 | |
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Beaumont, Texas |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KUIL-LD | |
| History | |
First air date |
|
Last air date | August 1, 1956 (1956-08-01); 2 years, 84 days (first incarnation) |
Former channel numbers |
|
Call sign meaning | Beaumont |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10150 |
| ERP | 18kW |
| HAAT | 305 m (1,001 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°11′26″N93°53′8″W / 30.19056°N 93.88556°W /30.19056; -93.88556 |
| Translator(s) |
|
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KBMT (channel 12) is atelevision station inBeaumont, Texas, United States, affiliated withABC andNBC. It is owned byTegna Inc. alongsidelow-powerMyNetworkTV affiliateKUIL-LD (channel 12.5). The two stations share studios alongI-10/US 69/US 96/US 287 in Beaumont; KBMT's transmitter is located inMauriceville, Texas.
The callsign KBMT originally transmitted onUHF channel 31, beginning on May 9, 1954, as the first television station to broadcast in the Golden Triangle. The station was owned by Television Broadcasters, Inc. whose stockholders were H. D. Williams and R. C. Reed with Reed as president.[4] It carried NBC,DuMont Television Network and ABC as of November 1955;[5] the station also carriedCBS programming beforeKFDM-TV went on the air in April 1955. Since theFCC did not mandate television sets to have UHF included until 1964, channel 31 went off the air on August 1, 1956.[6] Its original tower still stands (though only 250 feet (76 m) instead of 500 feet (152 m) tall) west ofVidor south ofUS 90.
KBMT's owners subsequently applied for the later allocation on channel 12 and, after winning the allocation from the FCC, began broadcasting on its new assigned channel using the KBMT callsign on June 18, 1961. The new KBMT took over the ABC affiliation which it retains today, after being relegated to limited clearances on KPAC-TV (nowKBTV-TV) and KFDM-TV. This gave the Golden Triangle full-time affiliations for all three networks on the VHF dial in six years. The original owners were N.D. "Doug" Williams and Randolph Reed. The original tower site for the transmitter and antenna wasSabine Pass, south ofPort Arthur (this to prevent co-channel interference withKSLA-TV inShreveport). The transmitter and antenna were later moved to its current site nearMauriceville in the early 1960s with the antenna modified for a "directional" signal to prevent interference to KSLA's coverage area. The station was later sold to Cowles Broadcasting in 1965, theChannel 2 Television Company in 1970 andMcKinnon Broadcasting in 1977.[7]
On January 1, 2009, KBMT added NBC programming on digital subchannel 12.2. This came after KBTV, which previously held the affiliation, switched toFox. This in turn caused former Fox affiliate KUIL-LP (nowKUIL-LD) to goindependent, although they pursued the NBC affiliation.[8] The NBC subchannel is branded asK-JAC NBC, a nod to channel 4's former calls from 1965 to 1999. In a ten-year deal with London Broadcasting, KBMT began to manage KUIL's programming as well.
KBMT shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 12, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[9] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 50 to VHF channel 12 for post-transition operations.[10]
Texas Telecasting, Inc. sold the station to London Broadcasting in August 2009.[11] That channel was dropped in early 2013 in favor of MundoFox (nowMundoMax). Due to a realignment, four digital channels are carried on the main 12 signal while the other two (12.5 and 12.6) are carried via the low-power stations, KBMT-LD on 43 SW of Beaumont and K36ID-D on 36 inOrange. InJasper, KVHP-LD on 34 and inWarren, K27JJ-D on 27 carries the main RF12 signal with ABC, NBC, COZI and MeTV.
In May 2010, London Broadcasting revealed that the company was developing a state network, MYTX, using subchannels like KUIL's .2 (now KBMT-LD2) operated by KBMT. MYTX would share Texas news and sports and productions from41 Entertainment, which is owned by London.[12]
On May 14, 2014,Gannett announced its intent to purchase KBMT and five other stations from London Broadcasting.[13] The sale was completed on July 8.[14] By the middle of September 2014, Gannett had also purchased the four low-power digital signals mentioned above. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KBMT and the low-power digital signals were retained by the latter company, namedTegna.[15]
KBMT launched its news operation in 1962. On September 16, 2009, several changes occurred in the newscast lineup. The weekday morning show,Good Morning Southeast Texas, began simulcasting on both the ABC and NBC channels while becoming a full two-hour broadcast. There began to be a half-hour newscast weekday mornings at 11:30 on KBMT-DT2. The NBC channel also launched a weeknight show at 6:30 and begin to simulcast the main channel's weeknight 10 p.m. news.[16] Originally, there was only a separate short news and weather update at that time. KBMT-DT2 does not offer local newscasts on weekends unlike the main channel. On April 28, 2010, KBMT became the first in the market to air local news in high definition.[17]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KBMT-HD | ABC |
| 12.2 | 1080i | K-JACHD | NBC | |
| 12.3 | 480i | Cozi | Cozi TV | |
| 12.4 | MeTV | MeTV | ||
| 12.7 | Crime | True Crime Network | ||
| 12.8 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 12.16 | 365NET | 365BLK |
| City of license | Callsign | Channel | ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasper | KVHP-LD | 34 | 15 kW | 170.3 m (559 ft) | 168235 | 30°58′32″N93°59′25″W / 30.97556°N 93.99028°W /30.97556; -93.99028 (KVHP-LD) |
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
