KTVQ

Not to be confused with KQTV, WTVQ, or TVQ.
This article is about the TV station in Billings, Montana. For the defunct television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, see KTVQ (Oklahoma City).

KTVQ
A red box containing stylized white letters "Q 2". Next to the box in two black lines are the words "Montana's News Leader" (bolded) and then "Billings".
Channels
BrandingQ2; MTN News
Programming
NetworkMontana Television Network
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
November 9, 1953
(70 years ago) (1953-11-09)
Former call signs
KOOK-TV (1953–1972)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 2 (VHF, 1953–2009)
  • DuMont (1953–1955/6)
  • NBC (secondary, 1953–1958 and 1968–1982)
  • ABC (secondary, 1953–1968)
  • PBS (per program, 1970–1984)
  • The CW (DT2, 2006–2023)
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35694
ERP26.1 kW
HAAT180 m (591 ft)
Transmitter coordinates45°46′0.9″N 108°27′28.8″W / 45.766917°N 108.458000°W / 45.766917; -108.458000
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.ktvq.com

KTVQ (channel 2) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KTVQ's studios are located on Third Avenue North in Billings, and its transmitter is located on Sacrifice Cliff southeast of downtown.

Channel 2 began broadcasting as KOOK-TV on November 9, 1953. It was the first station in Billings and the third in the state of Montana, built by radio station KOOK; it was a CBS affiliate from the outset. The Montana Network, the original owner, sold the KOOK stations to Joe Sample in 1956, and they moved into the present KTVQ studios in 1959. Sample's acquisitions of KXLF-TV in Butte 1961 and KRTV in Great Falls in 1969 formed the basis of the Montana Television Network; KOOK radio was sold off in 1973, and channel 2 changed its call sign to KTVQ.

While the network was nominally headquartered in Billings, the network's split regional news format used Great Falls as a hub. As a result of the newscast style implemented by Sample, channel 2 sank in the local news ratings against the all-local newscasts on competitor KULR-TV. Coinciding with Sample's sale of the MTN stations to SJL, Inc., in 1984, the network newscasts shifted to Billings and were eventually phased out altogether. In 1987, KTVQ overtook KULR-TV in local news ratings and became the dominant station in the market.

  1. ^ "Channel Substitution/Community of License Change". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Report & Order" (PDF). Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission. April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTVQ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.