Prior to June 2009, the stations were identified on-air as Nebraska Fox 4 & 17. Beginning June 12, 2009, the stations were simulcast with KFXL-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska. As of mid-August 2009, KFXL became the main station, and the entire network was rebranded as KFXL, Fox Nebraska. KSNB left the air in December 2009 and KTVG soon followed in April 2010, leaving KFXL as the market's Fox station.

KSNB was owned by Colins Broadcasting Corporation, while KTVG was owned by Hill Broadcasting Company. The two stations were operated by Pappas Telecasting Companies under Local marketing agreements until the expiration of the deals on November 30, 2009 (KSNB) and in April 2010 (KTVG). Pappas holds the rights to Fox programming in the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market. Through this LMA, KSNB was sister station to KPTM, the Omaha Fox affiliate, and the Nebraska Television Network, composed of ABC affiliates KHGI-TV in Kearney, KWNB-TV in Hayes Center, and KHGI-CA in North Platte.

KSNB signed on in 1965 as KHTL-TV, part of the ABC-affiliated Nebraska Television Network (NTN) alongside KHOL-TV (now KHGI-TV), KHPL-TV (now KWNB-TV) and KHQL-TV in Albion. The call sign was changed to KSNB-TV on June 3, 1974. During the 1980s, the chain was rebranded as NTV; around this time, KCNA-TV (the former KHQL) was spun off (the station is now Lincoln-based KLKN). In September 1996, KSNB dropped ABC for Fox, changing its parent station from KHGI to KTVG.

During the early 2000s, KSNB and KTVG would pick up a secondary affiliation with Pax, renamed i on July 1, 2005 and Ion Television on January 29, 2007. The Ion affiliation was later discontinued.

It was also during this time that the station carried programs from UPN — that was until KOLN/KGIN launched a UPN-affiliated subchannel on September 1, 2005. The network shut down a year later in favor of The CW, which was seen on KCWL-TV channel 51 until 2009, when it became KFXL-TV and started simulcasting KSNB/KTVG.

KSNB and KTVG began broadcasting network programming in high-definition on January 1, 2009 prior to the broadcast of the Orange Bowl.

KSNB was hampered by opting to return to channel 4 after the June 12, 2009 transition date (its digital signal had broadcast on UHF channel 34 before then), as the issue of lower VHF frequencies not transmitting well in digital (along with KSNB being one of the few stations digitally on channel 4 in the country) meant the station's coverage area was less than what had been mapped, and the lack of viewers with VHF-optimized digital antennas further complicated the situation. It was likely this led Pappas to transition KCWL from the CW to Fox as KFXL, in order to maintain Fox service to southern Nebraska in a way that KSNB could not.

The time brokerage agreement between Pappas Telecasting and Colins Broadcasting Corporation expired on November 30, 2009. As a result, KSNB, along with two translator stations in Lincoln owned by Colins, shut down on December 1. (A third Colins-owned translator, K17CI in Beatrice, Nebraska, had left the air on June 12, 2009.)

In 2010, Colins then put the license up for sale. The station was broadcasting intermittently as an affiliate of the Three Angels Broadcasting Network.

On June 23, 2011, Colins filed an application with the FCC to increase the ERP of the station to 23.5 kW, moving the transmitter site to the existing tower of FM radio station KTMX, near York, roughly 50 miles (80km) northeast of the current site.

On November 21, 2012, it was announced that Gray Television, the owners of KOLN/KGIN, will acquire KSNB for $1.25 million. As duopolies are currently not allowed due to the market size, the two parties are seeking a failing stations waiver, which will allow the acquisition to occur. The station deal includes Lincoln translators K17CD and KWAZ-LP. Planned programming for KSNB will include a 30-minute newscast for Central Nebraska and local sports coverage. It is also likely that the station will get the MyNetworkTV affiliation currently held by a subchannel of KOLN/KGIN.

KSNB currently airs Antenna TV on channels 4.1 and 4.2 from the new licensed facilities near York, as well as on K18CD-D 18.1 and 18.2 in Lincoln, and analog KWAZ-LP 35 in Lincoln. The Antenna TV affiliation agreement is for the station's digital subcarrier, but is being carried on the primary digital channel as well while the station ownership changes hands.