WDAY-TV

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WDAY-TV is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 (or virtual channel 6 via PSIP) from a 1,000-foot (305 m) tall transmitter tower near Amenia. On cable, the station can be seen on channel 6 in most areas, and on Midcontinent Communications digital channel 606 and Cable One digital channel 1006 in high definition.

WDAY-TV serves as the flagship television station of Fargo-based Forum Communications, which also owns WDAY radio (970 AM) and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. The facilities for WDAY-AM-TV are located on South 8th Street in downtown Fargo.

WDAY-TV's programming is also seen on three full-power satellite stations: WDAZ-TV (virtual and VHF digital channel 8) in Grand Forks (licensed to Devils Lake with transmitter near Dahlen); KBMY (virtual and UHF digital channel 17) in Bismarck (with transmitter near St. Anthony; and KMCY (virtual and UHF digital channel 14) in Minot (with transmitter southwest of Minot). Nielsen Media Research treats WDAY and WDAZ as one station in local Fargo-Grand Forks ratings books, using the identifier name WDAY+, and KBMY and KMCY as one station in local Bismarck-Minot-Dickinson-Williston ratings books, using the identifier name KBMY+. WDAZ also has significant viewership in southern Manitoba, Canada, including Winnipeg, which has double the population of the Fargo–Grand Forks market as a whole.

WDAY also operates semi-satellite WDAZ-TV (channel 8), licensed to Devils Lake, which simulcasts all of WDAY's network and syndicated programming, but airs separate identifications and local commercials targeting the Grand Forks metro and northern portion of the Fargo–Grand Forks market. WDAZ also has significant viewership in southern Manitoba, Canada, including Winnipeg, which has double the population of the Fargo–Grand Forks market as a whole. WDAY-TV also handles master control and internal operations for sister stations and fellow ABC affiliates WDAZ-TV in Devils Lake/Grand Forks, KBMY in Bismarck, and KMCY in Minot.

On cable, WDAZ station can be seen on channel 8 in most areas ranging from Grand Forks, to Devils Lake, to Thief River Falls, Minnesota. There is a high definition feed provided on Midcontinent Communications digital channel 608 and Polar Communications digital channel 601. WDAZ is widely carried on cable in the Canadian province of Manitoba, including the cities of Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Steinbach, Winkler, and Kenora, Ontario. KBMY can also be seen on Midcontinent Communications cable channel 8 in the Bismarck–Mandan area, Midco cable channel 17 in Dickinson, Consolidated Telcom cable channel 3 in Dickinson and varied cable channels in surrounding areas. There is a high definition feed provided on Midco digital channel 608 in Bismarck–Mandan, Midco digital channel 617 in Dickinson and Consolidated Telcom digital channel 303 in Dickinson. KMCY can also be seen on Midco cable channel 9 in Minot and surrounding areas, Midco cable channel 7 in Williston, SRT cable channel 11 and varied cable channels in surrounding areas. There is a high definition feed provided on Midco digital channel 609 (607 in Williston) and SRT digital channel 511. KMCY simulcasts all network and syndicated programming from KBMY, but airs separate commercials and legal identifications.

History

Former WDAY HD logo used until 2015.

WDAY-TV went on the air for the first time in 1953 as the second television station in North Dakota (after KCJB-TV, now KXMC-TV, in Minot), and the first in Fargo and the eastern part of the state. It was owned by a group of Fargo investors, the largest of which was Norman Black, owner and publisher of The Forum. Black bought the remaining shares in 1958.

It was originally an NBC affiliate when it signed on in 1953. WDAY swapped affiliations and became an ABC affiliate in 1983.

WDAZ was established in 1967 and serves the northern part of the Fargo–Grand Forks market, while WDAY-TV serves the southern portion.

WDAY-TV and WDAZ-TV used these logos in 1972–73 (top) and 1973–74 (bottom).

WDAY/WDAZ began operating cable-only WB affiliate "WBFG" in 1998. WDAY/WDAZ replaced "WBFG" with the Justice Network (which moved from 6.4) on new digital broadcast subchannels WDAY 6.2 and WDAZ 8.2 on September 12, 2016 and WDAY'Z Xtra (which launched in 2013) on digital subchannel 6.3 in the Fargo area and 8.3 in the Grand Forks area. WDAY-DT4 returned to the air in 2017 as an affiliate of Ion.

WDAY Logo used from 2005 to 2012.

