KULR-TV
Encyclopedia
KULR-TV is an NBC
affiliate broadcasting on channel 11 in Billings, Montana
. KULR is currently owned by Max Media
.
KULR's programming and schedule is also seen on KYUS-TV in Miles City, Montana
; that station is owned and operated by the Marks Radio Group
, who also owns several radio stations in Montana, among other broadcasting properties. KULR programs and operates the station on Marks' behalf. Previously, KYUS was notorious for being the smallest network affiliate in America, which, at one time, featured a man who did the news, sports, weather and reporting himself — he was also featured in the late-1970s on NBC's Real People
and in TV Guide
for his career. KYUS became mainly a satellite station in the 1980s, first with KOUS (channel 4), then with KULR, after KOUS flipped to Fox as KHMT.
In Miles City, KULR can also be seen on K06FE channel 6; this translator is owned by Max Media, and not the Marks Radio Group.
Marks Radio Group also owns KXGN-TV
in Glendive, Montana
, which broadcasts KULR on its digital subchannel.
(AM 790). The station was originally a NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC
affiliation. The callsign was changed to KULR in 1963. The call letters were a play on the word "color" as most programs in the mid-1960s started changing from being televised in black and white to color. "Color 8" was how the TV station was promoted on-air in promos for KULR.
In 1968, the station became a primary ABC affiliate—the fourth in Montana—while relegating NBC to secondary status. This was very unusual for a two-station market, especially one as small as Billings. NBC wouldn't return to Billings on a full-time basis until KOUS signed on in 1980. In spring 1981, KULR dumped "Color 8" and became known as Straight 8 and its local newscast as Straight 8 Newsservice anchored by Dave Rye, sports director Larry Gebert, and weather forecaster Kit Carson. Other on-air reporters and weekend anchors at the time included Joni Earle, Monica Gayle, Kyle Safely, and David Smock.
In 1987, NBC wanted a stronger affiliate in the market, and quickly negotiated a return to KULR.
From 1970 until Montana PBS signed on in 1984, KULR aired some PBS
programming, as Montana was one of the few states at the time that didn't have a PBS station of its own.
In 2009, KULR made the switch to DTV news.
In February 2009, KULR, KTVQ
and two other stations in the Billings market were refused Federal Communications Commission
permission to end analogue broadcasts and operate as digital-only effective on the originally-scheduled February 17, 2009 date.
Reporters
KULR 8 Weather Team
Sports Team
Present Day Newscast Titles
}
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate broadcasting on channel 11 in Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
. KULR is currently owned by Max Media
Max Media
Max Media is a company that owns radio and television stations throughout the United States. It is based out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.-History:Max Media was founded in 2001...
.
KULR's programming and schedule is also seen on KYUS-TV in Miles City, Montana
Miles City, Montana
Miles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,123 at the 2010 census.- History :...
; that station is owned and operated by the Marks Radio Group
Stephan Marks
Stephan Marks, a Maryland native, is owner and operator of radio and television stations in three small United States markets.-Television:* KXGN-TV channel 5 , Glendive, Montana...
, who also owns several radio stations in Montana, among other broadcasting properties. KULR programs and operates the station on Marks' behalf. Previously, KYUS was notorious for being the smallest network affiliate in America, which, at one time, featured a man who did the news, sports, weather and reporting himself — he was also featured in the late-1970s on NBC's Real People
Real People
Real People is an NBC reality television series that aired from 1979 to 1984, on Wednesday and then Sunday nights. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.-Synopsis:...
and in TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
for his career. KYUS became mainly a satellite station in the 1980s, first with KOUS (channel 4), then with KULR, after KOUS flipped to Fox as KHMT.
In Miles City, KULR can also be seen on K06FE channel 6; this translator is owned by Max Media, and not the Marks Radio Group.
Marks Radio Group also owns KXGN-TV
KXGN-TV
KXGN-TV channel 5 is a television station in Glendive, Montana, a primarily agricultural region in eastern Montana, which is the smallest of the 210 US Nielsen-designated broadcast television market areas in the United States; the market serves a total potential home-market audience of a mere five...
in Glendive, Montana
Glendive, Montana
Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,935 at the 2010 census.The town of Glendive is located in South Eastern Montana and is considered by many as an agricultural hub of Eastern Montana...
, which broadcasts KULR on its digital subchannel.
History
Channel 8's first broadcast was on March 15, 1958 as KGHL-TV, owned by Midland Empire Broadcasting Company along with KGHL radioKGHL (AM)
KGHL is a radio station broadcasting a Classic Country format. Licensed to Billings, Montana, USA, the station serves the Billings area. The station is currently owned by BMG Billings, LLC and features programing from CBS Radio. The station runs at 5,000 watts day, 1,800 watts night....
(AM 790). The station was originally a NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliation. The callsign was changed to KULR in 1963. The call letters were a play on the word "color" as most programs in the mid-1960s started changing from being televised in black and white to color. "Color 8" was how the TV station was promoted on-air in promos for KULR.
In 1968, the station became a primary ABC affiliate—the fourth in Montana—while relegating NBC to secondary status. This was very unusual for a two-station market, especially one as small as Billings. NBC wouldn't return to Billings on a full-time basis until KOUS signed on in 1980. In spring 1981, KULR dumped "Color 8" and became known as Straight 8 and its local newscast as Straight 8 Newsservice anchored by Dave Rye, sports director Larry Gebert, and weather forecaster Kit Carson. Other on-air reporters and weekend anchors at the time included Joni Earle, Monica Gayle, Kyle Safely, and David Smock.
