View source for WDIO-DT

{{short description|Television station in Duluth, Minnesota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{multiple issues|
{{original research|date=October 2015}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2015}}
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{{Infobox television station dual
| logo = WDIO-DT 2021.svg
| logo_size = 250px
| branding = WDIO
| translators = ''see {{Section link||WIRT-DT translators}}''
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''10.1/13.1:''' [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| country = US
| owner = [[Hubbard Broadcasting]]
| licensee = WDIO-TV, [[LLC]]
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.wdio.com/}}
| name1 = WDIO-DT
| name2 = WIRT-DT
| city1 = [[Duluth, Minnesota]]
| city2 = [[Hibbing, Minnesota]]
| airdate1 = {{start date and age|1966|1|24|p=y}}
| airdate2 = {{start date and age|1967|8|31|p=y}}{{efn|The ''Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook'' says September 1, while the ''Television and Cable Factbook'' says August 31.}}
| digital1 = 10 ([[VHF]])
| virtual1 = 10
| virtual2 = 13
| digital2 = 13 (VHF)
| facility_id1 = 71338
| erp1 = 45 [[kW]]
| erp2 = 13 kW
| haat1 = {{convert|297|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| haat2 = {{convert|204|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id2 = 71336
| coordinates1 = {{coord|46|47|15|N|92|7|22|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| coordinates2 = {{coord|47|22|53|N|92|57|16|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=WIRT}}
| callsign_meaning1 = Duluth Channel [[Numeronym|"IO"]] (10)
| callsign_meaning2 = [[Iron Range]] Television<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~nelsonbe/origins.call-list.html |title=Call Letter Origins: The List |website=home.earthlink.net |access-date=January 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604153157/http://home.earthlink.net/~nelsonbe/origins.call-list.html |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| former_callsigns1 = WDIO-TV (1966–2009)
| former_callsigns2 = WIRT (1967–2009)
| former_channel_numbers1 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 10 (VHF, 1966–2009)|'''Digital:''' 43 ([[UHF]], 2002–2009)}}
| former_channel_numbers2 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 13 (VHF, 1967–2009)|'''Digital:''' 36 (UHF, 2002–2009)}}
}}

'''WDIO-DT''' (channel 10) and '''WIRT-DT''' (channel 13) are [[television station]]s licensed respectively to [[Duluth]] and [[Hibbing, Minnesota]], United States, serving as the [[American Broadcasting Company|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 [[broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|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, Minnesota|Grand Rapids]], [[Virginia, Minnesota|Virginia]] and [[Chisholm, Minnesota|Chisholm]]) that receive a marginal to non-existent [[terrestrial television|over-the-air]] signal from WDIO, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' [[broadcast range|contours]] otherwise. WIRT is a straight [[simulcast]] of WDIO; on-air references to WIRT are limited to [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC)–mandated hourly [[station identification]]s 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,<ref>[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=86141 FCC History Cards for WDIO-TV (WDIO-DT)]. [[Federal Communications Commission]].</ref> and has transmitted from its first day in [[color television|color]]. It immediately joined ABC, which had previously been relegated to off-hours clearances on [[CBS]] affiliate KDAL-TV (channel 3, now [[KDLH]]) and [[NBC]] affiliate WDSM-TV (channel 6, now [[KBJR-TV]]). It was owned by Frank Befera, a trained engineer who owned a chain of radio stations across northeastern Minnesota. WIRT went on the air on August 31, 1967. Befera sold channels 10 and 13 to publishers [[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] in 1977,<ref>''Television and Cable Factbook'', 1988 edition</ref> but remained as president and general manager. HBJ sold the stations to Hubbard Broadcasting in 1986, and Befera retired a year later.

The station utilized a longtime logo from the 1980s until 2019, when it switched to a callsign-only logo. The lettering used in the logo (which blends a number "10" into the "IO" lettering) dates back to as late as the early 1970s. Changes to the 10/13 logo until 2019 merely depended on changes to ABC's logo and branding guidelines.

On April 11, 2008, a [[blizzard]] swept through the Northland. This resulted in power outages in Duluth, causing WDIO, KDLH and KBJR all to lose their signal at times.