WDAY-TV is one of the westernmost stations in the country whose call sign begins with W. Most stations west of the Mississippi River begin with K; however, WDAY radio received its call letters before the U.S. government moved the K-W boundary in 1923 from the state borders between 102 and 104 degrees West longitude (including the North Dakota–Montana border) to the Mississippi River.

Digital television

Digital channels

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:

WDAY/WDAZ digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1][2]
6.1
8.1		 720p 16:9 WDAYABC
WDAZABC		 Main programming / ABC
6.2
8.2		 480i WDAY-SD
WDAZ-SD		 Justice Network
6.3
8.3		 720p XTRA WDAY'Z Xtra
(Syndicated/Local Sports/Weather Radar)
6.4
8.4		 480i ION Ion Television

KBMY/KMCY digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3][4]
17.1
14.1		 720p 16:9 KBMYABC
KMCYABC		 Main rogramming / ABC
17.2
14.2		 480i KBMY-SD
KMCY-SD		 Justice Network
17.3
14.3		 720p XTRA MyNetworkTV
(WDAY'Z Xtra)
17.4
14.4		 480i ION Ion Television

Justice Network is carried on a digital subchannel of WDAY 6.2 in Fargo, WDAZ 8.2 in Devils Lake/Grand Forks, KBMY 17.2 in Bismarck and KMCY 14.2 in Minot. This channel is available on Cable One channel 28 in the Fargo-Moorhead area. It can also be seen on Midco cable channel 14 in Fargo, Moorhead, Devils Lake and most other areas, and on Midco cable channel 7 in the Grand Forks area.

WDAY'Z Xtra is a digital subchannel carried on WDAY 6.3, WDAZ 8.3, KBMY 17.3, and KMCY 14.3, airing as a secondary affiliation to MyNetworkTV on KBMY and KMCY but without interruption on WDAY-TV and WDAZ-TV.⁴ This subchannel airs syndicated programming, North Dakota and Minnesota high school sports, North Dakota high school state tournaments, Minnesota State University Moorhead Athletics, ACC football and basketball and select University of North Dakota athletic events. It airs Doppler weather radar and "Storm Tracker" weather loop with easy listening music during overnights. It is offered on Midco cable channel 596 and Cable One channel 29.

KBMY/KMCY's digital configuration has MyNetworkTV primetime on WDAY'Z Xtra channel 17.3/14.3 since 2016, simulcasting WDAY/WDAZ channel 6.3/8.3 outside of primetime hours; WDAY/WDAZ on WDAY'Z Xtra channel 6.3/8.3 cannot air MyNetworkTV due to the presence of a MyNetworkTV affiliate on Grand Forks's KCPM (channel 27). WDAY'Z Xtra became available in HD in 2014.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Starting on August 29, 2016, WDAY'Z Xtra and the Justice Network aired WDAY'Z Xtra News weekdays at 9:00 p.m.

On September 11, 2017, WDAY launched a 4:00 p.m. weekday newscast that is simulcast on sister station WDAZ. It was the first afternoon newscast ever to air in the market.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WDAY-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 21.[11][12] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 6.

Satellite stations and translators

WDAY-TV operates three satellite stations in North Dakota, and WDAZ-TV's signal is further extended by way of three translators in northwestern Minnesota.

Satellites

File:WDAZ-TV logo.png
WDAZ-TV logo
KBMY & KMCY logos
Station City of license
(other cities served) 		Channels
(VC / RF) 		First air date ERP HAAT Transmitter Coordinates Facility ID Public license
information
WDAZ-TV Devils Lake (Grand Forks) 8 (VHF)
8 (PSIP) 		January 29, 1967 (57 years ago) (1967-01-29) 19 kW 451 m (1,480 ft) 48°8′18″N 97°59′36″W / 48.13833°N 97.99333°W / 48.13833; -97.99333 (WDAZ-TV) 22124 Profile
Template:TVQ
KBMY 1 Bismarck (Mandan/Dickinson) 17 (VHF)
17 (PSIP) 		March 31, 1985 (39 years ago) (1985-03-31) 75 kW 290 m (951 ft) 46°35′15″N 100°48′21″W / 46.58750°N 100.80583°W / 46.58750; -100.80583 (KBMY) 22121 Profile
Template:TVQ
KMCY 1 Minot (Williston/Sidney, MT) 14 (UHF)
14 (PSIP) 		June 1985 (38 years ago) (1985-06)[13] 40 kW 217 m (712 ft) 48°3′11″N 101°23′7″W / 48.05306°N 101.38528°W / 48.05306; -101.38528 (KMCY) 22127 Profile
Template:TVQ

Notes:
*1 KBMY and KMCY carries MyNetworkTV on its third digital signal, while simulcasting the third digital subchannel of WDAY/WDAZ outside of the MyNetworkTV primetime schedule.

