View source for KQCD-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Dickinson, North Dakota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KQCD-TV
| above = {{ubl|[[Semi-satellite]] of [[KFYR-TV]],|[[Bismarck, North Dakota]]}}
| logo = KQCD 2023.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| image = West Dakota Fox (2014).svg
| image_size = 200px
| branding = {{ubl|KQCD-TV; NBC North Dakota|West Dakota Fox (7.2)|MeTV North Dakota (7.3)}}
| digital = 7 ([[VHF]])
| virtual = 7
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''7.1:''' [[NBC]]|'''7.2:''' [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|'''7.3:''' [[MeTV]]}}
| network = [[NBC North Dakota]]
| country = United States
| airdate = {{circa|1967}} (current full-power license dates from July 28, 1980)
| location = [[Dickinson, North Dakota]]
| callsign_meaning = Queen City Dickinson
| former_callsigns = K07HN ({{circa|1967}}–1980)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 7 (VHF, {{circa|1967}}–2009)|'''Digital:''' 18 ([[UHF]], until 2009)}}
| owner = [[Gray Media]]
| licensee = Gray Television Licensee, [[LLC]]
| sister_stations = KFYR-TV, [[KMOT]], [[KUMV-TV]]
| former_affiliations = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (secondary, {{circa|1967}}–1986)
| erp = 11.3 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|205|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 41430
| coordinates = {{coord|46|56|53|N|102|59|27|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=KQCD-TV}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.kfyrtv.com/}}
}}
'''KQCD-TV''' (channel 7) is a [[television station]] in [[Dickinson, North Dakota]], United States, affiliated with [[NBC]] and [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]. The station is owned by [[Gray Media]], and maintains a [[news bureau]] and advertising sales office on 21st Street East in Dickinson; its transmitter is located near [[South Heart, North Dakota]].

KQCD-TV is part of the four-station '''[[NBC North Dakota]]''' regional network of NBC affiliates in central and western North Dakota, originating from [[flagship station]] [[KFYR-TV]] (channel 5) in [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]]. The NBC North Dakota network relays NBC network and other programming from KFYR-TV across central and western North Dakota, as well as bordering counties in [[Montana]] and [[South Dakota]]. The four stations along with fellow NBC affiliate [[KVLY-TV]] in [[Fargo, North Dakota|Fargo]] often share news stories. [[Master control]] and some internal operations of KQCD are based at KFYR-TV's facilities on North 4th Street and East Broadway Avenue in downtown Bismarck. The four stations are counted as a single unit for [[Nielsen ratings|ratings]] purposes.

Though identifying as a separate station in its own right, KQCD-TV is a [[semi-satellite]] of KFYR-TV in Bismarck. While it airs separate commercials and [[station identification|legal identifications]], for most of the day it airs a time-shifted feed of KFYR-TV in [[Mountain Time]]. Most of the station's coverage area, including Dickinson itself, is in the Mountain Time Zone, and its [[prime time]] schedule starts at 6 p.m. rather than the usual 7 p.m. for its sister stations.

==History==
KQCD-TV debuted on January 25, 1980. It was the last station in what was then known as the Meyer Television Network to sign on, and has always been a semi-satellite of KFYR-TV. It replaced K07HN, a low-powered translator of KFYR-TV that had served the area since around 1967.<ref>http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1978/B-Television-Broadcasting-Yearbook-1978-Full.pdf Page B-152</ref><ref>TV Factbook II 1967, page 225-a</ref> Until KQCD's sign-on, KDIX-TV (channel 2, now [[KXMA-TV]]) aired a few NBC programs in off-hours.

Longtime owner Marietta Meyer Ekberg sold her broadcast holdings in 1997, with the television stations going to [[Smith Media|Sunrise Television Corporation]]. Sunrise sold them to The Wicks Group of Companies of [[New York City]].

[[Hoak Media]] bought KFYR-TV, KMOT, KUMV, and KQCD in July 2006, as well as [[KVLY-TV]] in [[Fargo, North Dakota|Fargo]] and [[KSFY]] in [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] and its satellite stations. On November 17, 2006, the sale was approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).

KQCD picked up [[MeTV]] in April 2013, with an official launch date of May 1, 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://northpine.com/|title=NorthPine: Upper Midwest Broadcasting|website=northpine.com}}</ref>

