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KMSP-TV

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KMSP-TV, channel 9, is a Fox owned-and-operated television station, licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, US. KMSP-TV is owned by the Fox Television Stations division of 21st Century Fox, and operates as part of a television duopoly with WFTC (channel 29), the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area's MyNetworkTV station. The two stations share studios located on Viking Drive in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and KMSP's transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota.

The station is also carried in Canada on Shaw Cable's Thunder Bay, Ontario system and on Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) in the province of Manitoba.

History

Early history

The station grew out of an AM station, KEYD (1440 AM, now KYCR), with which it was co-owned until mid-1956. When the FCC opened up bidding for the channel 9 construction permit, WLOL and WDGY (now KTLK) also expressed interest. However, they withdrew their applications in 1954, assuring that the new station would go to KEYD and its owner, Family Broadcasting.[1][2] KEYD-TV began broadcasting on January 9, 1955 and was affiliated with the DuMont Television Network.[3] During this time, Harry Reasoner, a graduate of Minneapolis West High School and the University of Minnesota, was hired as the station's first news anchor and news director.[4] However, DuMont shut down in late 1955, leaving the station as an independent outlet;[3] on June 3, 1956, the KEYD stations were sold to United Television, whose principals at the time included several stockholders of Pittsburgh station WENS, for $1.5 million.[3][5][6] The new owners immediately sold off KEYD radio,[5][6] refocused KEYD-TV's programming on films and sports,[7] and shut down the news department; Reasoner was hired by CBS a few months later.[8][9] Reasoner became a host for CBS's 60 Minutes when it launched in 1968.

Channel 9 changed its call letters to KMGM-TV on September 1, 1956; at the time, the station was in negotiations with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to acquire the Twin Cities television rights to the company's films, along with selling a 25 percent stake in KMGM-TV to the studio.[10] Negotiations broke down later that month over the cost of the films;[11] additionally, Loew's, MGM's parent company at the time, filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against the call sign change, claiming that the use of KMGM was unauthorized and a violation of MGM's trademark.[12] The FCC ruled against Loew's that October, saying that its call sign assignment policies were limited to preventing confusion between stations in a given area.[13] The agreements to lease MGM's pre-1949 films and sell 25 percent of the station to Loew's were both completed that November; KMGM was the third station, after future sister station KTTV in Los Angeles and KTVR in Denver, to enter into such an arrangement.[14]

National Telefilm Associates, which later purchased WNTA-TV in the New York City area, purchased the 75 percent of United Television not owned by MGM for $650,000 in November 1957.[15][16][17] After taking control, NTA expanded KMGM-TV's hours of operation as part of an overhaul of channel 9's schedule that also included the addition of newscasts.[18] A few months later, on February 10, 1958, NTA bought MGM's stake for $130,000 and announced that it would change channel 9's calls to KMSP-TV;[3][19][20] the call sign change took effect that March over the objections of KSTP-TV (channel 5).[21] National Theatres, a theater chain whose broadcast holdings already included WDAF AM-TV in Kansas City, began the process of acquiring NTA in November 1958;[22] in April 1959, it purchased 88 percent of the company.[23] 20th Century-Fox, the former parent company of National Theatres, bought KMSP-TV for $4.1 million on November 9, 1959, retaining the United Television corporate name.[3][24] The KMSP call letters were featured on prop television cameras in the May 29, 1963 episode of the CBS sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, produced by 20th Century Fox Television; the show was loosely set in the Twin Cities area. The episode was titled "The Call of the, Like, Wild".

During its early years until 1972, the station's studios and offices were located in a lower level of the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis; the transmitter was located on top of the tower, the tallest structure in the area until 1971, along with WCCO-TV (channel 4) and WTCN-TV (channel 11, now KARE).[3]

As an ABC affiliate

KMSP-TV took over the ABC affiliation from WTCN-TV on April 16, 1961.[25] Throughout its years with ABC, KMSP was notorious for having a sub-standard news department with large staff turnover. Ratings were dismal with KMSP obtaining only one-third of the viewing audience of each of their two competitors, CBS affiliate WCCO-TV and NBC affiliate KSTP-TV.[26] The station's transmitter was moved in 1971 to a new tower constructed by KMSP in Shoreview, while the studios and offices relocated in 1972 to Edina on York Avenue South, across from Southdale Shopping Center.[3]

