KXGN preparing for a sale....

[tyrannical bastard 4064]

Thought I would check in on KXGN-TV, the only station in the smallest Nielsen market in America, in Glendive, Montana.

 

Since the passing of owner Stephen Marks and the sale of his other TV stations to Morgan Murphy, it looks like preparations are being made to eventually sell off KXGN to another owner.

According to Wikipedia, they have ended their .2 affiliation with NBC as of the end of 2024 and no longer produce any local programming in Glendive.  Since the departure of Emelie Boyles, they only have done a weekly public affairs program "Let's Talk About it" that aired on Sundays.   It is basically a semi-satellite for KTVQ in Billings and most of their newscasts.

 

And this past March, the station was readying a sale at their building in Glendive selling off decades of artifacts from KXGN's existence.

https://www.rangerreview.com/news/kxgn-tv-to-sell-off-treasure-trove-of-broadcasting-artifacts-ahead-of-sale-of-station/article_a07b3a08-035c-11f0-9f85-7ff9936504f1.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwY2xjawK-m0xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFvb283dlpzaDNaNEF6dDNqAR65055XO7IRzYKwCZhx3Eg-dlCBSvzSnVNCMditQ5eGEfn8aV0qDcb_tbyy8Q_aem_yyBBO_KPIIT0VrJOtlHwsw

(Based on the article, the sale was in the works and may have happened by now)

 

We shall see what happens to KXGN.  It's no longer a question of if, but WHEN... and WHO gets it?

 

Interesting footnote.  KXGN basically operates as a Central Time station, so everything (including prime time) is an hour earlier in Montana.  They fill the hour at 9pm with syndication and run 10pm onward in Mountain Time until they join CBS News in progress overnight.

Edited Tuesday at 09:06 PM by tyrannical bastard
Clarifications

[GoldenShine_10 114]

3 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Thought I would check in on KXGN-TV, the only station in the smallest Nielsen market in America, in Glendive, Montana.

 

Since the passing of owner Stephen Marks and the sale of his other TV stations to Morgan Murphy, it looks like preparations are being made to eventually sell off KXGN to another owner.

According to Wikipedia, they have ended their .2 affiliation with NBC as of the end of 2024 and no longer produce any local programming in Glendive.  Since the departure of Emelie Boyles, they only have done a weekly public affairs program "Let's Talk About it" that aired on Sundays.   It is basically a semi-satellite for KTVQ in Billings and most of their newscasts.

 

And this past March, the station was readying a sale at their building in Glendive selling off decades of artifacts from KXGN's existence.

https://www.rangerreview.com/news/kxgn-tv-to-sell-off-treasure-trove-of-broadcasting-artifacts-ahead-of-sale-of-station/article_a07b3a08-035c-11f0-9f85-7ff9936504f1.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwY2xjawK-m0xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFvb283dlpzaDNaNEF6dDNqAR65055XO7IRzYKwCZhx3Eg-dlCBSvzSnVNCMditQ5eGEfn8aV0qDcb_tbyy8Q_aem_yyBBO_KPIIT0VrJOtlHwsw

(Based on the article, the sale was in the works and may have happened by now)

 

We shall see what happens to KXGN.  It's no longer a question of if, but WHEN... and WHO gets it?

 

Interesting footnote.  KXGN basically operates as a Central Time station, so everything (including prime time) is an hour earlier in Montana.  They fill the hour at 9pm with syndication and run 10pm onward in Mountain Time until they join CBS News in progress overnight.

 

Maybe a Billings owner like Cowles could step in and tie it to KULR?

[norcalTVfan 19]

5 hours ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

Maybe a Billings owner like Cowles could step in and tie it to KULR?

KULR is basically ran, news wise, from Missoula and Spokane (in WA). Evening news now comes from Missoula and morning news comes from Spokane (but is marketed as local).  It’s been a bare bones operation for a handful of years and is getting worse by the year. KXGN is going to be a repeater for its new buyer, most likely. 

