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Intermountain West Communications Company

(Redirected from Sunbelt Communications Company)

Intermountain West Communications Company was an American telecommunications company, formerly owned by James E. Rogers (1938–2014), that remains as the licensee company for a number of local television stations in the United States, operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and subsidiary companies Howard Stirk Holdings and Cunningham Broadcasting. The company was known for its liberal leaning.

Intermountain West Communications Company
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedOctober 1, 1979 (1979-10-01)
Defunct
  • January 9, 2018 (2018-01-09)
  • (38 years, 100 days)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Las Vegas, Nevada
,
U.S.
ProductsBroadcast television
OwnerJames E. "Jim" Rogers

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, IWCC was founded on October 1, 1979, following the purchase of KORK-TV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, by local attorney James E. Rogers and 16 Las Vegas residents. KORK-TV was renamed KVBC after taking control and KSNV-DT (now KSNV) on July 9, 2010, and Rogers expanded Sunbelt's reach to include other stations in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. In 2008, Sunbelt was renamed Intermountain West Communications Company; Rogers was at his summer home in Montana when he was asked about the "SUNBELT" license plate on his car when Montana wasn't a Sun Belt state.[1] Most of IWCC's stations, prior to the gradual sale of them that began in 2013, were NBC affiliates.

On September 3, 2014, Intermountain West Communications announced that it would sell KSNV-DT to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $120 million. As Sinclair already owned a duopoly in Las Vegas, KVMY (channel 21) and KVCW (channel 33), the company planned to sell the license assets (though not the programming) of one of the three stations to comply with FCC ownership restrictions, with the divested station's programming being moved to the other stations.[2] 80–85% of proceeds from the sale will go toward the formation of the Rogers Educational Foundation, which supported students and educators in Southern Nevada.[3]

On November 1, 2014, KSNV began the process of swapping signals with KVMY; KVMY moved its MyNetworkTV programming to a subchannel of KVCW, which was replaced by a simulcast of KSNV-DT's programming. Additionally, the two stations swapped virtual channel numbers, which moved KVMY to channel 3, and KSNV to channel 21. On November 4, 2014, the call letters on KVMY's license were changed to KSNV, and the existing KSNV license changed its call letters to KVMY. These moves effectively put KSNV under Sinclair ownership using its existing channel 21 license. The previous channel 3 license was later sold to Howard Stirk Holdings.[4][5] A similar swap occurred during Sinclair's acquisition of WCIV, in which its ABC programming and call sign were moved to another Sinclair-owned signal, and the previous WCIV channel 4 license (renamed WMMP) was sold to Howard Stirk Holdings, though the PSIP channel number was not swapped.[6][7] When the sale closes, Sinclair would control half of those stations. It also created a situation in which a CW affiliate is the nominal senior partner in a duopoly involving an NBC affiliate and a "Big Four" station.[8][9][10]

The company would remain as a technical going concern operating two stations until January 9, 2018, as the sales of KRNV-DT and KENV-DT were held up in the FCC due to unknown factors; both stations would eventually be sold instead to Cunningham Broadcasting, a company related to Sinclair that holds the licenses, with Sinclair operating the stations through joint operations and shared services agreements. The sale was approved on September 22, 2017,[11] and completed on January 9, 2018.[12]

Former stations

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Television

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City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
Yuma, AZ KYMA-DT 11 1989–2014 Defunct, license surrendered in 2020.[a]
Pocatello, ID KPVI-DT 6 1995–2014 NBC affiliate owned by Imagicomm Communications
KFXP 31 1998–2013[b] Ion affiliate KVUI, owned by Ventura Media Communications, LLC
Twin Falls, ID KKVI/KXTF 35 1995–2014 Tri-State Christian Television owned-and-operated (O&O)
Great Falls, MT KBGF-LP[A] 50 2005–2014 NBC affiliate KTGF-LD, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Helena, MT KMTF 10 1998–2014[c] PBS member station KUHM-TV, owned by Montana State University
KTVH-DT 12 1997–2014 NBC affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Havre, MT KBBJ[A] 9 2001–2009 Defunct, went dark in 2008.
Lewistown, MT KBAO[A] 13 2001–2009 Defunct, went dark in 2008.
Ely, NV KBJN/KVNV[B] 3 2004–2008[d] MeTV affiliate WJLP/Middletown Township, NJ,
owned by Weigel Broadcasting
Las Vegas, NV KVBC/KSNV-DT 3 1979–2014 Heroes & Icons affiliate KHSV, owned by Howard Stirk Holdings[e]
Reno, NV KRNV-DT 4 1989–2018 NBC affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting[f]
Elko, NV KENV-DT[C] 10 1997–2018 Comet TV affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting[f]
Winnemucca, NV KWNV[D] 7 1998–2010 Defunct, went dark in 2008.
Santa Fe–Albuquerque, NM KNMZ-TV/KKTO-TV 2 1988–1992 Telemundo owned-and-operated (O&O) KASA-TV
Casper, WY KCWY-DT 13 1998–2013 NBC affiliate owned by Marquee Broadcasting
Jackson, WY KJVI/KJWY[E] 2 1995–2009 MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV/Wilmington, DE,
owned by Maranatha Broadcasting Company
Sheridan, WY KBNM/KSWY[F] 7 2002–2009 Defunct, went dark in 2010.[g]
  1. ^ a b c Satellite of KTVH.
  2. ^ Satellite of KVBC.
  3. ^ Semi-satellite of KRNV.
  4. ^ Satellite of KRNV.
  5. ^ Satellite of KPVI.
  6. ^ Satellite of KCWY.
  1. ^ Intellectual unit and NBC programming moved to a subchannel of Imagicomm Communications-owned license and renamed KYMA-DT.
  2. ^ Owned by Compass Communications and operated by IWCC.
  3. ^ Owned by The Uhlmann Company and operated by IWCC.
  4. ^ Although Sunbelt took over ownership of KBJN in 2004, it operated as a satellite of KVBC since signing on in 2001.
  5. ^ Intellectual unit and NBC programming transferred to a Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned license and renamed KSNV.
  6. ^ a b Operated through an SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
  7. ^ Station was known as KJCW when it ceased operations.

Radio

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City of license / Market Station Years owned Current status
Las Vegas, NV KVBC-FM 105.1 1996–2000[a] KQRT, owned by Entravision Communications
Reno, NV KRNV-FM 101.7 1995–2000 now at 102.1; owned by Entravision Communications
  1. ^ KVBC-FM was owned by Compass Communications and managed by Sunbelt Communications.

References

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  1. ^ Clarke, Norm (January 5, 2014). "TV owner Jim Rogers has second battle with cancer". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  2. ^ "Sinclair Buying KSNV Las Vegas For $120M". TVNewsCheck. September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  3. ^ "KSNV Vegas Proceeds To Fund Education Foundation". Broadcasting & Cable. September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 28, 2015. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  5. ^ "Call Sign History (facility ID 69677)". CDBS Public Access. FCC. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "DESCRIPTION OF TRANSACTION AND UNIQUE SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED". Howard Stirk Holdings. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  7. ^ "Time to rescan for ABC News 4's new channel". ABCNews4.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group. September 25, 2014. Archived from the original on September 27, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  8. ^ "KRNV-TV Sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group". KTVN Channel 2 News. November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  9. ^ Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License Archived December 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved December 19, 2013
  10. ^ Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License Archived December 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved December 19, 2013
  11. ^ Notice. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, September 22, 2017, Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Consummation Notice Archived January 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved January 22, 2018.
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