In the late 1970s, ABC steadily rose to first place in the network ratings. Accordingly, the network sought to upgrade its slate of affiliates, which were made up of some stations that either had poor signals or poorly performing local programming. In December 1977, ABC warned KMSP that it would yank its affiliation unless improvements were made and fast. In early 1978, to cash in on ABC's improved ratings, KMSP re-branded itself "ABC9" (approximately 20 years before the use of a network's name in a station's on-air branding became commonplace among U.S. affiliates), and retooled its newscast. Despite the changes, KMSP's news department remained a distant third behind WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV.[26]

Becoming an independent once again

On August 29, 1978, ABC announced that KSTP-TV would become the network's new Twin Cities affiliate the following spring.[27] The signing of channel 5 made nationwide news, as it had been an NBC affiliate for three decades. KSTP-TV looked forward to affiliating with the top network, as third-place NBC had been in a long ratings slump. In retaliation for losing ABC, KMSP-TV immediately removed all ABC branding and regularly preempted network programming. Channel 9 then attempted to affiliate with NBC, thinking The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson would be a good lead-out from their 10 p.m. newscast, despite low prime time ratings.[26] However, NBC, miffed at losing one of its strongest affiliates, and not wanting to pick up ABC's rejects, turned down KMSP's offer almost immediately[26] and signed an affiliation agreement with independent station WTCN-TV.[28] As a result of being rejected by both ABC and NBC, KMSP-TV prepared to become an independent station. Although it now faced having to buy an additional 19 hours of programming per day, it also would not have to invest nearly as much into its news department. Most of the on-air and off-air staffers resigned, not wanting to work for a down-scaled independent operation.[26]

The affiliation switch occurred on March 5, 1979,[3][26] and KMSP debuted its new independent schedule featuring cartoons, syndicated shows[26] and even the locally based American Wrestling Association,[29] with much of the station's programming having been acquired from WTCN-TV. To emphasize that the station's programming decisions would be influenced by viewers instead of a network, KMSP rebranded itself as "Receptive Channel 9", and an antenna was shown atop the station's logo in station identifications. The station became quite aggressive in acquiring programming, obtaining broadcast rights to several state high school sports championships from the MSHSL, the NHL's Minnesota North Stars and the Minnesota Twins baseball team.[26]

As it turned out, KMSP's transition into an independent station turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was far more successful than the station ever had been as an ABC affiliate. It became a regional superstation, available on nearly every cable system in Minnesota as well as large portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Over time, it became one of the most successful and profitable independent stations in the country.[26]

KMSP went through another ownership change on June 9, 1981, when 20th Century-Fox spun off United Television as an independent company owned by Fox shareholders; the transaction was approved alongside the $700 million sale of 20th Century-Fox to Marvin Davis.[30] Chris-Craft Industries, which in 1977 had acquired an interest in 20th Century-Fox that by 1981 comprised 22 percent of Fox's stock, received a 19 percent stake in United Television;[31] later in June, it filed with the FCC for control of United, as it now owned 32 percent of its stock.[32] Two years later, Chris-Craft, though its BHC subsidiary, increased its stake in United Television to 50.1 percent and gained majority control of the company.[31]

First Fox affiliation, then back to independent

KMSP-TV remained an independent station through 1986, when it became one of the original charter affiliates of the newly launched Fox network.[33] This suited channel 9, as it wanted the prestige of being a network affiliate without being tied down to a network-dominated program schedule; at the time, Fox only programmed a nightly talk show and, starting in 1987, two nights of prime time programming; the network would start its full-week programming schedule in 1993. For its first few years with Fox, the station served as the de facto Fox affiliate for nearly all of Minnesota and South Dakota.

However, the station did not remain a Fox affiliate for long. By 1988, KMSP was one of several Fox affiliates nationwide that were disappointed with the network's weak programming offerings, particularly on Saturday nights, which were bogging down KMSP's otherwise successful independent lineup. That January, channel 9 dropped Fox's Saturday night lineup;[34] the move did not sit well with Fox, and in July 1988 the network announced that it would not renew its affiliations with KMSP and Chris-Craft sister station KPTV in Portland, Oregon.[35] Fox then signed an agreement with KITN (channel 29, now WFTC) to become its new Twin Cities affiliate, and KMSP reverted to being an independent station full-time.[3][26] In 1992, the station relocated to its current studio facilities on Viking Drive in Eden Prairie.[3] Along with the other United Television stations, KMSP carried programming from the Prime Time Entertainment Network from 1993 to 1995.[36]

