KXLF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Butte, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KXLF-TV's studios are located on South Montana Street in downtown Butte, and its transmitter is located on XL Heights east of the city.
KXLF-TV operates a semi-satellite in Bozeman, KBZK (channel 7), with studios on Television Way in Bozeman and transmitter atop High Flat, southwest of Four Corners.
History
KXLF-TV was founded on August 14, 1953. It is Montana's oldest television station, and was originally owned by Television Montana, a company largely owned by industry pioneer Ed Craney; it was a sister station to KXLF radio (AM 1370, now KXTL). At the outset, the station operated on channel 6 as a primary NBC affiliate, with some DuMont programming. The NBC affiliation matched its radio sister, which was part of the "Z-Bar Network," a regional Pacific Northwest radio network based in Portland and including affiliates in Spokane, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula, and Bozeman. KXLF added ABC programming in 1955; soon afterward, the station lost DuMont when it shut down.
KXLF-TV's first home was the second floor of a Pay 'n Save food and drug store in downtown Butte along with KXLF radio. However, the studio soon suffered heavy damages because of a burglary to the grocery store downstairs. The burglars cut a hole in the floor of the studio and used the studio camera cable to climb down and gain access to the grocery store. A few months later, the cable was replaced and the studio was up and running for good.
In addition to network programming, in its early years KXLF-TV aired a number of local programs, all of which was produced live in the studio, including shows and commercials. Some of Butte's local shows in the 1950s were The Oldtimer, featuring John Diz, This Afternoon with You, hosted by Darien Carkeet, What's New? hosted by Ed Craney and KXLF the Clown, featuring Wes Haugen, and Shadow Stumpers where viewers called in to identify what object's shadow was on TV.
KXLF-TV moved to channel 4 in October 1956 due to concerns that the concurrent operation of channel 6 stations in Butte and Pocatello would result in interference (channel 4 had previously been used in Butte by KOPR-TV from 1953 to 1954, while channel 6 would return to the air in Butte as KTVM in 1970). The following year was a time of change for the station. A complicated operation saw the transmitter moved on top of a mountain east of Butte, subsequently dubbed XL Heights. The transmitter tower was directly positioned on the Continental Divide, thereby giving the station the moniker "The Continental Divide Station". The new transmitter location made an off-air signal available for KXLJ-TV in Helena (now KTVH-DT) creating the first TV "network" in Montana. Also in 1957, KXLF found a permanent home in the former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad station on Montana Street. The station was built in 1916 and features a clock tower. In the 1970s, the depot became one of Butte's first major restoration projects. It continues to serve as an example of historic restoration. In the late 1990s, KXLF installed a live webcam atop the clock tower, which offers a live view of downtown Butte.
In 1958, KXLF-TV and KXLJ-TV, in association with KFBB-TV in Great Falls, KOOK-TV in Billings (now KTVQ), KID-TV in Idaho Falls, Idaho (now KIDK), and KLIX-TV in Twin Falls, Idaho (now KMVT), formed the Skyline Network. KFBB was later replaced by Great Falls' other station, KRTV. Later that year, the station added a secondary affiliation with CBS; by 1960, CBS was the station's primary network, though NBC was retained on a secondary basis. That year, Craney sold KXLF-AM-TV, along with KXLJ-AM-TV in Helena, to Joe Sample, president of Garryowen Corporation and owner of KOOK-TV, for over $1 million—earning a handsome return on his original investment in KXLF radio in 1929. Sample immediately spun the KXLJ stations off to Helena TV, a local cable TV company; KXLJ-TV (which was renamed KBLL-TV) eventually severed its ties with KXLF and left the Skyline Network.