KQDS-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

 for the Twin Ports

Twin Ports

The Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin are located at the western part of Lake Superior and together are considered the largest freshwater port in the world. They are twin cities and seaports, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence...

 and Iron Range

Iron Range

The Iron Range is a region that makes up the northeastern section of Minnesota in the United States. "The Range", as it is known by locals, is a region with multiple distinct bands of iron ore...

 areas of Northeastern Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 that is licensed to Duluth

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

. It broadcasts a high definition

High-definition television

High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter west of downtown in Hilltop Park. Owned by Red River Broadcasting

Red River Broadcasting

Red River Broadcasting is a television and radio broadcasting company based in Fargo, North Dakota, which operates a network of Fox affiliates in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. The company also owns TV and radio stations in South Dakota and Minnesota...

, the station has studios on London Road in Duluth along I-35

Interstate 35 in Minnesota

In the U.S. state of Minnesota, Interstate 35 is a highway in southeast, east-central, and northeast Minnesota. The route runs north–south from the Iowa state line through the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul; where it splits into Interstates 35E and 35W; and ends in the city of...

. However, master control and some internal operations are based at the facilities of sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KVRR

KVRR

KVRR, is a Fox affiliated television station in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, serving Eastern North Dakota, Northwestern Minnesota, and a portion of Southern Manitoba. It broadcasts on ATSC channel 19, which redirects to former NTSC channel 15 via PSIP...

 in Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...

. Syndicated

Television syndication

In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 programming on KQDS includes: Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...

, Frasier

Frasier

Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

, Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...

, Family Feud and According to Jim

According to Jim

According to Jim is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children. It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001 to June 2, 2009.-Synopsis:Jim is an abrasive but lovable suburban father...

.

Outlying translators

All translators except K31GH and K39GG have construction permits to air low-powered digital signals.

Call letters	Channel	City of license	Transmitter location
K15GT	15	Hibbing Hibbing, Minnesota Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,361 at the 2010 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world. U.S...	southwest of downtown
K29EB	29	Grand Rapids Grand Rapids, Minnesota As of the census of 2000, there were 7,764 people, 3,446 households, and 1,943 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.8 people per square mile . There were 3,621 housing units at an average density of 493.3 per square mile...	northwest of Taconite Taconite, Minnesota Taconite is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 360 at the 2010 census.U.S. Highway 169 serves as a main arterial route in the community.-History:...
K31GH	31	Hayward, Wisconsin Hayward, Wisconsin Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, next to the Namekagon River. The population was 2,129 at the 2000 census. The city is surrounded by the Town of Hayward.-Transportation:U.S...	east of city
W32CV	32	Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The population was 6,293 at the 2000 census. The city is on US 2 and is situated opposite the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan, situated on the same line...	Hurley, Wisconsin Hurley, Wisconsin Hurley is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,818 at the 2000 census. It is directly across the Montreal River from Ironwood, Michigan.-History:...
K39GG	39	Aitkin Aitkin, Minnesota As of the census of 2000, there were 1,984 people, 892 households, and 434 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,150.3 people per square mile . There were 969 housing units at an average density of 561.8 per square mile...	east of Rabbit Lake Township along the Crow Wing Crow Wing County, Minnesota Crow Wing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 62,500. Its county seat is Brainerd.-Geography:...  and Aitkin Aitkin County, Minnesota Aitkin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population is 16,202. Its county seat is Aitkin. A portion of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is in the county.-History:...  County line
K45JD	45	International Falls International Falls, Minnesota International Falls is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,424 at the 2010 census....	east of city
K45??	45	Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 8,695 at the 2010 census....
K47IR	47	Virginia Virginia, Minnesota As of the census of 2000, there were 9,157 people, 4,333 households, and 2,270 families residing in the city. The population density was 486.1 people per square mile . There were 4,692 housing units at an average density of 249.1 per square mile...	Midway

History

The station signed-on as KNLD on September 20, 1994 airing an analog signal on UHF channel 21. However, very few people knew the station was actually on-the-air at this time as it aired at low power with an extremely limited schedule usually only a few hours in the morning to meet minimum Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) requirements for keeping its license. The station was Duluth's first independent station, and although its lineup once included Big Ten

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

, most of the schedule was filled with the Shop at Home Network

Shop at Home Network

The Shop at Home Network was a television network in the United States Before its acquisition by Jewelry Television in 2006, The E. W. Scripps Company owned and operated the network from 2002 until 2006, when the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21...

 by the late-1990s.

In 1998, Red River Broadcasting (via sister company KQDS Acquisition Corporation) purchased KNLD and several area radio stations, and later changed the TV station's call sign to KQDS-TV. The new owners found some controversy as they tried to upgrade the station. It was attempting to construct a new tower to replace its old one adjacent to Duluth Central High School but some school and city officials expressed concern about the danger of ice falling from the tower onto the school parking lot. Although the new tower had already been approved by city officials, KQDS agreed to build it further from the parking lot than initially planned.

On September 1, 1999, it became the area's first-ever Fox affiliate while increasing its transmitting power and adding eight translator stations. Previously, area cable systems had piped in Fox programming from Twin Cities stations--KMSP-TV

KMSP-TV

KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...

 from 1986 to 1988 and WFTC

WFTC

WFTC, channel 29, is a MyNetworkTV owned and operated television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area...

 from 1988 onward. On February 1, 2009, this station ceased analog transmissions and now broadcasts only in digital.

