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KVLY-TV

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KVLY-TV
CityFargo, North Dakota
Channels
Branding
  • KVLY TV 11; Valley News Live
  • KX4 (on DT2)
  • MeTV Fargo (on DT3)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KXJB-LD
History
First air date
October 11, 1959 (65 years ago) (1959-10-11)
Former call signs
  • KXGO-TV (1959–1963)
  • KEND-TV (1963–1964)
  • KTHI-TV (1964–1995)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 11 (VHF, 1959–2009)
  • Digital: 44 (UHF, until 2019)
ABC (1959–1983)
Call sign meaning
Red River Valley
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID61961
ERP330 kW
HAAT593.9 m (1,948 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°20′32″N 97°17′21″W / 47.34222°N 97.28917°W / 47.34222; -97.28917
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.valleynewslive.com

KVLY-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Horace-licensed low-power dual CBS/CW+ affiliate KXJB-LD (channel 30). The two stations share studios on 21st Avenue South in Fargo; KVLY-TV's transmitter is located near Blanchard. In addition to its main studio in Fargo, KVLY-TV operates a news bureau and sales office in the US Bank building in downtown Grand Forks.

KVLY-TV is considered a part of the NBC North Dakota state network of NBC affiliates, although it airs separate newscasts and syndicated programming from flagship and sister station KFYR-TV in Bismarck.

KVLY-TV is most notable for its broadcast tower, which was the fourth tallest above-ground structure in the world at 2,063 feet (629 m). The tower was at one time the tallest structure in the world and was the tallest broadcast structure in the Western Hemisphere. In 2019, the top mount antenna was removed for the FCC spectrum repack, dropping the overall height to 1,987 feet (606 m).[2] The KRDK-TV tower is located just six miles (9.7 km) from the KVLY-TV tower, and now holds the record noted here.

History

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Early years (1959–1968)

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Channel 13, not 11, was originally assigned to Fargo. This changed in December 1953 after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a petition from a civic group in Bemidji, Minnesota, seeking the assignment of channel 13 there.[3][4] This prompted a consortium of two local radio stations, KFGO in Fargo and KVOX in Moorhead, Minnesota, to abandon their plans for the station.[5]

Interest was rekindled in January 1957 when the Fargo Telecasting Company, controlled by Marvin Kratter of New York, applied for channel 11.[6] That application was followed five months later by one from the North Dakota Broadcasting Company (NDBC), controlled by John Boler.[7] Among Boler's holdings was KXJB-TV (channel 4) in Valley City.[8] Kratter dropped out in January 1958. Turning down an intervention from Fargo TV station WDAY-TV (channel 6), which feared the loss of some network programs to the new station[8] and believed that channels 4 and 11 would constitute a then-illegal duopoly,[9] an FCC hearing examiner approved the North Dakota Broadcasting Company application on May 27, 1958;[10] the commission approved the station in 1959. NDBC announced that, though the studios would be shared with KXJB-TV's Fargo site and the recently purchased KFGO (renamed KXGO), the new station would transmit from Sabin, Minnesota, and be KXGO-TV.[11][12]

KXGO-TV began broadcasting on October 11, 1959.[13] Its arrival triggered a minor realignment of network programming in North Dakota as its first exclusive ABC affiliate. Previously, North Dakota's three NBC affiliates—WDAY-TV, KFYR-TV in Bismarck, and KNOX-TV in Grand Forks—had aired some ABC shows. With the advent of channel 11, ABC shows were now seen from the new KXGO-TV and Boler's Bismarck station, KBMB-TV. However, some viewers lost ABC programming because the NBC affiliates reached more viewers than channel 11.[14]

In 1962, Ferris Traylor of Evansville, Indiana, acquired KXGO-TV as well as KNOX-TV in Grand Forks and KCND-TV (channel 12) in Pembina. The new ownership announced major plans to shuffle the first two stations by relocating channel 11 to a new, tall tower near Hillsboro, North Dakota and moving channel 10 completely from Grand Forks to Thief River Falls, Minnesota.[15] The station set up new local offices in the Manchester Building in Fargo[16] and began planning the construction of a new, 2,000 feet (610 m) television tower. At the time, the tallest tower—located in Columbus, Georgia—was 1,749 feet (533 m) high. On May 15, 1963, to dissociate itself from KXGO radio, the station changed its call sign to KEND-TV (for "Eastern North Dakota"[17]); that month, the new tall tower received FCC approval.[18] This tower would make KNOX-TV redundant by encapsulating Grand Forks in the enlarged channel 11 service area.[17]

