WDAY-TV

WDAY-TV, digital channel 21 (virtual channel 6), is the ABC affiliate television station for Fargo, North Dakota. The station serves the southern half of the Fargo-Grand Forks television market, with WDAZ-TV serving the northern half. It broadcasts from a 1,000-foot (300 m) tower located near Amenia, North Dakota. WDAY is offered on cable channel 6 in most areas.

WDAY-TV

Fargo, North Dakota
Branding	WDAY 6 Television (general) WDAY 6 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Your News Leader
Channels	Digital: 21 (UHF) Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
Subchannels	6.1 ABC HD 6.2 The CW 6.3 Storm Tracker/WDAY Radio audio
Affiliations	ABC (secondary 1953-1959, primary since 1983)
Owner	Forum Communications Company
First air date	June 1, 1953
Call letters' meaning	taken from sister radio station, which was randomly-assigned by the FCC [1]
Sister station(s)	WDAY (AM), WDAZ-TV
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 6 (VHF, 1953-2009)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953-1983)
Transmitter power	1000 kW
Height	322 m
Facility ID	22129
Transmitter coordinates	47°0′27.9″N 97°12′3.6″W
Website	www.wday.com

The station is owned by Forum Communications of Fargo, which also owns WDAY Radio and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

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.

History

WDAY-TV went on the air for the first time in 1953 as the third television station in North Dakota, and the first in the eastern part of the state. It was originally an NBC affiliate, but shared ABC programming with KXJB-TV until KXGO-TV (channel 11, later KTHI-TV and now KVLY-TV) signed on in 1959. It swapped affiliations with KTHI and became an ABC affiliate in 1983, a year after former sister station KSFY-TV switched from NBC to ABC.

Unlike rivals KXJB and KVLY, WDAY-TV is all but unviewable in the northern part of the market, including Grand Forks. It must conform its signal to protect CBC Television's Winnipeg station, CBWT, which signed on a year after WDAY-TV. To solve this problem, it signed onsemi-satellite WDAZ-TV in 1967. WDAZ-TV identifies as a station in its own right, producing its own newscasts and airing its own commercials. However, it rebroadcasts most of WDAY-TV's syndicated programming, and the two stations often share news stories. WDAZ serves the northern part of the Fargo-Grand Forks market, while WDAY-TV serves the southern portion.

In 1998, WDAY-TV launched a cable channel carrying The WB 100+ and The WB programming. The channel became "Fargo CW", and became available over the air as a digital subchannel of WDAY-TV. Fargo CW also carries programming from The CW Plus. In 2007, WDAY began broadcasting in high-definition.

WDAY-TV is one of the few stations in the country that still signs off at night. It goes off the air after the 1:06 am rebroadcast of WDAY News at 10 and does not air World News Now. NBA Countdown is frequently declined by the station to air additional paid programming on Sunday mornings.

Its daytime schedule includes the long-running sitcom Coach.

WDAY-TV is one of the western most stations in the country whose callsign begins with W. Most stations west of the Mississippi begin with K, however WDAY radio licensed its call letters before the U.S. government moved the K-W boundary in 1923 from the state borders between 102 and 104 degrees West longitude (including the North Dakota-Montana border) to the Mississippi River.

WDAY will broadcast in digital format only, effective June 12, 2009.

News and sports

WDAY-TV produces local newscasts during Monday through Friday at 6:00am, 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 10:00pm, Saturdays at 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 10:00pm, and a Sunday newscast at 10:00pm. The morning newscast, First News, at 6:00am Monday through Fridays, is simulcast on WDAZ-TV. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WDAY does not air midday news during the week.

The station also broadcasts some North Dakota State University football and basketball games as well as WDAZ-produced University of North Dakota hockey games.

News team

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Travis Skonseng – weekday mornings First News
• Rebecca Lebak- weekday mornings First News
• Robin Heubner – weeknights at 5 pm
• Dana Mogck – weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 pm
• Kerstin Kealy – weeknights at 6 and 10 pm
• Drew Trafton- weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
• Katie Lange – weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter

StormTRACKER Weather

• John Wheeler – chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 pm
• Daryl Ritchison – First News Meteorologist
• Aaron White- weekend Meteorologist

Sports team

• Dom Izzo – sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 pm
• Jody Norstedt – sports anchor; weekend evenings
• Trevor Peterson – sports reporter; also photographer
• Eric Manlove – sports reporter; also photographer

Reporters

• Kevin Wallevand – feature reporter
• Danielle Miller
• Becky Parker
• Kay Cooley
• Andrea Hubbell

WDAY 6 Fargo Television-

Past on-air staff

• Marv Bossart, News Anchor 1958-2000
• Najla Amundson, News Anchor (now Media Relations Director for NDSU)
• Austen Schauer, Weekend Anchor (KVRR-TV, Fargo, ND)
• Kip Hines, Weather (KVRR-TV, Fargo, ND).
• Rich Lodewyk, Sports Anchor
• Steve Hallstrom, Sports Anchor
• Justin White, Weekend Sports Anchor
• Lon Francis
• Karena Lunday
• Dana Turtle, Meteorologist (WSYX-TV) Columbus, Ohio)
• Maureen Zimmerman
• Kathy Reynolds
• Eric Widmann
• Stacie Schaible (WFLA-TV) Tampa, Florida)
• Steve Bergeson, Reporter
• Dan Anderson, Reporter
• Jack Sand
• Jim Shaw (KVRR-TV, Fargo, ND)
• Ed Schultz
• Kelsey Soby (KMSP-TV, Minneapolis, MN)
• Al Aamodt
• Nate Aamodt
• Matt Warner (KSPR-TV, Springfield, MO)

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• WDAY News (1970s–1980s)
• WDAY NewsCenter 6 (1980s–1999)
• WDAY News (1999–2010)
• WDAY 6 News (2010–present)

Station slogans

• Your News Leader (1996–present)

Fargo CW

Fargo CW is a cable-only station with WB affiliation, and branded as "WBFG", a designation going back to its launch as a station transmitting the The WB 100+ distant network schedule to the area over cable exclusively. When The CW launched in September 2006 WBFG switched over to the distant The CW Plus schedule and eventually moved onto WDAY-DT2 to provide all viewers CW service in the area.

Gallery

This WDAY logo in the station ID was used when it had NBC affiliation and KTHI (now KVLY) had ABC affiliation. It featured the stations then newsteam (from left: sportscaster Terry Dean, meteorolgist Dewey Bergquist and longtime news anchor Marv Bossart) and showed the temperature of Fargo (67 degrees)

Former WDAY logo introduced in 1983 when its affliliation changed to ABC. Variations of this logo were used until 2005.

Translators

WDAY is broadcasted on the following translators (low-powered rebroadcasters):

• K02DD Channel 2 Jamestown, ND
• K02MM Channel 2 Fergus Falls, MN

See also

• WDAY (AM)
• WDAZ-TV
• The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

Themes

• Alchemy Music

External links

• WDAY -TVwebsite
• Fargo CW
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WDAY
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for K02DD
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for K02MM
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WDAY-TV
• Program Information for WDAY at TitanTV.com

1. ^ Congress delays digital TV conversion, The Forum, Fargo ND, February 5, 2009