The three full-power stations air separate station identifications and commercials.

WDAZ went on the air for the first time on January 29, 1967. For its first 15 years on the air, WDAY-TV had significant coverage problems in the northern portion of the vast Fargo–Grand Forks market. Channel 6 was required to conform its signal to protect CBC Television station CBWT in Winnipeg, which was also on channel 6. While the other Fargo stations covered the northern portion of the market very well, WDAY-TV only provides grade B coverage to most of Grand Forks and cannot be seen at all in much of the northern part of the market. WDAZ was signed on to fill this coverage gap. (WDAY's coverage problem would become moot with the 2009 digital television transition in the United States and the 2011 transition in Canada, in which WDAY would broadcast its digital signal on channel 21 and CBWT broadcast theirs on channel 27.) It is one of the few stations west of the Mississippi River allowed to use a "W" call sign at sign-on. Most stations west of the Mississippi begin with the K; however, WDAY radio received its call letters before the U.S. Government moved the K-W boundary in 1923 from the state borders between 102 and 104 degrees West longitude (including the North Dakota–Montana border) to the Mississippi River.

Originally an NBC affiliate, WDAZ switched to ABC along with sister station WDAY-TV in August 1983. WDAZ continues to be carried on Canadian cable systems, while other North Dakota broadcasts were replaced with Detroit and/or Toledo, Ohio stations. WDAZ even maintained a sales office in Winnipeg. In 1986, WDAZ was nearly dropped from cable in Winnipeg.[14] After the crisis, WDAZ and Prairie Public Television set up a fixed microwave link to carry stronger signals into Winnipeg.

WDAZ HD logo used until 2016.

WDAY/WDAZ began operating cable-only WB affiliate "WBFG" in 1998. WDAY/WDAZ replaced "WBFG" with the Justice Network (which launched in early 2016) on new digital broadcast subchannels WDAY 6.2 and WDAZ 8.2 and WDAY'Z Xtra (which launched in 2013) on digital subchannel 6.3 in the Fargo area and 8.3 in the Grand Forks area. WDAZ-DT4 returned to the air in 2017 as an affiliate of Ion.

WDAZ's schedule was virtually identical to that of WDAZ-TV, though it aired separate local Grand Forks newscasts, identifications, and commercials. KMCY is a full-time repeater of KBMY that airs separate identifications and commercials. WDAZ once had a larger news presence, as it aired separate 5 p.m. and weekend newscasts, with the only WDAY newscast airing being the morning First News. WDAZ's weekend news was taken over by WDAY in 2011 and its 5 p.m. weekday newscast was taken over in July 2014.[15][16] The decision to replace the 5 p.m. broadcast was met with an immediate backlash from viewers, including those who circulated a petition on Change.org demanding that Forum restore the local 5 p.m. news to WDAZ.[17]

On November 30, 2018, it was announced that WDAZ would merge its news department with that of WDAY, resulting in the cancellation of WDAZ's separate 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, effective December 21. General manager Joshua Roher cited "changes to distribution of television, emerging technologies and economic factors in our area" as reasons for the consolidation, in a statement to the Grand Forks Herald. WDAY would continue to maintain a news bureau and sales office in Grand Forks.[18][19]

Starting in 2014, WDAY-TV began reorienting its newscasts to a statewide focus, and gradually began simulcasting them on KBMY/KMCY. The Sunday 5:30 p.m. (Central Time) newscast was the first rolled out to Bismarck, in February 2014.[20] First News broadcasts during weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. (Central Time) debuted in April 2014, and the stations began airing WDAY's 5:00 p.m. (Central Time) weekday newscast in August 2014. Local cut-ins during Good Morning America are broadcast from WDAY-TV's studios. WDAY's 6 p.m. newscast debuted on September 14, 2015 with the 10 p.m. news starting on December 5, 2016 on KBMY/KMCY, thus converting KBMY/KMCY into full-time satellites of WDAY except for occasional local identifications and commercials.

