Intermountain West Communications Company

Intermountain West Communications Company is a defunct American telecommunications company, formerly owned by James E. Rogers (1938–2014), that remains as the licensee company for a number of local television stations in the United States, operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and subsidiary companies Howard Stirk Holdings and Cunningham Broadcasting. The company was known for its liberal leaning.

Intermountain West Communications Company

Type	Private
Industry	Telecommunications Mass media
Fate	Dissolved
Founded	October 1, 1979
Defunct	January 9, 2018 (38 years, 100 days)
Headquarters	Las Vegas, Nevada , U.S.
Products	Broadcast television
Owner	James E. "Jim" Rogers

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, IWCC was founded on October 1, 1979, following the purchase of KORK-TV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, by local attorney James E. Rogers and 16 Las Vegas residents. KORK-TV was renamed KVBC after taking control and KSNV-DT (now KSNV) on July 9, 2010 and Rogers expanded Sunbelt's reach to include other stations in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. In 2008, Sunbelt was renamed Intermountain West Communications Company; Rogers was at his summer home in Montana when he was asked about the "SUNBELT" license plate on his car when Montana wasn't a Sun Belt state.[1] Most of IWCC's stations, prior to the gradual sale of them that began in 2013, were NBC affiliates.

On September 3, 2014, Intermountain West Communications announced that it would sell KSNV-DT to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $120 million. As Sinclair already owned a duopoly in Las Vegas, KVMY (channel 21) and KVCW (channel 33), the company planned to sell the license assets (though not the programming) of one of the three stations to comply with FCC ownership restrictions, with the divested station's programming being moved to the other stations.[2] 80–85% of proceeds from the sale will go toward the formation of the Rogers Educational Foundation, which supported students and educators in Southern Nevada.[3]

On November 1, 2014, KSNV began the process of swapping signals with KVMY; KVMY moved its MyNetworkTV programming to a subchannel of KVCW, which was replaced by a simulcast of KSNV-DT's programming. Additionally, the two stations swapped virtual channel numbers, which moved KVMY to channel 3, and KSNV to channel 21. On November 4, 2014, the call letters on KVMY's license were changed to KSNV, and the existing KSNV license changed its call letters to KVMY. These moves effectively put KSNV under Sinclair ownership using its existing channel 21 license. The previous channel 3 license was later sold to Howard Stirk Holdings.[4][5] A similar swap occurred during Sinclair's acquisition of WCIV, in which its ABC programming and call sign were moved to another Sinclair-owned signal, and the previous WCIV channel 4 license (renamed WMMP) was sold to Howard Stirk Holdings, though the PSIP channel number was not swapped.[6][7] When the sale closes, Sinclair would control half of those stations. It also created a situation in which a CW affiliate is the nominal senior partner in a duopoly involving an NBC affiliate and a "Big Four" station.[8][9][10]

The company would remain as a technical going concern operating two stations until January 9, 2018, as the sales of KRNV-DT and KENV-DT were held up in the FCC due to unknown factors; both stations would eventually be sold instead to Cunningham Broadcasting, a company related to Sinclair that holds the licenses, with Sinclair operating the stations through joint operations and shared services agreements. The sale was approved on September 22, 2017,[11] and completed on January 9, 2018.[12]

Former stations

Television stations

City of license / Market	Station	Channel TV (RF)	Years owned	Current ownership status
Yuma, Arizona	KYMA-DT	11 (11)	1989–2014	defunct, license surrendered in 2020. (Intellectual unit and NBC programming moved to a subchannel of Cox Media Group-owned license and renamed KYMA-DT.)
Pocatello, Idaho	KPVI-DT	6 (23)	1995–2014	NBC affiliate owned by Cox Media Group
	KFXP	31 (31)	1998–2013 ^1	Ion Television affiliate, KVUI, owned by Ventura Media Communications, LLC
Twin Falls, Idaho	KKVI/KXTF	35 (34)	1995–2014	Tri-State Christian Television owned-and-operated station (O&O)
Great Falls, Montana	KBGF-LP (Satellite of KTVH)	50	2005–2014	NBC affiliate, KTGF-LD, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Helena, Montana	KMTF	10 (29)	1998–2014 ^2	PBS member station, KUHM-TV, owned by Montana State University
	KTVH-DT	12 (12)	1997–2014	NBC affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Havre, Montana	KBBJ (Satellite of KTVH)	9	2001–2009	defunct, went dark in 2008
Lewistown, Montana	KBAO (Satellite of KTVH)	13	2001–2009	defunct, went dark in 2008
Ely, Nevada	KBJN/KVNV (Satellite of KVBC)	3	2004–2008 ^3	MeTV affiliate, WJLP - Middletown Township, New Jersey, owned by PMCM TV
Las Vegas, Nevada	KVBC-TV/KSNV-DT	3 (2)	1979–2014	Heroes & Icons affiliate, KHSV, owned by Howard Stirk Holdings (Intellectual unit and NBC programming transferred to a Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned license and renamed KSNV.)
Reno, Nevada	KRNV-DT	4 (7)	1989–2018	NBC affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting (Operated through a SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Elko, Nevada	KENV-DT (Semi-satellite of KRNV)	10 (10)	1997–2018	Comet TV affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting (Operated through a SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Winnemucca, Nevada	KWNV (Satellite of KRNV)	7	1998–2010	defunct, went dark in 2008
Santa Fe - Albuquerque	KNMZ-TV/KKTO-TV	2 (27)	1988–1992	Telemundo affiliate, KASA-TV, owned by Ramar Communications
Casper, Wyoming	KCWY-DT	13 (12)	1998–2013	NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Jackson, Wyoming	KJVI/KJWY (Satellite of KPVI)	2 (2)	1995–2009	MeTV affiliate, WDPN-TV - Wilmington, Delaware, owned by Maranatha Broadcasting Company
Sheridan, Wyoming	KBNM/KSWY (Satellite of KCWY)	7	2002–2009	defunct, went dark in 2010. (Station was known as KJCW when it ceased operations.)

Notes:

• ¹ KFXP was owned by Compass Communications and it was operated by IWCC.
• ² KMTF was owned by The Uhlmann Company and it was operated by IWCC.
• ³ Although Sunbelt took over ownership of KBJN in 2004, it had operated as a satellite of KVBC since signing on in 2001.

Radio stations

Market	Station	Years owned	Current ownership
Las Vegas	KVBC-FM-105.1 (now KQRT)	1996–2000 ^1	owned by Entravision Communications
Reno	KRNV-FM-101.7 (now at 102.1)	1995–2000	owned by Entravision Communications

Note:

• ¹ KVBC-FM was owned by Compass Communications and managed by Sunbelt Communications.

References

1. "TV owner Jim Rogers has second battle with cancer". Las Vegas Review Journal. 5 January 2014.
2. "Sinclair Buying KSNV Las Vegas For $120M". TVNewsCheck. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
3. "KSNV Vegas Proceeds To Fund Education Foundation". Broadcasting & Cable. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
4. "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
5. "Call Sign History (facility ID 69677)". CDBS Public Access. FCC. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
6. "DESCRIPTION OF TRANSACTION AND UNIQUE SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED". Howard Stirk Holdings. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
7. "Time to rescan for ABC News 4's new channel". ABCNews4.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
8. "KRNV-TV Sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group". KTVN Channel 2 News. November 22, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
9. Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 19 December 2013
10. Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 19 December 2013
11. Notice. CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, 22 September, 2017, Retrieved 24 September, 2017.
12. Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved January 22, 2018.