On November 20, 2013, [[Gray Television]] announced it would purchase Hoak Media in a $335&nbsp;million deal. Gray initially planned, through Excalibur Broadcasting, to also acquire Fox affiliate [[KNDB|KNDX]]/KXND for $7.5&nbsp;million and operate them under a [[local marketing agreement]].<ref name=tvnc-hoakgray>{{cite web|title=Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/72138/gray-buying-hoak-prime-stations-for-3425m|work=TVNewsCheck|access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref> On March 25, 2014, Prime Cities Broadcasting, owner of KNDX/KXND, requested that the FCC dismiss the sale of that station to Excalibur.<ref name=fcc-kndxsalecanceled>{{cite web|last=Paxson|first=Ann Thomas|title=Re: Prime Cities Broadcasting, Inc. Request for Dismissal of Group Application for Assignment of Broadcast Station License(s)…|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=48158|format=PDF|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=March 26, 2014|date=March 25, 2014}}</ref> This came as a result of increased scrutiny of LMAs by the FCC.  Gray would instead acquire the stations' non-license assets,<ref name=tvnc-graykndxnonlicenseandld>{{cite news|title=Gray Adds North And South Dakota TVs|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/76006/gray-adds-north-and-south-dakota-tvs|access-date=December 4, 2014|work=TVNewsCheck|date=May 1, 2014}}</ref> and, upon the closure of the Hoak purchases on June 13, 2014, shut down KNDX/KXND and moved Fox programming to subchannels of KFYR and its satellites.<ref name=tvnc-hoakclosed>{{cite web|title=Gray Completes Hoak-Prime Station Buy|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/77062/gray-completes-hoakprime-station-buy|website=TVNewsCheck|access-date=June 16, 2014}}</ref>

==News operation==
{{see|KFYR-TV#News operation}}
KQCD once aired partially separate weekday newscasts from KFYR-TV at 6 p.m. and 10&nbsp;p.m., much like KUMV does today. The first 10 minutes (which included regional news and weather) originated at KFYR, while the remaining 20 minutes were filled by KQCD's own news and sports anchors. All other newscasts originated from KFYR. In 2002, severe cutbacks resulted in KQCD ending its locally focused newscasts. Since then, the only visual evidence that KQCD is a separate station has been its separate commercials and idents.

KQCD's news department was reduced to a single reporter, Cebe Schneider. In 2009, she was joined by Adam Powell as bureau chief. Powell and Schneider's stories aired on KFYR's regional newscasts. They were the only reporters based in southwestern North Dakota. However, they were fired in 2012 due to further cutbacks. KQCD still has a single reporter whose stories air on KFYR.

The stations occasionally share stories with co-owned KVLY-TV. The five stations simulcast major North Dakota sporting events and statewide political debates under the NBC North Dakota brand name and share certain equipment, such as remote broadcasting vehicles. On April 30, 2012, NBC North Dakota began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=56743|title=KFYR-TV Makes the Conversion to HD}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The Fox-affiliated subchannel debuted ''West Dakota Fox News at Nine'' during October 2014, originating from KFYR's studios in Bismarck.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of KQCD-TV<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KQCD#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for KQCD|website=RabbitEars|access-date=August 19, 2022}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 7.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=3| [[16:9]] || KQCD-DT || [[NBC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 7.2 
| [[720p]] || WD FOX || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 7.3 
| [[480i]] || MeTV ND || [[MeTV]]
|}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
KQCD-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 7, on February 16, 2009, the day prior to the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were set to [[Digital television transition in the United States|transition from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate (which was later rescheduled for June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 18 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kqcd.com/Digital_KQCD.htm | title=KFYR-TV/KMOT/ KUMV/KQCD &#124; Bismarck-Minot-Williston-Dickinson }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref>

===Translators===
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|3628|3=K13OW-D}}''' [[Baker, MT]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|52831|3=K13WT-D}}''' [[Plevna, MT]]

====Former translator====
Gray also owned '''KNDX-LD''' (channel 38) in Dickinson; this station was acquired alongside the purchase of the non-license assets of KNDX and KXND<ref name=tvnc-graykndxnonlicenseandld/> and thus simulcasts KQCD's Fox-affiliated second subchannel. As of February 4, 2018, KNDX-LD was off the air due to being displaced by [[T-Mobile US|T-Mobile]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9163040606016321d0c2294443 |title=KNDX-LD Silent State |format=PDF |access-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913225936/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f9163040606016321d0c2294443\Url-status=live|archive-date=September 13, 2018 }}</ref> KNDX-LD had been granted a move to channel 28,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076f916004e39a01600885be190b68&id=25076f916004e39a01600885be190b68&goBack=N |title=Displacement for LPTV Translator Application |date=June 7, 2018 |access-date=September 13, 2018}}</ref> but Gray Television surrendered KNDX-LD's license to the FCC on October 20, 2020. The FCC canceled the license the same day.

==See also==
* [[KFYR-TV]]
* [[KMOT]]
* [[KUMV-TV]]
* [[KVLY-TV]]
* [[Circle 7 logo]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.kfyrtv.com/}}

{{Bismarck TV}}
{{NBC North Dakota}}
{{Gray TV}}

[[Category:1980 establishments in North Dakota]]
[[Category:Dickinson, North Dakota]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Gray Media]]
[[Category:MeTV affiliates]]
[[Category:NBC affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1980]]
[[Category:Television stations in North Dakota|QCD-TV]]