- Source: KYUS-TV
KYUS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Miles City, Montana, United States, broadcasting to eastern Montana from a transmitter northwest of the city. It operates as a full-time satellite of KULR-TV in Billings. The station is separately owned from KULR-TV by The Marks Group, which also owns several radio stations in Montana and KXGN-TV in Glendive, but the Cowles Company brokers all of its airtime.
At one point known as the smallest network affiliate in the country, KYUS has largely served as a satellite of other stations since 1984 and has simulcast KULR-TV since 1998.
History
KYUS-TV went on the air on August 29, 1969, under the ownership of Custer Broadcasting Corporation. Originally an independent station, it joined NBC in 1970. In its early years, KYUS was known as the smallest network affiliate in America. The station's principal owner, David Rivenes, did the news, sports, weather and reporting himself — he was also featured in the late-1970s on NBC's Real People and in TV Guide for his career. He also hosted much of the station's other local programming (which comprised up to five hours of the KYUS schedule) along with his wife, Ella; in a 1980 interview with Sports Illustrated, Rivenes said that the local programs, which were broadcast in lieu of acquiring syndicated programming, were "what the FCC wants: real public service television." During the station's early years, KYUS did not turn a profit, and was supported by Rivenes' title insurance business. In 1984, the Rivenes family sold KYUS to the owners of KOUS-TV for $200,000; at that point, channel 3 became a satellite of KOUS, and the station's local programming was discontinued. KYUS, along with KOUS, switched to ABC in 1987. After KOUS moved its programming to KSVI (channel 6) in 1993, KYUS became a satellite of KSVI.
As a satellite of KOUS-TV and KSVI, KYUS-TV was on the verge of closure several times, as the station generated insufficient revenue to cover its costs. In addition, the station's owner, Big Horn Communications, had difficulties listing KYUS for sale due to the size and location of Miles City; one media brokerage company, Blackburn & Company, said it was "economically impossible" for KYUS to operate as a standalone station. Ultimately, Big Horn sold the station to Stephen A. Marks in 1995. Marks originally proposed to operate KYUS as a satellite of KXGN-TV, his CBS and NBC affiliate in Glendive. However, shortly after, KYUS-TV announced it would become a Fox affiliate. By 1997, channel 3 had also added secondary affiliations with UPN and The WB. After two years with Fox, KYUS-TV became a satellite of KULR-TV under a time brokerage agreement on May 1, 1998. The original agreement expired after ten years; KYUS-TV now broadcasts KULR-TV's programming under a series of informal agreements, receiving no payment and keeping no advertising income. Although the station generates no revenue of its own, Marks continues to operate it as a public service.
Subchannels
KYUS-TV broadcasts the same channels as KULR-TV, using virtual channel 3 instead of 8: