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| History | |
First air date | October 5, 1960 (65 years ago) (1960-10-05) |
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Call sign meaning | Key City (city slogan for Mankato) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 68853 |
| ERP | 52.7kW |
| HAAT | 317 m (1,040 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°56′12.4″N94°24′38.5″W / 43.936778°N 94.410694°W /43.936778; -94.410694 |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KEYC-TV (channel 12) is atelevision station licensed toMankato, Minnesota, United States, affiliated withCBS andFox. It is owned byGray Media alongsidelow-power, dualNBC/CW+ affiliateKMNF-CD (channel 7). The two stations share studios on Lookout Drive inNorth Mankato; KEYC-TV's transmitter is located nearLewisville, Minnesota.
The Mankatomarket is within reach of some television stations based in theTwin Cities. CBSowned-and-operated stationWCCO-TV has anover-the-air signal that reaches Mankato proper, and the station is offered locally onCharter Spectrum channel 4. Due to the cable presence of WCCO, KEYC can invoke theFederal Communications Commission (FCC)'s network non-duplication rule resulting in Spectrumblacking out programming from the former during network shows. WCCO's newscasts and some of its syndicated programs can be seen, however.
KEYC-TV signed on October 5, 1960, just in time to broadcast the first game of theWorld Series that night fromNBC. It was owned byLee Enterprises which also started nearby KGLO-TV (nowKIMT) inMason City, Iowa. Less than a year later, KEYC switched its affiliation to CBS which has been maintained to this day. Lee Enterprises, intending to purchaseKOIN-TV inPortland, Oregon, was forced to sell KEYC toUnited Communications in 1977 due to ownership limits imposed by the FCC. DuringUPN's existence, the station carried some of that network's programming through a secondary arrangement.
KEYC was a major beneficiary of an exception to the FCC's "2+1⁄2 + 1" plan for allocating VHF television bandwidth. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available, and 69UHF channels (which was later reduced to 56 with the removal of high-band channels 70–83 in the early 1980s). The VHF bands were more desirable because signals broadcasting on that band traveled a longer distance. Because there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. With the release of the FCC'sSixth Report and Order in 1952, the Commission outlined a new allocation table for VHF licenses and opened up the UHF band. Through these initiatives, almost all of the United States would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus onenon-commercial allocation. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas of the country would be designated as "UHF islands," since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service.
However, what would become of the Mankato market was sandwiched between Minneapolis–Saint Paul (channels2, 4,5,9, and11) to the north,Rochester (channels 3,6, and10) to the east,Sioux Falls (channels2,5,11, and13) to the west, andDes Moines (channels5,8,11, and13) to the southeast. This created a large "doughnut" in Mankato where there could only beone VHF license. KEYC was fortunate enough to gain that license. To this day, KEYC is the only full-power commercial station based in Mankato, in the 13th smallest TV market (Nielsen DMA #198). However, KEYC is not without significant competition because outlets from the Twin Cities, the 15th largest market, cover major news and weather events in the region, and their signals are extended into the region via an extensive translator network.
On July 1, 2007, the station signed on a new seconddigital subchannel and brought Fox programming to the market for the first time; this subchannel replaced Minneapolis stationsWFTC (channel 29) and later KMSP-TV (channel 9), which have both been carried on cable systems in southwestern Minnesota since before the Fox network began operations in 1986.[2] KEYC's broadcasts became digital-only effective June 12, 2009.[3]
On February 8, 2019, Gray Television announced it was purchasing the United stations, including KEYC. In advance of the purchase, Gray assumed control of the station via alocal marketing agreement (LMA) on March 1.[4] KEYC would be Gray's first station in Minnesota.[5] The sale was completed on May 1.[6]
KEYC-TV airs the entire CBS schedule; it began clearing theCBS News program known as theCBS Overnight News when it started 24-hour-a-day broadcasting on September 14, 2020.
KEYC-TV maintains a highly local focus such as through its production of the long-running music seriesBandwagon. Another program that have aired almost throughout the station's history was a localreligious program,I Believe inMiracles, which first aired on February 19, 1961.Miracles aired for the last time on KEYC on February 8, 2015. Various other local programs have aired over the years as well as a variety of specials such as onholiday music or major community issues.
On January 15, 2018, KEYC debuted a new weekday morning newscast.KEYC News Now This Morning aired for one hour starting at 6 a.m.[7] On February 25, 2019, it was expanded to1+1⁄2 hours starting at 5:30 a.m. On December 2, 2024, Gray removed the morning news to carryKTTC Morning News. On June 16, 2025,Kato Mornings was brought back and is carried from 6 to 7 a.m.[8] There are local news and weather cut-ins duringCBS Mornings from 7 to 9 a.m.KEYC News Now offers local newscasts weekdays at noon, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. for a half hour.KEYC News Now at 9 airs seven nights a week on KEYC-DT2. In September 2022, KEYC launchedKato Living, a weekday lifestyle program.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KEYC-HD | CBS |
| 12.2 | 720p | FOX12HD | Fox | |
| 12.3 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
| 12.4 | WX | KEYC Weather Now | ||
| 12.5 | OXG | Oxygen | ||
| 12.6 | 365BLK | 365BLK |
The broadcast signal of KEYC was extended by way of three digitaltranslators in southern Minnesota until December 22, 2017, when United Communications could not negotiate a new leasing agreement with tower owner BENCO/CTV.[10]
The Frost and Jackson translators were located in the Minneapolis–St. Paul market, while the St. James translator was in the Mankato market.
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofMinnesota | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Minnesota | ||
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| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS |
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| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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