Tower Topples Saturday

Another Nuckolls County land mark has hit the dust, literally. The former antenna tower for KHTL-TV and then KSNB, located southwest of Ruskin, was brought to earth Saturday. The cables which provided rigidity for the 1,084' tower were severed. Gravity finished the job as the tower came down. It landed as a mass of twisted metal in a cloud of dust. The remains will be cut up and sold for scrap. It resembled the ultimate iron pile after its demise.

The tower was located in a pasture. It was most definitely a rural station.

The station went on the air for the first time on Oct. 1, 1965 as KHTL.

The call letters were changed to KSNB in 1974. The change was to better reflect the service area of the station, north central Kansas and south central Kansas.

The facility housed a studio and the transmitter. A local newscast was presented at 6 and 10 p.m.

The studio featured a fixed camera. The news presenter stood behind a desk and looked at the camera. Nearby was a device which allowed pictures to be televised. This technically advanced piece of equipment was a bicycle wheel. Pictures were attached with clothes pins (the advanced snap variety). The presenter rotated the wheel.The station engineer would cut to the picture.

The station required a full time engineer. Some individuals who served in that capacity included Dan Scott, Larry Brazil, and Larry Pearson. Gary Crook served as a news presenter at one time. Tom Nuss was a staion manager and salesman and did much to promote the station.

The station had a convoluted history when it came to ownership and network affiliations.

The station was an ABC affiliate from its inception in 1965 to 1996.

The station became a Fox affiliate from 1994 to 2009. It was a secondary affiliate from 1994 to 1996.

The station was off the air from 2009 to 2011.

It was the Three Angels Network (3ABN) from 2011 to 2012.

Antenna TV took up residence from 2012 to 2013. MyNetworkTV had a short-lived (April, 2013-2014) presence on the air. MeTV occupied the space from September, 2013 to 2014.. Both were secondary users.

The United Paramount Network occupied frequency space from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2000-2005.

ION TV also broadcast during the 2000s.

The original owner of the station was Bi-States Company.

It was one of the few stations in the country where one had to cross a cattle guard and look out for cattle on the way to work. Who says news work isn't glamorous?

The station was part of the ABC affiliated Nebraska Television Network. It was later rebranded to NTV along with KHOL-TV, channel 11, now KHGI-TV in Kearney. KHPL-TV, channel 6, Hayes Center, now KWNB-TV. There was also KHQL-TV, channel 8, in Albion. The NTV stations were acquired for $1.9 million from Bi-States by NTV Enterprises.. Upon completion of the sale, the new owners changed the call letters of KHTL to KSNB on June 1, 1974.

The NTV stations were purchased by Joseph Amaturo in 1979 for $8.5 million. He funded the purchase with the sale of a station in St. Joesph, Mo. The Amaturo group sold several stations, including KSNB-TV to Gordon Broadcasting in 1985.

A plan by Gordon Broadcasting to sell the station as well as others in 1989 was stymied by the stations being placed in receivership. Amaturo initially oversaw the receivership. KSNB-TV, along with several other stations, was sold to Fant Broadcasting of Gadsen, Ala. in 1993.

Fant took control of an independent station in Grand Island. It was at this time that KSNB-TV became a secondary Fox affiliate at this time. Fant planned to sell KSNB-TV, along with two other stations, to Blackstar, LLC. Fant later walked away from the deal.

Pappas telecasting purchased KSNB, along with other stations, in July, 1996. Pappas sold its right to acquire KSNB-TV to Colins Broadcasting Company for $10 with Colins paying Fant $333,333. The KSNB-TV signal overlapped with Pappas' Omaha station. Pappas entered a limited marketing agreement with Colins to continue operating KSNB-TV. The terms were approved by the Federal communications Commission (FCC). The sale was completed on May 24, 1999.

KSNB-TV was hampered by the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. This led to a lack of viewers. KSNB-TV became a Fox satellite station.

In November, 2009, KSNB-TV and its two translators were removed from the Fox Nebraska.

In 2010, the dormant KSNB-TV license was put up for sale by Colins Broadcasting.

Gray Television acquired KSNB-TV for $1.25 million. The group owned KOLN-KGIN. The sale was completed on Feb. 25, 2013.

Though the station call letters were being utilized, programming was being transmitted from near York. Gray continued to fine tune its programming on channel 4 but the Nuckolls County facility was no longer in use. The building housing the transmitter has long been removed from the antenna site.

On August 21, 2021, the FCC approved KSNB's request to change its city of license from Superior to York.This was final blow to the local KSNB-TV legacy.

On December 8, 2021, the tower was brought to earth. The station would sign off no more in Superior. No longer can the flashing red lights be seen on clear nights from Highways 8, 14 and 136 showing the way home to Superior, Hardy and Ruskin. The Superior TV station, like KFEQ radio at Oak, is just a fading memory.