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KNEP

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"KDUH" redirects here. For the airport with ICAO code KDUH, see Toledo Suburban Airport.
KNEP
CitySidney, Nebraska
Channels
BrandingKGWN Scottsbluff
Programming
Affiliations4.1/4.2: NBC
Ownership
Owner
KSTF
History
First air date
March 5, 1958 (67 years ago) (1958-03-05)
Former call signs
KDUH-TV (1958–2016)
Former channel numbers
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1958–2009)
  • CBS (primary 1958−1965, joint primary 1965−1976, secondary 1976−1981)
  • NBC (secondary 1958–1970, joint primary 1970−1976, sole primary 1976–1984)
  • ABC (secondary 1958−1965, joint primary 1965–1970, sole primary via KOTA-TV 1984–2020)
  • Fox (via KEVN-LD, 2020−2022)
Call sign meaning
Nebraska Panhandle
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID17683
ERP32 kW
HAAT475 m (1,558 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°50′27.9″N 103°4′28.8″W / 41.841083°N 103.074667°W / 41.841083; -103.074667
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wyomingnewsnow.tv

KNEP (channel 4) is a television station in Sidney, Nebraska, United States, serving the Nebraska Panhandle as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Marquee Broadcasting alongside Cheyenne, Wyoming–licensed dual CBS/CW+ affiliate KGWN-TV (channel 5). KNEP's studios are located on 1st Avenue in Scottsbluff, and its transmitter is located in Angora, Nebraska.

History

[edit]

The station signed on for the first time on March 5, 1958, as KDUH-TV, broadcasting from Hay Springs, Nebraska. The station was owned by Helen Duhamel, whose last name formed the basis of the callsign.[2] It was a semi-satellite of the original KOTA-TV in Rapid City (license now held by KHME). Like its parent, it carried programming from all four major networks, but was a primary CBS affiliate.

In 1965, in tandem with its parent, KDUH took on an unusual joint primary affiliation with CBS and ABC, slightly favoring CBS. This caused a good deal of confusion for viewers in the Nebraska Panhandle, since future sister station KSTF, which had signed on three years earlier in 1955, also held a joint primary affiliation with CBS and ABC, slightly favoring ABC. It was not unheard of for both stations to air the same program at the same time. However, in 1970, KOTA-TV and its repeaters exchanged CBS programming for NBC, replacing KRSD-TV (channel 7) as the NBC affiliate for Rapid City.[3]

In 1969, KDUH-TV was approved to move its transmitter facility from Hay Springs to a new, 2,000-foot (610 m) tower near Hemingford, in Box Butte County.[4] The effect would be to increase the coverage area and give Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a second broadcast TV channel.[5] The mast was erected in mid-1970,[6] rising to its full steel height in September.[7] The antenna arrived then and was put into place so the station could begin broadcasting from there in October,[8] When completed, the tower at Hemingford was the tallest structure in Nebraska; in 1998, skydivers from Utah jumped from the tower, which they considered their "Holy Grail".[9]

In 1971, Duhamel Broadcasting applied to move KDUH-TV's operations from Hay Springs to Scottsbluff. It cited the falling population and failing education system in Hay Springs as well as trouble maintaining personnel. The manager of KDUH-TV at the time insisted on working and living in Scottsbluff.[10] A new petition was filed in 1973.[11] On a third attempt in 1981, KDUH-TV was allowed to change its city of license and move its studios to Scottsbluff.[12] In 1988, KDUH consolidated its operations at KOTA-TV.[2]

Affiliation switches in Rapid City affected KDUH. In 1976, KRSD-TV left the air after having its license renewal denied. Its replacement, KEVN-TV, became a primary ABC affiliate, leaving CBS programs to air on KOTA-TV and repeaters.[13] The two Rapid City stations split CBS programming until KELO-TV of Sioux Falls opened a Rapid City translator in 1981.[14] In 1984, KOTA-TV switched from NBC to ABC.[15] KDUH was a secondary affiliate of Fox in the 1990s.[16]

2002 tower collapse

[edit]

On September 24, 2002, the KDUH-TV tower in Hemingford collapsed during tower work, replacing burned-out lights. Two workers on the tower—Lawrence A. Sukalec, 59, of Valier, Illinois, and Daniel E. Goff, 25, of Sesser, Illinois[17]—were killed, and two more conducting maintenance on the transmitter building and a bystander were injured.[9] Investigations later found that the contractors neglected to stabilize the tower while original structural components were being replaced with stronger ones.[18]

