KDLT-TV

KDLT-TV
Channels
Branding
  • KDLT; Dakota News Now
  • Fox Sioux Falls
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KSFY-TV, KPRY-TV
History
First air date
June 12, 1960 (64 years ago) (1960-06-12)[a]
Former call signs
  • KORN-TV (1960–1973)
  • KXON-TV (1973–1982)[2]
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 5 (VHF, 1960–1998); 46 (UHF, 1998–2009)
  • Digital: 47 (UHF, until 2018)
  • NBC (1960–1969)
  • ABC (1969–1983)
Call sign meaning
Dakotaland Television, former owners
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID55379
ERP589 kW
HAAT608 m (1,995 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°30′18″N 96°33′23″W / 43.50500°N 96.55639°W / 43.50500; -96.55639
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.dakotanewsnow.com
Satellite station
KDLV-TV
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
  • 5.1: NBC
  • 5.2: Fox
  • 13.1: ABC
History
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 5 (VHF, 1998–2009)
  • 13.2: CW+ (until 2020)
  • 13.3: MeTV (until 2020)
Call sign meaning
Dakotaland V (Roman numeral 5)
Technical information[4]
Facility ID55375
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT315 m (1,033 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°45′33″N 98°24′44″W / 43.75917°N 98.41222°W / 43.75917; -98.41222 (KDLV-TV)
Links
Public license information

KDLT-TV (channel 46) is a television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with NBC and Fox. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC affiliate KSFY-TV (channel 13). The two stations share studios in Courthouse Square on 1st Avenue South in Sioux Falls; KDLT-TV's transmitter is located southeast of the city near Rowena.

The station operates a full-time satellite, KDLV-TV (channel 5) in Mitchell, whose tower is located in Plankinton. KDLV is a straight simulcast of KDLT; its existence is only acknowledged in station identifications. Aside from the transmitter, KDLV has no physical presence in Mitchell. Both of KDLT's subchannels also air on KPRY-TV in Pierre, a semi-satellite of sister station KSFY-TV.

KDLT-TV got its start as KORN-TV, an NBC affiliate on channel 5 in Mitchell, in 1960. It did not begin broadcasting to the Sioux Falls area until 1969, when it switched to ABC. The station changed its call letters to KXON-TV in 1973 when channel 5 was split from KORN radio. The station was sold again in 1982 to become KDLT-TV; it lost its ABC affiliation when the network opted to move to KSFY-TV the next year, picking up NBC instead. For the better part of its history, it suffered from low ratings and the perception that it was a Mitchell station rather than a Sioux Falls station. In 1987, most operations, including news production, moved to Sioux Falls. In 1998, as part of an effort to improve the station's coverage, a new transmitter on channel 46 in Sioux Falls became the main station, while channel 5 was repurposed as a full-time satellite for the market's western portion. Even after these changes, the station has spent the better part of its history as the lowest-rated Big Three station in the market.

In 2019, Gray Television, owner of KSFY, sought and was granted Federal Communications Commission approval to buy KDLT in hopes of creating a stronger challenge to long-dominant KELO-TV. This brought KDLT and KSFY under one roof, with a merged news operation known as Dakota News Now. Gray then bought the market's Fox affiliation, resulting in the migration of Fox from KTTW to a subchannel of KDLT-TV and the two stations' satellites.

  1. ^ "KDLT-TV". Television Factbook (PDF). 2001. p. A-1133. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via World Radio History.
  2. ^ "FCC History Cards for KDLV-TV". Federal Communications Commission. (as KDLT in Mitchell)
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KDLT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KDLV-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.


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