As a UPN affiliate

By the early 1990s, Fox had exploded in popularity; it had begun carrying strong shows that were starting to rival the program offerings of the "Big Three" networks, and had just picked up the broadcast rights to the NFL's National Football Conference. In response to this, in October 1993, Chris-Craft/United Television partnered with Paramount Pictures (which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) to form the United Paramount Network (UPN) and both companies made independent stations that both companies respectively owned in several large and mid-sized U.S. cities charter stations of the new network.[37]

UPN launched on January 16, 1995[3] (with the two-hour premiere of Star Trek: Voyager), with channel 9 becoming a UPN owned-and-operated station due to Chris-Craft/United's ownership stake in the network – making it the second network-owned station in the Twin Cities (alongside CBS-owned WCCO-TV). Over time, KMSP became one of UPN's most successful affiliates in terms of viewership. In addition, the station was still enjoying success with local sports programming featuring the Minnesota Twins, as well as the MSHSL championships. KMSP was stripped of its status as a UPN owned-and-operated station in 2000, after Viacom exercised a contractual clause to buy out Chris-Craft's stake in the network, although the station remained with UPN as an affiliate for another two years. Around this time, Viacom bought CBS.[38][39]

Return to Fox as an owned-and-operated station

News Corporation, through its Fox Television Stations subsidiary, agreed to purchase Chris-Craft Industries and its stations, including KMSP-TV, for $5.35 billion in August 2000 (this brought KMSP, along with San Antonio's KMOL-TV and Salt Lake City's KTVX, back under common ownership with 20th Century Fox); the deal followed a bidding war with Viacom.[40][41][42] The sale was completed on July 31, 2001.[43] While Fox pledged to retain the Chris-Craft stations' UPN affiliations through at least the 2000–01 season,[44] and Chris-Craft agreed to an 18-month renewal for its UPN affiliates in January 2001,[45] an affiliation swap was expected once KMSP's affiliation agreement with UPN ran out in 2002, given Fox's presumed preference to have its programming on a station that it already owned. Additionally, KMSP's signal was much stronger than that of WFTC, it was a VHF station that had been on the air much longer than UHF outlet WFTC.[46] Most importantly, Fox had been aggressively expanding local news programming on its stations, and KMSP had an established news department whereas WFTC's news department did not begin operations until April 2001. The move was made easier when, in July 2001, Fox agreed to trade KTVX and KMOL (now WOAI-TV) to Clear Channel Communications in exchange for WFTC,[47] a transaction completed that October.[46]

The affiliation switch, officially announced in May 2002,[48] occurred on September 8, 2002 (accompanied by a "Make the Switch" ad campaign that was seen on both stations), as Fox programming returned to KMSP-TV after a 14-year absence, while WFTC took the UPN affiliation;[49] KMSP was the only former Chris-Craft station that was acquired and kept by Fox that did not retain its UPN affiliation. The station began carrying Fox's entire programming schedule at that time, including the Fox Box children's block (which later returned to WFTC as 4KidsTV, until the block was discontinued by Fox in December 2008 due to a dispute with 4Kids Entertainment). The affiliation swap coincided with the start of the 2002 NFL season; KMSP effectively became the "home" station for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings as a result of Fox holding the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference. Finally, in 2014, with the launch of Xploration Station which replaced Weekend Marketplace which WFTC carried, KMSP-TV began clearing the entire Fox network schedule for good.

Since Fox has affiliates in most media markets and the Federal Communications Commission's syndication exclusivity regulations normally require cable systems to only carry a given network's local affiliate, and Fox prefers only an area's affiliate be carried as opposed to a distant station for ratings tabulation purposes, KMSP was eventually removed from most cable providers outside the Twin Cities. By this time, these areas had enough stations to provide local Fox affiliates. KMSP thus effectively lost the "regional superstation" status it had held for almost a quarter-century, dating back to when it was an independent station. Due to the advent of digital television, many stations in smaller markets previously served by KMSP began operating UPN-affiliated digital subchannels towards the end of the network's run to replace that network's programming in those markets, which in turn became MyNetworkTV or The CW affiliates.

Digital television

Digital channels

The digital signal of KMSP contains two subchannels, while that of WFTC contains three. Through the use of virtual channels, WFTC's subchannels are associated with channel 9.