KBMY signed on for the first time on March 31, 1985; bringing the full ABC schedule to central and western North Dakota and eastern Montana for the first time ever. Before 1985, this area had been one of the last in the United States without full network service. ABC was limited to off-hours clearances on KX Television (KXMC/KXMD/KXMB/KXMA) and Meyer Television (KFYR/KQCD/KMOT/KUMV). Some rural cable subscribers in western North Dakota received ABC programming from KULR-TV (now NBC) from Billings, KFBB-TV from Great Falls, KOTA-TV from Rapid City or KUSA in Denver. The eastern half of the market was served by WDAY-TV and its Grand Forks semi-satellite, WDAZ-TV. Cable systems in Bismarck piped in WDAY-TV, while cable systems in Minot piped in WDAZ.

On paper, western North Dakota had been large enough to support three full network affiliates since at least the late 1960s. However, this region is one of the largest geographic markets in the nation, spilling across large slices of North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota. It is so vast that KX Television and Meyer Television both needed four full-power stations to adequately cover it. On paper, the FCC collapsed central and western North Dakota into one giant market in 1957. However, the market was not fully realized until 1980, when Meyer upgraded its low-powered translator in Dickinson to a full-powered station, prompting Dickinson's original station, KDIX-TV (now KXMA) to become a separately-owned satellite of KX Television. Additionally, the only available commercial allocations were on the UHF band; UHF stations have never covered large areas very well. By the early 1980s, cable television—a must for acceptable television in much of this vast market—had gained enough penetration for a third network affiliate to be viable.

In the early 2000s, KBMY signed on two low-powered translators to serve the smaller cities in the market, K44HR in Williston and K42FY in Dickinson. Prior to K44HR's inception, cable television subscribers in the Williston area received Denver's ABC affiliate—KUSA prior to 1995 and KMGH-TV after 1995—for ABC programming. Dickinson, located in the Mountain Time Zone, also received KMGH until K42FY signed on. The Dickinson station directly repeated KBMY, while the Williston station repeated KMCY.

Former logo as "ABC West".

From the 1990s until 2007, KBMY and KMCY were known collectively as ABC West. That year, the stations changed their monikers in favor of the station identities for their area. From 2002 until 2008, KBMY/KMCY was operated by Prime Cities Broadcasting, owner of western North Dakota's Fox affiliate, KNDX/KXND, in a local marketing agreement. The LMA allowed KBMY/KMCY to share the facilities, staff, and some equipment of KNDX/KXND.

The LMA with KNDX/KXND ended in 2008, with Forum opting to partner with Reiten Television in KBMY/KMCY's local operations via a joint sales agreement. While some local advertising staffers were based at KXMB-TV in Bismarck and KXMC-TV in Minot, most operations have been consolidated at WDAY-TV's studios in Fargo. KBMY and KMCY's programming is transported from WDAY-TV's studios to Bismarck via leased microwave relay bandwidth furnished by Prairie Public Broadcasting's statewide digital terrestrial microwave network (the only permanent full-time video link from Fargo to Bismarck for television broadcasting). The signal is then sent to KXMB from Prairie Public via fiberoptic line, where it then is exported via a studio to transmitter link (STL) from KXMB's studios to KBMY and KMCY's transmitters.

As part of the JSA with Reiten, KBMY/KMCY were picked up on the digital subchannels of KX Television satellites KXMA-TV in Dickinson and KXMD-TV in Williston starting in May 2009. The translators serving Dickinson and Williston went off-air. The JSA was terminated following the acquisition of the KX stations by Nexstar Broadcasting Group on February 2, 2016. At the same time, the ABC subchannels of KXMA and KXMD were replaced with The CW Plus.[21][22][23]

A unique feature of WDAY-TV's coverage area is that it covers two time zones—Central and Mountain. This means that viewers of Bismarck's KBMY in Dickinson watch ABC' primetime schedule from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. (instead of 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.), with Jimmy Kimmel Live at 9:35 p.m. MT. WDAY/WDAZ, because it is in a separate market, cannot air MyNetworkTV or other programming aired by Bismarck/Minot stations; because of this, WDAY/WDAZ may air some syndicated programming different from the rest of the WDAY network on its DT3 "WDAY'Z Xtra" subchannel. Instead, MyNetworkTV primetime programming is broadcast on KCPM in Grand Forks in the Fargo market.

WDAZ-TV Translators

The programming of WDAY-TV is also rebroadcast on the following three translator stations. All three repeat WDAZ-TV. All are owned by local municipalities.

