Product Code Database
KSFY-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside dual NBC/Fox affiliate KDLT-TV (channel 46). The two stations share studios in Courthouse Square on 1st Avenue South in Sioux Falls; KSFY's new building construction begins. , ksfy.com. KSFY-TV's transmitter is located near Rowena, South Dakota.
South Dakota Broadcasting was liquidated in 1973; the television stations had not shown a profit since 1968. The television stations were bought by Forum Publishing Company of Fargo, North Dakota in 1974 and switched their call letters respectively to the current KSFY and KABY. KPRY-TV in Pierre was added a year later in 1976. In September 1983, KSFY swapped affiliations with channel 5, then recently renamed KDLT and became an ABC affiliate. ABC was the top-rated network at the time and wanted to be on a stronger station. Additionally, KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one, and Forum's flagship stations WDAY-TV and WDAZ in the eastern part of North Dakota were also converting to ABC affiliations at the same time.
Forum sold the KSFY stations to AFLAC in 1985. In 1996, AFLAC sold its broadcasting division to Retirement Systems of Alabama, who merged it with Ellis Communications to form Raycom Media. In 2004, Raycom sold the KSFY stations to The Wicks Group of Companies.
Hoak Media bought KSFY and its satellite stations in July 2006, as well as KVLY-TV and KRDK-TV (LMA with Catamount Broadcasting) of Fargo and KFYR-TV of Bismarck, North Dakota and its satellite stations. The sale was approved by the FCC on November 17, 2006. On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including KSFY and its satellites to Gray Television. The sale was completed on June 13, 2014. Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved June 13, 2014.
On May 1, 2018; Gray announced it had agreed to buy KDLT from owner Red River Broadcasting for $32.5 million. The combined operation would be based at KSFY's studios; in its announcement of the KDLT purchase, Gray noted that the KSFY studio has enough space to house a second station's news and sales department. Gray needed to obtain a waiver in order to complete the deal, since the FCC normally does not allow one person to own two of the four highest-rated stations in a market. However, in its filing requesting such a waiver, Gray argued that KDLT would be in a stronger position to compete in the market if its resources were combined with those of KSFY. Gray contended that a KSFY/KDLT duopoly would fulfill "a dire need for an effective competitor" in the Sioux Falls market, where KELO-TV has been the far-and-away leader for as long as records have been kept. Request for FCC waiver The sale was approved by the FCC on September 24, 2019, "Memorandum Opinion and Order", Federal Communications Commission, September 24, 2019, Retrieved September 25, 2019. and was completed the following day. "Owner of KSFY-TV finalizes purchase of KDLT-TV", Argus Leader, September 25, 2019, Retrieved September 25, 2019. Soon afterward, on January 13, 2020, KDLT moved its studios from South Westport Avenue to KSFY's studios on Courthouse Square.
In 2020, Gray acquired the non-license assets of area Fox affiliate KTTW and placed Fox programming on KDLT's second subchannel. This resulted in all of the network affiliations in eastern South Dakota being controlled by just two companies, Gray and KELO-TV owner Nexstar Media Group.
On August 1, 2011, KSFY became the first television station in the Sioux Falls market and in the state of South Dakota to begin producing its local newscasts in high definition from their studio only and not from the field; the station unveiled a new HD-ready set, dropped Action News from its newscast and station branding, and renamed its newscasts as KSFY News (which the station used from 2004 to 2008).
With the purchase of KDLT, KSFY and KDLT merged their news operations on January 13, 2020, rebranding as Dakota News Now.
| +Subchannels of KSFY-TV ! scope = "col" | Channel ! scope = "col" | Res. ! scope = "col" | Aspect ! scope = "col" | Short name ! scope = "col" | Programming |
| +Subchannels of KPRY-TV ! scope = "col" | Channel ! scope = "col" | Res. ! scope = "col" | Aspect ! scope = "col" | Short name ! scope = "col" | Programming |
On September 10, 2012, KSFY-TV added programming from The CW on a new second digital subchannel. KSFY Sioux Falls Adding CW On Subchannel, TVNewsCheck, June 4, 2012. It was part of The CW Plus, and replaced KWSD as Sioux Falls' CW affiliate. As of September 2015, MeTV moved to 13.3, which also moved from KWSD.
| Pierre | 4 19 (UHF) | Pierre | 311 kW | 48660 | |||||
KSFY was previously rebroadcast on a satellite station in northeastern South Dakota:
| Aberdeen | 9 9 (VHF) | Aberdeen | 19.4 kW | 48659 | |||||
Until 2013, programming from KSFY was also rebroadcast on translator K07QL in Mitchell.
|
|