Channel Station Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[50][51]
9.1 WFTC 720p 16:9 KMSP-HD Simulcast of KMSP-TV
9.2 WFTC-HD Main WFTC programming / MyNetworkTV
9.3 480i Movies! Movies!
9.4 KMSP-TV 480i 4:3 BUZZR BUZZR
9.9 720p 16:9 KMSP-HD Main KMSP-TV programming / Fox

In November 2009, KMSP began broadcasting a standard definition simulcast of WFTC on its second subchannel (virtual channel 29.2), with WFTC's adding a standard definition simulcast of KMSP on its second subchannel (virtual channel 9.2) in turn. This ensures reception of both stations, even in cases where the digital channels that KMSP and WFTC operate are not actually receivable.

On June 19, 2014 KMSP-TV announced plans that, effective June 24, 2014, they will broadcast their 9.1 virtual channel via RF channel 29 (with RF channel 9 mapping to PSIP 9.9) to take advantage of its broader coverage area and allow viewers with UHF-only antennas to receive the station in high definition.[52] The Minneapolis-St. Paul market is unique in that all three television duopolies in the market, which besides KMSP/WFTC, include Twin Cities Public Television's KTCA/KTCI and Hubbard Broadcasting's KSTP and KSTC, have merged their various signals onto the same VHF PSIP channel slots for easier viewer reference (with all but KMSP-TV transmitting on UHF). KMSP and WFTC unified all of their over-the-air channels as virtual subchannels of KMSP. As a result, the PSIPs of WFTC changed to channel 9.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KMSP-TV originally broadcast its digital signal on UHF channel 26, which was remapped as virtual channel 9 on digital television receivers through the use of PSIP. The station shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, 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 relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 26 to VHF channel 9 for post-transition operations.[53]

News operation

The station's first news director and news anchor was Harry Reasoner when KMSP signed on (as KEYD-TV) in 1955.[4] Despite the station's focus on live coverage of news and sports, as well as awards from the University of Minnesota Journalism School and the Northwest Radio–TV News Association, KEYD's newscasts were generally in fourth place in the ratings.[9] After channel 9's ownership changed in 1956, the news operation was closed down.[9] News programming returned to the station after NTA bought KMGM-TV in 1957.[18]

The station, which had long been a distant third to WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities news ratings, began an aggressive campaign in 1973 to gain ground against its competition. After a nationwide search, management hired Ben Boyett and Phil Bremen to anchor a newscast with a new set and format, known as newsnine.[26] The new format did not really draw many new viewers, and the station's low news budget, ill-conceived promotion and frequent technical glitches didn't help matters. One botched campaign for a news series on venereal disease, in the spring of 1974, resulted in lawsuits from two young women that claimed that their likenesses were used in promos without their permission, thus damaging their reputations.[26] By the fall of 1975, Boyett and Bremen would be gone, replaced by respected veteran newsman Don Harrison and the station's first female anchor, Cathie Mann. These changes did little to take channel 9 out of third place, and despite ABC becoming the #1 network by 1977, KMSP's newscasts still struggled.[26]

After KMSP lost the ABC affiliation in 1979, the station's news operation was relaunched with a prime time newscast, which was paired with the syndicated Independent Network News in the early 1980s. The newscast's budget and ratings would increase by the end of the 1980s; after KMSP rejoined Fox in 2002, the station's prime time newscast, aided by Fox's prime time lineup, frequently outrated the newscasts on KSTP-TV.[26] Following Fox's acquisition of WFTC in 2001, that station's existing news operation was moved to the KMSP studios;[48] after Fox canceled channel 29's newscast in 2006, some of WFTC's news staff joined KMSP.[54]

On June 16, 2006, during one of the station's newscasts, KMSP broadcast a "video news release" about convertibles produced by General Motors. The narrator, Medialink publicist Andrew Schmertz, was introduced as reporter André Schmertz.[55] On March 24, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission levied a $4,000 fine against KMSP for airing the video news release without disclosing the corporate source of the segment to its viewers, following complaints filed by the Free Press and The Center for Media and Democracy in 2006 and 2007.[56]

Notable current on-air staff

Notable former on-air staff

Broadcasting facilities

The KMSP TV Tower is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. KMSP owns the tower, which stands 1466 feet (446.8 m) tall, but shares it with sister station WFTC and the Twin Cities Public Television stations, KTCA and KTCI. Several FM stations are also on the tower: KQRS-FM, KXXR ("93X"), KTCZ ("Cities 97"), KTIS-FM, KSJN, KFXN-FM, KDWB, KEEY ("K102"), KMNB, and KZJK.