When the tower was due to be completed on February 1, 1964, KEND-TV changed its call sign again to KTHI-TV (for "Tower High");[19] technical questions pushed back the site switch to February 8.[20][21] Coinciding with the change, the station moved into new studios south of Fargo.[19] KNOX-TV was shut down, and its studio and office in Grand Forks was absorbed into the enlarged KTHI operation.[22][23]

Traylor's broadcasting interests were undergoing ownership changes even as channel 11 was acquired, as Milwaukee-based Polaris Industries acquired half of Traylor-owned Producers, Inc. in 1962[24] and the remainder in 1963.[25] In 1966, Polaris merged with the Natco Corporation. It put KTHI-TV and KCND-TV on the market; despite an offer for the former by Don Burden of the Star Stations radio group,[26] channel 11 was never sold and remained in the Natco fold post-merger.[27][28] Natco's primary owner, J. B. Fuqua, renamed the firm Fuqua Industries in February 1967.[29] During this time, in 1967, KTHI-TV moved its Grand Forks studio to larger quarters on 9th Avenue North.[30] This came after the company considered originating half of KTHI's broadcast day from Grand Forks and the other half from Fargo.[31]

Morgan Murphy ownership (1969–1995)

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In 1969, Fuqua Industries sold KTHI-TV for $1.491 million to Spokane Television, a subsidiary of the Morgan Murphy Stations group.[32]

On August 22, 1983, KTHI became an NBC affiliate, swapping affiliations with longtime NBC outlet WDAY-TV (channel 6). From 1968 until the mid-1980s, channel 11 was carried by cable systems across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, including the Winnipeg area. It was removed when Canadian cable companies were granted permission to replace most of the North Dakota stations with network affiliates from Detroit.

Later years

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Meyer Broadcasting of Bismarck, North Dakota, owner of KFYR-TV in Bismarck and its network of satellites in western North Dakota, bought the station in 1995. Meyer changed the call sign to KVLY-TV on May 2, reflecting the Red River Valley region. It sold its television stations to Sunrise Television in 1997. In 2002, Sunrise sold its North Dakota stations to the Wicks Group of New York City. Hoak Media bought all of Wicks' television stations, including KVLY, in January 2007.

Previous KVLY logo used from 2006 until 2014, still used as secondary

In September 2005, ten years after changing its call sign from KTHI, KVLY became the first major network affiliate in Fargo to broadcast in high-definition. In May 2006, KVLY made its logo bolder to reflect the change to HDTV. KVLY is the second-most-watched television station in the Red River Valley, behind WDAY/WDAZ, which are owned by Forum Communications Company.

In 2003, KVLY began operating CBS affiliate KXJB-TV under a local marketing agreement (LMA), and the two stations began sharing facilities. In April 2007, KVLY-TV and KXJB-TV began simulcasting weekend newscasts, and in November 2007, the stations began simulcasting news during weekdays rebranded as Valley News Live.[33]

In January 2010, KVLY added classic movie network This TV to subchannel 11.2. It was replaced by classic television network MeTV on January 1, 2013.

On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including KVLY-TV, to Gray Television. Sister station KXJB-TV was to be sold by Parker Broadcasting to Excalibur Broadcasting and would have continued to be operated by KVLY under an LMA.[34] The sale was completed on June 13, but upon the closing of the sale, and in the wake of the new FCC rules restricting LMAs, Excalibur abandoned its plans to acquire the station.[35]

Gray would continue to provide certain services to KXJB in the interim, and later moved its CBS programming to a multicast subchannel of KVLY. If a buyer was not found for KXJB, the station would cease broadcasting in the interim. KXJB would then be spun off to minority interests, which under this arrangement would allow the station to continue operating on the conditions that it operated independently (under minority, female and/or non-profit ownership) and not make any partnerships or sharing arrangements with other broadcasters.[36]

On November 12, 2014, CBS affiliate KXJB-TV's programming began being simulcast on KVLY's second digital subchannel, displacing MeTV to the third subchannel, as KXJB was sold to Major Market Broadcasting.[37] KXJB signed off at midnight on December 1, 2014, as its programming moved to KVLY's subchannel.[38] KVLY-DT2 began simulcasting in full 1080i HD on KXJB-LD 30.1 in September 2016, along with translators K28MA-D 28.1 in Argusville (covering north and west of Fargo) and K30LR-D 30.1 in Grand Forks. CBS programming remains on KVLY-DT2 in downconverted 720p to provide full-market access to CBS in HD. KXJB-TV would return to the air as KRDK-TV in January 2015, carrying various networks on its subchannels.

