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 operated through a local marketing agreement (LMA) by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. This makes it sister to NBC affiliate KBJR-TV and its semi-satellite KRII. KDLH and KBJR share studios on South Lake Avenue in Duluth. Syndicated programing on this station includes: Judge Judy and Inside Edition. KDLH can also be seen on KRII's third digital subchannel that broadcasts on UHF channel 11.3 from a transmitter in Meadow Brook.
 
| |
| Duluth, Minnesota-Superior, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KDLH 3 (general)
KDLH 3 News (weeknights) Northland's NewsCenter Northland CW 2 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Coverage. Community. Commitment. |
| Channels | Digital: 33 (UHF) &KRII-DT 11.3 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 3.1 CBS3.2 The CW |
| Translators | see article |
| Owner | Quincy Media |
| First air date | March 14, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | DuLutH |
| Sister station(s) | KBJR-TV
KRII |
| Former callsigns | KDAL-TV (1954-1979) |
| Former channel number(s) | 3 (VHF analog, 1954-2009) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1954-1955)ABC (secondary, 1954-1966)
Fox (secondary, 1996-2000) |
| Transmitter power | 26.1 kW63 kW (KRII-DT3) |
| Height | 292.9 m200.4 m (KRII-DT3) |
| Facility ID | 4691
82698 (KRII-DT3) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 46°47′7.1″N 92°7′16.3″W / 46.785306°N 92.121194°W / 46.785306; -92.121194
47°51′39″N 92°56′46″W / 47.86083°N 92.94611°W / 47.86083; -92.94611 (KRII-DT3) |
| Website | northlandsnewscenter.com |
Digital programming
Its signal is multiplexed. KDLH operates the area's CW affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as Northland CW 2, it is also offered on Charter channel 2 (hence the branding). KDLH-DT2 gets all of its programming from The CW Plus, and is offered in 480i widescreen.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 33.1 | main KDLH programming / CBS HD |
| 33.2 | KDLH-DT2 "Northland CW 2" |
Outlying repeaters
In addition to its main signal, KDLH is viewed through the following outlying repeater stations. "+" Denotes channel has an application to air a low-powered digital signal.
| Call sign | Channel | City of license | Licensee | Transmitter location | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +K51CM | 51 | International Falls | Koochiching County | southeast of city | |
| +K56BO | 56 | Birchdale | Koochiching County | southwest of Lowman | |
| K62BH-D | 62 | Max | EZ-TV, Inc. | southwest of town | has an application to air a low-powered digital signal on channel 38 |
| +K62BJ | 62 | Big Falls | Koochiching County | center of town | |
| K67CA-D | 67 | Bigfork | EZ-TV, Inc. | south of town along MN 38 | has an application to air a low-powered digital signal on channel 38 licensed to Bigfork / Marcell |
| K69FD | 69 | Kabetogama | Koochiching County | between Koochiching County line and U.S. 53 in St Louis County | has an application to air a low-powered digital signal on channel 36 |
History
KDLH began broadcasting on March 14, 1954 with the call sign KDAL-TV and aired an analog signal on VHF channel 3. The station was affiliated with NBC and was owned by Dalton LeMasurier along with KDAL-AM 610. It switched affiliations with WDSM-TV (now KBJR) in 1955 and joined CBS. It also aired some ABC programs sharing them with WDSM until WDIO-TV signed-on in 1966. During the late-1950s, KDAL was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. The LeMasurier family sold KDAL-AM-TV to what eventually became Tribune Broadcasting in 1960. Tribune sold KDAL-TV to Stauffer Communications in 1979 who changed the call letters to KDLH-TV. The station dropped the -TV suffix in 1991.
Stauffer merged with Morris Communications in 1995 but Morris was not allowed to keep the former Stauffer television stations. KDLH, along with most of its sisters, were sold to Benedek Broadcasting. That company merged with Gray Television in 2001 but KDLH was not included in the merger and was sold to Chelsey Broadcasting instead. New Vision Television bought the station in 2003.
In March 2005, the Malara Broadcast Group purchased channel 3 from New Vision and outsourced most of the station's functions to longtime rival KBJR who was owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. Under this agreement, KDLH laid-off most of its staff and KBJR began to handle nearly all of KDLH's operations. Filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) showed Malara could operate KDLH with as few as two people on the payroll.