The immediate effect of the collapse was to cut KDUH-TV off from many viewers and cut many viewers from ABC network programming. In some areas, Charter Communications had a direct fiber-optic link to KDUH and could continue to televise it. Other cable systems imported KMGH-TV of Denver or WXYZ-TV of Detroit, while some could not offer a replacement affiliate.[19] By January 2003, the station claimed to have restored service to 70 to 80 percent of viewers.[20] In Scottsbluff, low-power channel 2 began broadcasting KDUH programming, and a low-power digital signal went into service.[21] K02NY in Chadron also rebroadcast KDUH.[22][23]

In January 2003, KDUH announced it would rebuild, but not at Hemingford. Duhamel's insurer found the work a "non-covered event" and refused to pay out on the company's insurance claim. To save money while retaining most viewership, Duhamel opted to build a shorter tower at Angora, east of Scottsbluff.[20] The 1,475-foot (450 m)[24] Angora tower began operating on September 19, 2003.[22]

Schurz and Gray ownership

[edit]

Bill Duhamel announced on October 31, 2013, that KOTA-TV and its satellites (including KDUH-TV) would be sold to Schurz Communications' subsidiary Rushmore Media Company, pending FCC approval.[25][26] The FCC granted the sale on March 31, 2014; and it was completed on April 28, 2014.[27][28][29][30]

On September 14, 2015, Schurz announced that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including KDUH-TV, to Gray Television for $442.5 million.[31][32] In its original filing with the FCC, Gray said that KDUH would be converted to a satellite of KNOP-TV, a Gray-owned NBC affiliate in North Platte.[33][34] In a subsequent filing with the FCC, Gray requested change the KDUH-TV call letters to KNEP following its conversion to a KNOP-TV satellite. It also sought to change KDUH/KNEP's city of license to Sidney, Nebraska. By changing its city of license, KNEP was now officially reckoned as part of the Denver market rather than the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff market, eliminating an ownership conflict with KSTF in Scottsbluff, a semi-satellite of KGWN-TV in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[35][36] The FCC does not allow one company to own two of the four highest-rated stations in the market. Additionally, the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff market had only five full-power stations (KGWN and KSTF are counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes), which was three stations too few to legally permit a duopoly in any case.

The sale was approved by the FCC on February 12, 2016,[37] and was completed on February 16.[38] The FCC approved the change of station's city of license on May 16, making KDUH/KNEP a Denver DMA station.[39] For all intents and purposes, however, it remained a de facto Scottsbluff station.

On May 5, 2016, the station officially became the NBC affiliate for the Nebraska Panhandle. Despite officially becoming a semi-satellite of KNOP-TV, the station formerly aired ABC programming from KOTA on channel 4.1 until 2020, when it was replaced with a simulcast of Fox programming from Rapid City-licensed KEVN-LD until 2022; initially, "NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff" was aired on channel 2.1.[40] As of October 2021, NBC programming is seen on channel 4.1.[41]

On December 8, 2023, KNEP re-branded from "NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff" to "KGWN Scottsbluff".[42] The station continues to be rebroadcast on KGWN channel 5.2 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as well as KSTF channel 10.2 in Scottsbluff.

Marquee Broadcasting ownership

[edit]

On February 1, 2024, Gray announced that it was swapping its stations in the Cheyenne–Scottsbluff and Casper, Wyoming, markets to Marquee Broadcasting in exchange for the construction permit for KCBU in the Salt Lake City market.[43][44]

Newscasts

[edit]

KNEP broadcast 8+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 1+1⁄2 hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

As KDUH, the station produced full-length newscasts focused on the Nebraska Panhandle for years. However, due to cutbacks in later years, KDUH's newscasts were reduced to inserts in KOTA's weeknight newscasts with a few personalities locally based in Scottsbluff.

On May 5, 2016, KNEP's full-length localized newscasts in Scottsbluff were reinstated, upon the launch of NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff.[45][46] The Scottsbluff news operation was shut down in February 2024 ahead of the swap to Marquee Broadcasting; KNEP's newscasts were replaced with a simulcast of KGWN-TV's Wyoming News Now. Seven staffers were laid off.[44][47]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

KNEP is broadcast from a tower east of Angora, Nebraska.[1] The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KNEP[41]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
4.1 720p 16:9 KNEP-HD NBC
4.2 480p KNEP-SD SD simulcast of KNEP