On May 28, 2019, KVLY moved from UHF channel 44 to UHF channel 36.[39]

Programming

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Sports programming

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KVLY has been home to North Dakota State Bison football games in recent years. The station broadcast regular season games and produced a pregame show. In the 2019–2020 season, the pregame show featured former NFL player and Bison alum Kyle Emanuel as one of the hosts.[40] NDSU games have since moved to rival WDAY-TV.

News operation

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Valley News Live logo

The original KXGO-TV had no local programming or studios, relying nearly exclusively on network material from ABC.[17] This changed in February 1964, when the station became KTHI-TV and began airing local newscasts. One of the first on-air personalities was former professional football player Steve Myhra as a sportscaster.[19] When Morgan Murphy bought channel 11 in 1969, the news department was reorganized with the main early evening newscast at 5 p.m.[41]

Valley News Live is the name of the news department shared by KVLY and KXJB. KVLY and KXJB started simulcasting weekend news in April 2007. The same news is broadcast on both channels. KXJB uses its "4" digital on-screen graphic, while KVLY uses the "11" bug during newscasts.[citation needed] Beginning November 5, 2007, KVLY and KXJB expanded their simulcasting to weekdays.

KVLY broadcasts 26+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours each weekday, one hour on Saturdays and a half-hour on Sundays). It also broadcasts an additional 13+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week for KVLY-DT 11.2 and KXJB-LD 30.1 and 30.2, consisting of the noon and 5:30 p.m. newscasts, an hour-long extension of KVLY's morning newscast The Valley Today at 7 a.m. on weekdays and a half-hour nightly prime time newscast at 9 p.m. Combined across the four channels, KVLY produces a total of 40 hours of newscasts each week.

Ratings

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Recently, KVLY has been the ratings leader for the immediate Fargo–Moorhead metro area and the southern part of the market, however WDAZ's dominance in the Grand Forks metro area and the northern part of the market make the WDAY/WDAZ combo the ratings leader for the Fargo–Grand Forks market as a whole.[42]

Due to many of KVLY's newscasts being simulcast on KXJB, KVLY and KXJB's ratings are combined. Until 2014, KVLY and KXJB were not counted as one station due to different network and syndicated programming. CBS and KXJB's programming moved to KVLY's second subchannel in December 2014 (and later KXJB-LD), therefore KVLY can now count all of its subchannels as one station for ratings purposes.

Former on-air staff

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  • Dennis Bounds – news anchor (later evening news anchor for KING 5 in Seattle; retired in 2016)
  • Robert Ivers – news anchor and talk-show host; deceased
  • Jim Lounsbury – news anchor (early 1980s; pioneer rock and roll DJ earlier in his career); deceased
  • Ed Schultz – sports anchor (1982; was Fargo-based syndicated radio host); deceased

Technical information

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The KVLY-TV mast
Comparison of the KVLY-TV mast to the tallest structures in the world

Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KVLY-TV[43]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
11.1 1080i 16:9 KVLYNBC NBC
11.2 720p KXJBCBS CBS (KXJB-LD)
11.3 480i MeTV MeTV
11.4 The365 The365
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

In January 2010, KVLY-TV began broadcasting the This TV network on subchannel 11.2. On January 1, 2013, This TV programming was replaced on digital channel 11.2 with its former sister network MeTV (both networks were owned at the time by Weigel Broadcasting; This TV was later taken over by Tribune Broadcasting and is now owned by Allen Media Group).[44] In addition to the main MeTV programming, KVLY used the subchannel for live events (including NDSU Bison basketball), and to repeat its morning newscast, The Valley Today, in the late morning. On November 12, 2014, KXJB's programming was moved to KVLY's second digital subchannel (now also carried as KXJB-LD's main channel), displacing MeTV to the third. Heroes & Icons was added during November 2016 to KVLY's fourth subchannel, bringing a full-market coverage simulcast of KXJB-LD's third subchannel. KVLY's fourth subchannel was switched to Circle in 2021, while Heroes & Icons continues to be carried on KXJB-LD's third subchannel.

