1967, more than 2,000 viewers asked NBC and the FCC for help in improving the station's quality. In 1969, an FCC inspector deemed KRSD-TV/KDSJ-TV's signal unfit for broadcast. On September 13, 1970, NBC struck an affiliation deal with KOTA, and CBS programs moved to KRSD-TV. In 1970, in response to the numerous complaints about KRSD-TV and KDSJ-TV's technical operations, FCC hearing examiner Thomas Donahue recommended granting the stations one-year license renewals, rather than the standard five-year renewal. However, the next year, the full commission unanimously voted 5-0 (with two abstentions) to overrule Donahue and deny the renewals outright. The final decision stated that KRSD-TV/KDSJ-TV had been out of compliance with technical standards since at least 1961, and that their signals had deteriorated to the point of unacceptability by "at least 1965." As a result, by 1966, Black Hills cable systems refused to carry KRSD-TV, forcing the FCC to allow area cable providers to pipe in stations from neighboring markets. It also criticized the Daniels brothers for failing to correct violations from earlier inspections—including what the FCC Broadcast Bureau described as some of the worst violations the FCC had ever uncovered. While a handful of radio stations had been ordered off the air for technical violations, it was the first time that the FCC had shuttered a television station due to technical issues. Faced with having to go off the air at midnight on December 31, 1971; Heart of the Black Hills fought the decision. However, the denial was reaffirmed in July 1972. Nonetheless, the FCC allowed the Daniels to operate the stations under special temporary authority for another four years while it searched for a new licensee. Launch of KEVN Construction permits for a new channel 7 in Rapid City and a new channel 5 in Lead were granted to Dakota Broadcasting Company, owned by a group of Rapid City businessmen, in April 1975; that November, the stations were assigned the call signs KEVN-TV and KIVV-TV. Dakota Broadcasting soon announced a planned July 6, 1976, debut; meanwhile, financial difficulties prompted Heart of the Black Hills Stations to finally shut KRSD-TV and KDSJ-TV down for good on February 29, 1976, leaving the Black Hills region without a local CBS affiliate. However, area cable systems already carried Sioux Falls CBS affiliate KELO-TV, which had been trying to get into Rapid City for some time. After a four-month hiatus, KEVN and KIVV came