| Fargo, North Dakota | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Fox TV |
| Slogan | First on Fox |
| Channels | Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 15 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 15.1 Fox (HDTV) |
| Translators | (see article) |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Red River Broadcasting (Red River Broadcast Company, LLC) |
| First air date | February 14, 1983 |
| Call letters' meaning | KVRR: Valley of the Red River (coverage area) |
| Former callsigns | KVNJ-TV (1983-1985) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 15 (UHF, 1983-2009) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1983-1986) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
| Height | 379 m |
| Facility ID | 55372 |
| Website | www.kvrr.com |
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. It also operates three full-powered satellite stations--KJRR in Jamestown, North Dakota (digital channel 7) KBRR in Thief River Falls/Grand Forks (digital channel 10), and KNRR, which is licensed to Pembina but has a majority of their coverage area in southern Manitoba and Winnipeg. The four stations are collectively branded only as FOX without any sort of on-air regional, channel, or call letter branding outside of FCC-required station identifications and the logo shown to the right, a rarity among American television stations.
KJRR, KBRR and KNRR simulcast KVRR fully, but each has differing advertising targeting each station's coverage area. KVRR is offered on cable channel 10 in most areas including Fargo and Moorhead.
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KVRR signed on in 1983 as independent station KVNJ-TV. It was the first independent station in the Dakotas, as well as the first new full-fledged commercial station in the Fargo-Moorhead market in 29 years (WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks had signed on in 1967, but is reckoned as a semi-satellite of WDAY-TV). It adopted its current calls in 1985, the same year KBRR signed on. KNRR followed in 1986. Shortly afterward, the three-station network became a charter affiliate of the Fox network. KJRR joined the group in 1988.
The stations also carried UPN programming at a recorded delay when UPN signed on in 1995 until 1998, since KMSP-TV in Minneapolis was available on cable television in most of the KVRR viewing area. (When KMSP switched to Fox in 2002, KCPM in Grand Forks signed on as a full-time UPN station in 2003.)
In July of 2000, KVRR began producing the first prime-time newscast in the market with "Fox News at 9". They later added a "Fox News at 6" newscast. On September 19, 2011 they expanded their "Fox News at 9" from a 35 minute newscast to a full hour.
KVRR became the first commercial station (Prairie Public was the first station) in eastern North Dakota to broadcast in digital. On February 1, 2009, KVRR and KNRR ceased analog transmissions, and broadcast only in digital. KJRR and KBRR flash-cut to digital on the same day. Only KVRR broadcasted in in high-definition until March 2011, when KBRR, KJRR and KNRR upgraded to HD. On March 18, 2011, cable provider Midcontinent Communications added the KBRR HD signal to the Grand Forks and Devils Lake areas as it became available.[1]
KNRR operates on a channel formerly occupied by KCND-TV, a station formerly owned by Gordon McLendon. In September 1975, Izzy Asper acquired the station and relocated it to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where it relaunched as CKND-TV channel 9, a Global O&O today.
Ten years later, in 1986, channel 12 returned to the air, as KVRR satellite, KNRR.
While KNRR's coverage area includes Winnipeg, it is not carried on Shaw or MTS TV, who opted for Rochester's WUHF instead due to CRTC concerns that Winnipeg advertisers would purchase time from KNRR rather than Winnipeg television stations.
With Winnipeg being more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) from its transmitter, KNRR is not easily available in parts of Winnipeg, such as River Heights and Winnipeg's North End, due to the grade B contour of the signal and interference from hydro lines and telephone relay stations.[2]
On June 12, 2009, KNRR went off-air as its full power post-transition facility was not constructed due to costs. Since the rural Pembina area has few advertisers that could afford television advertising, along with very few Winnipeg and southern Manitoba businesses advertising due to a lack of cable coverage, the cost of running a station in the area is not as profitable as it would be in a general market area.[3]
In late October 2009 KNRR returned to the air again over digital channel 12[4].
As with most programming, KVRR produces and simulcasts the newscasts on KJRR, KBRR and KNRR. Regional commercials are inserted into the microwave feeds for the other stations at the Fargo studio. The newscasts have won local broadcaster awards, and have been competitive in viewership ratings. After several years off the web, KVRR launched a website on September 15, 2011.
KVRR also operate these full-power satellite stations outside of the Fargo-Moorhead area. The stations fully simulcast KVRR, but air separate commercials.
| Station | City of license | Channel | First air date | Callsign meaning | ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter Coordinates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KJRR | Jamestown, North Dakota | Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 7 (PSIP) |
1988 | Jamestown-Red River | 21.3 kW | 135 m | 55364 | |||
| KBRR | Thief River Falls, Minnesota (Grand Forks, North Dakota) |
Digital: 10 (VHF) Virtual: 10 (PSIP) |
September 1985 | B-Red River, or onomatopoeia for BRR based on station's northern location |
9.3 kW | 198.1 m | 55370 | |||
| KNRR | Pembina, North Dakota | Digital: 12 (VHF) Virtual: 12 (PSIP) |
1986 | Northern Red River Valley | 4.4 kW | 427 m | 55362 | |||
| Translators | ||||||||||
| K05IV | Park Rapids, Minnesota | Analog: 05 (VHF) (repeats KVRR) |
Unknown | N/A | 0.019 kW | 95 m | 55374 | |||
| K46BV | Roseau, Minnesota | Analog: 46 (UHF) (repeats KBRR) |
Unknown | N/A | 2.34 kW | 119 m | 57688 | |||
Rural areas of the market gets KVRR from two low-power translators. K05IV Park Rapids is owned by Red River; K46BV Roseau is owned by Roseau County itself. Park Rapids is in the northwestern portion of the Minneapolis/St. Paul market.
K61BJ in Donnelly, MN, K54AT in Brainerd, MN and K33HB in Devils Lake, ND are no longer active translator sites for KVRR. K61BJ was thought to be in operation by KVRR but due to lack of communication it was found that the translator was struck by lightning around three years ago (2005 or so) and was not repairable. K54AT was taken off the air in mid-April 2008. This was due to several reasons, the most significant being that the translator was no longer in the DMA of KVRR. K54AT is off the air permanently and will not be restarted. K33HB is off-air due to tower collapse.[5]
KVRR originally had translators in Alexandria, MN, Bemidji, MN, Grand Rapids, MN, Red Lake, MN, and in Walker, MN. However, the Bemidji translator was forced off the air by the sign-on of KFTC. The Grand Rapids translator now carries sister station KQDS, a Duluth Fox affiliate owned by Red River Broadcasting whose non-news programming originates from Fargo. The Alexandria, Red Lake and Walker translators, owned by private groups, now carry different stations from the Twin Cities.
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