| Devils Lake/Grand Forks, North Dakota | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WDAZ 8 Television (general) WDAZ 8 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Your Home Team |
| Channels | Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 8 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 8.1 ABC HD 8.2 The CW 8.3 Storm Tracker/WDAY Radio audio |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Forum Communications Company |
| First air date | 1967[1] |
| Call letters' meaning | disambiguation from WDAY-TV as second station (possibly to denote "DevilZ Lake") |
| Sister station(s) | WDAY (AM), WDAY-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF, 1967-2009) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1967-1983) |
| Transmitter power | 19 kW |
| Height | 451 m |
| Facility ID | 22124 |
| Website | www.wdaz.com |
WDAZ-TV, channel 8, is an ABC affiliate located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The station serves the northern half of the Fargo-Grand Forks television market. The station also has significant viewership in southern Manitoba, Canada including Winnipeg and Steinbach as it is carried on cable. WDAZ is offered on cable channel 8 in most areas including Grand Forks and Devils Lake. It can be seen on Shaw cable channel 7 in Winnipeg, Steinbach, Portage la Prairie, and most other areas of southern Manitoba. The station broadcasts on MTS TV cable channel 13 in Winnipeg and most areas of southern Manitoba.
The station is owned by Forum Communications of Fargo, North Dakota, which also owns the Grand Forks Herald. WDAZ also operates a news bureau and sales office in Devils Lake, North Dakota; its city of license. The station broadcasts from a 1,400-foot (430 m) tower located near Dahlen, North Dakota, which is roughly between Grand Forks and Devils Lake.
While WDAZ identifies as a station in its own right, it is generally considered to be a semi-satellite of WDAY-TV in Fargo, North Dakota. It produces its own newscasts, and airs its own commercials and station identifications. However, it rebroadcasts most of WDAY-TV's syndicated programming, and the two stations often share news stories. Master control and some internal operations are based at the facilities of WDAY in Fargo. WDAZ serves the northern portion of the Fargo-Grand Forks market, while WDAY-TV serves the southern portion. The two stations are counted as a single unit for Nielsen ratings purposes.
WDAZ is noted for being nationally honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage during the Red River Flood of 1997. In February 2007, the station also received exposure on YouTube for its report on the emo music and clothing trend.[2]
WDAZ has broadcast exclusively in digital since February 17, 2009.[3]
Fargo CW, a CW affiliate is carried on a digital subchannel of WDAY (channel 6.2 PSIP) and WDAZ (channel 8.2 PSIP). Fargo CW is offered on CableOne cable channel 8 in the Fargo-Moorhead area. It can be seen on Midcontinent cable channel 14 in Fargo, Moorhead, and most other areas. It can be seen on Midcontinent cable channel 7 in the Grand Forks area.
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WDAZ went on the air for the first time on January 29, 1967 as a semi-satellite of WDAY-TV. Unlike the other Fargo stations, WDAY-TV does not put a strong signal into Grand Forks and the northern part of the market. It must conform its signal to protect CBC Television station CBWT of Winnipeg, which is also on channel 6. Originally an NBC affiliate, it switched to ABC along with sister station WDAY-TV in May 1983; KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV) became the new NBC affiliate. As a result, KTHI was removed from the terrestrial cable television service in southwestern Manitoba (which already had an NBC affiliate in KMOT, Minot), and Saskatchewan (which carried NBC via KUMV, Williston), and WDAZ continues to be carried on Canadian cable along with the PBS affiliated Prairie Public Television network (via KGFE, Grand Forks) in southern Manitoba, while other North Dakota broadcasts were replaced with Detroit and/or Toledo, Ohio stations.
The station won the Edward R. Murrow Award for continuing coverage in 1997 for staying on-the-air providing coverage of the 1997 flood while Grand Forks was evacuated. In 2007, WDAZ began broadcasting in high-definition.
WDAZ is one of the few stations in the country that still signs off at night, and does not show World News Now. It is also known for pre-empting most airings of NBA Countdown on Sunday mornings during the NBA season in favor of paid programming.
A weekly program based on the athletics of the University of North Dakota, called Sioux Sports Extra, plays highlights and analysis for the school's football and basketball teams, along with interviews and previews. WDAZ formerly broadcast a political talk show called Agenda, which was primarily on local and regional issues. WDAY-TV produces a local outdoors show called Great Outdoors, seen occasionally on WDAZ.
