KVRR

KNRR (channel 12) operates on a channel frequency previously occupied by KCND-TV, a station formerly owned by Gordon McLendon. In September 1975, Izzy Asper acquired the station and relocated it to Winnipeg, relaunching as CKND-TV on VHF channel 9 (now an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network). Ten years later, in 1986, channel 12 returned to the air, as KVRR semi-satellite, KNRR.

The coverage area of KNRR's analog signal included Winnipeg, which has almost double the population of KVRR's entire primary service area in North Dakota and western Minnesota. However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) barred Winnipeg-area cable systems from carrying KNRR due to concerns that local advertisers would purchase time on KNRR rather than on television stations in the Winnipeg market.[1][2] As a result, Shaw Cable systems in the Winnipeg area carry Rochester, New York affiliate WUHF as the Fox station available in the market, while MTS TV carries Fox's owned-and-operated station in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, KMSP-TV.

Even during the analog television era, when the northern fringe of KNRR's grade B signal contour encompassed Winnipeg, KNRR was all but impossible to receive in the River Heights and North End neighborhoods of the city, and was also subject to interference from hydro lines and telephone relay stations.[3] Over time, KNRR's transmitter degraded and was not replaced, further reducing the signal quality.[4]

KNRR shut down its signal on June 12, 2009, when the digital television transition took place. KNRR had not installed a digital transmitter, and its post-transition digital allotment on UHF channel 15 had already been reassigned to PBS member station KGFE as that station's post-transition allocation.[5] Although it easily could have ceased operations permanently, the station's digital signal resumed operation in late October 2009, albeit operating at a very low power.[6][7]

Although it can be received in several rural counties in North Dakota and Minnesota, the station's largest potential audience lies in the urban centers of southern Manitoba, including Altona, Morden and Winkler.[8]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

In the early 2000s, KVRR became the first commercial television station (the first being Prairie Public Television member stations KFME (channel 13), KGFE in Grand Forks and KCGE-DT in Crookston, Minnesota) in eastern North Dakota to transmit a digital signal.

KVRR shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on February 1, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 19.[11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF channel 15.

KVRR and KJRR were the only stations in KVRR's regional network to broadcast programming in high-definition until March 2011, when KBRR and KNRR upgraded their digital signals to transmit programming in HD. On March 18, 2011, Midcontinent Communications added KBRR's high definition feed on its systems in Grand Forks and Devils Lake as it became available.[12]

KVRR operates three full-power satellite stations: KJRR, KBRR, and KNRR. These stations fully simulcast KVRR, but KBRR and KNRR occasionally air separate commercials for Grand Forks and the northern portion of the viewing area. Aside from their transmitters, the satellite stations do not maintain any physical presence in their cities of license.

KVRR serves its large coverage area with three translators. All are owned by local municipalities and relay KBRR.

KVRR originally relayed its programming on a large network of translators throughout eastern North Dakota and west-central Minnesota. However, only one remains and two more in Lake of the Woods County were added as multiplexed digital subchannels after their transition to digital broadcasts in 2011. K26OH-D/Roseau is owned by Roseau County and K16KE/Baudette and K36LW/Williams are owned by Lake of the Woods County.

K61BJ in Donnelly, Minnesota, K54AT in Brainerd, Minnesota, K33HB in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and K05IV in Park Rapids, Minnesota are no longer actively used as translators of KVRR. K61BJ was thought to be in operation by KVRR, but due to lack of communication it was found that the translator was damaged beyond repair by a lightning strike in 2005. K54AT was taken off the air in mid-April 2008, never to return. This was due to several reasons, the most significant being that the Brainerd was already served by a translator of Twin Cities Fox O&O KMSP-TV. K33HB was knocked off-the-air due to a tower collapse. K05IV's license was surrendered to the Federal Communications Commission on June 12, 2013.

KVRR originally maintained translators in north-central Alexandria, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Red Lake, and Walker, Minnesota. However, the Bemidji translator was forced off the air by the sign-on of WFTC satellite station KFTC, which was affiliated with Fox at the time. The Grand Rapids translator now carries sister station KQDS-TV in Duluth, whose master control and non-news programming originates from Fargo. The Alexandria, Red Lake and Walker translators, owned by private groups, now carry stations from the Twin Cities.