KBJR-TV
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| KBJR-TV / KRII | |
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| KBJR: Superior, Wisconsin / Duluth, Minnesota KRII: Chisholm, Minnesota |
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| Branding | Northland's NewsCenter NBC 6 (KBJR) Range 11 (KRII) |
| Slogan | We Give You MORE |
| Channels | Analog: KBJR: 6 (VHF) KRII: 11 (VHF) |
| Translators | see below |
| Affiliations | NBC MyNetworkTV (KBJR DT2) NBC Weather Plus (KBJR DT3) |
| Owner | Granite Broadcasting Corporation (KBJR: KBJR License, Inc.) (KRII: Channel 11 License, Inc.) |
| First air date | KBJR: March 1, 1954 KRII: December 2002 |
| Call letters’ meaning | KBJR: Keeping Business, Jobs, and Recreation in Duluth[1] KRII: Range II (II= number 11) |
| Sister station(s) | KDLH |
| Former callsigns | KBJR: WDSM-TV (1954-1974) KRII: none |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1954-1955) Secondary: ABC secondary (1954-1966) |
| Transmitter Power | KBJR: 100 kW (analog) 384 kW (digital) KRII: 316 kW (analog) |
| Height | KBJR: 301.8 m (analog) 311.9 m (digital) KRII: 200.4 m (analog) |
| Facility ID | KBJR: 33658 KRII: 82698 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | KBJR: KRII: |
| Website | www.northlandsnewscenter.com |
KBJR-TV, channel 6, is the NBC affiliate for Duluth, Minnesota (licensed to adjacent Superior, Wisconsin). The station is owned by Granite Broadcasting, and shares its studio with CBS affiliate KDLH, which it operates under a local marketing agreement.
The station operates a semi-satellite, KRII, channel 11 in Chisholm, Minnesota. KRII identifies itself as a station in its own right, but simulcasts KBJR most of the day. However, KRII airs separate commercials and places local inserts into KBJR's newscasts.
My 9, a MyNetworkTV affiliate is carried on a digital subchannel of KBJR (channel 6.2 PSIP). My 9 is carried channel 9 on most cable systems. KBJR also broadcasts NBC Weather Plus with local inserts on a second digital subchannel (channel 6.3 PSIP), which is seen on Charter Communications digital cable channel 391.
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[edit] History
KBJR signed on March 1, 1954 known as WDSM-TV and 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 of 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 callsign 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.
[edit] The 1997 Fire, 1999 Ice Storm, and April 2008 Blizzard
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 local pubcaster WDSE and sales and business operations moved to open office space at the US Bank building in downtown Duluth, while master control remained at the transmitter.
In April of 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 of 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 a.m. 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 retruned to the air, Barbara Reyelts and George Kessler anchored nonstop using a newsroom setup with one microphone and one camara. By Noon, CBS3 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] KRII-TV (Range 11)
KBJR's full-time satellite station, KRII-TV, signed on in 2000. KRII was originally licensed to International Falls, but was changed to Chisholm, which is closer to Duluth, before signing on.
KRII does not broadcast a digital signal. The station was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 and, as a result, did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital television conversion period for full-service stations, KRII will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut"). [2]
[edit] My 9
Originally, KBJR DT2 was a UPN affiliate, known as "Northland UPN". The station was also available in the Ashland, Wisconsin area on WAST-LP channel 25, which was an over-the-air, low-powered semi-satellite of the digital subchannel. WAST-LP was owned by a separate entity from KBJR. In March of 2006 it was announced that "Northland 9" would become the market's affiliate of MyNetworkTV. In July, ahead of the launch of MyNetworkTV, "Northland 9" became known as "My 9". WAST ended its broadcasting in August. MyNetworkTV began broadcasting on September 5, 2006.
[edit] Ratings
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, KBJR was in third place behind competitors WDIO and KDLH. That all changed in the early 1990s when KDLH 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 weekday 5:30 PM newscast on KDLH attracts similar numbers to its pre-merger newscast at 6 PM.
In the May, 2007 ratings race, KBJR was beat out by ABC affiliate WDIO-TV in all timeslots, except 5:00 where they topped WDIO for first. KDLH's 9pm newscast on My9 took second to Fox affiliate KQDS.
[edit] News Team
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Anchors
Weather
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Sports
Reporters
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KBJR also uses personnel from KDLH
[edit] Past Personnel
- Karl Spring- Weather
- Dan Hanger- Newscenter Today Anchor / Reporter
- 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 (Now at KQDS-TV)
- 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 (Now at KBJR's Sister station KDLH)
- John Schottenbauer- Weekend Sports (January 1997 - December 1999)
- Adam Ghassemi- Reporter
- Kim Kaiser- Mornings
- Keith Marler- Morning weather. Now at KMSP in minneapolis.
- 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
- 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] Christmas City of the North Parade
Each November, on the Friday before Thanksgiving, The 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 the Northland's NewsCenter in the weeks and days before Christmas.
The Christmas City of the North Parade dates back to 1958, when KBJR (then WDSM) started the event as a way to kick off the holiday shopping season in the Northland. 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, KBJR's Mark Mallory & Michelle Lee, and KDLH's Pat Kelly anchored the parade.
2007's Parade originally broadcast Nov. 16 at 6:20 on KBJR. hosts were Michelle Lee (from KBJR), Pat Kelly and George Kessler [Kessler anchored the parades until he originally left the station in 2000](From KDLH). Meterologist Karl Spring dorve the pacer car.
[edit] Translators
Besides KRII, KBJR is also seen on several outyling translators in Northeastern Minnesota.
- Big Falls: K60BO channel 60
- Bigfork: K69CR channel 69
- Birchdale: K60BT channel 60
- International Falls: K53CQ channel 53 (via KRII)
- Kabetogama: K67EH channel 67
- Max: K62BH channel 62
- Northome: K57BK channel 57
- Orr: K63DV channel 63
[edit] Digital Television
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
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| 6.1 | Main KBJR programming / NBC HD |
| 6.2 | My9 |
| 6.3 | NBC WeatherPlus |
[edit] External links
- Station Website (shared with KDLH)
- "Range 11" News
- KBJR DT2 "My9" Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KBJR
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KRII
- 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 K53CQ
- 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
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KBJR-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KRII-TV
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