[mer764KCTV5 158]

15 hours ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

Maybe a Billings owner like Cowles could step in and tie it to KULR?

I am hoping that Scripps (yes, them.) would aquire KXGN-TV to fit in with the Montana Television Network.

[ColtFromGulfcoast 739]

RIP to the Glendive market. 

[tyrannical bastard 4064]

North Platte is the smallest market that still puts out newscasts of their own.  Even Alpena has largely ceded their news to Traverse City and Sinclair, with just a short local blip in the "B" block of their 10pm show.

 

What's the smallest market with an all-local operation these days?  May be Victoria, TX since Presque Isle's WAGM now simulcasts WABI's morning show from Bangor.

58 minutes ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

RIP to the Glendive market. 

The buyer of KXGN would likely turn them into an affiliate of all 4 networks, much like WBKB in Alpena.  Surprised Morgan Murphy hasn't taken the plunge..yet.
 

Edited Wednesday at 03:58 PM by tyrannical bastard

[mre29 1575]

On 6/18/2025 at 9:43 AM, mer764KCTV5 said:

I am hoping that Scripps (yes, them.) would aquire KXGN-TV to fit in with the Montana Television Network.

 

Technically, KXGN's already affiliated with the MTN group, so it would be more a matter of launching a new .2 subchannel to match the other stations. Oh, and apparently those stations' .2 subchannels are "independent" but all use the MTN branding, which is actually rather clever.

 

[MarkAnimates 24]

On 6/17/2025 at 3:12 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

Thought I would check in on KXGN-TV, the only station in the smallest Nielsen market in America, in Glendive, Montana.

 

Since the passing of owner Stephen Marks and the sale of his other TV stations to Morgan Murphy, it looks like preparations are being made to eventually sell off KXGN to another owner.

According to Wikipedia, they have ended their .2 affiliation with NBC as of the end of 2024 and no longer produce any local programming in Glendive.  Since the departure of Emelie Boyles, they only have done a weekly public affairs program "Let's Talk About it" that aired on Sundays.   It is basically a semi-satellite for KTVQ in Billings and most of their newscasts.

 

And this past March, the station was readying a sale at their building in Glendive selling off decades of artifacts from KXGN's existence.

https://www.rangerreview.com/news/kxgn-tv-to-sell-off-treasure-trove-of-broadcasting-artifacts-ahead-of-sale-of-station/article_a07b3a08-035c-11f0-9f85-7ff9936504f1.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwY2xjawK-m0xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFvb283dlpzaDNaNEF6dDNqAR65055XO7IRzYKwCZhx3Eg-dlCBSvzSnVNCMditQ5eGEfn8aV0qDcb_tbyy8Q_aem_yyBBO_KPIIT0VrJOtlHwsw

(Based on the article, the sale was in the works and may have happened by now)

 

We shall see what happens to KXGN.  It's no longer a question of if, but WHEN... and WHO gets it?

 

Interesting footnote.  KXGN basically operates as a Central Time station, so everything (including prime time) is an hour earlier in Montana.  They fill the hour at 9pm with syndication and run 10pm onward in Mountain Time until they join CBS News in progress overnight.

I am interested to see what happens with this station.

I pray to God that this station isn't sold to Morgan Murphy and converted into a satellite station. Last time this happened (with WBKB in Alpena) the station's news operation was shut down and replaced with the newscasts from Traverse City, so I'm hoping MM doesn't shut this station's news down and replace it with another station's local news.

[norcalTVfan 19]

12 minutes ago, MarkAnimates said:

I am interested to see what happens with this station.

I pray to God that this station isn't sold to Morgan Murphy and converted into a satellite station. Last time this happened (with WBKB in Alpena) the station's news operation was shut down and replaced with the newscasts from Traverse City, so I'm hoping MM doesn't shut this station's news down and replace it with another station's local news.