KDLH's digital transmitter had been operating at reduced power with a substitute side-mounted antenna after a May 18, 2008 fire that severely damaged its main digital antenna. It returned to full power on UHF channel 33 by June 2009. In February 2009, Malara Broadcasting announced that KDLH would not make the switch to all digital later in the month due to the fire. With that announcement, the station was the only one in the area still broadcasting in analog after February 19 as KBJR, WDSE, WDIO, and KQDS-TV all went digital-only on that date. On June 12 at around 7 p.m., KDLH ceased normal broadcasting operations on its analog signal. At that time, the analog station began a nightlight signal consisting of a ten minute digital television informational video on a constant loop.
On June 26 two weeks after regular broadcasts were stopped, the nightlight signal was terminated with the help of Bob Peterson (a former engineer at the station who helped launch KDLH in 1954) bringing an end to all full-power analog broadcasting in the area. In November 2009, the station re-branded from "CBS 3" to "KDLH 3". This brought a new logo to the station for the first time since it merged with KBJR.
In July 2010, Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns competing operation WDIO/WIRT, filed a brief with the FCC asking for clarification and action on the KBJR/KDLH 'virtual duopoly', along with another operation in Rochester, arguing the arrangement violates the spirit of the law which in all but action outlaws duopoly operations in small markets, and alleging that the KBJR/KDLH shared services agreement violates FCC rules [1].
News operation
Its news logo seen during simulcasted KBJR newscasts.
While operating its own news department, KDLH was the last of the big three stations in Duluth to have a weeknight 5 o'clock broadcast. It aired Judge Judy in the time slot instead. In 2004, it debuted a 5 p.m. show that featured anchor Amy Rutledge and meteorologist Phil Johnson. This was replaced along with its 6 o'clock show with the current one at 5:30 when KDLH merged with KBJR in March 2005. Judge Judy has since reclaimed the 5 o'clock spot on channel 3 and the CBS Evening News airs at 6.
After the buyout, the station had its news department closed and merged with KBJR. To maintain a separate identity, there were some channel 6 personalities that were also seen on KDLH. However, due to KBJR's existing newscasts not all of that station's personnel were seen on channel 3. More recently the news teams of both stations have been downsized. KDLH's weekday morning show is known as Northland's NewsCenter Morning Plus and is essentially a simulcast of the second hour of KBJR's morning show, Northland's NewsCenter Today. Originally, it had been a separate ninety minute broadcast before being dropped in favor of a ninety minute simulcast of KBJR.
KDLH's Northland's NewsCenter at 5:30 had been anchored by Pat Kelly who was the only channel 3 news team member remaining after the KDLH sellout. Its weeknight 10 o'clock newscast, which continues to be a separate production, was known as Northland's NewsCenter Express and consisted of a ten minute news "capsule". The other 25 minutes was a Seinfeld rerun. After thirteen months of mediocre ratings, KDLH changed the 10 o'clock show to the traditional 35 minutes and re-branded it to Northland's NewsCenter Tonight. On Sunday nights at 10, there continues to be a ten minute Northland's NewsCenter Express update followed by Judge Judy. Otherwise, there are no weekend newscasts on KDLH. Saturday nights at 10, there is a local sports highlight show that airs known as Sports Zone.
KBJR produces a weeknight prime time newscast (known as Northland's NewsCenter at 9) on its second digital subchannel that has MyNetworkTV affiliation. This had been simulcasted on KDLH-DT2 "Northland CW 2" but was dropped. That station continues to airs the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz on weekdays from 5 to 8. KDLH and KBJR began broadcasting their local newscasts in 16x9 widescreen on May 4, 2009. They were the first television stations in the market to do so. Although not true high definition, the format matches the ratio of HD televisions. As of November, this station has now began to brand its separate weeknight shows as KDLH 3 News. These broadcasts air from a secondary set. It continues to use the Northland's NewsCenter branding when simulcasting KBJR's newscasts. On January 11, 2010, KDLH will begin airing the area's only weeknight 6:30 o'clock newscast.
Over the past two decades, KDLH has been at the bottom of the ratings with all of its newscasts. Once again in May 2007, the station came in last in all time slots. Its weeknight 10 o'clock show gathered about 1,000 viewers or about 200 less than the prime time broadcast on newly launched Fox affiliate KQDS.