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

KNEP (as KDUH-TV) shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on February 17, 2009,[48] the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 7, using virtual channel 4.[49]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Facility Technical Data for KNEP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b Seaney, Aaron (March 4, 2016). "KOTA celebrates 58 years on the air". Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "Local television channels to swap major networks". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. August 1, 1970. p. 4. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Hay Springs TV Station Plans New Tower". Lincoln Evening Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. UPI. November 27, 1969. p. 10. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Area to Get Second Free TV Channel". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. December 2, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Steel stretches two long..." The Ledger. Hemingford, Nebraska. August 13, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "KDUH-TV Tower Now Completed". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. September 22, 1970. p. 5. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tuesday target for new tower". The Ledger. Hemingford, Nebraska. October 1, 1970. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Grote, Kay; Smith, Melissa (September 25, 2002). "KDUH tower collapses, kills two: Three others injured when 1,965-foot television tower topples near Alliance". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "KDUH Seeks Move From Hay Springs". The Alliance Times-Herald. Alliance, Nebraska. June 4, 1971. p. 1. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "KDUH Seeks to Add Bluffs to License". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. July 19, 1973. p. 5. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ von Tersch, Linda (August 12, 1981). "Panhandle TV Capital Moving: KDUH Plans Shift Of Headquarters To Scottsbluff In Expansion Move". Chadron Record. Chadron, Nebraska. pp. 1-A, 7-A]. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "New TV station to carry ABC". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. March 13, 1976. p. 3. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Ames, J. D. (September 25, 1981). "KELO to broadcast here Saturday". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. p. 3. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Switch in network affiliations has put KOTA and KEVN near parity". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. April 26, 1985. p. 28. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Newman, Andy (February 8, 1996). "New TV station coming? Fox affiliate bids for rights". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. p. 1A. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Rothleutner, Genell (September 25, 2002). "2 Killed As KDUH-TV Tower Collapses West Of Alliance". The Alliance Times-Herald. Alliance, Nebraska. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Investigation of the September 24, 2002, Collapse of the 1965-foot High KDUH-TV Antenna Tower in Hemingford, Nebraska" (PDF). Occupational Safety and Health Administration. March 2003. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  19. ^ "TV station working on signal problems". Star-Herald. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. October 17, 2002. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b Thiessen, Mark (February 11, 2003). "Broadcaster Files $7 Million Lawsuit Over Fatal Tower Collapse". The Alliance Times-Herald. Alliance, Nebraska. Associated Press. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Panhandle TV Station Begins Digital Signal". The Alliance Times-Herald. Alliance, Nebraska. January 15, 2003. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ a b Ellis, Jonathan M. "Broadcasting News-September 2003". Upper Midwest Broadcasting. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  23. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 3, 2002). "KDUH-TV, North of Scottsbluff, Nebraska". fybush.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  24. ^ "FCC approves plans for new KDUH tower". Telegraph. North Platte, Nebraska. Associated Press. April 12, 2003. p. A3. Retrieved August 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "KOTA-TV and its satellites sold to Schurz Communications, Inc". KOTA Territory News. October 31, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  26. ^ Malone, Michael (October 31, 2013). "Schurz to Acquire KOTA Rapid City". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  27. ^ "FCC approves sale of KOTA-TV". KOTA Territory News. April 1, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  28. ^ Notice, Federal Communications Commission, March 31, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  29. ^ FCC approves sale of KOTA Territory TV, KOTA-TV, April 1, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  30. ^ "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  31. ^ "Schurz Communications to sell WSBT and other TV, radio stations". South Bend Tribune. September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  32. ^ Kuperberg, Jonathan (September 14, 2015). "Gray Acquiring TV, Radio Stations from Schurz for $442.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  33. ^ "Comprehensive Exhibit" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  34. ^ Gray Television unveils some changes for Scottsbluff station. KOTA-TV, February 17, 2016, Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  35. ^ "Comprehensive Exhibit" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  36. ^ Sell, Travis (February 19, 2016). "KOTA Territory News to bring more statewide coverage". Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  37. ^ FCC Approves Gray-Schurz TV Station Deal. Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 2016, Retrieved February 13, 2016
  38. ^ Gray Closes Schurz Acquisition, Related Transactions, And Incremental Term Loan Facility Press Release, Gray Television, Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  39. ^ Report and Order, Federal Communications Commission, May 16, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  40. ^ Ellis, Jonathan M. "Broadcasting News-May 2016". www.northpine.com. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  41. ^ a b "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  42. ^ Facebook, Facebook, December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  43. ^ "Gray and Marquee Broadcasting Swap Television Station Assets". February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  44. ^ a b "Gray Goes Black on KNEP; Shuts Down Scottsbluff TV Station". KNEB-AM 960 AM – 100.3 FM. February 5, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  45. ^ KOTA announces switch to KNEP in May, Scottsbluff Star-Herald, March 29, 2016, Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  46. ^ NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff newscasts begin Thursday, May 5 - NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff
  47. ^ Underwood, Jack (February 6, 2024). "Gray TV closes Scottsbluff station, announces sale". Gering Courier. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  48. ^ Analog Termination Information Update - Federal Communications Commission
  49. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
[edit]
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