KBJR-TV
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| KBJR-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Superior, Wisconsin / Duluth, Minnesota |
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| Branding | NBC 6 Northland's NewsCenter My 9 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | We Give You MORE |
| Channels | |
| Subchannels | 6.1 NBC 6.2 MyNetworkTV 6.4 Local News and Weather |
| Translators | see article |
| Owner | Granite Broadcasting Corporation (KBJR License, Inc.) |
| First air date | March 1, 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Keeping Business, Jobs, and Recreation in Duluth |
| Sister station(s) | KDLH KRII |
| Former callsigns | WDSM-TV (1954-1974) |
| Former channel number(s) | 6 (VHF analog, 1954-2009) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1954-1955) ABC (secondary, 1954-1966) |
| Transmitter Power | 384 kW |
| Height | 311.9 m |
| Facility ID | 33658 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 46°47′21.1″N 92°6′51.4″W / 46.789194°N 92.114278°W |
| Website | northlandsnewscenter.com |
KBJR-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Iron Range area of northeastern Minnesota that is licensed to Superior, Wisconsin. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter west of downtown Duluth in Hilltop Park. Owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, the station operates CBS affiliate KDLH (who is owned by the Malara Broadcast Group) under a local marketing agreement (LMA). The two stations share studios on South Lake Avenue in Duluth.
Syndicated programing on KBJR includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Family Feud, and Dr. Phil. It operates a semi-satellite in Chisholm, KRII channel 11. That station has a bureau on East Howard Street in Hibbing. While identifying itself as a station in its own right, KRII simulcasts KBJR most of the day. However, the station airs separate commercials and station identifications. KBJR also operates the area's MyNetworkTV on its second digital subchannel. Known on-air as My 9, it is offered on Charter cable channel 9. It can also be seen on KRII's ninth digital subchannel.
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[edit] Digital television
The station's signal is multiplexed.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 6.1 | main KBJR-TV programming / NBC HD |
| 6.2 | KBJR-DT2 "My 9" |
| 6.4 | KBJR-DT4 "Northland's NewsCenter Now" |
[edit] Outlying repeaters
Besides KRII, KBJR is also seen on several outlying repeaters in northeastern Minnesota.
- Big Falls: K60BO channel 60
- Bigfork: K69CR channel 69
- Birchdale: K60BT channel 60
- Kabetogama: K67EH channel 67
- Max: K62BH channel 62
- Northome: K57BK channel 57
- Orr: K63DV channel 63
[edit] History
The station began on March 1, 1954 known as WDSM-TV and was affiliated with CBS. It was owned by Ridder Newspapers owner of the Duluth Herald (now part of the Duluth News Tribune) along with WDSM-AM. WDSM was the first VHF television station in Duluth signing-on days before KDAL-TV (now KDLH). In October 1955, the station switched affiliations with KDAL and became an NBC affiliate. The station began local color broadcasts in November 1965. It also aired some ABC programs, sharing them with KDAL, until WDIO-TV signed-on in 1966. Ridder merged with Knight Newspapers in 1974 to form Knight Ridder. However, the merged company was not allowed to keep the WDSM stations. They had been grandfathered under FCC rules forbidding common ownership of newspapers and broadcasting outlets. The FCC considered the Knight-Ridder merger to be an ownership change, and as a result, the WDSM stations lost their grandfathered protection. On December 6, the call letters were changed to the current KBJR-TV. It is one of the few stations in the country whose call sign begins with "K" despite being licensed to a city east of the Mississippi River. However, its studios have long been located in Duluth. The style of the number 6 in the logo is the second oldest television logo in Duluth being in existence since 1990 and second only to WDIO's red 10 / 13 which has existed since the early to mid-1980s.
KBJR signed on semi-satellite KRII in 2002. This station serves the northern part of the Duluth market while KBJR serves the southern portion. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents, CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that they would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV. This new network, which would be sister to FOX, would be operated by FOX Television Stations and its syndication division, Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete with that network. KBJR operated the area's cable-only WB affiliate, "KWBD", which was part of The WB 100+. Area access to UPN was offered in two ways. KBJR operated an affiliate known on-air as "Northland's UPN" and later "UPN 9", based on its Charter cable channel location, on its second digital subchannel.
This was also available over-the-air in Ashland, Wisconsin on WAST-LP which was an over-the-air, low-powered semi-satellite of the digital subchannel. WAST-LP was owned by a separate entity from KBJR. At some point in time, it was announced that KDLH would carry The CW on a new second digital subchannel as part of The CW Plus. That service would be a similar operation to The WB 100+. It was later announced that "UPN 9" would become an independent station known as "Northland's 9" complete with new logo and graphics for the station. In March 2006, it was made public that KBJR-DT2 would become an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. In July, ahead of the launch of the network, "Northland 9" became known as "My 9" and WAST-LP was shut down in August. MyNetworkTV began broadcasting on September 5 while KWBD began broadcasting The CW on September 18. On that date officially started using the KDLH-DT2 call sign because it was added to a new second digital subchannel of channel 3. KBJR along with WDIO-TV / WIRT-TV and KQDS-TV terminated analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009 the date originally mandated by the FCC to switch to digital. KDLH waited until the new date of June 12 to become digital exclusive.