Analog-to-digital conversion

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KVLY-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on February 16, 2009, the day prior to the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were set to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later rescheduled for June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 44,[45][46] using virtual channel 11.

Translators

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KVLY-TV serves its large coverage area with three translators. All are owned by local municipalities.

Active translators

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Defunct translators

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Some of the defunct translators were actually in the western part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, broadcast television market.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KVLY-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  3. ^ "Bemidji Asks TV Channel Switch". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. United Press. November 4, 1953. p. 10. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "TV Channel Allotted To Fargo Shifted". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. December 2, 1953. p. 6. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Withdraw Application For Channel 13 Permit". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. December 30, 1953. p. 10. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "N.Y. Man Seeking TV Channel Here". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. United Press. January 5, 1957. p. 2. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "New Broadcasting Permit Registered". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. Associated Press. June 23, 1957. p. 23. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Hearing Set On New Fargo TV Channel". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. January 8, 1958. p. 16. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Powers, Richard P. (January 28, 1958). "Hearing Held On Permit For Channel 11". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. Associated Press. p. 2. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Channel 11 Permit Recommended". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. May 27, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "TV Channel 11 Approved For Fargo". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. January 9, 1959. p. 9. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Grant Issued For Channel 11 In Fargo". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. July 30, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Channel 11 To Begin Broadcasts". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. October 10, 1959. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "New F-M Area TV Station Readying Programming For Oct. 1 Kickoff". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. September 18, 1959. p. T-6. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "KXGO-TV, 2 Other N.D. Stations Sold". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. May 10, 1962. p. 26. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "KXGO-TV To Move Offices". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. August 18, 1962. p. 3. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b c "Channel 11 Has New Call Letters". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. May 16, 1963. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "2,000-Foot TV Tower Planned". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. May 9, 1963. p. 22. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b c Ruff, Jerry (December 13, 1963). "Exciting Changes Due on KEND-TV". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. p. T-6. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "KTHI-TV Start Awaits Delivery Of Transformer". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. February 1, 1964. p. 7. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "KTHI-TV Using New Tower". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. February 9, 1964. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "KTHI-TV Replaces KNOX-TV". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. January 26, 1964. p. 40. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Ruff, Jerry (January 31, 1964). "KTHI-TV Due on Air Next Week". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. p. T-7. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Producers Seeks To Buy TV Stations In North Dakota". The Evansville Courier. Evansville, Indiana. July 24, 1962. p. 16. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Klingler, Ed (March 25, 1963). "Polaris Takes Over Traylor Firms Here". Evansville Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 13. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Polaris Says It Is Considering Offer for KTHI". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. March 1, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Broadcast Firm Going To NATCO". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. September 22, 1966. p. 61. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "License Transfer Approved By FCC". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. October 4, 1966. p. 5. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Laffler, William D. (February 4, 1967). "Natco Corp. To Change Name To Fuqua Feb. 13". The Coshocton Tribune. Coshocton, Ohio. UPI. p. 6. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "KTHI-TV Started In 1964". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. October 6, 1968. p. 30. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Plans Are Announced For KTHI Expansion". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. August 3, 1966. p. 21. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Sale Of KTHI-TV Approved". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. January 26, 1969. p. 11. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ TV station stokes hate and fear in outrageous report on refugees – Reverb Press
  34. ^ "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  35. ^ Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  36. ^ Gray retains MMTC as broker for former SSA’d stations, rbr.com, Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  37. ^ "KXJB sold: CBS programming will live on as KX4 | Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND". Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  38. ^ "A look back on the last 60 years of KXJB Television". www.valleynewslive.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014.
  39. ^ "TV Rescan Required: KVLY - KXJB - MeTV Viewer Notification". valleynewslive.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  40. ^ "Kyle Emanuel to join the TV broadcast crew during NDSU Football Pre-Game Shows". June 17, 2019.
  41. ^ "'All Family' Programming: KTHI-TV adds Live Studio Color Here". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. September 14, 1969. p. 35. Retrieved November 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "KVLY takes lead in metro ratings; WDAY maintains lead in RRV | Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND". Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  43. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KVLY". RabbitEars. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  44. ^ Me-TV Adds WPTZ Burlington, KVLY Fargo, TVNewsCheck, November 14, 2012.
  45. ^ Congress delays digital TV conversion, The Forum, Fargo ND, February 5, 2009
  46. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
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