KLMD-TV

KLMD-TV, virtual channel 27 (UHF digital channel 26), is an NBC owned-and-operated television station licensed to, , United States. Owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of NBCUniversal (itself a subsidiary of Comcast), it is sister to Telemundo owned-and-operated station WDTM-TV (channel 44; also licensed to Detroit) and regional sports network NBC Sports Michigan. KLMD-TV and WDTM-TV share studios in the NBCU Detroit Media Center on Town Center Drive in (adjacent to ) and transmission facilities on Lincoln Drive in.

KLMD-TV is available in standard definition on channel 3 on Comcast Xfinity's Detroit city, western Wayne County and Macomb County systems; which has resulted in the station's on-air branding (since 2018) as NBC 3 Detroit.

Origins in Montana (2003-2013)
Founded on December 19, 2000, KLMN signed on in mid-2003 as a Fox affiliate, with additional programming from UPN. When Helena-based NBC affiliate KTVH bought a low-power repeater station in the Great Falls area in 2005, it caused an affiliation shake-up. Long-time NBC affiliate KTGF (now KJJC-TV) became an affiliate of Fox, leaving KLMN with only UPN programming. KLMN became a MyNetworkTV affiliate in September 2006. In May 2007, Fox programming abruptly returned to KLMN after nearly two years on KTGF, which might have been coincidental with KTGF's parent, Destiny Communications, entering a Joint Sales Agreement with KLMN.

The KLMN callsign was once used by what is now KFTA-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Ironically, KLMN was not the only station in Great Falls whose callsign was once used in Arkansas, as its competitor KRTV carries the callsign of a now-defunct station in Little Rock, Equity Media Holdings's hometown.

In 2007, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) inquiry was launched to determine whether Equity's control of KLMN violated the multiple ownership rules; a local competitor subsequently filed a petition to deny the station's license renewal application. Processing of other FCC license assignment and modification applications involving Equity had been delayed pending resolution of these issues.

At auction on April 16, 2009, PMCM TV (whose principals own six Jersey Shore radio stations in Monmouth and Ocean counties as Press Communications, LLC) bought the Fox Montana system from Equity.

On July 17, 2011, KLMN dropped Fox in exchange for. The Fox affiliation went to a digital subchannel of ABC affiliate (channel 5).

Move to Michigan (2013)
Soon after taking over, PMCM sought permission to reallocate KLMN to (PMCM was also looking to move sister stations KJWY (now ) and KVNV (now ) to  and  respectively under a legal loophole that allows any VHF station that moves to a state with no FCC-licensed commercial VHF stations to receive automatic permission to move). The FCC denied the request in a December 18, 2009 letter. The full commission denied PMCM's application for review in a memorandum opinion and order released on September 15, 2011; however, this denial was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on December 14, 2012. KLMN applied for a construction permit to move on May 28, 2013 to (though its transmitter is in  where the transmitters for most  television stations are located).

KLMN signed off from Great Falls for the last time on August 11, 2013 in anticipation of the move. The station continued to carry MeTV following the move, and on November 18, 2013, KLMN signed on its upconverted 720p high-definition television signal from its new location at Southfield. On February 27, 2014, KLMN changed it's call letters to  and officially launched in the Detroit area. In the months preceding the official launch, KLMD-TV was added to Detroit-market cable systems through must-carry, and also began being carried on Toledo-market cable systems.

As MeTV Detroit (2013-2016)
In August 2014, the station hired longtime Detroit television personality Oliver Kwasny as public affairs director. Kwasny began hosting ...And One More Thing, a general news and commentary program, for the station.

Sale and switch to NBC (2016-present)
On October 2, 2015, PMCM TV agreed to sell KLMD-TV to NBCUniversal, the owners of Telemundo owned-and-operated station WDTM-TV (channel 44).

On November 11, 2015, Valari Staab, president of NBC Owned Television Stations, confirmed that NBC had "amicably declined" to renew WDIV-TV's NBC affiliation in favor of creating their own Detroit station. NBC had purchased KLMD-TV as a stopgap measure in case they were unable to secure a purchase of Detroit's secondary NBC affiliate (channel 38). Graham Media Group and NBC both reassured industry onlookers that the Detroit switch would not affect Graham's NBC affiliate in, (, channel 2). As a compromise for the switch, WDIV would become Detroit's tertiary NBC affiliate after secondary WADL and primary KLMD-TV, and would air NBC programming pre-empted by KLMD-TV for events such as news, sports and/or severe weather coverage while WADL would air the fourth hour of Today and NBC programming pre-empted by KLMD-TV.

On January 2, 2016, KLMD-TV began branding as Countdown NBC Detroit. The unconventional rebranding was done to promote the switch, it featured NBC Detroit's future syndicated programming, regular programming, and a Detroit-specific "interim" newscast entitled Countdown Update produced by  sister station. As KLMD-TV's MeTV affiliation and WDIV-TV's NBC affiliation both expired on the same day (August 10), the two stations organized a ceremony at midnight on August 10, 2016 where, after an area-wide 30-second countdown, Detroit Mayor pulled a prop switch that "switched" KLMD-TV's MeTV affiliation to WDIV-DT3 and WDIV's NBC affiliation to KLMD-TV, as well as "making" WDIV independent. This was followed later that morning by a segment on the Today show (the August 10 episode counted as KLMD-TV's first NBC program) in which Al Roker introduced KLMD-TV's anchors.

Sometime in mid-2019, KLMD-TV's city of license was changed again from Port Huron to.

In August 2020, KLMD-TV was admonished by the FCC for deliberately airing political ads, especially attack ads, during lesser-viewed programs such as the E/I The More You Know children's programming block, Dateline NBC and certain local programming as an act of malicious compliance with FCC regulations requiring over-the-air commercial TV stations with licenses issued by the FCC to air political ads by both parties, whether it be attack ads or more traditional political ads. Station general manager Caleb Sands stated that the practice was "incredibly needed" as staff believed the majority of the attack ads were "forcing people how to think and feel."

Programming
Syndicated programs airing on KLMD-TV on weekdays and weekends are limited by the station's local and network schedule. It airs The Kelly Clarkson Show, Access Hollywood and Access Daily, which are all distributed by NBCUniversal's syndication division; as well as Forensic Files (which aired on NBC briefly in 2002 as a summer replacement series) and off-network repeats of Community and Will & Grace.

News operation
KLMD-TV broadcasts 43 hours, 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours, 5 minutes each weekday, 3½ hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays); in addition, the station produces the half-hour lifestyle program On the Beat in Detroit, which airs weekday afternoons, and the weekly half-hour news & commentary program ...And One More Thing hosted by the station's public affairs director Oliver Kwasny, which airs Sunday evenings and is syndicated by NBCUniversal Television Distribution to other television stations and Triumph News TV. It also utilizes a news helicopter (SkyRanger), a storm-chaser satellite truck (Weather Warrior), mobile weather radar vehicles (StormRanger), a consumer affairs unit (NBC 3 Detroit Responds) and an investigative reporting unit (The Investigators).

News department history
As part of KLMD-TV becoming an NBC owned-and-operated station, the station hired former anchor Pete Saunier, and also brought in reporter Jerry Schneiderman from  ABC affiliate.

Notable current on-air staff

 * Pete Saunier - anchor
 * Jerry Schneiderman - reporter
 * Delilah Shore - reporter
 * Major Hallissey - reporter
 * Chuck Elphicke - investigative reporter
 * K.B. Russell - meteorologist (AMS Seal of Approval)