Prior use of channel 6

Prior to KIVI-TV's establishment, there had been two failed attempts to establish a station on the Nampa channel 6 allocation.

The first of these earned the distinction of being Idaho's first television station. KFXD-TV broadcast from June 18 to August 11, 1953. However, it was unable to obtain a network affiliation.^[3] KIDO-TV (channel 7, now KTVB), which signed on in July 1953, primarily carried NBC shows but also had a secondary affiliation with ABC. KBOI-TV (channel 2), which signed on in November 1953, primarily carried CBS shows but also aired some ABC programs. KFXD-TV struggled to find programming and was a two-man operation, resulting in its prompt closure. It was the first VHF television station in the United States to go dark altogether.

KCIX-TV had a longer run on the air, from November 1958 to January 1960. However, it too failed to secure an ABC affiliation, and the station went silent awaiting the completion of a merger deal with a radio and television station in Pocatello that fell apart.

Early years

In 1968, two parties filed to make a third attempt at channel 6 in Nampa, both of them seeking a hookup with ABC. Actor Robert Taylor was the headline name in one bidder, Snake River Valley Television,^[4] while James Lavenstein of Salt Lake City backed the bid of the Idaho Television Corporation. A construction permit was granted to Idaho Television Corporation on May 26, 1971.^[5]

The station signed on February 1, 1974, as KITC, representing its ownership. It was delayed a month by the collapse of the tower for Pocatello sister station KPTO (changed before launch to KPVI) during construction.^[6] For the first time, Boise had full network service from all three stations.^[7] On April 15,^[5] KITC changed its call sign to KIVI. At that time, the station opened its Nampa studios, after having begun broadcasting from two mobile homes, and began producing local news programming on April 27, the same day that KPVI launched.^[1]

Idaho Television Company sold KIVI, along with KPVI in Pocatello, to Futura Titanium Corporation in 1977.^[8] Futura, in turn, sold the station to the Evening Post Publishing Company in 1981,^[9] and Evening Post struck a deal to sell KIVI to Milwaukee-based Journal Communications in 2001,^[10] with the deal closing in 2002.

While KIVI had operated a translator in the Magic Valley since 1985—despite the later existence of KKVI, a full-power ABC affiliate and satellite of KPVI established in 1989—an affiliation shuffle in January 1996, in which KPVI became an NBC affiliate but KKVI instead switched to Fox, led to the upgrading of translator K68CO to semi-satellite KSAW-LP, airing its own commercials.

Becoming a duopoly and sale to Scripps

On July 1, 2008, it was reported Banks Broadcasting had agreed to sell KNIN-TV (channel 9) to Journal Communications, which would create Boise's first television duopoly.^[11][12] On November 10, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initially rejected the application.^[13] Shortly afterward, Banks Broadcasting filed an appeal. The FCC reversed its decision to reject the deal on January 16, 2009.^[14] The purchase closed on April 24, at which point KNIN vacated its longtime studios on West Bannock Street in downtown Boise and was integrated into KIVI's facilities in Nampa.^[15]

On July 30, 2014, it was announced that the E. W. Scripps Company would acquire Journal Communications in an all-stock transaction. The combined firm retained the companies' broadcast holdings and spun off their print assets as Journal Media Group.^[16] Originally, KIVI-TV, KNIN-TV and five radio stations were not included in the merger; in September, Journal filed to transfer these stations to Journal/Scripps Divestiture Trust (with Kiel Media Group as trustee).^[17][18] The merger was completed on April 1, 2015.^[19][20] Scripps retained KIVI and the five radio stations, but not KNIN.^[21] However, KIVI continued to provide services and facilities to KNIN, which was sold to Raycom Media and then Gray Television,^[22][23] until Gray sold the station to Marquee Broadcasting in 2023.^[24]

KIVI's second subchannel became "Boise 6" in October 2023, as Scripps acquired local rights to air the Vegas Golden Knights.^[25]

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

KIVI shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 19, 2009, one week later. All of Journal's television stations (including KIVI) added or regained the "-TV" suffix. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 24,^[30] using virtual channel 6.

Translators

• K32KO-D Garden Valley
• K27DX-D McCall
• K16JZ-D McDermitt, NV
• K03ET-D Terrace Lakes