KXGN no longer produces local programming. TV Passport shows airings of “The Noon News,” “The 5:30 News,” and “The 10:00 News,” which are from KTVQ in Billings. So, MM can’t really sink it anymore. 

[nathannah 2529]

Also the WBKB deal to MMM was sorely needed as the news department basically had everyone who should just be behind the scenes writing, anchoring, newsgathering and doing tech work on-set. The staff was overwhelmed and the Sinclair deal, though certainly not the best, allows them to just focus on reporting news and send off the video to Traverse City to be edited into broadcasts. It has not been shut down, just pushed to a more manageable level for a market like Alpena. Same with WBUP/WBKP/WJMN. Any result there was better than either closing a station or just selling out to spectrum speculators like Innovate/HC2 whose 'commitment' to local service is basically 'does the antenna work and will we get paid to air FAST channel offal to nobody'.

 

KXGN doesn't have that burden now, and is basically a free agent. They could choose to be merged into their existing Scripps MTN network (the Cowles deal for news out of Spokane is just absurd), or decide to go closer and be merged into one of the three North Dakota networks, be it KX/Nextar, KFYR/Gray or Forum/KBMY.

[tyrannical bastard 4064]

NBC going away at the end of 2024 was probably the end of their affiliation agreement, and due to the pending wind down of the station operations, dumping NBC was a way to cut costs because of the reverse compensation agreements most network affiliates have.

 

This does beg the question to what the television situation is outside of KXGN.  Glendive technically doesn't have an NBC affiliate anymore or even a de facto affiliate as well.  Glendive doesn't even appear have a cable company, and DirecTV doesn't even provide local stations for its viewers.  Dish supplements KXGN with KOTA (ABC), KEVN (FOX) and no NBC affiliate since KXGN pulled the plug.  YouTube TV fills in the gaps with WMAQ out of Chicago, KHMT out of Billings for FOX and a straight ABC feed in Pacific time with ABC News live filling in the gaps.

 

There's still KYUS in Miles City, basically a repeater of Cowles' KULR.  It's in the Billings market so adapting it to serve the Glendive audience is still a challenge.  I wonder if that would be part of the sale of KXGN since these are the only remaining parts of Stephen Marks' TV station group.

Edited 16 hours ago by tyrannical bastard

[mre29 1575]

1 hour ago, nathannah said:

KXGN doesn't have that burden now, and is basically a free agent. They could choose to be merged into their existing Scripps MTN network (the Cowles deal for news out of Spokane is just absurd), or decide to go closer and be merged into one of the three North Dakota networks, be it KX/Nextar, KFYR/Gray or Forum/KBMY.

 

Just for fun, I checked to see how far Spokane is from Glendive. Using KXGN's building as the Glendive end, Spokane is about 595 miles away, or about the same distance as Duluth, Omaha, a point 15 miles north of Pueblo, CO, and over halfway up into Saskatchewan. You could draw a straight line from Glendive through downtown Minneapolis and not hit 595 miles till you're just over the river in Wisconsin.

 

So, yeah, Spokane is just a bit too far from Glendive. 

 

[AmericanErrorist 160]

1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Glendive doesn't even appear have a cable company

To clarify things, Mid-Rivers Communications serves Glendive, but appears to have discontinued video service.

[tyrannical bastard 4064]

Miles City is 75 miles away from Glendive, but still almost 150 miles from Billings.  It's also twice the size of Glendive.

It seems like KYUS should be rolled into the existing Glendive market and made the focal point of it.   Whatever becomes of KYUS would then feed KXGN.

 

It's currently a brokered feed of Cowles' KULR, and other broadcasters could broker the subchannels to feed this area.  But given the remoteness of the area, it should have happened years ago and current conditions wouldn't warrant undergoing such a transformation.

 

 

Regarding the satellite services, Glendive appears to be the ONLY DMA to have never started local feeds on DirecTV.  Does DirecTV still offer the NY/LA stations for remote areas of the country like this?

Edited 5 hours ago by tyrannical bastard