[edit] Transmitting failures
On December 14, 1997, KBJR's studios were destroyed in a fire late that evening. The station left the air temporarily but managed to get back on-the-air the next morning cobbling together a makeshift workspace at its transmitter building. Two days later, the news operation moved in with PBS affiliate WDSE and sales and business operations moved to open office space at the U.S. Bank building in downtown Duluth while master control remained at the transmitter. In April 1999, a spring ice storm swept through Duluth. The heavy accumulation of ice severely damaged the station's transmitting tower and, as the melting ice started falling off the tower, large ice chunks broke through the roof of the transmitter building flooding it with water and damaging much of the equipment inside. Master control operations were moved again using a temporary transmitter on WDIO's tower while its own tower and transmitter were replaced.
In June 1999, KBJR relocated to its current location in Canal Park. On April 11, 2008, a blizzard swept through the Northland. 50-plus MPH winds and heavy, wet snow caused power outages in Duluth which caused KBJR, KDLH, and WDIO to lose their signals at times. Morning anchor Dan Hanger was on the air live from 5 until 9 A.M. At times, he and meteorologist Shannon Murphy were in the dark but were able to broadcast audio. By late morning, when KBJR returned to the air, Barbara Reyelts and George Kessler anchored nonstop using a newsroom setup with one microphone and one camera. By Noon, KDLH Anchor Pat Kelly was reporting from outside the studio. Also, any phone interviews were done through a cell phone by holding a microphone up to the speaker of the cell phone.
[edit] Christmas City of the North Parade
Each November on the Friday before Thanksgiving, Northland's NewsCenter puts on a parade in downtown Duluth called the "Christmas City of the North Parade". It is broadcast live on KBJR and streamed live on the station's website. In recent years, the parade also has been replayed numerous times on the networks of Northland's NewsCenter in the weeks and days before Christmas. According to the station, the parade dates back to 1958 when KBJR (then WDSM) started the event as a way to kick off the holiday shopping season in the area. However, the station does not seem to have any evidence to corroborate that starting date. Articles and the station's own ads in the Duluth News Tribune over the years indicate that 1961 was the actual date of the first parade. It has been held every year since except in 1963 when the event was canceled following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
In the early-1960s, the station commissioned Merv Griffin to produce a song especially for the parade. The "Christmas City Song" has been used for the parade every year since and also has been the closing music for all NewsCenter newscasts from Thanksgiving until Christmas. In 2006, Barbara Reyelts, Mark Mallory, and Michelle Lee, Pat Kelly anchored the parade. According to the station, 2008 marked the Golden Anniversary of the parade (although it appears the parade actually started in 1961 so 2011 would be its actual golden anniversary). It was hosted by Michelle Lee, George Kessler, and Barbara Reyelts. The pacer car was driven by Shannon Murphy, Dave Anderson, and Kevin Jacobsen.
[edit] News operation
In March 2005, KDLH closed down its own news department and merged with KBJR. Channel 3's weeknight 5:30 and 6 o'clock newscasts were replaced with NewsCenter at 5:30 and the CBS Evening News at 6. To maintain a separate identity, there were some channel 6 personalities that were also seen on KDLH. However, not all KBJR personnel were seen on channel 3. More recently however, the news team of both stations has been downsized. As a result of the arrangement between the two stations, KDLH shares the Northland's NewsCenter branding with KBJR. Channel 3's weekday morning newscast is known as NewsCenter Morning Plus and is essentially a simulcast of KBJR's NewsCenter Today. At one point, it had been a separate broadcast. KDLH's weeknight 10 o'clock newscast, which continues to be a separate production, had been known as NewsCenter Express and had consisted of a 10 minute news "capsule".
The other 25 minutes was a Seinfeld rerun. After 13 months of mediocre ratings, KDLH changed the 10 P.M. newscast to the traditional 35 minutes. Kevin Jacobsen anchors this broadcast, as well as the 5:30 edition, and is not seen on KBJR. On Sunday nights at 10 on channel 3, there continues to be a 10 minute NewsCenter Express update followed by Judge Judy. Otherwise, there are no weekend newscasts on that station. Saturday nights at 10 on KDLH, there is a local sports show that airs known as Sports Zone. As part of its schedule, KBJR-DT2 "My 9" offers several newscasts during the week. This includes two live broadcasts: for an hour at 7 in the morning and a half hour at 9 in prime time. The latter is simulcasted on KDLH-DT2 "Northland CW 2". KBJR-DT2 simulcasts the 6 o'clock hour of KBJR's morning broadcast and the Noon news. The station also re-airs the CBS Morning News from channel 3.
On weeknights, it replays KLDH's 5:30 broadcast at 6:30 and KBJR's 10 o'clock news early the next morning. Until its shut down in late-December 2008, channel 6 broadcasted NBC Weather Plus with local inserts on a third digital subchannel and Charter digital cable channel 391. When Weather Plus ended, KBJR-DT3 became a simulcast of KDLH. The weather channel moved to a new forth digital subchannel and switched formats. It is now known on-air as "Northand's NewsCenter Now" and features the "L-Bar" that is a remnant of the former NBC Weather Plus service. Eventually, KBJR-DT3 signed-off. KBJR, KRII, and KDLH began broadcasting local newscasts in 16x9 widescreen on May 4, 2009. They were the first television stations in the market to do so. Although not true high definition, the format matches the ratio of HD televisions.
