KPAX-TV
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Missoula, Montana United States | |
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Channels | Digital: 7 (VHF) (applied for 25 (UHF)[1]) Virtual: 8 |
Branding | KPAX 8 (general) Missoula/Flathead CW 8.2 MTN News (newscasts) |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 8.1: CBS (1970–present; secondary 1976−1984)/MTN 8.2: CW+ 8.3: Grit (O&O) 8.4: Ion Television (O&O) 8.5: Court TV (O&O) |
Ownership | |
Owner | E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC) |
History | |
First air date | 1970[2] |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF, 1970–2009) |
Former affiliations | ABC (1970–1990; secondary 1970–1976 and 1984–1990) |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 35455 |
ERP | 22.5 kW |
HAAT | 653.5 m (2,144 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 47°1′2.1″N 114°0′50.5″W / 47.017250°N 114.014028°W |
Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
Website | www |
Semi-satellite of KPAX-TV | |
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Kalispell, Montana United States | |
Channels | Digital: 18 (UHF) Virtual: 18 |
Branding | KAJ 18 (general) MTN News (newscasts) |
Programming | |
Affiliations | 18.1: CBS/MTN 18.2: CW+ 18.3: Grit (O&O) 18.4: Ion Television (O&O) 18.5: Court TV (O&O) |
Ownership | |
Owner | E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC) |
History | |
First air date | 1984 |
Former call signs | K18AJ (1982–2011) KAJJ-CA (2011–2012) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 18 (UHF, 1984–2012) Digital: 39 (UHF, 2012–2018) |
Call sign meaning | derived from former K18AJ call sign |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 35453 |
Class | CD |
ERP | 9.55 kW |
HAAT | 805 m (2,641 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 48°8′48″N 114°21′58″W / 48.14667°N 114.36611°W |
Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
Website | www |
KPAX-TV, virtual channel 8 (VHF digital channel 7), is a dual CBS/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Missoula, Montana, United States. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KPAX-TV's studios are located on West Central Avenue in Missoula, and its transmitter is located on TV Mountain north of the city.
KAJJ-CD (virtual and UHF digital channel 18) in Kalispell operates as a low-powered, Class A semi-satellite of KPAX-TV; known on-air as KAJ, it broadcasts the same schedule as KPAX, but with local commercials and news segments. To comply with the requirements of its Class A license, KAJJ also produces its own weeknight 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts with a separate anchor, which premiered in 2010.
History[]
Channel 8 signed on for the first time in 1970 as a semi-satellite of KXLF-TV in Butte. The station was originally owned by Garryowen Corporation, controlled by Joe Sample, as part of the Montana Television Network.[3] In 1977, KPAX opened a new studio on Regent Street in Missoula and severed the electronic umbilical cord with Butte.
For most of its existence, KPAX-TV has been a primary CBS affiliate.[4] However, it shared ABC with KGVO-TV (channel 13, now KECI-TV)[4] until 1976, when KPAX, along with KXLF-TV, upgraded ABC to a primary affiliation,[5] relegating CBS to a secondary affiliation shared with KGVO.[6] KPAX returned to CBS in 1984,[7] and continued to air ABC in off-hours (shared with KECI) until KTMF (channel 23) signed on in 1990.
In 1984, Sample sold the MTN stations to SJL, Inc. for $20 million.[8] SJL, in turn, sold KPAX-TV, KXLF-TV, and KRTV in Great Falls to Evening Post Publishing Company, through its Cordillera Communications subsidiary, for $24 million in 1986.[9]
KAJJ was established in 1984[10] as K18AJ. Its original owner, Telecrafter Broadcasting Corporation (whose principals, Thomas A. Curtis and Daniel W. Coon, were stockholders in KOUS-TV in Billings and KYUS-TV in Miles City[11]), sold K18AJ to Cordillera in 1988.[12] It became KAJJ-CA in 2011, and KAJJ-CD in 2012.
Digital television[]
Digital channels[]
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[13][14] | ||
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KPAX-TV | KAJJ-CD | KPAX-TV | KAJJ-CD | |||
8.1 | 18.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KPAX-DT | KAJJ-CD | Main KPAX-TV programming / CBS |
8.2 | 18.2 | 720p | KPAX-CW | KAJJ-CW | CW 8.2 | |
8.3 | 18.3 | 480i | GRIT-TV | Grit | ||
8.4 | 18.4 | ION TV | Ion Television | |||
8.5 | 18.5 | Court TV |
Translators[]
Analog-to-digital conversion[]
KPAX-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[15] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 7.[16] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 8.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ad/Kpaxtv.jpg/220px-Kpaxtv.jpg)
Notable former on-air staff[]
- Christine Clayburg – meteorologist
References[]
- ^ "Channel Substitution/Community of License Change". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
- ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says June 5, while the Television and Cable Factbook says May 1.
- ^ 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1972. p. A-35. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b "Listing of channel lineups in TV Guide Montana Edition". matthewsittel.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 7, 1976. p. 24. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 (PDF). 1977. p. B-116. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. C-36. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 16, 1984. p. 138. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 29, 1986. p. 78. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ^ "Application Search Details (KAJJ-CD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- ^ "In re Applications … For Construction Permit for a New Television Station Billings, Montana". Federal Communications Commission. October 6, 1987. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
Curtis and Coon each own a 50% in Telecrafter Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of LPTV station K18AJ, Kalispell, Montana.
- ^ "Public Notice Content". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KPAX
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KAJJ-CD
- ^ Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise Station Gets Power Boost". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
External links[]
- Montana Television Network
- CBS network affiliates
- The CW affiliates
- Grit (TV network) affiliates
- Ion Television affiliates
- Court TV affiliates
- Television channels and stations established in 1970
- Television stations in Missoula, Montana
- 1970 establishments in Montana
- E. W. Scripps Company television stations