On November 28, 2011, [[MeTV]] replaced RTV on 10.2 and 13.2.<ref>[http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2362298.shtml?cat=10335 WDIO: "WDIO/WIRT-DT to Launch Me-TV", November 7, 2011.]</ref> At the end of September 2017, WDIO/WIRT added [[Ion Television]] programming to their third subchannels, and all three signals now run in [[720p]] [[high-definition television|high definition]].<ref>{{cite press release|title=WDIO/WIRT Brings ION Television to the Northland|publisher=WDIO/WIRT|date=September 27, 2017|url=http://www.wdio.com/news/wdio-wirt-ion-television-network/4616315/?cat=10335|access-date=September 28, 2017}}</ref>

Every [[New Year's Eve]], WDIO often cuts in to ''[[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve]]'' to broadcast the [[St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System|SMDC]] New Year's Eve Ball, which was a fundraiser for the hospital. In 2008, after 17 years of televising the event, WDIO announced that it would stop its annual broadcast. This decision, along with declining attendance, led to the decision to cancel the event. The Ball itself ran for 23 years and at its peak hosted 4,000 guests.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 18, 2008 |title=SMDC says the New Year's Eve Ball is over |url=https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/smdc-says-the-new-years-eve-ball-is-over |access-date=October 2, 2024 |website=Duluth News Tribune |language=en}}</ref>

==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;<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081208234812/http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S141306.shtml WDIO biography: Dennis Anderson (via archive.org)]</ref> 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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} Anderson retired Wednesday, May 25, 2011, after 42 years with the station.<ref>[http://www.wdio.com/article/12288/ WDIO: "Dennis Anderson: Celebrating a Career"]</ref> Darren Danielson, previously of [[WDSE (TV)|WDSE]], replaced Anderson as anchor the following day, Thursday, May 26.<ref>[http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2039245.shtml?cat=10335 WDIO: "Danielson Named Anchor on Eyewitness News at Six and Ten", March 29, 2011.]</ref>

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.[http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/128669/]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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. [http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pages/biz according to the Duluth News Tribune]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Take note that this ratings period marks one full year anniversary of WDIO's market dominance.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The stations' signals are [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WDIO-DT<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WDIO#station RabbitEars TV Query for WDIO]</ref> and WIRT-DT<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WIRT#station RabbitEars TV Query for WIRT]</ref>
! scope = "col" colspan="2"|[[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|Short name
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|Programming
|-
! scope = "col" | {{small|WDIO-DT}}||{{small|WIRT-DT}}
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.1 || 13.1 
| rowspan="2" |[[720p]] || rowspan="6"|[[16:9]] || WDIOabc || [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.2 || 13.2 
| WDIO-Me || [[MeTV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.3 || 13.3 
| rowspan="4" |[[480i]]
| ION || [[Ion Television]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.4 || 13.4 
| IonPlus || [[Ion Plus]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.5 || 13.5 
| GRIT || [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.6 || 13.6 
| Mystery || [[Ion Mystery]]
|}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
Both stations ended regular programming on their analog signals, on February 17, 2009, to conclude the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]]. The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:<ref name="Analog to Digital">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations]</ref><ref>[http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S788817.shtml?cat=10335 Tuesday Night at Midnight WDIO and WIRT-TV Analog Signals End], WDIO-TV, February 16, 2009</ref>
* WDIO ended regular programming on its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 10; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 43 to VHF channel 10.
* WIRT ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 13; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 36 to VHF channel 13.

===WIRT-DT translators===
Besides WIRT, WDIO is seen on several outlying digital [[Broadcast relay station#Broadcast translators|translators]] in the Iron Range of northeastern and north-central Minnesota. All of these translators are licensed as repeaters of WIRT; via [[virtual channel]] numbering, each translator station remaps to channel 13.

*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14113|3=K31MA-D}}''' [[Big Falls, Minnesota|Big Falls]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|20362|3=K23KZ-D}}''' [[Bigfork, Minnesota|Bigfork]]/[[Marcell, Minnesota|Marcell]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14119|3=K33PL-D}}''' [[Birchdale, Minnesota|Birchdale]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14102|3=K24MT-D}}''' [[International Falls]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14120|3=K32JZ-D}}''' [[Kabetogama, Minnesota|Kabetogama]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|20364|3=K36KZ-D}}''' [[Max, Minnesota|Max]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14108|3=K16JD-D}}''' [[Northome]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|55346|3=K24MM-D}}''' [[Red Lake, Minnesota|Red Lake]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://www.wdio.com/ WDIO.com] - Official WDIO-TV Website
*[http://www.metvduluth.com/ MeTVDuluth.com] - Official MeTV Duluth Website
*[http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/captures/mn/wdiowirt.html Northpine's 10&13 screengrabs (including a rare look at a 1973 newscast)]

{{Duluth TV}}
{{Minnesota TV}}
{{Wisconsin TV}}
{{Hubbard Broadcasting}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wdio-Dt}}
[[Category:1966 establishments in Minnesota]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Hubbard Broadcasting]]
[[Category:Ion Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Plus affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Television affiliates]]
[[Category:MeTV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1966]]
[[Category:Television stations in Duluth, Minnesota]]