KENV Elko loses NBC affiliation

[Mr Tony]

from ftvlive.com

http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/1/2/nbc-pulls-sinclair-stations-affiliation
NBC PULLS SINCLAIR STATION'S AFFILIATION

NBC has decided to pull their affiliation at a Sinclair station and Sinclair is now pulling the plug on the station's news department.

Sinclair operated KENV in Elko, Nevada is no longer an NBC affiliate. The Peacock pulled it on December 31st.

The station is now a "Comet" station (whatever that is).

Sinclair has also decided to end doing newscasts on the station. KENV's only locally-produced newscast was an hour-long weekday morning show, with the rest of the newscasts simulcasted from KRNV in Reno (even though KENV's coverage area is technically in the Salt Lake City market).

"KENV was prepared to remain the NBC affiliate for the Nevada side of the Salt Lake City market, but was unable to renew the affiliation agreement with NBC," Sinclair said.

No word on how many people lost their job.

 

[Mr Tony]

http://elkodaily.com/news/local/nbc...cle_db64225d-d9c7-5119-bc93-d55dae621890.html

KENV loses its NBC affiliation Dec. 31. Starting in 2018, the station will offer entertainment shows instead of syndicated programs and local news.

The station on channel 10 is licensed by Las Vegas-based Intermountain West Communications Co. and has been operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group since 2013. KENV had been receiving its NBC broadcast through the Sinclair-owned Reno affiliate KRNV. Local news produced by a small local staff supplemented the national programs.

KENV will stay on air with “Comet,” a sci-fi network that Sinclair created with MGM. Local news, however, will be unavailable on KENV, as the loss of the NBC affiliation makes it cost-prohibitive to generate programming unique to Elko.

“Losing our NBC affiliation makes our local news operation financially infeasible,” said KENV General Manager Amie Chapman. “We are proud of the news coverage that our station has provided the Elko community over the years and hope that the NBC in Salt Lake City, or other Salt Lake stations for that matter, will continue that tradition.”

Chapman said the local employees including two reporters are employees of Intermountain West, and “we are still assessing the staffing needs of the station post-NBC, but they would be welcome at our other Nevada stations or our Salt Lake City station.”

The fate of the studio, located on the Great Basin College Campus, is undecided.

“We are still assessing this,” Chapman said.

After the cutoff date, Elko-area viewers wanting to watch national NBC programs must tune into the Salt Lake City NBC affiliate, KSL-TV on channel 5, via satellite or cable. That’s because Elko falls into Salt Lake City’s designated market area, a geographical region in which local TV viewing is measured and audiences are shared, according to The Nielson Co.


Audiences will also be able watch the KRNV channel out of Reno, which the Elko Television District plans to rebroadcast, as long as legally allowed.

“The TV district has plans to continue to broadcast NBC here in Elko until we know for sure what the plans of KSL are,” said Dale Lotspeich of Eagle Communications, the TV district’s contract employee and former Elko County Sheriff. “[We] would need something from the station or feds … some type of official notification that we are not authorized to translate that.”