The station is most notable for using the third tallest above-ground structure in the world for broadcasting its signal. The KVLY-TV mast rises 2,063 feet (628.8 m) high. KVLY is owned by Hoak Media Corporation of Dallas, Texas.
The station signed on in 1959 as KXGO-TV (for FarGO), an ABC affiliate. From 1962 to 1963 it used the call letters KEND-TV.
In 1963, channel 11 moved to its current tower near Blanchard, North Dakota, and became known as KTHI-TV (which stands for Tower-HI). In 1983 KTHI became an NBC affiliate, swapping affiliations with longtime NBC affiliate WDAY-TV. The current call sign, adopted in 1995, represents the station's slogan, "The Valley's Choice for Local News," as it serves the communities along the Red River of the North and its tributaries.
From 1968 until the mid 1980s, KTHI-TV (as it was then still known) was carried by cable systems acrossManitoba and northwestern Ontario. When KTHI switched affiliation to NBC, it was replaced by ABC affiliateWDAZ-TV in Grand Forks, until Canadian cable companies were granted permission to replace most of the North Dakota stations with network affiliates from Detroit, Michigan.
In September 2005, ten years after changing its call sign from KTHI, KVLY became the first major network affiliate in Fargo to broadcast in high-definition. In May 2006, KVLY made its logo bolder to reflect the change to HDTV.
KVLY is the second most watched television station in the Red River Valley behind WDAY-TV/WDAZ-TV, which are owned by Forum Communications Company.
Meyer Broadcasting of Bismarck, North Dakota, owner of KFYR-TV in Bismarck and its network of satellites in western North Dakota, bought the station in 1995. It sold its television stations to Sunrise Television in 1997. In 2002, Sunrise sold its North Dakota stations to the Wicks Group of New York City. Hoak bought all of Wicks' television stations, including KVLY, in January 2007.
In April 2007, KVLY-TV and KXJB-TV began simulcasting weekend newscasts, and in November 2007, the stations began simulcasting news during weekdays along with rebranding as Valley News Live. KXJB uses its "4" bug, while KVLY uses the "11" bug during newscasts.
KXJB and KVLY have broadcast in only digital format since February 16, 2009.[1]
In January 2010, KVLY-TV began broadcasting the This TV network on subchannel 11.2.
News
The KVLY-TV mast seen close up
Longtime personalities at the station include Charley Johnson, who was General Manager, as well as Daron Selvig and Robin Huebner. KVLY and the other NBC stations in North Dakota broadcast the North Dakota state high school football, hockey, and basketball tournaments annually.
A bobblehead of former meteorologist "Too Tall Tom" Szymanski, now of KXMB-TV]News/station presentationNewscast titles *The Red River Valley Report (1953-1959) *Your Esso Reporter (1959-1965) *The 6 'O Clock Report/The 10 'O Clock Report (1965-1970s) *Action News (1970s-1976) *TV-11 Newswatch (1976-1980s) *News 11 (1980s-1995) *KVLY News 11 (1995–2007) *Valley News Live (2007–present)
Station slogans
*Hello North Dakota, Hello TV-11 *Come on Along with TV-11 *TV-11, Let's All Be There *The Stars Are Back on TV-11 *The Valley's New Choice for News (1995–1997) *The Valley's Choice for Local News (1997–2010) *People You Know, News You Trust (2011–present)
