KENV-DT

callsign	KENV-DT
city	Elko, Nevada
branding	KENV
digital	10 (VHF)
virtual	10
translators	see
affiliations	Roar
owner	Cunningham Broadcasting
licensee	Reno (KENV-TV) Licensee, Inc.
operator	Sinclair Broadcast Group
location	Elko, Nevada Salt Lake City, Utah
country	United States
airdate	March 27, 1997
callsign meaning	Elko, Nevada
sister stations	KRNV-DT, KUTV, KMYU, KJZZ-TV
former callsigns	KENV (1996–2009)
former channel numbers	Analog: 10 (VHF, 1997–2009) Digital: 8 (VHF, 2001–2008)
former affiliations	NBC (1997–2018) Comet (2018–2020)‡R1R‡
erp	1.5 kW
haat	562.2 m
facility id	63845
coordinates	40.69967°N, -115.90303°W
licensing authority	FCC

KENV-DT (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Elko, Nevada, United States, broadcasting the digital multicast network Roar (formerly TBD). Owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, it is operated under a joint sales agreement by Roar owner Sinclair Broadcast Group (effectively making KENV an owned-and-operated station). KENV's studios are located on the campus of Great Basin College on Chilton Circle in Elko,[2][3] and its transmitter is located on Grindstone Mountain.[4][5]

Until 2018, it served as the NBC affiliate for much of the Nevada side of the Salt Lake City market.[6]

History

KEKO

The first occupant of channel 10 in Elko was KEKO-TV, a satellite station of Reno CBS affiliate KTVN (channel 2).[7] KEKO signed on April 18, 1973; it was off the air from January 24, 1974, to June 27, 1975.[8] On December 23, 1975, owner Washoe Empire informed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that KEKO's transmitter and equipment had been destroyed in a fire; on April 14, 1976, the FCC granted special temporary authority to Washoe Empire to operate a KTVN translator on channel 10 (at the time, Washoe Empire had made no decision about returning KEKO to the air).[9] On April 8, 1977, at the station's request, the FCC canceled the KEKO license effective March 18.[10]

NBC affiliation

The FCC granted an original construction permit on June 26, 1995, to Las Vegas-based Sunbelt Broadcasting Company to build a television station licensed in Elko.[11] Originally, the station was approved for 0.790 kW to broadcast on VHF channel 10 with transmitter located in coordinates 40.81167°N, -115.69889°W.[12] In July 1996, Sunbelt (later named Intermountain West Communications Company) requested a modification to change the construction permit: moving the transmitter to Grindstone Mountain (in coordinates 40.69792°N, -115.90361°W) and increasing the power to 3.09 kW.[13] It was approved on January 29, 1997.[14]

The station signed on March 27, 1997, as KENV, a semi-satellite of KRNV.[15] The creation of KENV extended the coverage of the NBC affiliate in Reno into Northeastern Nevada.

Loss of NBC affiliation, switch to Comet and TBD/Roar

On December 14, 2017, KENV announced that it was unable to renew its affiliation agreement with NBC, which was set to expire on December 31, and that it would become an affiliate of the Sinclair-owned science-fiction network Comet on January 1, 2018. The last NBC program on KENV was New Year's Eve with Carson Daly at 11:35 p.m. Pacific Time on December 31. KENV also announced that it would shut down its news department; its last newscast aired on December 22. The move left KSL-TV (channel 5) as the sole NBC affiliate for the entire Salt Lake City market;[1] similar moves have been made by the network since 2014 with WMGM-TV in Wildwood, New Jersey, and WHAG-TV (now WDVM-TV) in Hagerstown, Maryland, in both cases to protect network owned stations WCAU in Philadelphia and WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., respectively. KENV general manager Amie Chapman stated that the loss of the affiliation "makes our local news operation financially infeasible."

KENV-DT

History

KEKO

NBC affiliation

Loss of NBC affiliation, switch to Comet and TBD/Roar

News operation

Technical information

Analog-to-digital conversion

Translators

References