KOTA-TV debuted on the air with test operations on June 1, 1955, with regular programming beginning one month later on July 1. It was the second television station in South Dakota, and the first in the western part of the state. The station was owned by Rapid City businesswoman Helen Duhamel. Channel 3 originally carried programming from all three networks, though it was a primary CBS television affiliate. In 1984, KOTA and its satellites switched to ABC. Approached by rural residents of the western Nebraska Panhandle about expanding television coverage there, she decided to expand to the south. Although she originally established it in Hay Springs, Nebraska, she moved KDUH-TV to Scottsbluff, Nebraska in 1981. Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises came to operate four television stations, with a transmission area that extended into eastern Wyoming and Montana. KHSD in Lead South Dakota came on in 1966, and KSGW in Sheridan Wyoming followed in 1977. After 58 years under family ownership, Bill Duhamel (Helen’s son) announced on October 31, 2013 that KOTA-TV and its satellites would be sold to Schurz Communications. KOTA-TV joined the Gray Television company on February 16, 2016.