In March 1966, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) merged Butte and Missoula into a single television market. KXLF-TV became the CBS affiliate for the merged market; it kept the secondary ABC affiliation but lost NBC to KGVO-TV (now KECI-TV). The Skyline Network shut down on September 30, 1969, after various ownership and affiliation changes at its stations made it difficult for the network to continue operating. The following month, Sample started the Montana Television Network, composed of KXLF-TV, KOOK-TV, and KRTV. In 1970, Sample expanded his Montana network by building KPAX-TV in Missoula, which operated as a semi-satellite of KXLF for several years. KXLF, along with KPAX, became primary ABC affiliates on August 30, 1976; CBS programming was then split between KXLF/KPAX and KGVO-TV/KTVM. This made KXLF one of the few stations to have been a primary affiliate of each of the Big Three television networks.