[edit] Ratings
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, KBJR was in third place behind competitors WDIO-TV and KDLH. That all changed beginning in the late 80s when the anchor team of Steve Karsjen, Patti Craig, Brian Allen and Paul Guggenheim successfully led KBJR to its first dramatic ratings gains in decades. By 1990, KBJR had elevated its 6 p.m. newscast to first place. The same team led the 10 p.m. newscast to #2 in its time slot. In the early-1990s channel 3 made the fateful decision to fire longtime anchor Michelle Lee in hopes of attracting a younger audience. KBJR quickly signed Lee and by the next ratings cycle had surpassed KDLH in the ratings. Now firmly in second place for the first time in decades, KBJR slowly built its audience during the 1990s to a point where it seriously challenged long-dominant WDIO for first place. They continue to compete against each other and whoever is number one during specific newscasts usually fluctuates. However, both stations can frequently claim bragging rights for their evening newscasts (one station might have the most total viewers while the other has the highest number of 18-49 viewers which is the age group most attractive to advertisers). While it was widely believed that the KDLH merger would drive viewers to WDIO, the change has not proved extraordinarily beneficial to either KBJR or WDIO. The weeknight 5:30 o'clock newscast on KDLH attracts similar numbers to its pre-merger newscast at 6. In the May 2007 ratings race, KBJR was beat out by ABC affiliate WDIO in all time slots except weeknights at 5 where they topped WDIO for first. KBJR's 9 P.M. newscast on "My 9" took second to FOX affiliate KQDS-TV.
[edit] News team
Anchors
- Laura Langemo - weekday mornings
- Barbara Reyelts - weekdays at Noon and investigative reporter
- News Manager
- Michelle Lee - weeknights
- Kevin Jacobsen - weeknights at 9
- Julie Pearce - weekends and reporter
Northland's NewsCenter Meteorologists
- George Kessler - weeknights
- Shannon Murphy - weekday mornings and Noon
- Dave Anderson - weekends and reporter
Sports
- Tom Hansen - weeknights at 6, 9, and 10
- play-by-play announcer for University of Minnesota at Duluth women's ice hockey team
- Joe Dufek - weekends
Reporters
- LeAnn Wallace - Assignment Editor and video journalist
- Tiffany Tarrolly - multimedia journalist
- Trevor Roy - multimedia journalist
- Joel Runck - multimedia journalist
[edit] Past personnel
- Karl Spring- Weather (Now at KQDS-TV)
- Dan Hanger- Newscenter Today Anchor / Reporter (Now at GapWest Broadcasting)
- Edward Moody- Mornings (2002-07) Now at WHAM-TV
- Matt Smith (Now at WBAY-TV)
- Mark Mallory- 5,6 & 10PM (1998-2007)
- Kellie LaVoie- Reporter (Now at WFFF Burlington, Vermont)
- Jason Kuss- Sports
- Rachel Slavik (Now at WVLA-TV Baton Rouge)
- Todd Nelson- Morning Weather
- Erin Jordan- Mornings (March-April 2004)
- Dave Jensch- Anchor until late 90's. Now Vice President and Station Manager .
- Paul Heggen- Weather- Now at KOKI-TV.
- Sven Sundgaard- Weather- now at KARE-TV in St. Paul/Minneapolis.
- George Kessler- Weather (Left in 2002, Returned to KBJR in 2007.)
- John Schottenbauer- Weekend Sports (January 1997 - December 1999)
- Rob Stafford - later correspondent for Dateline NBC and now at WMAQ-TV
- Adam Ghassemi- Reporter, now at KATU in Portland
- Jane Skinner - Political correspondent, now at Fox News Channel
- Kim Kaiser- Mornings/Reporter
- Keith Marler- Morning weather. Now at KMSP in minneapolis.
- Chris Buckley - based at KRII and seen weeknights at 6 and 10
- Alex Walker- Weekend Sports
- Jason Rice- Morning News
- Eric Green- Morning Weather
- Stacy Eckes- Weekends
- Jason Pool- Morning Weather
- Molly McMillen- Mornings+Noon
- Toni Shockley - Weather
- Jodi Grayson- Mornings
- Rachael Burich- reporter
- Steve Karsjen- Anchor
- Patti Craig- Anchor
- Adam May, Now WJZ Baltimore
- Jack Mckenna- Weather
- Carol Hall- Weather
- Mike Woodley- Sports
- Jim Rich- Sports (now at KMSP)
- Paul Guggenheimer- Sports
- Leonard Lee- Reporter
- Felix Humphrey-Weekend Weather/News
[edit] External links
- KBJR-DT "NBC 6"
- KBJR-DT mobile
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KBJR-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K60BO
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K69CR
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K60BT
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K67EH
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K62BH
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K57BK
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K63DV
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