WDIO-DT

branding

WDIO

translators

see

affiliations

10.1/13.1: ABC for others, see

country

owner

Hubbard Broadcasting

licensee

WDIO-TV, LLC

licensing authority

FCC

website

https://www.wdio.com/

name1

WDIO-DT

name2

WIRT-DT

city1

Duluth, Minnesota

city2

Hibbing, Minnesota

airdate1

January 24, 1966

airdate2

August 31, 1967

digital1

10 (VHF)

virtual1

virtual2

digital2

13 (VHF)

facility id1

71338

erp1

45 kW

erp2

13 kW

haat1

297 m

haat2

204 m

facility id2

71336

coordinates1

46.7875°N, -92.12278°W

coordinates2

47.38139°N, -92.95444°W

callsign meaning1

Duluth Channel "IO" (10)

callsign meaning2

Iron Range Television‡R1R‡

former callsigns1

WDIO-TV (1966–2009)

former callsigns2

WIRT (1967–2009)

former channel numbers1

Analog: 10 (VHF, 1966–2009) Digital: 43 (UHF, 2002–2009)

former channel numbers2

Analog: 13 (VHF, 1967–2009) Digital: 36 (UHF, 2002–2009)

WDIO-DT (channel 10) in Duluth, Minnesota, and WIRT-DT (channel 13) in Hibbing, Minnesota, are television stations serving as the ABC affiliates for northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. The stations are owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. WDIO-DT's studios and transmitter facilities are located on Observation Road in Duluth.

WIRT-DT operates as a full-time satellite of WDIO; WIRT's transmitter is located at Maple Hill Park south of Hibbing. WIRT covers areas of Minnesota's Iron Range (including Grand Rapids, Virginia and Chisholm) that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WDIO, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. WIRT is a straight simulcast of WDIO; on-air references to WIRT are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)–mandated hourly station identifications during newscasts and other programming. Aside from the transmitter, WIRT does not maintain any physical presence locally in Hibbing.

History

WDIO-TV first went on the air on January 24, 1966,[2] and has transmitted from its first day in

News operation

WDIO/WIRT's newscasts were branded throughout the 1970s and 1980s as Action News. The station changed its branding to Eyewitness News in the early 1990s; it shared this branding with sister station KSTP-TV in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. However, the Eyewitness News branding was the station's only resemblance to KSTP. WDIO uses its own graphics and music packages.

WDIO and KSTP team up when breaking news happens (example: the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis) or for major election debates.

Longtime WDIO news anchor Dennis Anderson joined the station in 1969, initially as anchor of the nightly news' "Action Line" segment. He was promoted to chief anchor of the evening newscasts in 1970;[7] he later was the first local TV anchor to announce the sinking of the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald which sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Anderson retired Wednesday, May 25, 2011, after 42 years with the station.[8] Darren Danielson, previously of WDSE, replaced Anderson as anchor the following day, Thursday, May 26.[9]

In October 2009, 20-year veteran Deborah Anderson stepped down from being the lead anchor of the weekend newscasts. The station management filled the vacancy with reporters already employed with the station rather than searching elsewhere for a replacement.

At some point in late 2010 or early 2011, WDIO became the third station in the Duluth area to broadcast its local newscasts in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen.

The Eyewitness News branding was retired in January 2019 in favor of WDIO News along with a new logo and broadcast set.

Ratings

Soon after sign-on, WDIO shot to the top of the local news ratings and has remained there more or less ever since. During the 1970s and 1980s, WDIO dominated competitors KDLH and KBJR.

In the May 2007 ratings race, WDIO took first place in all timeslots except at 5 p.m., where they fell to NBC affiliate KBJR. In February 2008, WDIO won with number of viewers in the morning, and at 6 and 10 p.m. KBJR once again came out slightly ahead at 5 p.m. In July 2009, WDIO topped the ratings again. The 10 p.m. newscast had about 7,000 more viewers than second place KBJR. WDIO also won in the weekend ratings.

In November 2009, WDIO doubled the ratings of KBJR at the 10 p.m. newscast with a 12 share compared to KBJR's 6 rating and KDLH's 3. The station also swept the 5 and 6 p.m. time-slots and with a 14 and an 11 rating respectively. KBJR rated a 10 at the same timeslots. according to the Duluth News Tribune Take note that this ratings period marks one full year anniversary of WDIO's market dominance.

History

News operation

Ratings

Technical information

Subchannels

Analog-to-digital conversion

WIRT-DT translators

External links

References