KMSP maintains an extensive network of translators that relay the station's signal throughout much of central and southern Minnesota.

References

Notes

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  4. ^ a b "Harry Reasoner Found". St. Louis Park Historical Society. March 2007. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "Brisk buying surge swaps four stations, $7.7 million" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. April 9, 1956. pp. 35–6. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "FCC Okays $1.5 Split Sale Of Twin Cities' KEYD-AM-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. May 28, 1956. p. 79. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  7. ^ "Sy Weintrab, Others to Buy KEYD, Minn". The Billboard. April 14, 1956. p. 5. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ a b c Daniel, Douglaas K. (2009). Harry Reasoner: A Life in the News. University of Texas Press. pp. 54–8. ISBN 0292782365. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
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  11. ^ "Meredith Stations Buy M-G-M Films". The Billboard. September 29, 1956. p. 8. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
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  13. ^ "Loew's Protest Thrown Out" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. October 22, 1956. p. 93. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  14. ^ "Loew's Closes Deal For Share in KMGM-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. November 5, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  15. ^ "KMGM-TV Sold To Natl. Telefilm" (PDF). Broadcasting–Telecasting. August 26, 1957. pp. 79–80. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
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  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lonto, Jeff R. (2006). "Your Newsnine Station: The saga of KMSP-TV Minneapolis - St. Paul in the 1970s". Studio Z-7 Publishing. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  27. ^ "ABC-TV bags largest game yet in affiliation hunt: KSTP-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 4, 1978. pp. 19–20. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  28. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 2, 1978. p. 30. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  29. ^ WWF Champs – All Profiles
  30. ^ Scott, Vernon (June 9, 1981). "Denver oilman Marvin Davis has bought 20th Century-Fox to..." United Press International. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  31. ^ a b "BHC Communications, Inc. Companies History". Company Histories. Funding Universe. 1997. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  32. ^ "Bottom Line" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 21, 1981. p. 54. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  33. ^ "Fox network begins to take shape" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 4, 1986. pp. 44–5. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  34. ^ "How affiliates feel about the Fox network: No problems that programming can't cure" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 4, 1988. p. 90. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  35. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 25, 1988. p. 113. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  36. ^ Susan, King (January 23, 1994). "Space, 2258, in the Year 1994". Los Angeles Times. p. 4. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  37. ^ "Paramount, Chris-Craft forming fifth TV network". United Press International. October 26, 1993. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  38. ^ Carter, Bill (March 21, 2000). "Viacom Buys Chris-Craft's Stake in UPN For $5 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  39. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (April 4, 2000). "Weblet soap ends: Viacom's got UPN". Variety. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  40. ^ Hofmeister, Sallie (August 12, 2000). "News Corp. to Buy Chris-Craft Parent for $5.5 Billion, Outbidding Viacom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  41. ^ Chipman, Kim (August 14, 2000). "News Corp. to buy Chris-Craft". Deseret News. Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  42. ^ Rathbun, Elizabeth A. (August 20, 2000). "How the FCC counts Fox". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  43. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (July 31, 2001). "Chris-Craft deal closed". Variety. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  44. ^ Schlosser, Joe (August 27, 2000). "There's still a UPN—for now". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  45. ^ McClellan, Steve (January 21, 2001). "Chris-Craft stations re-up with UPN". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  46. ^ a b Kamenick, Amy (October 2, 2001). "News Corp. acquisition of Fox 29 approved". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  47. ^ "Clear Channel to land KMOL-TV in a trade". San Antonio Business Journal. July 27, 2001. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  48. ^ a b Kamenick, Amy (May 23, 2002). "Channels 9 and 29 swap affiliations". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  49. ^ Gunderson, Troy (September 6, 2002). "Calling all surfers: Fox, UPN changing channels". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  50. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KMSP
  51. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WFTC
  52. ^ "RESCAN: How to get FOX 9 over-the-air on UHF". Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  53. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  54. ^ Rybak, Deborah Caulfield (June 1, 2006). "WFTC drops newscast at 10; KMSP adds it". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ Would You Buy a Car From This Man? | Center for Media and Democracy
  56. ^ FCC Levies Fines On KMSP, WMGM, TVNewsCheck, March 25, 2011.
  57. ^ "Ed Harding bio". WCVB-TV. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  58. ^ [2]