Intermountain West Communications Company was an American

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

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 Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

and subsidiary companies

Howard Stirk Holdings Armstrong Williams (born February 5, 1962) is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, author, and talk show host. Williams writes a nationally syndicated conservative newspaper column, has hosted a daily radio show, and hosts a nationa ...

and Cunningham Broadcasting. The company was known for its

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

leaning. Headquartered in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, IWCC was founded on October 1, 1979, following the purchase of KORK-TV, the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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 KSNV (channel 3) is a television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate KVCW (channel 33). Both stations share studios on Foremaster Lan ...

) on July 9, 2010, and Rogers expanded Sunbelt's reach to include other stations in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. 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. 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

for $120 million. As Sinclair already owned a duopoly in Las Vegas, KVMY (channel 21) and

KVCW KVCW (channel 33) is a television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, affiliated with The CW and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside NBC affiliate KSNV (channel 3). Both stations share studios on Foremaster La ...

(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. 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 Southern Nevada (SNV) is a region and the southern portion of the U.S. state of Nevada which includes the Las Vegas Valley. It also includes the areas in and around Pahrump and Pioche. Tonopah and Hawthorne are sometimes also referred to as part ...

. On November 1, 2014, KSNV began the process of swapping signals with KVMY; KVMY moved its

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

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

. A similar swap occurred during Sinclair's acquisition of

WCIV WCIV (channel 36) is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV and ABC. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on Allbritton Boulevard along US 17/ 701 (Johnni ...

, 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. 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. The company would remain as a technical going concern operating two stations until January 9, 2018, as the sales of

KRNV-DT KRNV-DT (channel 4) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner ...

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, and completed on January 9, 2018.Consummation Notice
, ''CDBS Public Access'',

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

, Retrieved January 22, 2018.

Former stations

Television stations

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

Note: *¹ KVBC-FM was owned by Compass Communications and managed by Sunbelt Communications.

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Las Vegas American companies established in 1979 Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States Mass media companies disestablished in 2018