KQDS-TV
FCC | |
Facility ID | 35525 |
---|---|
ERP | 1,000 kW |
HAAT | 297 m (974 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 46°47′37″N 92°7′4″W / 46.79361°N 92.11778°W |
Translator(s) | see § Translators |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
KQDS-TV (channel 21) is a television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company, the station has studios on London Road in Duluth (along I-35), and its transmitter is located west of downtown in Hilltop Park. Master control and some internal operations are based out of the studio facilities of sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KVRR on South 40th Street and South 9th Avenue in Fargo, North Dakota.
History
The station first signed on the air on September 20, 1994, as KNLD, the Duluth–Superior market's first independent station. Very few people knew it was actually on the air at this time, as it transmitted at low power with an extremely limited schedule of programming, usually airing for only four hours per day each morning—the minimum required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to cover the license. While the Northland had grown large enough to support an independent station at least a decade earlier, it is a very large market geographically. UHF stations do not cover large areas very well. Additionally, the major stations in the market need sizable networks of translators to adequately cover the market, and the cost of building a translator network scared off perspective owners. By the 1990s, cable television—a must for acceptable television in much of this market—had gained enough penetration to make an independent station viable. In addition, two independent stations from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul market—KMSP-TV and WFTC—were present on some of the area's cable providers.
Although its lineup once included syndicated
In 1998,
On September 1, 1999, KQDS-TV activated its new transmitter tower, along with the sign-on of eight translators. That same day, the station became the Duluth–Superior market's first Fox affiliate. Prior to affiliating with the network, Fox programming was available in the market only through cable systems that had carried the network through KMSP-TV (which served as the network's affiliate from 1986 to 1988) and later WFTC (which became an affiliate of the network in late 1988 and lost the network back to KMSP-TV in 2002), with
On November 30, 2021,
News operation
In its early years as a Fox affiliate, KQDS entered into a news share agreement with
In its first ratings period in May 2007, KQDS placed third among all evening newscasts in the Duluth market. The station drew more viewers than KBJR's
Notable former on-air staff
- Tracee Carrasco – weekend anchor/reporter (now reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
21.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
KQDS-DT | Fox |
21.2 | 480i | ANTENNA | Antenna TV |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KQDS-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
Translators
Nine
All translators except for K39GG have been upgraded to digital as of November 1, 2016, and remap to virtual channel 21.
- W15EE-D Ashland, WI
- K21KY-D Bigfork–Marcell, MN
- K29EB-D Grand Rapids, MN
- K31GH-D Hayward, WI
- K15GT-D Hibbing, MN
- K20NR-D International Falls, MN
- W32CV-D Ironwood, MI
- K33OG-D Max, MN
- K22MR-D Virginia, MN
Defunct translator
K39GG in Aitkin, Minnesota, went silent sometime in June 2018, and its license was canceled by the FCC on June 27, 2018. KQDS stated the translator's viewership was insufficient to support its continued operation. It also was located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul television market, which is claimed by KMSP-TV, and Fox has strictly enforced stations remaining in their DMA boundaries since the early 2010s in their affiliation agreements for ratings tabulation purposes.[13]
References
- ^ a b "Coastal Television reaches agreement to acquire Red River Broadcast". KVRR.com. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KQDS-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (November 30, 2021). "Forum Buys Fargo, Duluth FOX Affiliates". Northpine.com. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (January 22, 2022). "Forum Seeks Waiver for Purchase of Fargo, Duluth FOX Stations". Northpine.com. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ Evanella, Thomas (June 6, 2023). "Forum Communications' planned purchase of KVRR-TV in Fargo, KQDS-TV in Duluth falls through". Inforum.com. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ^ "Notification of Consummation". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (April 8, 2024). "FCC Monitor: Duluth, Fargo TV Sale Closes; Two New LPFM's OK'd". Northpine.com. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ "Fox 21 News adding 6 p.m. newscast". Duluth News Tribune. April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KQDS
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FCC Sets Deadlines for LPTV, TV Translator and Class A Stations To Convert to Digital - And Gives Hints When Television Spectrum May Be Reclaimed for Broadband Broadcast Law Blog July 19, 2011
- ^ "The Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau Announce Procedures for Low Power Television, Television Translator and Replacement Translator Stations During the Post-Incentive Auction Transition" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 12, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ "Exhibit 1 - Suspension of Operations" (PDF). Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.