Active WDAZ translators

City of license Callsign Channel
Baudette K16KE-D 36.1
Roseau K28PL-D 8.1
Williams K36LW-D 36.1

Defunct WDAZ translators

City of license Callsign
Belcourt K51EX
Grygla K57AS
Norris Camp (Roosevelt) K67BC

News operation and programming

WDAY-TV presently broadcasts 29½ hours of locally produced newscasts and other programming each week (with 4½ hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays, and 1½ hours on Sundays).[24] For the better part of the last two decades, WDAY's newscasts have traditionally led the ratings in the Fargo–Grand Forks market. WDAZ has traditionally dominated the ratings for the northern part of the market.

WDAZ once had a larger news presence, as it aired separate 5 p.m. and weekend newscasts, with the only WDAY newscast airing being the morning First News. WDAZ's weekend news was taken over by WDAY in 2011 and its 5 p.m. weekday newscast was taken over in July 2014.[15][16] The decision to replace the 5 p.m. broadcast was met with an immediate backlash from viewers, including those who circulated a petition on Change.org demanding that Forum restore the local 5 p.m. news to WDAZ.[17]

On February 22, 2012, WDAY began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. KBMY and KMCY began airing some of WDAY's newscasts in 2014.

WDAY signs off briefly in the overnight hours; as a result, ABC's overnight news program, World News Now, is not broadcast. It goes off the air at 3:37 a.m. and signs on again at 4 a.m. to broadcast America This Morning. The station also preempts the network's NBA pre-game show NBA Countdown to carry paid programming.

In August 2016, WDAY launched a half-hour prime time newscast on its second and third subchannels called WDAY'Z Xtra News at 9. WDAY'Z Xtra News at 9 is also simulcast on WDAZ's subchannels in Grand Forks, as well as KBMY/KMCY's subchannels in the Bismarck/Minot market.

On September 11, 2017, WDAY launched a 4 p.m. weekday newscast that is simulcast on sister station WDAZ. It was the first afternoon newscast ever to air in the market.[25]

On November 30, 2018, it was announced that WDAZ would merge its news department with that of WDAY, resulting in the cancellation of WDAZ's separate 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, effective December 21. General manager Joshua Roher cited "changes to distribution of television, emerging technologies and economic factors in our area" as reasons for the consolidation, in a statement to the Grand Forks Herald. WDAY would continue to maintain a news bureau and sales office in Grand Forks.[26][27]

Past on-air staff

  • Ed Schultz (WDAY)
  • Terry Dullum (WDAZ)
  • Pat Sweeney (WDAZ)

See also

References

  1. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WDAY
  2. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WDAZ
  3. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KBMY
  4. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KMCY
  5. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KBMY
  6. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KMCY
  7. ^ TitanTV TV Query for KBMY & KMCY & WDAY & WDAZ
  8. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WDAY
  9. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WDAZ
  10. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KCPM
  11. ^ Congress delays digital TV conversion, The Forum, Fargo ND, February 5, 2009
  12. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  13. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KMCY signed on June 22, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on June 19.
  14. ^ The CBC as a “cultural conduit connecting our coasts”? That’s so 1986! | The View from Seven
  15. ^ a b "WDAY takes over 5 p.m. news in Grand Forks". Grand Forks Herald. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "WDAY Launching Statewide Morning Newscast". TVSpy.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Backlash Grows Against Forum Communications' Decision to Dump WDAZ Newscast". Valley News Live. Grey Television. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  18. ^ "WDAZ to merge broadcasts with WDAY". Grand Forks Herald. November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  19. ^ Ortega, Roly (December 3, 2018). "WDAZ is merging with WDAY, thus bringing dual news operations in one market to an end, and converting WDAZ into a full-time satellite of WDAY except for occasional local identifications and commercials". The Changing Newscasts Blog. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  20. ^ "Fargo TV station starting statewide broadcast". The Bismarck Tribune. February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  21. ^ "Nexstar Buys 4 North Dakota Stations". TVNewsCheck. September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  22. ^ Consummation Notice - Federal Communications Commission
  23. ^ Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License - Federal Communications Commission
  24. ^ "More news: WDAY, Valley News Live expand broadcasts in response..." Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  25. ^ Ortega, Roly (August 30, 2017). "WDAY/WDAZ will soon introduce North Dakota's first-ever afternoon newscast". The Changing Newscasts Blog. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  26. ^ "WDAZ to merge broadcasts with WDAY". Grand Forks Herald. November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  27. ^ Ortega, Roly (December 3, 2018). "WDAZ is merging with WDAY, thus bringing dual news operations in one market to an end". The Changing Newscasts Blog. Retrieved December 4, 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WDAY-TV&oldid=898598647"