KTGF - History

History

KTGF started broadcasting on September 21, 1986 under the ownership of Continental Television. The station immediately became the city's first full time affiliate of the NBC television network. From its inception, the station was far behind KRTV and KFBB-TV in the ratings. In March 2001, Continental Television sold KTGF (along with KTMF in Missoula and KWYB in Butte) to Max Media.

In 2003, Max Media signed an agreement to purchase KFBB, as well as KULR-TV in Billings, from Dix Communications. Since the Great Falls television market is not large enough to own two television stations, Max immediately put KTGF up for sale. For more than a year, Max Media could not find a buyer for the station. Finally, Max Media sold KTGF in November 2004 to Destiny Communications of Wichita, Kansas.

In April 2005, Beartooth Communications, the owner of KTVH (the NBC affiliate in Helena), purchased a low power television permit in Great Falls for channel 50. It became obvious that Beartooth was positioning itself to take the NBC affiliation away from KTGF when the NBC affiliation agreement expired at the end of June. Destiny Communications filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent NBC from removing the affiliation and giving it to Beartooth's station, now known as KBGF-LP. As the end of June approached, confusion reigned. Both parties claimed they would be the NBC affiliate on July 1 in Great Falls. On June 29, Destiny announced that it would affiliate with the Fox network beginning July 1. This created another confusing situation because another television station in Great Falls, KLMN, was already the Fox affiliate (although the local cable system did not carry the station). As a result, after the NBC affiliation moved from KTGF to KBGF on July 1, 2005, Fox programming was seen on both KTGF and KLMN for a time. Eventually, KLMN dropped Fox programming for UPN, and in September 2006 became an affiliate of MyNetworkTV.

In May 2007, Destiny signed a joint sales agreement with KLMN's parent company, Equity Media Holdings. As a result, Fox programming moved back to KLMN, and KTGF became an independent station. After being offline for several weeks, KTGF unveiled an updated website with a revised logo.

After Destiny defaulted on its debt payments, the station filed to transfer the KTGF license to creditor RGW Investments LLC in September 2009. Shortly afterward, the station affiliated with JCTV.

KTGF went off the air December 19, 2009, citing problems with its microwave system. However, in February 2010, the station was noted as carrying a slide stating that it was no longer airing programming; that March, Max Media, which had retained the studio building and leased it to Destiny, sold the building to a local law firm. These events indicate that KTGF has ceased operations.

KTGF's license was formally transferred to RGW Investments on September 27, 2010.

In December, 2011, RGW Investments entered into an agreement to sell KTGF to PetroMedia Corporation, a company owned by veteran radio and TV broadcaster Roger Lonnquist. The sale closed on on March 7, 2012. Soon afterward, the station returned to the air, again as a JCTV affiliate.