In November 2009, KDLH remained at the bottom getting only a 3 share at 10:00 compared to a 5 on Fox 21's 9 p.m. newscast, a 6 share at sister station KBJR, and a 12 share for market leader WDIO. KDLH also received a 3 share at 5:30.
Newscast titles
- Dick Anthony's News
- Scene 3 News (1970s–1980s)
- KDLH News (1980s–1996)
- KDLH NewsChannel 3 (1996–2003)
- KDLH Channel 3 News (2003–2005)
- CBS 3 News (2005–2006)
- Northland's NewsCenter (2006–2010)
- KDLH 3 News (2010–2016)
- CBS 3 (2016–present)
News team
Anchors
Current news open seen weeknights at 5:30.
- Laura Langemo - weekday mornings and multimedia journalist
- Kevin Jacobsen - weeknights and producer
- Tom Hansen - Sports Director seen weeknights at 6:30 and 10
- Sports Zone host and "Athlete of the Week" segment producer
- Joe Dufek - Sports Zone host and multimedia journalist
Weather Now Meteorologists
- Adam Clark - Chief seen weeknights
- Jeff Edmondson - weekday mornings
- Dave Anderson - Sundays and multimedia journalist
Multimedia journalists
- Jeff Edmondson - "What's Cooking?" segment producer
- Barbara Reyelts - News Manager and investigative reporter
- LeAnn Wallace
- Trevor Roy
Former on-air staff
+ denotes personnel being released at KDLH sellout in 2005
- Pat Kelly- Anchor 1992–2008. retired.
- Karl Spring- Weather
- Bob Ormseth - anchor
- Richard (Heatwave) Berler (1976-1980)- Weather (Now at KGNS-TV Laredo, Texas 1980-current as of 2016)
- Dan Hanger - Weekday Mornings / Weeknight Reporter (Now at GapWest Broadcasting)
- Edward Moody- Mornings (2002-07) (Now at WHAM-TV)
- Matt Smith - Reporter (Now at WBAY-TV)
- Jason Kuss- Sports
- Rachel Slavik - Reporter/weekends (now at WVLA-TV Baton Rouge)
- Kellie LaVoie - Reporter (now at WFFF-TV Burlington, Vermont)
- Todd Nelson - Morning Weather (now at WeatherNation LLC)
- +Amy Rutledge - anchor
- +Phil Johnson - meteorologist (now at WDIO in Duluth)
- Chris Earl - sports (now anchor at KCRG in Cedar Rapids)
- +Chris Long - sports (now sports anchor at KSTP in St. Paul)
- Erin Jordan - weekend meteorologist- became morning meteorologist briefly after 2004 sellout. (now at KOLD-TV in Tucson)
- +Matt Brode - morning meteorologist (now at KVOA in Tucson)
- +Melissa Ellefson - weekend anchor
- +Gil David - reporter (now reporter at KESQ-TV in Palm Springs, California)
- +Trisha Volpe - reporter (now at KARE in Minneapolis)
- +Zach Wells - weekend anchor / reporter (now a sports reporter at WXIX in Cincinnati)
- +Eliabeth Ries - weekend and morning anchor / reporter (Now at KSTP-TV)
- +Lauren Kalb - reporter (now working for CBS' Amazing Race)
- Scott McLinden - morning anchor
- Bill Van Dusen - weekend meteorologist
- Sarah Carlstrom - morning news anchor (now at KPHO in Phoenix)
- Andrew Green - reporter
- Chris Buckley - based at KRII
- Trevor Roy - multimedia journalist
- Joel Runck - multimedia journalist
- Joe Thornton - anchor
- Lisa Blegen - reporter
- Marsh Nelson - sports
- Paul Guggenheimer - sports
- Michelle Lee - anchor (now at sister station KBJR)
- Darren Danielson - anchor
- Earl Henton - anchor (KDLH's first)
- Sven Sundgaard - meteorologist (now at KARE in Minneapolis)
- Bisi Onile-Ere- Mornings (now at WJRT-TV)
- Christina Munoz - Reporter
- Natasha Hassan - Reporter
- E.D. Hill - Currently anchor at Fox News Channel.
- Liz Brummond
- Tiffany Tarrolly
References
External links
- KDLH website
- KDLH mobile
- KDLH-DT2 "Northland CW 2"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KDLH
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K51CM
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K56BO
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K62BH-D
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K62BJ
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K67CA-D
- Query the FCC's TV station database for K69FD