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KTVH-DT

NBC television affiliate in Helena, Montana, United States

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ6339264
Source-derived summary

KTVH-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Helena, Montana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CBS affiliate KXLH-LD (channel 9). The two stations share studios on West Lyndale Avenue in Helena; KTVH-DT's transmitter is located on Hogback Mountain. KTVH-DT operates low-power translator KTGF-LD (channel 50) in Great Falls, where Scripps also owns CBS affiliate KRTV.

The only full-service commercial TV station serving Montana's capital city for most of its history, channel 12 came to air in 1958 as KXLJ-TV and struggled through a fight with a competing local cable company, during which it shut down for six months before eventually being purchased by the firm. In the late 1960s and 1970s, channel 12 was owned by former Montana governor Tim Babcock before being sold to two owners who each struggled with financial issues. In 1997, a possible threat of disaffiliation from NBC opened the door for Sunbelt Communications Company, later changed to Intermountain West Communications Company (IWCC), to purchase the station. Under IWCC, the station expanded geographically and secured the NBC affiliation in the larger Great Falls market. Before IWCC owner Jim Rogers died, the station was sold twice to larger station groups before being acquired by Scripps.

It is the only NBC affiliate in the Montana Television Network (MTN), with separate programming from the group of mostly CBS affiliates and separate newscasts from KXLH.

History

KXLJ-TV

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allotted two VHF channels to Helena. Helena TV filed for channel 10, while Peoples Forum of the Air, owner of radio station KXLJ (1240 AM) and part of the statewide Z-Bar Network, also applied for channel 10 on April 14, 1956. After the latter amended its application to specify channel 12, both parties were granted construction permits on February 13, 1957; the FCC also rejected a proposal to reallocate channel 12 from Helena to Bozeman.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “KTVH-DT” as nBC television affiliate in Helena, Montana, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1958, 1997, 1240, 1956—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1958-01-01. The account is most persuasive where KTVH-DT, television and affiliate can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as nBC television affiliate in Helena, Montana, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6339264. Authority coordinates are 46.826, -111.710. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1997, 1240 and 1956.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “KTVH-DT”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow KTVH-DT primary sources, KTVH-DT archive and KTVH-DT research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “KTVH-DT”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from KTVH-DT” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.