The Montana Network, the original owner, sold the KOOK stations to Joe Sample in 1956, and they moved into the present KTVQ studios in 1959.

Sample's acquisitions of KXLF-TV in Butte 1961 and KRTV in Great Falls in 1969 formed the basis of the Montana Television Network; KOOK radio was sold off in 1973, and channel 2 changed its call sign to KTVQ.

Coinciding with Sample's sale of the MTN stations to SJL, Inc., in 1984, the network newscasts shifted to Billings and were eventually phased out altogether.

[4] The turnaround time was short considering that Robert S. Howard, who owned Scripps-associated radio and newspaper holdings in Utah and Idaho, had also applied for channel 2,[5] but his firm dropped its bid and cleared the way for The Montana Network.

[10] In December 1956, Joseph Sample acquired majority control of KOOK radio and television from its previous ownership, headed by Charles L. Crist, a state representative.

[11] A year later, KOOK broke ground on a new radio and television center in downtown Billings, which was completed in 1959;[12] three homes were moved off the property before construction began.

In 1961, he acquired KXLF in Butte;[9] in 1969, he purchased KRTV in Great Falls, giving his Garryowen Broadcasting coverage of half the state's population.

[29] The order of the newscast was changed to put the local inserts first,[30] and MTN's long-running Today in Montana—which also originated in Great Falls—added news and weather segments aired from Billings.

[31] Despite the use of longer interview segments and in-depth reports, Phillips's style was often seen as too big-city for Montanans; Vic Bracht of The Billings Gazette cited an "arrogance factor" that became known even to people who did not watch MTN.