WDAZ produces local newscasts during Monday through Friday at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m., Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and a Sunday newscast at 10:00 p.m. The morning newscast, First News, at 6:00 a.m. Monday through Fridays, is simulcast with WDAY-TV. Longtime WDAZ personalities include news anchors Milo Smith and Terry Dullum, and sports anchor Pat Sweeney. Local weather forecasts are pre-recorded from WDAY-TV meteorologists. Chuck Bundlie was the station's first news director and anchor, serving from 1967-1992. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WDAZ does not air midday news during the week.
As a whole, KVLY-TV has been the historic ratings leader, with WDAY/WDAZ being the runner-up; WDAY and WDAZ counted as one station for ratings and regulatory purposes (Fargo and Grand Forks are in the same Nielsen TV market). However, WDAZ has historically been well ahead of KVLY in the ratings for the northern part of the market. This is largely because it is the only station airing local news for Grand Forks and the northern part of the market. The station has claimed to have more people in Grand Forks watching its newscasts than its competitors (KVLY/KXJB and KBRR) combined.
WDAZ is also known for its coverage of University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletics. WDAZ airs a weekly sports program, Sioux Sports Extra with Jody Norstedt for Fighting Sioux football and basketball,featuring interviews, highlights, and previews. The station also produces telecasts in conjunction with the University of North Dakota both for its own airwaves and a cable network known as the Fighting Sioux Sports Network. This network, also known as FSSN, broadcasts Fighting Sioux hockey, football, and basketball games which are distributed on cable television by Midcontinent Communications and other cable systems in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The Fighting Sioux Sports Network is also available all across the North American continent via Free-To-Air satellite. WDAZ Sports Director Pat Sweeney handles play-by-play commentating on FSSN.
Although WDAZ broadcasts in a small market that reaches only 82,000 television households, the station is also carried on Shaw Communications and MTS TV in southern Manitoba, including the Winnipeg area, reaching an additional 256,000 homes. Winnipeg is the center of a market with over 1 million people—more than three times the entire population of WDAZ's American coverage area (and indeed double the entire population of the Fargo/Grand Forks market).
WDAZ and Prairie Public Television are the only stations from this region that still air in Manitoba, after KVLY-TV (formerly KTHI) and KXJB were replaced with other network affiliates in March 1986. This was due to a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision that allowed the Winnipeg cable companies to replace the CBS and NBC affiliates with Detroit stations because of complaints about poor reception, but denied them the ability to replace WDAZ with WXYZ or PPTV with WTVS (although this station would later be added as a second PBS station to cable customers). [2] Shaw Cable airs WDAZ on cable channel 7 and MTS TV airs WDAZ on cable channel 13.
WDAZ can also be seen over the air in extreme southern Manitoba, and in southern parts of Winnipeg, with a rooftop antenna. WDAZ's over-the-air signal is spotty at best in Manitoba, as its transmitter is more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Winnipeg.
Advertising from Winnipeg businesses sometimes air on the station, although this is sometimes ineffective due to simultaneous substitution. This practice requires Shaw and MTS to replace WDAZ's signal with that of a Winnipeg station (usually either CKY-TV or CKND-TV) whenever the same program and episode airs at the same time. Because WDAZ is carried on cable in southern Manitoba, it has become somewhat of a regional superstation.
Some areas that carry WDAZ on cable in western Minnesota are actually in the northwestern part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul television market.
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| RF Channel | Subchannel | Video Programming | Audio Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | 8.1 | ABC HD | |
| 8.6 | 8.2 | The CW | |
| 8.7 | 8.3 | Storm Tracker | WDAY AM 970 WDAY-TV |
WDAZ rebroadcasts on the following translators (low power rebroadcasters):
WDAZ-TV broadcasts from a 445.2 meter (1,460.2 feet) high guy-wired aerial mast, making it the third tallest tower in North Dakota after the KVLY-TV tower and KXJB-TV tower. The tower is located in Dahlen, North Dakota, roughly located between Grand Forks and Devils Lake. The tower was also used by KGFE of Grand Forks until an ice storm damaged equipment in 2004.
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