WDAY-TV

WDAY-TV, virtual channel 6 (UHF digital channel 21), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, United States, serving southeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. It 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 television and radio stations share studios on South 8th Street in downtown Fargo; WDAY-TV's transmitter is located near Amenia. On cable, the station is available on channel 6 in most areas, and on Midcontinent Communications digital channel 606 and Sparklight digital channel 1006 in high definition.

WDAY-TV
Fargo, North Dakota–Moorhead, Minnesota
United States
CityFargo, North Dakota
ChannelsDigital: 21 (UHF)
Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
BrandingWDAY 6 (general)
WDAY News (newscasts)
WDAY/WDAZ (regional)
SloganYour News Leader
Programming
Affiliations6.1: ABC (secondary 1953–1959; primary since 1983)
6.2: True Crime Network
6.3: WDAY'Z Xtra
6.4: Ion Television
Ownership
OwnerForum Communications Company
WDAY-AM, WDAZ-TV
History
First air date
June 1, 1953 (1953-06-01)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
6 (VHF, 1953–2009)
Analog/DT1:
NBC (1953–1983)
DT2:
CW+ (2006–2016)
Call sign meaning
taken from sister radio station, which was randomly assigned by the FCC[1]
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID22129
ERP1000 kW
HAAT322 m (1,056 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°0′28″N 97°12′3″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.wday.com

WDAZ-TV (channel 8), licensed to Devils Lake, operates as a semi-satellite of WDAY-TV. As such, it simulcasts all network and syndicated programming as provided through WDAY-TV, and the two stations share a website. However, WDAZ-TV airs separate legal identifications and commercial inserts targeting the Grand Forks metro and northern portion of the Fargo–Grand Forks market. Local newscasts, produced by WDAY-TV, are simulcast on both stations. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. WDAZ-TV also has significant viewership in southern Manitoba, Canada, including Winnipeg, which has double the population of the Fargo–Grand Forks market as a whole. Although WDAZ-TV maintains a news bureau and advertising sales office on South Washington Street in Grand Forks, master control and most internal operations are based at WDAY-TV's studios.

WDAY-TV also handles master control and internal operations for sister stations and fellow ABC affiliates KBMY in Bismarck and KMCY in Minot.

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 led by Norman Black, owner and publisher of The Forum. It took its call letters from WDAY radio, which has been owned by The Forum since 1935. Black bought the remaining shares in 1958.

It originally carried programming from all four networks of the day–CBS, NBC, ABC and DuMont. However, it was a primary NBC affiliate owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with NBC radio. It lost CBS to KXJB-TV (channel 4) in 1955, lost DuMont later in 1955 as that network was winding up operations, and lost ABC in 1959 when KXGO-TV (channel 11, now KVLY-TV) signed on. In 1983, WDAY-TV swapped affiliations with channel 11, then known as KTHI-TV, and became an ABC affiliate.

Although it was apparent that Fargo and Grand Forks were going to be a single market, channel 6 did not cover the northern portion of this vast market very well. It was required to conform its signal to protect CBC Television's Winnipeg station, CBWT, which took to the air on channel 6 a year after WDAY-TV signed on. As a result, it was barely viewable in northern Grand Forks and could not be seen at all in much of the northern part of the market. To solve this problem, it signed on WDAZ-TV in 1967 as a semi-satellite for the northern portion of the market.

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

WDAY-TV and WDAZ-TV began operating cable-only WB affiliate "WBFG" in 1998. Both stations 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 Television.

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 signed on in 1922, a year before the U.S. government moved the K-W boundary 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 station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[2]
6.1720p16:9WDAYABCMain WDAY-TV programming / ABC
6.2480iWDAY-SDTrue Crime Network
6.3720pXTRAWDAY'Z Xtra
(Syndicated/Local Sports/Weather Radar)
6.4480iWDAY DTIon Television

True Crime 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 Sparklight 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

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.[3] This subchannel airs syndicated programming, North Dakota and Minnesota high school sports, North Dakota high school state tournaments, Minnesota State University Moorhead Athletics, 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 Sparklight channel 29.

WDAY'Z Xtra became available in HD in 2014, and in 2016, MyNetworkTV programming began airing in prime time, although on KBMY and KMCY only[4][5][6] (in Bismarck and Minot respectively) but not on WDAY or WDAZ[7][8] (the most likely reason being that both of those stations broadcast to a viewing area that is currently being serviced by MyNetworkTV affiliate, KCPM).[9]

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-TV 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.[10][11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 6.

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).[12] 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.[13][14] 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.[15]

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

WDAY-TV 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-TV 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-TV 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.[16]

On November 30, 2018, it was announced that WDAZ would merge its news department with that of WDAY-TV, 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-TV continues to maintain a news bureau and sales office in Grand Forks.[17][18]

Past on-air staff

See also

References
  1. http://www.earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm#four
  2. RabbitEars TV Query for WDAY
  3. http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/ttv.aspx?siteid=77125
  4. RabbitEars TV Query for KBMY
  5. RabbitEars TV Query for KMCY
  6. TitanTV TV Query for KBMY & KMCY & WDAY & WDAZ
  7. RabbitEars TV Query for WDAY
  8. RabbitEars TV Query for WDAZ
  9. RabbitEars TV Query for KCPM
  10. Congress delays digital TV conversion, The Forum, Fargo ND, February 5, 2009
  11. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  12. "More news: WDAY, Valley News Live expand broadcasts in response..." Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  13. "WDAY takes over 5 p.m. news in Grand Forks". Grand Forks Herald. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  14. "WDAY Launching Statewide Morning Newscast". TVSpy.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  15. "Backlash Grows Against Forum Communications' Decision to Dump WDAZ Newscast". Valley News Live. Grey Television. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  16. 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.
  17. "WDAZ to merge broadcasts with WDAY". Grand Forks Herald. November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  18. 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.
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