NBC Montana

NBC Montana

Missoula, Kalispell, Butte, and Bozeman, Montana United States
Channels	Virtual: 13, 9, 6
Programming
Affiliations	x.1: NBC x.2: Comet x.3: Charge!
Ownership
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC)
History
First air date	July 1, 1954 (70 years ago) (1954-07-01), with the launch of KGVO-TV (now KECI-TV) in Missoula
Former affiliations	CBS (primary 1954–1965, secondary 1965–1966 and 1976–1984) DuMont (secondary, 1954–1956) ABC (secondary, 1954–1976 and 1984–1989)
Links
Website	www.nbcmontana.com
For technical information, see § Stations.

NBC Montana is a regional network of three television stations in western Montana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is headquartered in Missoula, and serves as the NBC affiliate for the Missoula and Butte markets.

The network comprises flagship KECI-TV (channel 13) in Missoula; full-power satellites KTVM-TV (channel 6) in Butte and KCFW-TV (channel 9) in Kalispell; and low-power satellite KDBZ-CD (channel 6) in Bozeman. Most station operations, including news production, are based in Missoula, with bureaus in Bozeman and Kalispell.

The stations air the same programming, but KTVM and KCFW air separate commercials and legal identifications. KDBZ is a straight simulcast of KTVM. NBC Montana's reach is further extended by 25 translators in western Montana and Idaho.

The main station, KECI, began broadcasting in 1954 as KGVO-TV. Regional coverage became a reality in the 1960s with the installation of transmitters in Butte and Kalispell. The stations have been sole NBC affiliates since 1989. Sinclair purchased the group in 2017 as part of its acquisition of Bonten Media Group.