KFBB-TV
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Great Falls, Montana United States |
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| Branding | ABC Montana (general) ABC Montana Local News (newscasts) Fox Montana (DT2) |
| Slogan | Your Local News Leader |
| Channels |
Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 5 () |
| Subchannels | 5.1 ABC 5.2 Fox/MyNetworkTV |
| Translators | KHBB-LD 21 Helena |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary until 1966) |
| Owner |
Cowles Company (Cowles Montana Media Company) |
| First air date | March 21, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | Duplicated from radio: F.A. Buttrey Broadcast Inc. (original owners of radio station) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 5 (VHF, 1954–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
CBS (1954–1969; secondary from 1966) NBC (secondary 1954–1958, 1969–1986) DuMont (secondary 1954–1955) PBS (secondary Sesame Street, 1969–?) |
| Transmitter power | 31 kW |
| Height | 143.3 m |
| Facility ID | 34412 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 47°32′6.5″N 111°17′5.4″W / 47.535139°N 111.284833°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.kfbb.com |
KFBB-TV is a full-service television station in Great Falls, Montana, broadcasting locally on digital VHF channel 8 as an affiliate of ABC. Founded March 21, 1954, the station is owned by Cowles Company. It broadcasts from a transmitter at its studios on Old Havre Highway in Black Eagle. KFBB-TV also operates a semi-satellite for the Helena area, KHBB-LD channel 21 (UHF). Both stations offer Fox via their digital subchannels (until 2009, only KHBB did so, as Fox programming in Great Falls was seen on KLMN) KFBB-TV is also repeated on several translators. KFBB
KFBB-TV began broadcasting on March 21, 1954. As the first television station in Great Falls, KFBB-TV was affiliated with all four major networks, and would broadcast programming from all three until KRTV signed on and took the NBC affiliation in October 1958. KFBB-TV continued to air CBS and ABC programming as a member of the Skyline Network (as the Montana Television Network was then called).
At first KFBB-TV was owned by Wilkins Broadcasting along with KFBB radio (1310 AM, now KEIN), of which The Anaconda Company owned a 27.5% share. Anaconda, through its Fairmount division, controlled most of the major newspapers in Montana (although not the Great Falls Tribune) and was notorious for manipulating the state's political visions for its own needs. Then in 1959, Anaconda sold its media holdings to Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa. Because of anti-trust concerns, Lee decided to sell KFBB. The station was sold in 1962 to Harriscope Broadcasting, which in 1965 scored a deal for a primary ABC affiliation - Montana's first. The new affiliation took effect on February 1, 1966. Harriscope severed KFBB's links with the Skyline Network (which signed up with KRTV), and sold off KFBB radio in February 1969, but continued to run KFBB-TV, eventually selling it to Donald P. Nathanson in 1977. After affiliating primarily with ABC, the station continued secondary affiliation with CBS until that network switched to KRTV in 1969, and then started running NBC on a per program basis as late as December 1986, when KTGF signed on and took over the NBC affiliation. KFBB also carried Sesame Street for several years, before Montana had a PBS service of its own.
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