In 1987, NBC wanted a stronger affiliate in the market, and quickly negotiated a return to KULR.
From 1970 until Montana PBS signed on in 1984, KULR aired some PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
programming, as Montana was one of the few states at the time that didn't have a PBS station of its own.
In 2009, KULR made the switch to DTV news.
In February 2009, KULR, KTVQ
KTVQ
KTVQ is the CBS TV affiliate in Billings, Montana, USA. It broadcasts on channel 2 and is owned by the Evening Post Publishing Company...
and two other stations in the Billings market were refused Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
permission to end analogue broadcasts and operate as digital-only effective on the originally-scheduled February 17, 2009 date.
Current on-air talent
Current Anchors- Sarah Gravlee: Anchor/Reporter - weeknights at 5
- Laura Kennedy: Anchor/Reporter - Weekday Noon Anchor
- Greg LaMotte: Anchor - weeknights at 6, 9@9, and 10PM
- Lindsey Scheetz: Anchor/Reporter - weekday mornings
- Katie Ussin: Anchor/Reporter - weeknights at 6, 9@9, and 10PM
- Nicole Grigg: Anchor/Reporter - weekends 5 and 10pm
Reporters
- Felicia Frank: Assignment Editor
- Kenneth Wong
- MacLeod Hageman
- Gillette Vaira
- Chelsea Rabideau
KULR 8 Weather Team
- Kristen Kirchhaine: Chief Forecaster, weeknights 5, 6, 9@9, and 10pm
- Jeremy Rindahl: Weekday Morning & Noon Weather Meteorologist
- Brad Carl: Weekend meteorologist
Sports Team
- Chris Byers: Sports Director/Sports Anchor; weeknights at 6 and 10PM
- Ben Ross: Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter
Notable staff
- Patty Souza: meteorologist at KXTVKXTVKXTV, channel 10, is an ABC affiliate television station in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. Its transmitter tower is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown...
Channel 10, the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate in Sacramento, California. - Conrad BurnsConrad BurnsConrad Ray Burns is a former United States Senator from Montana. He is only the second Republican to represent Montana in the Senate since the passage in 1913 of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and is the longest-serving Republican senator in Montana history.While in...
: former United States Senator from Montana, worked as a farm reporter. - Roger Lohse: 1995-1996. Works at WPLG-TV Channel 10, the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate in Miami, Florida. - Monica GayleMonica GayleMonica Gayle is a television news anchor who anchors the 5, 6, 10pm news on Detroit's Fox affiliate WJBK. She previously worked with CBS News, anchoring the news programs Up to the Minute from April 1992 to 1993, and the CBS Morning News from August 1993 to May 1994...
: former weekend anchor/news reporter and former CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
correspondent: is now the weeknight news co-anchor at WJBKWJBKWJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...
, Channel 2, the FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate in Detroit, Michigan. - Kyle Safely: former weekend anchor/general assignment news reporter, lives in Boise, Idaho.
- Dave Rye: former news director, elected Montana state senator in 1990, currently a conservative radio talk show host on the Northern News Network.
- Larry Gebert: former sports director, has been with KTVBKTVBKTVB, channel 7, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Boise, Idaho, it is owned by Belo Corporation. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 7.-History:...
7 in Boise, Idaho since 1992 working as an on-air meteorologist and the system administrator for the computer networks at the NBC affiliate. - David Smock: former weekend sports/weather anchor and weekday noon news producer/news reporter: is now the coordinating producer and play-by-play announcer for the Toro Sports Network, an Internet TV channel featuring California State University, Dominguez HillsCalifornia State University, Dominguez HillsCalifornia State University, Dominguez Hills is a public university located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County and was founded in 1960...
NCAA Division II college sports live from Carson, California near Los Angeles. - Ed McIntosh: former chief meteorologist, now works at KTVQKTVQKTVQ is the CBS TV affiliate in Billings, Montana, USA. It broadcasts on channel 2 and is owned by the Evening Post Publishing Company...
as the morning and statewide noon meteorologist. - Gus Koernig: former anchor; now lives in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
- Kathy Weber: former anchor/reporter worked here before working for Senator Max BaucusMax BaucusMax Sieben Baucus is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S...
Newscast titles
- The Montana Report (1961-1963)
- Montana News (1963-1964)
- Report at 4:30/Report at Ten (1964-1968)
- Channel 8 News (1968-1972)
- KULR 8 News Service (1972–1981)
- Straight 8 Newservice (1981–1984)
- News 8 (1984–1991)
- KULR 8 News (1991–present)
Present Day Newscast Titles
- Today In Montana
- KULR-8 News at Noon
- KULR-8 First News At 5
- KULR-8 News At 6
- KULR-8 News 9@9-KULR-8 WeatherNow 8.2
- KULR-8 News At 10
- The Weekend Edition of the KULR-8 First News At 5
- The Weekend Edition of the KULR-8 News At 10
Station slogans
- KULR-8 in Color (1960s)
- We're the Team (1980s)
- Where News Comes 1st (early 1990s)
- Coverage, Community, Commitment (????-1998)
- Working in the Spirit of Montana (1998– Present)
- Covering Your World, Your Neighborhood (2009–Present)
External links
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