News operation

Early in KQDS's Fox affiliation, it experimented with a 9 p.m. newscast produced by NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate KBJR. It was broadcast out of that station's studios on South Lake Avenue in Duluth and was anchored by Mark Mallory with meteorologist Paul Heggen and sports from Tom Hansen. The broadcast was canceled after about nine months due to low ratings and was replaced by a half-hour simulcast of CNN Headline News

CNN Headline News

HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...

. KBJR's 9 o'clock broadcast resurfaced in September 2002 when that station launched a UPN

UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

 affiliate on its second digital subchannel.

KQDS currently produces a live newscast twice nightly during the week at 6 and 9pm, and once per evening on the weekends at 9. The weeknight show debuted on March 12, 2007 with co-anchors Amy Rutledge and Nick LaFave (the only dual anchor team in the market

Media market

A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...

). Rutledge co-anchored at CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate KDLH

KDLH

KDLH is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Iron Range area of Northeastern Minnesota that is licensed to Duluth. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter west of downtown in Hilltop Park. Owned by the Malara Broadcast Group, the station is...

 until it was combined with KBJR in March 2005. The Fox 21 News staff at one time included veterans of every commercial station in the area. The Sunday newscast was added on August 26, 2007 and was the first one in the area. The Saturday production was added on November 29, 2008 and also holds that distinction.

In its first ratings period in May 2007, KQDS was third among all evening newscasts. It drew more viewers than KBJR's Northland's NewsCenter

Northland's NewsCenter

The Northland's NewsCenter, began in 2005 but not completed until early 2006, is a collective name for news for the Duluth, Minnesota area's NBC, CBS, MyNetworkTV and The CW stations all operated or owned by Granite Broadcasting. It was originated from KBJR-TV's newscasts but now provides content...

 Tonight at 9 and KDLH's 10 p.m. shows. In August, after just six months on-air, Fox 21 News was nominated for three Upper Midwest Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

s in the categories of "Best Newscast", "Best News Special", and "Investigative Series". KQDS provides weather forecasts for the Red Rock Radio-owned stations in the market. July 2009 showed to be this station's best ratings period to date. It came in third place with about 8,650 viewers just about 2,000 less than KBJR's 10 o'clock show. In Fall 2009, this station was the winner of two regional Emmys for "Best Newscast" and "Overall Station Excellence". On June 28, 2010, Fox 21 News at 6 debuted.

News team

Anchors

• Dan Hanger : Main Anchor / Reporter
• Diane Alexander : Co-Anchor / Reporter
• Jacob Kittilstad : Weekend Anchor / Northern Wisconsin
  Northern Highland
  The Northern Highland is a geographical region covering much of the northern territory of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The region stretches from the state border with Minnesota in the west to the Michigan border in the east, and from Douglas and Bayfield Counties in the north to Wood and Portage...
  
   and Upper Peninsula of Michigan
  Upper Peninsula of Michigan
  The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
  
  Reporter

Reporters

• Jeremy Scott : Evening Reporter
• Dana Thayer : Weekend Reporter
• Chaas Toborg : Weekend Producer / Intern Reporter
• Maya Holmes : Reporter

Storm Tracker Weather Team

• Jason Sydejko : Chief Meteorologist
• Hanna Brewer : Weekend Meteorologist

Sports Team

• Greg Chandler : Sports Director
• Eric Gullickson : Weekend Sports Anchor / Reporter

Photojournalists

• Harry Baker : Chief Photojournalist
• Adam Jagunich
• Jeff Ernewein
• Kristian Tharaldson
• Derek Seashore
• Nathaniel LeCapitaine : Sports Photojournalist

Production and Management

• Jason Vincent : News Director
• Melissa Burlaga : Assignment Manager / Producer
• Jesse Gangi : Web Manager / Operator
• Jesse Porter : Production Manager / Director
• Josh Miller : Assistant Production Manager / Director
• Kyle Wanek : Weekend Director
• Jessie Wagner : Production Assistant / Graphics Operator
• Brian Quam : Production Assistant / Audio Operator
• Jake Rowe : Production Assistant / Graphics Operator
• Jakob Randa : Production Assistant
• Joe Mann : Production Assistant

Past Employees

• Nick LaFave : Main Anchor / Reporter ~ Now the Main Anchor at KTAL in Shreveport, LA
• Beth Jett : Co-Anchor / Reporter ~ Now a Reporter / Anchor at WHNT in Huntsville, AL
• Tracee Tolentino : Weekend Anchor / Reporter ~ Now a Reporter at WKRN in Nashville, TN
• Chris Nettleton : Sports Director
• Chris Snider : Chief Meteorologist
• Sam Ryan : Weekend Meteorologist ~ Now the Morning Meteorologist at WSAW, Wausau, WI
• Bonnie McLaughlin : Health Reporter, Weekend Meteorologist
• Randy Howe : Now the Sports Reporter at KVBC in Reno, NV
• Joy Redmond : Now the Main Anchor at KTXL in Jackson, MS
• Karl Spring : Now does weather for KMSP in Minneapolis, MN
• Todd Nelson : Now with WeatherNation
• Lisa Waldrup : Now with Minnesota Dept. of Revenue
• Amy Rutledge : Now with Minnesota Power
• Makenzi Henderson : Co-anchor / Reporter
• Jenn O'Neill

External links

• http://www.fox21online.com